Digitalisering och automatisering har alltmer kopplats till argument om förändringar i arbetslivet. I den här uppsatsen undersöks digitalisering och automatisering i praktiken genom att fokusera på HR-praktiker och organisering av automatisering i HR-avdelningar i större organisationer i Sverige. Trots att det finns flera rapporter, som hävdar att automatiseringsteknologierkommer att förändra HR, finns det få empiriska studier om denna förändring. Syftet med studien är därförattfå en djupare förståelse för digitalisering och automatisering på HR-avdelningar i större organisationer utifrån ett Human Resource Development perspektiv.Genom att använda ett organiseringsperspektiv och situerat perspektiv på lärande, samt teorier om gränser och gränsöverskridande roller, har studien fokuserat på lärande-och förändringsprocesser vid automatisering. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats och har använt en tvärsnittsdesign,där sju semistrukturerade intervjuer har genomförts med HR-praktiker från sex olika organisationer. Resultatet visade att det finns kontextuella skillnader mellan HR-avdelningarna gällande hur de har organiserat arbetet med automatisering, vilket har skapat olika förutsättningar för förändring och lärande. En central del i resultatet är behovet av en gränsöverskridande roll mellan HR-och IT-avdelningen. Studien visade även att automatisering inom HR inte innebar en förändring i arbete och kompetens för all HR-personal, då det endast var viss HR-personal vars arbete hade påverkats av automatisering. / Digitalization and automation has increasingly been connected to arguments about changes in working life. This study address digitalization and automation in practice by focusing on HR-practitioners and the organizing of automation in HR units at larger organizations in Sweden. Despite several reportsarguing thatautomation technologies will changeHuman Resources,there arefew empirical studies about this transformation. Therefore the aim of the study isto get a deeper understanding of digitalization and automationin HR-units at larger organizations from a Human Resource Development perspective. By using a organizing and situated learning perspective and theories about boundaries and boundary roles, the study have focused on learning and change processes with automation. The study hasa qualitative approach and used a cross-sectional design. Seven semi-structured interviews have been conducted with HR-practitioners from six different organizations. The findings showed that there are contextual differences between the HR departments regarding how they have organized for automation, which have created different conditionsfor change and learning. A key finding is the need for a boundary role between the HR and IT department. The study also showsthat automation does not imply a change in work and competence for all HR-personnel, as there were only a few persons whichjob had been affected by automation.

Since the inception of the National Skills Development Framework for Employees in Public Education in 2006, every organisation has its own WSP to offer skills development training to employees. This study aims to analyse the implementation challenges of the capacity building programme/s at head office of the Gauteng Department of Education. These programmes, including internships, workplace skills plan and short courses were explored from the circumstantial status at the national level (general) and will focus on the Gauteng Department of Education (specific context). In this context, the study sets out to explore the following specific problem exploring that there are challenges in the effective implementation of capacity-building programmes for job-related skills development of employees at Gauteng Department of Education at managerial levels. In the search for answers to the research problem, a hypothesis was formulated, and various primary and secondary sources were utilised. The findings from the literature review and empirical research undertaken in this study indicate that there are significant challenges to overcome in the effective implementation of capacity-building programmes. The study offers relevant recommendations to improve the challenges. / MA (Public Management and Administration), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Since the inception of the National Skills Development Framework for Employees in Public Education in 2006, every organisation has its own WSP to offer skills development training to employees. This study aims to analyse the implementation challenges of the capacity building programme/s at head office of the Gauteng Department of Education. These programmes, including internships, workplace skills plan and short courses were explored from the circumstantial status at the national level (general) and will focus on the Gauteng Department of Education (specific context). In this context, the study sets out to explore the following specific problem exploring that there are challenges in the effective implementation of capacity-building programmes for job-related skills development of employees at Gauteng Department of Education at managerial levels. In the search for answers to the research problem, a hypothesis was formulated, and various primary and secondary sources were utilised. The findings from the literature review and empirical research undertaken in this study indicate that there are significant challenges to overcome in the effective implementation of capacity-building programmes. The study offers relevant recommendations to improve the challenges. / MA (Public Management and Administration), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Since the concept was popularized by McKinsey & Company in the late 1990s, talent management initiatives have been pushed with urgency to the forefront of organizational priorities, and businesses have exerted considerable effort in locating and developing the upper echelon talent pools. Much emphasis has been put on the need to identify and attract top talent, focus has shifted away from developing ordinary talent into extra-ordinary talent through broad human resource development initiatives. This research examines a global training initiative implemented in a multi-national corporation, and sets out to identify the primary impediments to its effectiveness. After a literature review, and a focus group, six factors were identified as crucial to this situation: accuracy, communication, feedback, motivation, organizational support, and time. A survey was then disseminated to the relevant organizational members to identify which of these six issues was the most pressing. Based on the results, the author concludes by extrapolating the potential organizational implications, as well as providing some accommodating solutions.

