Swedish tech startups are at the forefront of innovation and growth. Startups however often face challenges in knowledge management, due to their fast paced growth. The purpose of this study is to explore how Swedish tech startups work with knowledge management in order to utilize inbound open innovation across a company. The study takes on an abductive approach. Furthermore, the study is qualitative including data gathered through semi-structured interviews with eleven Swedish tech startups. The findings show that the investigated tech startups work with knowledge management systems to transfer explicit knowledge, but tacit knowledge is communicated verbally, as the systems do not successfully facilitate the transfer of tacit knowledge, nor fully support the conversion from information to knowledge. Furthermore, employees have a high level of operative freedom and initiate collaboration and networking when needed. The investigated companies selectively hire like-minded people to create a culture that facilitates information sharing and collaboration through internal commitment across the organization. Top management is important to the overall structures and in communicating the company vision, while lower-level managers support and ease the daily operations. These activities strengthen a company's knowledge management and in turn its ability to utilize inbound open innovation. Overall, it is also evident that the startups are challenged by their fast paced growth, affecting all four researched dimensions of knowledge management.

The study employed a quantitative research method, which is descriptive in nature, to determine the role of Human Resource Management in supporting the strategic objectives of the Department of Environmental Affairs. This interest was explored with particular reference to the Environmental Programmes branch of the Department of Environmental Affairs. Data was gathered from senior, middle and junior managers through self-administered questionnaires and it was then analysed using statistical methods and graphs. The findings reveal that the role of Human Resource Management in supporting the strategic objectives of the Department of Environmental Affairs is not efficiently elevated or viewed to have any influence on the desired goals of the Department of Environmental Affairs. As a result, the Human Resource Management component is not considered a strategic partner. Furthermore, the senior, middle and junior managers know very little about the Human Resource Management strategy and there exists a lack of emphasis on the development and implementation of joint strategic human resource management plans between the managers and the Human Resource Management component. / Public Administration / M.P.A.

In the late 1980s, governments in New Zealand and Australia began to deregulate their telecommunications markets. This process included the corporatisation and privatisation of former state owned telecommunications monopolies and the introduction of competition. The Telecom Corporation of New Zealand (TCNZ) was corporatised in 1987 and privatised in 1990. Its Australian counterpart, Telstra, was corporatised in 1989 and partially privatised in 1997. This thesis examines and compares TCNZ and Telstra's changing organisational and workforce restructuring strategies, as they responded to these changes. It further examines how these strategies influenced the firms' employment relations (ER) policies. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) and transaction costs economics (TCE) theories assist in this analyse. TCE links organisational restructuring to the make/buy decisions of firms and the asset-specificity of their employees. It suggests that firms will retain workers that have developed a high degree of firm-specific skills, and outsource more generic and semi-skilled work. Firm strategies are also influenced by national, contextual, factors. From a TCE perspective, these external factors alter relative transaction costs. Hence, different ownership structures, ER legislation and union power help to explain differences in TCNZ and Telstra's organisational restructuring and ER strategies. During the decade from 1990 to 2000, TCNZ and Telstra cut labour costs through large-scale downsizing programs. Job cuts were supported by outsourcing, work intensification and the introduction of new technologies. These initial downsizing programs were carried out through voluntary redundancies, across most sections of the firms. In many instances workers simply self-selected themselves for redundancies. TCNZ and Telstra's downsizing strategies then became more strategic, as they targeted generic and semi-skilled work for outsourcing. These strategies accorded with a TCE analysis. But TCNZ and Telstra engaged in other practices that did not accord with a TCE analysis. For example, both firms outsourced higher skilled technical work. TCNZ and Telstra's continued market domination and the emphasis that modern markets place on short term profits, provided possible reasons for these latter strategies. This thesis suggests, therefore, that while TCE may help to predict broad trends in 'rational organisations', it may be less effective in predicting the behaviour of more politically and ideologically driven organisations aiming for short term profit maximisation. Some TCNZ and Telstra workers were shifted to subsidiaries and strategic alliances, which now assumed responsibility for work that had previously been performed in-house. Many of these external firms re-employed these workers under more 'flexible' employment conditions. TCNZ and Telstra shifted to more unitarist ER strategies with their core workers and reduced union influence in the workplace. Unions at Telstra were relatively more successful in retaining members than their counterparts at TCNZ. By 2002, TCNZ and Telstra had changed from stand-alone public sector organisations, into 'leaner' commercially driven firms, linked to subsidiaries, subcontractors and strategic alliances.

