Contemporary Global Issues in Human Resource Management

In this study, the concept of career, which is one of the most significant functions of human resources, is examined. Toward the end of the twentieth century, restricted models, in which individuals work in a workplace in a classical manner, have been replaced by more flexible models. Due to certain reasons such as changing environmental conditions, increasing education levels, and the impact of employee’s values on his/her work life, individuals’ work life have been dramatically changed. Therefore, some career approaches oriented for these changing conditions and current requirements have been proposed by both academicians and professionals. These approaches mostly include removing workplace limits, offering the opportunity to work from anywhere, using various skills at different departments without any limitations. Basing on the aforementioned changes in theory and practice, this study investigates up-to-date career approaches in a holistic manner. In this context, the background and practicability of these theoretically framed approaches are also discussed in the present study

The aim of this chapter is to examine appearance-based discrimination in the workplace. Modern society is exalting beautification and good looking, which affect not merely social relations but also the process of employment. It is argued that employees who have ‘good looking’ are recruited, paid more and promoted rapidly, while those who have ‘wrong looking’ discriminated against. Therefore, the chapter explores how individuals encounter discrimination in the workplace due to their appearance during the decision-making process of employers. It emerges from the literature that discriminating based on appearance is not illegal in almost all countries. However, it is publicised by lawsuits against employers. There are several measures that need to be taken at different levels in order to forestall discriminatory practices. At the individual level, an embracing attitude should be internalised. A merit-based recruitment strategy should be adopted by employers. Finally, new anti-discrimination laws and regulations must be passed by authorities to tackle with ugly discriminatory practices.

This chapter focuses on the diversity management concept which emerged in the United States at the end of the 1980s. As a strategic tool for effective use of the diverse workforce, the concept started to diffuse globally in recent years. However, there are concerns about the transferability of diversity management as a readymade practice. From this point of view, this chapter questions the universality of diversity management by providing evidence from the Turkish context. Findings reveal that due to cross-national differences and the local sensitivities, diversity management is subject to customization in the different contexts. In a sense, the local context reconstructs the content of the practice. On this basis, the chapter demonstrates the need for a context-specific diversity management approach.

In recent years, preparations for the transition from the Post-industrial society to Community 5.0 have been continuing at full speed. The change in this process necessitates changes in the roles and structure of the labour force in societies. While work and family living spaces of the individual change the dimensions of his/her interaction, they increase the importance of work–family life balance gradually. The basis of conflicts (imbalances) in roles in work and family life is based on three pillars: time, tension and behaviour. The conflicts in the work and family life spaces take place in two sub-dimensions, namely ‘work-family conflict’ which is directed from work to family and ‘family-work conflict’ which is directed from family to work. The conflict between work and family life leads to individual, organisational and familial consequences. Effective communication with the social support of the organisation and the members of family is of great importance for individuals not to experience a work–family conflict.

With the advent of technology and science, the business environment will keep changing very fast. Today, Information Technology (IT) is used in almost all business applications. The most important improvements are being realized at the management side since IT is fully supporting decision-making processes now. Human Resources Management (HRM) is being affected by IT such as web-based technologies and intelligent systems and these systems make HRM much more effective. Today’s HRM-related software do not deal with just payrolls, they also include recruiting and record-keeping, training and performance appraisal which have transitioned HRM from task-oriented to people-oriented. Today, Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and electronic HRM (e-HRM) are being utilized by many organizations all over the world and play a strategic role in decision-making processes for effective and efficient HRM. This study investigates the recent literature on HRIS, e-HRM and Decision Support Systems in HRM to identify the improvements and debates on contemporary Human Resources Management.

Digital transformation is a much prevalent process being practiced in the different spheres of the business sectors. This transformational framework has been made possible by the extensive use of digital technologies. Nevertheless, companies are serious regarding the digital transformation process but hesitate in their stock of workers possessing digital abilities. The building up of dexterous teams is of paramount importance in achieving goals. In the research, there has been an examination of the techniques and methods used by select companies to encourage and develop their employees to become attuned with the digital transformation processes implemented. The author has also conducted an exploratory study to identify the sophisticated techniques used by most new companies on their workforce to upgrade their digital awareness and capabilities. Furthermore, in doing so, a model has been developed to sustain, evolve, and ultimately to transform the employees in the digital era.

This chapter introduces human resource practices in contemporary knowledge-based organizations of today’s fast moving sectors. Such organizations are called ‘knowledge intensive firms’ (KIFs) which are distinct from traditional organizations as their main focus is innovation. These firms employ knowledge-oriented workers named as ‘knowledge workers’ (KWs) whose main task is to find creative solutions to complex problems and create new knowledge. Knowledge workers are well-educated experts and their nature of work includes complexity, creativity and analytical thinking. Such workers are the most important resource of KIFs, as they own the means of production. In this regard, attracting, retaining and motivating KWs have become crucial for knowledge intense firms to gain competitive advantage. Having these workers in hand, human resource management practices also differ in knowledge-oriented organizations. This chapter aims to introduce such contemporary practices and inform the reader about the strategies in attracting, retaining and motivating KWs in organizations.

