A review of international HRD: incorporating a global HRD construct

Theorizing Human Resource Development Practices in Extended Contexts

Mainstream human resource development (HRD) views are based on assumptions derived from organizations and societies in the western open contexts. They are inadequate and misleading in explaining the causality and regularities of HRD practices in non-mainstream closed contexts, which account for majority countries according to the 2022 World Press Freedom Index. As the fourth study in a progressive multi-stage theorizing program, we theorize HRD as multi-level and multi-context practices to decode the causality and regularities from open to closed sociopolitical contexts. We adopt an emancipatory theoretical stance to derive law-like axioms and theorems of HRD with its corresponding host system (HIS) contexts. We do so through formal and theoretical language and abstraction. We provide illustrative cases at the organizational and national levels to demonstrate the applicability of our theorizing. We further discuss implications for HRD theory, research, and practice, as well as limitations and future research directions for continued theorizing.

Tempered radicalism as an approach to revisiting indigenous forms of critical human resource development

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to present a conceptual framework to guide the design, development, implementation and evaluation of education and human resource development (HRD) efforts in Ghana.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on the concept of a tempered radical approach to provide a framework for a critical HRD (CHRD) and explore ways by which this view can contribute to developing HR who possess the requisite tools and character to function efficiently in the 21st century and beyond. This paper followed a multidisciplinary integrated literature review approach. This paper also reviewed relevant models and theories that align with the goals of this research to provide a broader view of the problems with HRD in Ghana and to help develop a framework that seeks to provide a sustainable guide for those involved in HRD activities in Ghana.

Findings

A positive outcome from the synergistic alignment between modern science and indigenous ecological knowledge moderated by the principles of CHRD will result in economic growth and development. HRD’s contribution to economic growth and development and its consequential benefit to the actors will depend on how best CHRD goals are accomplished.

Practical implications

The mediating role of the tempered radicalism will help modify the swiftness with which education and HRD programs are executed in Ghana.

Originality/value

This paper presented the tempered radicalism approach as the quintessential model for education and HRD initiatives in Ghana. The application of tempered radicalism in HRD literature is novel.

Inclusive leadership: new age leadership to foster organizational inclusion

Purpose

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between inclusive leadership (IL) and organizational inclusion (OI) in literature and explores the contribution of IL and OI in human resources development (HRD).

Design/methodology/approach

The systematic literature review was undertaken from peer-reviewed journals. In total, 68 articles were critically analyzed to be included in the review highlighting the relationship between IL and OI.

Findings

The paper provides insights into leader behaviors that foster IL and how it differs from other styles of leadership. The paper also proposes a theoretical model to show the relationship between IL and OI.

Practical implications

The study will facilitate creating awareness in practitioners and academicians who think inclusion is mostly concerned with disabled learners, which is misleading. The paper will help the concerned stakeholders to formulate HRD practices to foster an inclusive culture at work.

Originality/value

The paper explores an area less researched and is among the few review papers investigating through the relationship between IL and OI and how they impact HRD practices in an organizational set-up.

What Is a Resource: Toward a Taxonomy of Resources for Employee Engagement

Research detailing employee engagement has reliably stated that resources are significant to fostering engagement. Notwithstanding, no previous work has attempted to make meaning of those resources through a review of the existing literature. To better understand how the engagement literature positions and defines resources, we reviewed the resources term across 137 articles. The results of our structured literature review revealed that 216 distinct resources were mentioned across literature streams, and five distinct categories from macro to micro levels could be identified. The categories include (a) organizational resources, (b) social resources, (c) job resources, (d) home resources, and (e) personal resources. In addition to detailing our method and each category of resources, we explore implications for human resource development theory and practice.

Human resource development (HRD) practices and banking industry effectiveness

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating role of employee competencies in the relationship between human resource development (HRD) practices and organizational effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

An integrated research model was developed by combining principal factors from existing literature. Data were collected through questionnaire from 550 employees of the selected banks. The validity of the model and hypotheses was tested using structural equation modeling. The reliability and validity of the dimensions are established through confirmatory factor analysis.

Findings

The results indicate that some HRD practices impact organizational effectiveness through their influence on employee competencies. The study further revealed that employee competencies mediate the relationship between HRD practices and organizational effectiveness.

Research limitations/implications

The research was undertaken in the banking industry and the analysis based on cross-sectional data which cannot be generalized across a broader range of sectors.

Practical implications

The findings of the study will help policymakers and management of banks in espousing suitable and well-articulated HRD practices to harness the competencies of employees and inordinately enhance organizational effectiveness.

Originality/value

This study extends the literature by empirically adducing evidence that employee competencies mediated the relationship between HRD practices and organizational effectiveness of the banking industry in Ghana.

An Ecosystems Perspective on International Human Resource Development: A Meta-Synthesis of the Literature

There has been significant growth of interest in both international human resource development (IHRD) and ecosystems research. Both literatures highlight important characteristics of each concept; however, to date, they have not yet been linked. We propose an ecosystem perspective as an important framework to understand IHRD. Ecosystems emphasize interdependencies, actor centrality, bargaining power, and relationships between actors as important in shaping IHRD. We utilize a meta-synthesis of the IHRD literature to identify content and process dimensions of an IHRD ecosystem. We conclude with a discussion of implications for IHRD research.

International HRD and Offshore Outsourcing

Offshore outsourcing is an increasing trend in the global business environment and has important consequences for human resource development (HRD) practices such as organization development, knowledge transfer, organizational culture, and training and development. However, the links between international HRD (IHRD) and offshore outsourcing have yet to be explored in the HRD literature. This article argues that robust IHRD research into offshore outsourcing contexts is required that challenges the dominant “headquarters perspective” taken in existing accounts of the global trend to offshore outsourcing. To provide the basis for a research agenda, the article undertakes a conceptual review of the IHRD and offshore outsourcing literatures. It develops a conceptual framework that identifies connections between these fields as a basis for an IHRD research agenda to examine the HRD effects and contributions to offshore outsourcing arrangements for individuals and teams working in “provider” and “client” organizations and to investigate the consequences for HRD in both “home” and “destination” countries.