The present diploma thesis is focused on description and comparison of strategic management of human resources in kindergarten and kindergarten with remoted institutions in Carlsbad Region. The theoretical part introduce the fundamental terms connected with the strategic management of human resources from different perspectives, and the methods of strategic management of human resources in school institution. The empirical research reveals and compares the strategic management of human resources in kindergarten and kindergarten with remoted institutions. Further, the empirical research of strategic management is focused on the size of kindergarten in terms of number of classes. Two research methods were chosen: questionnaire and semi-structured interviews. The semi-structured interviews were added due to obtaining of more specified and detailed information concerning given topic. Based on the results, it may be stated that the management of kindergarten and kindergarten with remoted institutions is strategic as regards human resources. However, the management differs one from another. The most important condition, affecting the strategic management of human resources, is the number of classes in the kindergartens.

Bakgrund: De senaste tjugo åren har HR-rollen fått en mer strategisk inriktning men inte haft en stark position i ledningsgruppsmöten. HR-chefer, framförallt inom den privata sektorn, kan känna sig marginaliserade i ledningsgruppsmöten. Deras deltagande i dessa möten kan vara utmanande eftersom de inte alltid får lika stort utrymme som de andra medlemmarna. Det kan bero på att det finns en okunskap och ett ointresse hos de övriga medlemmarna i ledningsgruppen om hur HR-chefen kan bidra strategiskt. Även om HR-chefen blivit tilldelad en stol vid ledningsgruppsmöten kan deltagandet ändå vara tufft. En stol vid ledningsgruppsmöten behöver inte betyda att funktionens frågor blir prioriterade.  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att skapa en förståelse om hur HR-chefen kan stärka sin strategiska roll i ledningsgruppsmöten. Studien riktar främst in sig på HR-chefer inom privat sektor som arbetar i olika branscher. Metod: I studien användes en kvalitativ metod där studiens författare genomförde åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med olika HR-chefer inom den privata sektorn. HR-cheferna som intervjuades arbetar inom olika branscher och har flera års erfarenhet av HR-arbete. Samtliga HR-chefer som deltagit i studien är medlemmar i verksamhetsledningen och har varit det sedan flera år. En abduktiv ansats användes för att hitta kopplingar mellan det teoretiska och det empiriska materialet.  Slutsats: Studiens slutsats blev att HR-chefers strategiska roll kan stärkas på flera olika sätt. Dels kan HR-chefen själv stärka rollens position och dels kan den stärkas beroende påandras uppfattning och inställning till rollen. Den kan också stärkas av faktorer som HR-chefen inte kan kontrollera, som exempelvis digitaliseringen / Background: For the past twenty years, the HR role has taken a more strategic focus but has not had a strong position in management team meetings. HR managers, especially in the private sector, can feel marginalized in management team meetings. Their participation in this kind of meetings can be challenging since they do not always get as much space as the other members. This may be because there is an ignorance and a lack of interest on the part of the other members of the management team about how the HR manager can contribute strategically. Even if the HR manager has been assigned a chair at management team meetings, participation can still be tough. A chair at the management team meetings does not mean that the function's issues are given priority. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to create an understanding of how the HR manager can strengthen their strategic role in management team meetings. The study mainly focuses on HR managers in the private sector who work in different industries. Method: The study used a qualitative method where the study's authors conducted eight semi-structured interviews with various HR managers in the private sector. The HR managers who were interviewed work in different industries and have several years of experience in the HR function. All HR managers who participated in the study are members of the management team and have been for several years. An abductive approach was used to find connections between the theoretical and the empirical material. Conclusion: The study concluded that the strategic role of HR managers can be strengthened in several different ways. On the one hand, the HR manager themselves can strengthen the role's position and on the other hand, it can be strengthened depending on others' perception and attitude to the role. It can also be strengthened by factors that the HR manager cannot control, such as digitalisation.

Forskningen har visat kunskapsbrister när det gäller användningen och nyttan av headhunting som strategiskt kompetensförsörjningsverktyg. Studiens syfte var att undersöka vilka strategiska verksamhetsmål, behov och förutsättningar som utgör grunden för beslutet att framgångsrikt rekrytera chefer och andra affärskritiska roller via metoden headhunting. För att besvara forskningsfrågorna samlades data in med hjälp av kvalitativa semi-strukturerade intervjuer där fem respondenter var delaktiga. Studiens resultat tydde på att den strategiska kompetensförsörjningens omfattning samvarierar med företagens storlek. Studien visade även på att rationella, situationsberoende beslut är ytterligare en parameter som styr valet av rekryteringsmetod. De förutsättningar som studien visade ligger till grund för valet av headhunting som rekryteringsmetod är brist på intern kompetens, behov av specifika, komplexa kompetenser, affärskritisk roll samt riskminimering. Identifierade framgångsfaktorer är en tydlig kravprofil, ett gediget förarbete, intern rekryteringskompetens och god kommunikation. / The research has shown deficiencies in the use and utility of headhunting as a strategic competence tool. The purpose of the study was to investigate which strategic business goals, needs and conditions form the basis for the decision to successfully recruit managers and other business-critical roles via the headhunting method. In order to answer our research questions, data were collected by using qualitative semi-structured interviews in which five respondents participated. The results of the study indicated that the scope of strategic competence supply varies with the size of the companies. The study also showed that rational, situation-dependent decisions are another parameter that governs the choice of recruiting method. The prerequisites that the study shows are the basis for the choice of headhunting as a recruitment method is a lack of internal competence, need for specific, complex skills, business-critical role and risk minimization. Identified success factors are a clear requirement profile, solid preliminary work, internal recruitment skills and good communication.

