The purpose of the study was to investigate the cost effectiveness of a human relations communications course for supervisors in a public agency using four selected indices for comparison.The subjects consisted of sixty-eight supervisors employed by three federal agencies serviced by a central personnel function. The managers supervised small work groups engaged in administrative processes and their subordinates were organized through a local chapter of a national public employee union. The supervisors were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups consisting of thirty-four supervisors in each group. Members of the experimental group were randomly assigned to three small training groups. The training groups met for eight hours during ore day for the training program.The purpose of the training was to develop and improve facilitalive communication skills for goal setting with subordinates. To analyze the effectiveness of the training program, four measures of the desired results were recorded for six months after the completion of the trainingprogram.The measures were: employee turnover, employee lateness, managerial performance ratings, and number of written employee grievances. Employee turnover and employee Managerial performance ratings and written employee grievances were used as criteria for behavioral change.For each of the criterion measures, pretraining and posttraining group means were determined for experimental and control groups. There was no significant difference between the pretraining group means. A t test was used to determine if posttraining measures were significantly different.Analysis of the data indicated the experimental group was significantly (p <.05) better on the criterion measure of employee turnover. An incremental cost saving to the public agency resulted because of the lower turnover rate. No significant difference resulted in regard to employee lateness, managerial performance ratings, and the number of formal employee grievances.The findings and conclusions of the study indicate a management training program was effective in changing an organizational variable, employee turnover, that contributed to the op-rational savings of the public agency. The lack of significant difference in other criteria suggests other variables do not change as readily. However, the study evidenced training outcomes can be measured in terms of selected economic indices.

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The purpose of this descriptive study is to examine how some large organizations selected for the quality of their human resource management (HRM) practices evaluate their human resource (HR) function, and to investigate the purpose and usefulness of HRM evaluation within these organizations. Five questions are investigated: (1) Who decides whether or not to evaluate the HR function? (2) What are the objectives of HRM evaluation? (3) What is the focus of HRM evaluation? (4) What are the means used to evaluate HRM? (5) What is the impact of HRM evaluation on the direction of human resource management within the organization? / Despite the growing strategic importance of human resource management, there is still little research evaluating its effectiveness. Most participants consider that their organization does not systematically evaluate HRM. Most use indirect or informal methods. This confirms that systematic HRM evaluation is not a priority for most organizations. Some Vice-Presidents, Human Resources (VPHR) expressed disappointment with this situation and indicated that the necessary resources were not available. / Within the limited sample of 10 organizations, the HRM evaluation practices are diversified. The extent of HRM evaluation is surprising given the reservations and modesty expressed by the participants. Most organizations have evaluated multiple HRM policies, programs or services representative of multiple sub-systems within the HRM system. / The high-impact HR function uses performance measures to support its business plans and to convincingly communicate the benefits of its contribution to the stakeholders, especially senior management. Despite a strong continuous improvement culture and the participation of the VPHR in strategic decision making, measuring HRM effectiveness and benchmarking against the best HRM practices is not a systematic process in most organizations.