Bakgrund: En rationell princip för investeringar i humankapital är att investeringen leder till förbättrad lönsamhet för organisationen. Allt sedan 1950-talet har organisationer i allt högre grad värderat sitt mänskliga kapital på samma sätt som andra kapitalslag. Ur den här ambitionen att förbättra och förändra humankapitalet har även svårigheterna med att påvisa de långsiktiga rationella effekterna blivit tydligare. Det är den här problematiken att avgöra värdeskapandet i kompetensutvecklingsinsatser som den här studien har undersökt. Utifrån institutionell teori som analysverktyg och tidigare forskning om Humankapital, HR och värdeskapande samt HRD analyseras och jämförs vilka kriterier och drivkrafter som ligger bakom investeringarna samt på vilket sätt värdeskapandet avgörs i praktiken. Syfte: Att utifrån ett institutionellt perspektiv skapa fördjupad kunskap om värdeskapandet i kompetensutveckling genom att undersöka vilka drivkrafter som ligger bakom beslut att investera i kompetensutveckling, samt vilka kriterier för framgång som finns. Metod: För att nå målsättningen att svara på studiens syfte har kvalitativ metod använts. Detta har gjorts genom elva semistrukturerade intervjuer med flerårigt erfarna HR-professionella personer inom kompetensutveckling. Slutsats: Studien visar att krav, eller frånvaron av krav, resulterar i att det sker en typ av isomorfism av kompetensutvecklingsinsatser där det förväntade värdet tas för givet. Studien visar att de HR-professionella anpassar sig till omgivningens krav på mätbarhet genom att uppfatta och uppge det förväntade värdet som en sanning, men i verkligheten är det få som följer upp insatserna för att säkerställa värdeskapandet. / Background: A rational basic principle when investing in human capital is that this investment will enable improved profitability to the organization. Ever since the 1950s organizations successively have put result value in their human capital investments in the same manner as other types of capital investments. This ambition to change and improve human capital also brings forth difficulties in practise to ensure long-term effects. This study is focusing upon this area of determining long-term values and demonstrate efficiency in human capital investments. Using institutional theory as a tool for analysis and drawing upon previous research in Human Capital, HR and value creation and HRD, criterias and driving forces behind these investments are analyzed to find knowledge about the operation in which value creation is determined. Purpose: That by institutional theory create increased knowledge about value creation in Human Resource Development through examining and clarifying driving forces and criterias for success behind decisions regarding investments in Human Resource Development. Method: In order to attain the objective of this study qualitative method have been used. This have been enabled through eleven semistructured interviews with experienced Human Resource Development professionals. Conclusion: The study shows that requirements, or the absence of requirements, results in a type of isomorphism regarding efforts in human resource development where the expected value is taken for granted. HR-professionals adjust to the demands of measurability their surroundings place upon them through perceiving and stating the expected value as a truth, although only a few follow-up their efforts to ensure that actual value has been created