La pénurie de personnel enseignant qualifié constatée dans les écoles québécoises depuis plus d’une décennie serait engendrée par de multiples facteurs dont un manque d’attraction de la profession enseignante, un grand nombre d’abandons de la formation initiale, le décrochage enseignant, l’augmentation des effectifs scolaires et des difficultés rencontrées par les Centres de services scolaires (CSS) pour combler des postes vacants en enseignement dans un contexte où la pénurie de main-d’œuvre bat son plein dans divers secteurs économiques au Québec. Des études menées antérieurement ont cherché à comprendre cette situation de pénurie du point de vue de l’enseignant et de celui des établissements scolaires. Cependant, peu de recherches québécoises, voire aucune, n’ont étudié le phénomène sous l’angle de la planification stratégique des ressources humaines au palier intermédiaire. Ainsi, dans la présente recherche, nous avons entrepris d’analyser un corpus de 13 documents stratégiques élaborés par trois CSS francophones entre 1998 et 2022 afin de répondre à la question suivante : quelles actions ont été planifiées dans ces documents pour assurer la disponibilité des ressources humaines en enseignement ou pour contrer la pénurie de main-d’œuvre en enseignement ? Nous avons également cherché à connaître, par entretien semi-dirigé, les points de vue des planificateurs ou gestionnaires des ressources humaines sur les liens qui pourraient exister entre les pratiques de planification des RH en enseignement et la pénurie des personnes enseignantes actuelle. L’analyse documentaire nous a permis de produire une compréhension de la pénurie de personnel enseignant au Québec, en mettant en évidence des facteurs potentiels du phénomène dans des pratiques de planification ainsi que des tendances résidant dans ces pratiques durant la période de référence susmentionnée. Ainsi, dans les documents stratégiques des trois CSS, nous avons identifié neuf activités d’attraction, 11 activités de rétention et quatre activités de développement professionnel. Considérées généralement comme des pratiques en raison de leur transversalité et leur fréquence d’apparition dans une période de référence, elles constituent un cadre d’analyse empiriquement construit de la planification des RH en enseignement dans les CSS. À la lumière des écrits scientifiques recensés, il est justifié d’avancer que l’absence ou la négligence de ces pratiques dans les processus de planification et de mise en œuvre des actions relatives à la gestion du personnel enseignant, pourrait, en quelque sorte, contribuer à créer ou à renforcer des situations de pénurie de personnel enseignant qualifié dans les trois CSS et d’autres. Pour prévenir ces situations, nous formulons cinq recommandations à l’attention à la fois des décideurs, des planificateurs, des gestionnaires, et des chercheuses et chercheurs. En outre, pour dépasser une des limites de cette recherche, à savoir un corpus documentaire exclusivement basé sur des plans stratégiques et d’autres documents accessibles, il serait utile d’y ajouter les documents produits et utilisés à l’interne par les CSS dans l’évaluation et la planification des besoins de personnel enseignant. Enfin, il est souhaitable de s’entretenir avec un plus grand nombre de planificateurs et gestionnaires des CSS afin de recueillir plus d’informations sur les pratiques réelles de planification. Cela permettrait de mettre en lumière des pratiques gagnantes de certains CSS transférables et applicables dans d’autres. / The shortage of qualified teachers observed in Quebec schools for more than a decade is attributed to multiple factors, including lack of attraction of the teaching profession, large numbers of dropouts from initial teacher education programs, teacher dropout, increased school enrollment and difficulties encountered by School Service Centers (SSC) to fill vacant teaching positions in a context where the labor shortage is in full swing in various economic sectors in Quebec. Previous studies have tried to understand this situation of shortage from the point of view of teachers and schools. However, little or no research in Quebec has studied the phenomenon from the perspective of strategic human resource planning at the middle level. Thus, in this research, we undertook to analyze a corpus of 13 strategic documents drawn up by three French-speaking SSCs between 1998 and 2022 in order to answer the following question: what actions were planned in these documents to ensure the availability of human resources in teaching or to counter the shortage of qualified teachers? We also sought to know, by semi-directed interview, the points of view of the planners or managers of human resources on the links which could exist between the planning practices of HR in education and the current shortage of teachers in Quebec schools. The documentary analysis allowed us to produce an understanding of the shortage of teaching staff in Quebec, by highlighting potential factors of the phenomenon in planning practices as well as trends residing in these practices during the reference period. Thus, in the strategic documents of the three SSCs, we identified nine attraction activities, 11 retention activities and four professional development activities. Considered mostly as practices because of their transversality and their frequency of occurrence in a reference period, they constitute an empirically constructed framework of analysis of the planning of HR in education in the SSCs. Considering the scientific literature surveyed, it is justified to suggest that the absence or neglect of these practices in the planning and implementation processes of actions relating to the management of teaching staff could, in a way, contribute to creating or reinforcing situations of shortage of qualified teaching staff in the three SSCs and others. To prevent these situations, we formulate five recommendations for the attention of decision-makers, planners, managers, and researchers. In addition, to overcome one of the limitations of this research, namely a documentary corpus exclusively based on strategic plans and other accessible documents, it would be useful to add the documents produced and used internally by the SSCs in assessing and planning teaching staff needs. Finally, it is desirable to interview a larger number of SSC planners and managers to gather more information on actual planning practices. This would help highlight the winning practices of certain SSCs that can be transferred and applied in others.