The dynamic nature of performance management is a significant issue for organisations. A review of the empirical performance management literature highlights that little research has examined an organisation�s holistic performance management framework. Most prior studies have been partial (i.e., examine various performance management elements), and there is a lack of depth in analysis (because of the short-term nature of many studies). In addition to the few studies that have examined the interconnections between the performance management elements, there has also been a lack of research examining incentive systems (especially at lower levels), target-setting, and performance evaluation. The literature review in this thesis also highlights the diversity in the performance management elements studied, the lack of theoretical development, diversity in who is interviewed and research sites, etc. This diversity in field study research provides a difficult base on which to build a cumulative body of literature (as most studies examine a different research question in a different context). This PhD research examines the overall performance management framework in a large and complex Australasian organisation, Sensol, over a 14 year period. The research is inductive, empirical and interpretative so as to gain a deeper understanding of Sensol�s performance management framework. The narrative highlights the multiple voices that exist in Sensol to illustrate the complexity of performance management at various levels. Otley�s (1999) performance management framework is a useful research tool (e.g., initial data analysis, structuring device). The documentary evidence traces the history and development of Sensol�s performance management framework. The designers� story tells about the sophisticated nature of Sensol�s approach to performance management. In contrast, the business unit managers describe the complexities in operationalising performance management in a complex, diversified and decentralised organisation. The researcher�s story explains the importance of understanding the highly interconnected nature of Sensol�s performance management framework and of understanding the behavioural issues (e.g., intense sibling rivalry, short-termism). It includes the importance of history, context (e.g., hierarchical culture), decentralised structure (e.g., interrelated business units), the trade-offs between financial and social objectives (and signalling effect of weightings), performance measurement issues (e.g., EVA�, scorecard, dominance of EBIT, transfer pricing), the subjectivity of objective setting and performance management processes (e.g., averaging, little differentiation between good and poor performers), problems with the annual incentive scheme (e.g., double dipping, risk and penalties, lack of understanding and line of sight, low trust), strategic programmes (e.g., lack of visibility), target-setting (e.g., conservative targets, impact of capping), and information flows (i.e., poor data, black boxes). The research also highlights the importance of understanding how the formal and informal performance management systems operate. There are considerable differences between the designers� rhetoric on the formal HPMF system (i.e., the intended design), compared to the system in use (e.g., formal and informal systems). This point has been recognised in some prior field studies but is an under-researched area. An understanding of the impact of the background to the performance management literature from classical management theory provides some insights into why the value-based management literature focuses on formal system design control tools, goal congruence, top-down focus, and the universal applicability of their techniques. Ignoring informal systems may be one reason that the traditional control problems remain evident with the new value-based management techniques. A final contribution of this PhD research is to use historical documents to identify how little change there has been over time and how performance management issues keep going around in circles (e.g., lack of accountability, transfer pricing). Some reasons for these circles include that history is lost, complacency, culture, communication issues (e.g., good news, blocking behaviours, standardisation). A feature of Sensol�s performance management framework is how it used EVA� and the balanced scorecard in a complementary manner. However, rather than adopting these new techniques as prescribed by consultants, Sensol built these new techniques onto their existing performance management system. This highlights the importance of understanding the history of an organisation�s performance management framework, so as to understand the reasons for the current design and operation.

Outsourcing (defined as having a third-party service provider perform an activity which otherwise would have been performed in-house (Fitz-enz 2000) has become a popular tactic. Functional outsourcing, including HR outsourcing, has been embraced by some companies and seriously considered by others. Advocates of outsourcing have recommended that if companies aspire to be globally competitive, they must practice outsourcing and buy services and supplies from the source that gives them the best value for money (Kotler 1997, ed. Gibson 1997). Although there are risks and downsides involved, the trend of outsourcing appears to be on the rise, especially in the US. / On the other hand, some management authorities, such as Pfeffer (1998), Gratton (2000) and Katzenbach (2000), are convinced that people should be at the heart of a company's strategy, and that people practices have an impact on organizational performance. They are concerned about the adverse effects of short-term management tactics such as outsourcing. They comment that there are often gaps between management rhetoric of valuing people as the most important asset and reality, when management tactics result in the laying-off of large numbers of people. Some see outsourcing, with its consequential downsizing of the organization, as contradicting fundamental values of staff loyalty, employee morale, continuous learning and development of competencies. They also argue that it undermines the employer-employee contract and therefore does not contribute to enhancing human capital in an organization. / Literature has suggested that the factors influencing HR outsourcing are type of role, type of organization, type of CEO, type of HR manager, availability and quality of service provider and HR leadership. Companies which are more likely to participate in HR outsourcing are those with headquarters in the US or in Europe, with developed HR processes, a young CEO and/or an established HR manager operating at a high level within the organization willing to lead HR outsourcing. This has formed the basis of the research questions. / The research tested a theoretical framework, which predicted that HR outsourcing was undertaken to improve the performance and ROI of human capital, and those companies which outsourced HR roles (using Ulrich's model of HR roles) were attempting to achieve this. The research addressed whether this framework was applicable to Singapore. What roles would Singapore companies outsource? What were their stated reasons for outsourcing? How was outsourcing undertaken? Was the experience of HR outsourcing in Singapore MNCs similar to that in the US? Were the arguments for outsourcing similar? Were there service providers who could create a seamless partnership with the companies? / Thesis (PhDManagement)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 1997