Die vorliegende Arbeit behandelt die Beziehungen zwischen Japan und Vietnam unter dem Gesichtspunkt eines spezifischen Kooperationsprogramms: des "Japanese Grant Aid for Human Development Scholarship" (JDS); ein Stipendienprogramm, das in den zahlreichen japanischen Entwicklungshilfe-Initiativen in Entwicklungsländern Asiens enthalten ist. Das JDS-Programm, das im Jahr 2000 gestartet wurde, bietet jungen Staatsbeamten und zukünftigen Führungskräften aus Entwicklungsländern in Zentral-, Süd- und Südostasien sowie Afrika Weiterbildungsmöglichkeiten in Bereichen wie Recht, Wirtschaft und Staatsverwaltung an öffentlichen und privaten Universitäten in Japan. Es wird argumentiert, dass Japan auch durch die JDS seine regionalen Beziehungen, insbesondere mit einigen Nationen Südostasiens, neugestaltet hat. Aus diesem Grund werden in der vorliegenden Studie die Hilfsbeziehungen zwischen dem südostasiatischen Land und Japan von 2000 bis 2015 dargestellt. Die ausgewählte Fallstudie zeigt eine diskursive Ambiguität der heutigen japanischen Außenpolitik auf. Es wird argumentiert, dass Hilfsinitiativen Japans für die Humanressourcenentwicklung von den verschiedenen Akteuren der öffentlichen Entwicklungshilfe diskursiv konzipiert wurden. Anstatt das Konzept der Entwicklung als einen einzigen diskursiven Apparat zu analysieren, untersucht diese Forschungsarbeit, wie unterschiedliche Diskurse und "Denkstile" zwischen Geber- und Empfängerland, Geber und anderen Gebern und sogar zwischen verschiedenen Geberorganisationen interagieren. Diese Denkstile wurden durch qualitative Interviews und dokumentarische Analysen ausgewertet. Zusammenfassend wird argumentiert, dass ein Zusammenspiel von Überlegungen, wie Japans "nationalem Interesse", Japans Zugehörigkeit zur internationalen Gesellschaft und Humanität die japanische wissensbasierte Hilfe seit 2000 geprägt habe. Das nationale Interesse scheint jedoch immer noch der stärkste Antrieb bei der Auszahlung von Beihilfen zu sein. / The study sheds light on contemporary Japan-Vietnam relations from the point of view of a specific cooperation program : the “Japanese Grant A id for Human Development Scholarship” (JDS), a scholars hip program included in the vast range of Japanese foreign aid initiatives in developing Asia. The JDS programme, started in 2000, offers training in areas like law, economics and public administration to young state officials and future leaders from developing countries in Central, South and Southeast Asia and Africa, in public and private universities in Japan. It is argued that also through the JDS, Japan has reshaped its regional relations, in particular with a number of Southeast Asian nations. The present study aid relations between the Southeast Asian country and Japan from 2000 to 2015 are presented. The study aims to shed light on an apparent discursive ambiguity of today’s Japanese foreign policy. It is assumed that aid initiatives in human resource development, have been discursively conceptualised by the different actors participating in Japanese official development assistance (ODA). Instead of looking at the concept of development as a single discursive apparatus, this research looks at how different discourses and “styles of thought” interact between donor/recipient country, donor/other donors and even among different donor’s agencies. These styles of thought have been assessed through qualitative interviews and documentary analysis. It is argued, in sum, that an interplay of considerations such as Japan’s “national interest”, Japan's affiliation to the international society and humanitarianism have shaped Japanese knowledge-based aid since 2000. National interest, however, still appears to be the strongest drive in aid disbursement.