The purpose of the research was to recommend a model for strategic human resource management through an effective staff performance appraisal system in Botswana public libraries. Performance appraisal is not a new concept; however the evolution of performance appraisal tools and techniques has been slow compared to that of other management fields. This discrepancy is now being realised; organisations are starting to acknowledge the importance of comprehensive, regular appraisal of staff as part of an effective human resource management policy. Human resources are a scarce and valuable tool in any organisation and it is mainly through performance appraisal that they can be developed and maintained, to ensure organisational success. The theory underlying strategic human resource management and performance management has been studied. Empirical research through a questionnaire was carried out in 23 public libraries. From these it was possible to develop a model entitled "A recommended strategic human resource management model". From empirical investigation the main critical qualities for efficient public library services were revealed as enthusiasm; positive attitude; innovative thinking; capability and commitment; critical competencies as expertise; team-building; and leadership; critical external factors as external environment; global competition; shrinking budget; changing library customers and employees' needs and information technology; strategic management issues organisational culture; transformational leadership; employee recognition and reward systems; performance measurement system; productivity improvement; and customer orientation; critical staff issues as sense of purpose and achievement; feeling of self-worth; job-security; recognition; status; career development; and salary; motivational factors as effective communication; job satisfaction; delegation of authority; clear job description; performance feedback; conducive working environment; human resource strategy issues as motivation building among staff;continuous education and development; generating competitive advantage through human resources; and alignment of human resource strategy with strategic management plan. The study recommends a strategic human resource management model for libraries along with: conducive working environment; adequate IT infrastructure to store, organise and retrieve information; staff training for excellent customer service; objective, reward based staff appraisal; performance feedback; performance appraisal should be aligned with staff selection, library mission, staff motivation and promotion in order to use it strategically; and human resource strategy should be developed immediately. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

The purpose of the research was to recommend a model for strategic human resource management through an effective staff performance appraisal system in Botswana public libraries. Performance appraisal is not a new concept; however the evolution of performance appraisal tools and techniques has been slow compared to that of other management fields. This discrepancy is now being realised; organisations are starting to acknowledge the importance of comprehensive, regular appraisal of staff as part of an effective human resource management policy. Human resources are a scarce and valuable tool in any organisation and it is mainly through performance appraisal that they can be developed and maintained, to ensure organisational success. The theory underlying strategic human resource management and performance management has been studied. Empirical research through a questionnaire was carried out in 23 public libraries. From these it was possible to develop a model entitled "A recommended strategic human resource management model". From empirical investigation the main critical qualities for efficient public library services were revealed as enthusiasm; positive attitude; innovative thinking; capability and commitment; critical competencies as expertise; team-building; and leadership; critical external factors as external environment; global competition; shrinking budget; changing library customers and employees' needs and information technology; strategic management issues organisational culture; transformational leadership; employee recognition and reward systems; performance measurement system; productivity improvement; and customer orientation; critical staff issues as sense of purpose and achievement; feeling of self-worth; job-security; recognition; status; career development; and salary; motivational factors as effective communication; job satisfaction; delegation of authority; clear job description; performance feedback; conducive working environment; human resource strategy issues as motivation building among staff;continuous education and development; generating competitive advantage through human resources; and alignment of human resource strategy with strategic management plan. The study recommends a strategic human resource management model for libraries along with: conducive working environment; adequate IT infrastructure to store, organise and retrieve information; staff training for excellent customer service; objective, reward based staff appraisal; performance feedback; performance appraisal should be aligned with staff selection, library mission, staff motivation and promotion in order to use it strategically; and human resource strategy should be developed immediately. / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)