Thesis (MEd (HRS))-- University of South Australia, 1997

Thesis (MEd)--University of South Australia, 1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether Confucian values based on the four virtues and five relationships influence the style of the HRM practices adopted by Locally owned firms (LOFs) and Foreign owned firms (FOFs) based in Singapore. Confucian values emphasize a way of life. They are based on first cultivating oneself with the basic four virtues highlighted by Confucius (551 - 479 BC). Secondly, through the influence of the individual on others (via the five relationships, namely ruler-subject, father-son, brother-brother, husband-wife and friend-friend illustrated by Confucius), a 'perfect' world with peace and harmony can be created. This study investigates the degree to which the four distinct virtues - 1) human-kindness (ren), 2) integrity (yi), 3) propriety (li) and 4) knowledge (chi) and the five relationships, 1) ruler-subject, 2) father-son, 3) husband-wife, 4) brother-brother and 5) friend-friend, were adopted to underpin the practices of Human Resource Management (HRM) in Singapore. The target group of respondents chosen was executives, who were directly influenced by the style of human resource management in the firm. Electronics/technology related firms based in Singapore were the chosen group. The executives were chosen from electronics/technology related firms because these firms formed the most important industry, responsible for the well being of Singapore's growth (24% of GDP as stated by the Department of Statistics; 1999) and expected to continue so for the next 10 years. Managers from the same firms were given another set of questionnaires to verify the responses obtained from the executives. From the result obtained, it showed that there were influences of Confucian values on the five human resources functions tested. The executives' responses provided evidence on whether or not a certain trait or style has been used in the firm. The managers' responses, on the other hand, helped to verify that the trait or style was due to the influence of Confucian values as a whole and not other cultures or religions. The entire survey and interviews were carried out over twenty months from 1998, during which responses obtainable from both the managers and executives from each firm were analyzed. The data were analyzed using cross-tabulations and chi-square tests because cross-tabulation is one statistical tool which required only at least 5 responses in each cell for a reliable analysis to be conducted (Yong, 1994). Letters were then sent out to the Heads/Managers of the target firms, conducting interviews to obtain more insights to argue the survey data. Two interviews were conducted, taped and results obtained from the quantitative approach, helped further clarify earlier interpretations. This research showed that Singapore-based electronics/technology-related firms, regardless whether they were locally owned or foreign owned, showed that they were influenced by Confucian values in most aspects of the human resource practices. In addition, from the study, it showed that there were no significant differences between locally owned firms and foreign owned firms in terms of the degree of influence Confucian values have on the style of the management. This demonstrated that Chinese culture (in this case - Confucian values) - local/host country's culture played a stronger influence on the style of management in businesses conducted in Singapore than the organization's culture. This finding is important as most past research findings such as Rodrigues (1996) used to state that the organizational culture of the foreign-owned firms often have stronger influence on the practices adopted in firms regardless of the country that they were in. Lastly, after analyzing the responses obtained from the survey, the study justified that four virtues and only three (i.e. ruler-subject, friend-friend, father-son) of the five relationships outlined by Confucius has an impact on the style of HRM amongst Singapore-based firms in the technology/electronics-related industry. / thesis (PhDBusinessandManagement)--University of South Australia, 2002.

Thesis (M.S.S.I.S.)--Regis University, Denver, Colo., 2007. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Nov. 02, 2007). Includes bibliographical references.