<p>The Norwegian system for depositing and recycling of PET bottles (Resirk/PET system)started in May 2000, and is based on Norsk Resirk's mission of improving cost- and environmental efficiency of this system. Has this been achieved? What can explain the changes that occurred in the system during recent years? I have found that the eco-efficiency of the Resirk/PET system increased considerably every year between 2000 and 2003. The net greenhouse gas (GHG emission was improved from -562 kg CO2e (562 kg CO2 equivalents avoided generated) for waste management of one tonne consumed bottles in 2000 to -1442 kg CO2e per tonne in 2003, while the net cost was reduced from 4062 €/tonne in 2000 to 2683 €/tonne in 2003. This eco-efficiency improvement was very much driven by the increased volume and return rate of PET bottles during this period. The environmental performance of the Resirk/PET system was high compared to other waste management systems for PET bottles, while the economical performance was considerably lower. The interactive development of the bottled non-carbonated mineral water Imsdal contributed significantly to the increase of the Resirk/PET system’s volume and return rate and hence the system’s improved eco-efficiency. A white spirit sabotage on Imsdal in August 2002 contributed to the development of Imsdal as well as the Resirk/PET system’s change of the design and material specification for participating PET bottles. By combining the quantitative eco efficiency framework with the qualitative framework of interactive resourced development, information about how much eco-efficiency of a defined system has changed, as well as an understanding of reasons for changes within the system, has been acquired. Such a combination should be possible to apply for analysis of other systems as well, and may be a valuable contribution to the field of industrial ecology since the methods complement each other in a fruitful way. The eco-efficiency of the Resirk/PET system can be improved further by:</p><p>- Regarding used PET bottles as a resource to be applied for production</p><p>- Reducing packaging tax for PET bottles</p><p>- Increasing the bottle deposit</p><p>- Keeping the PET specification updated</p><p>- Improving collection efficiency</p><p>- Improving cost efficiency of marketing and information</p><p>- Increasing compaction and filling degree of reverse vending machines</p><p>- Considering automatic sorting</p><p>- Keeping focus on producing high quality PET flakes.</p><p>In addition to having showed that the approaches of eco-efficiency and interactive resource development can be combined, this thesis may have implications on how ecoefficiency can be quantified in waste management systems, and how the concepts of adaptation and friction in resource structures are dealt with.</p>

The Norwegian system for depositing and recycling of PET bottles (Resirk/PET system)started in May 2000, and is based on Norsk Resirk's mission of improving cost- and environmental efficiency of this system. Has this been achieved? What can explain the changes that occurred in the system during recent years? I have found that the eco-efficiency of the Resirk/PET system increased considerably every year between 2000 and 2003. The net greenhouse gas (GHG emission was improved from -562 kg CO2e (562 kg CO2 equivalents avoided generated) for waste management of one tonne consumed bottles in 2000 to -1442 kg CO2e per tonne in 2003, while the net cost was reduced from 4062 €/tonne in 2000 to 2683 €/tonne in 2003. This eco-efficiency improvement was very much driven by the increased volume and return rate of PET bottles during this period. The environmental performance of the Resirk/PET system was high compared to other waste management systems for PET bottles, while the economical performance was considerably lower. The interactive development of the bottled non-carbonated mineral water Imsdal contributed significantly to the increase of the Resirk/PET system’s volume and return rate and hence the system’s improved eco-efficiency. A white spirit sabotage on Imsdal in August 2002 contributed to the development of Imsdal as well as the Resirk/PET system’s change of the design and material specification for participating PET bottles. By combining the quantitative eco efficiency framework with the qualitative framework of interactive resourced development, information about how much eco-efficiency of a defined system has changed, as well as an understanding of reasons for changes within the system, has been acquired. Such a combination should be possible to apply for analysis of other systems as well, and may be a valuable contribution to the field of industrial ecology since the methods complement each other in a fruitful way. The eco-efficiency of the Resirk/PET system can be improved further by: - Regarding used PET bottles as a resource to be applied for production - Reducing packaging tax for PET bottles - Increasing the bottle deposit - Keeping the PET specification updated - Improving collection efficiency - Improving cost efficiency of marketing and information - Increasing compaction and filling degree of reverse vending machines - Considering automatic sorting - Keeping focus on producing high quality PET flakes. In addition to having showed that the approaches of eco-efficiency and interactive resource development can be combined, this thesis may have implications on how ecoefficiency can be quantified in waste management systems, and how the concepts of adaptation and friction in resource structures are dealt with.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990's Kazakhstan experienced a socio-economic transition from a socialist economy to a free market economy and was challenged with building a newly independent state. In pursuit of fulfilling strategic nationwide tasks, the government undertook multidimensional measures in all spheres. However, in order to implement such profound changes and keep up with globalization, the newly independent state found itself in a position where there was a burning need for a serious update in knowledge and skills in all fields. In light of the National State Conception of Education Development of 2005 (NSCED), higher education in Kazakhstan is viewed as the most fundamental liaison between academia, research and innovation in industry and business of the country. Integration of these three components represents the concept of a national innovation system that will allow Kazakhstan to establish successfully its own competitive advantage in the global arena. Therefore, the higher education faculty of Kazakhstan becomes the driving force in fulfilling such grand tasks as relating research to practice, as well as increasing the knowledge, skills, and capacities of young specialists and researchers for a future sustainable society. In other words, there is a need to determine the current status of higher education faculty development which may then serve as a basis for a comprehensive approach and enable the compliance process with the Bologna international standards of education to be expedited. For the purpose of this study, a qualitative research methodology was used whereby the researcher was the primary research tool who interviewed 20 faculty members and university administrators from two large universities of national status in Kazakhstan. The data collection tools employed were semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis and field notes. Since the nature of this phenomenological study is exploratory and descriptive, it was considered holistically and based on interpretation and analysis of all study participants combined. Moreover, the phenomenon under study is complex due to a dynamic interaction and interdependence of multiple HRD levels; and consequently, it was viewed through the contexts of international relationships, the country's broad societal transformations, and its organizational and individual levels. The research findings indicate that there is no systematic and consistent approach to faculty development in the area of higher education in Kazakhstan. The majority of current faculty development and any professional development activities tend to have a spontaneous character without implementation of a thorough faculty needs task analysis or performance evaluation. The faculty as social subjects with different socio-cultural identities is currently in the process of constructing a new academic identity based on updated social values, beliefs, mentality and work styles. In the case of successfully updating professional expertise and higher education policy implementation, the faculty will constitute a group of highly educated experts and professionals who are capable of providing the younger generation with a high quality education according to international standards and conducting intensive research that will connect the theory and practice through real applications in various industries.

The purpose of this study was to assess nurse and medical assistant perceived needs prior to implementing an expended web-based training (WBT) program in physician clinics. This case study was conducted with a mixed-data approach using quantitative and descriptive survey data collection. A total of 239 nurses and medical assistants within the Trinity Mother Frances Hospitals and Clinics dispersed throughout east, north east and north central Texas participated. The participants shared knowledge and behaviors common to the culture of the organization. When new and existing clinical staff traveled to the distant primary campus for training, the operations of the clinic practice was disrupted. Employees are not hired in groups comprising convenient training class sizes, and mandatory training often cannot wait until a class is of a cost effective size. The data were collected using a 50-item survey evaluating computer access, computer usage, computer knowledge (satisfaction, frustration, and motivation to transfer learning), and WBT preference (employee's support and employee's perception of supervisor's support). Quantitative data were collected in the form of a dichotomous yes or no and ordinal data from two Likert type scales. Descriptive survey data was collected using open-ended questions emphasizing perceived strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) of WBT. Demographic data were collected to facilitate comparison of perspectives based on demographic information gathered. To support reliability and validity of the Clinic WBT Needs Assessment (CWBTNA), exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, and correlations were utilized to validate the survey instrument. Chi-squares, ANOVAs, and t-tests were conducted. Following the Bonferroni control for Type I error rate (a), four t-test, two chi-squares, and three ANOVAs demonstrated significance. Descriptive responses generated from descriptive survey items were transcribed into an Excel spreadsheet which allowed coding and sorting. Themes consistent with order sets of the quantitative survey emerged. Among additional findings, statistical data demonstrated that staff perceived they transferred learning into the work place best when they perceived greater supervisor support. All findings are detailed in the document.