Human resource is the asset for a nation’s development and growth. The skilful human resource will enhance the nation’s productivity and directly contribute to the economy growth. At the country level, a nation’s human resource development (HRD) policy and human resource trainings schemes will catalyst for the growth of the workforce’s productivity, especially in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 which requires advanced technological knowledge and specialists in particular fields such as digitalisation, artificial intelligence and quantum computing. This chapter discusses the HRD in developed, developing and less-developed countries and raise awareness and attention of organisations as well as nations to develop and train up human resource for the future growth of the countries.

This chapter discusses key training challenges that organizations need to confront with the objective of building a robust human resource management system. Given the dynamics of the current business environment, training and development has become an indispensable function in global organizations. Building an effective human capital that contributes to continual organizational growth has become the established norm to survive in a competitive business landscape. However, the training and development function is often rendered ineffective, on account of various bottlenecks existing in the organization. Addressing these bottlenecks is quintessential in ensuring the creation of a performance-driven human capital. The goal of this chapter is to draw attention to the training impediments that hinder organizational growth and to diagnose the underlying causes for the same. This chapter concludes with recommendations that organizational decision-makers can leverage in their quest to strengthen the human capital, by utilizing their training and development infrastructure optimally.

One of the main concerns in human resource management around the world is how education is encouraging the understanding of global issues, cultures, technological changes and social trends to make appropriate decisions in firm management. This chapter will aim to illustrate the main issues in international business (IB) theory and practice that need to be considered in configurating a global-minded curriculum that is able to produce global-minded human resources. Hence, to determine what inputs must be considered in building an exceptional curriculum and successful educational strategies, the author observe the assertions from three perspectives: first, the contributors to the IB and the multinational enterprise theory; second, the author explores the stakeholders’ perspective, who see the benefits and assume the consequences of education in the field; and third, the author reviews the researchers who in recent years have studied the problems and trends of the discipline.

The contemporary human resource management (HRM) sector is faced with continual leadership development challenges. Unethical behavior in leaders is not the norm, but it is also not the exception. Human resource training and development focus significantly on better leadership but have largely failed to create more effective leaders. The result? Employee and follower wellbeing have not seen their best days. In this chapter, authentic relationships comprising authentic leaders and authentic followers are posited as a solution. The call is for more rigor in the theory underpinning leadership development programs, assurance of such programs, and embedding ethics into the core of what leadership developers do.

Human life course is shaped by a set of consecutive roles, such as being a worker, a spouse and a parent in a standard biography. However, being instantly disengaged from any of these roles may cause devastating effects on people’s lives. This discontinuity not only influences the very dynamics of the meaning of working, but also causes aging labor force to be excluded from the market economy. Experienced workers are drained from the pool of labor force just because they are old. This study aims at focusing on the effects of compulsory retirement both upon individual and upon structure, through the lenses of Political Economy of Aging (PEA) and Human Resources Management (HRM). The PEA perspective proposes a tripartite relationship among state (politics), market (economy) and individual (society), while HRM perspective provides an insight of an effective use of workforce from different generations, including older generation.

The rapid change in technology has begun to influence the maritime sector with the effect of globalization. The impact of technologies is increasing in shipping management; on the other hand, the importance of the human element has also increased. International Maritime Organization has introduced regulations governing the training and social rights of seafarers. MLC 2006 has been an important improvement for the social rights of seafarers. Preventive measures for workplace bullying were started on ships. The safety regulations of STWC Manila 2010 have brought some improvements in the industry. The maritime industry will face some absolute changes brought by Industry 4.0 such as IoT, artificial intelligence, cloud technology and blockchain, although it is unclear yet what sort of changes will occur in manpower labor markets. There are some countries that carry on projects regarding unmanned ships presently. For example, Norway has realized several trial voyages, as well as some other projects, which were carried on by Finland and the EU. In spite of all these changes, seafarers obviously will be needed in the maritime industry. The main purpose of the study is to determine how, from where and how many seafarers will be demanded onboard in the future. Prospects, futurists’ approaches, opinions of sector representatives and research reports are evaluated, and the future of seafarers is discussed in this study.

This chapter explained the findings of a research that is aimed at studying the effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer from Japanese companies to their business affiliates in Malaysia by looking into Japanese organizational culture and the mediating effect of the business affiliate’s learning intent. By focusing on attributes identified by existing literature, there were three aspects being investigated to study their roles in influencing the effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer. These aspects are intensive and extensive job training, employee involvement and human relations, and leadership styles. The results indicate that all three aspects indeed led to a higher learning intention. The research also found that the business affiliates’ learning intent significantly mediates the relationship between organizational culture and the effectiveness of cross-border knowledge transfer. This study provides academicians and human resource managers deeper insights on how to improve knowledge transfer in cross-culture organizations by managing organizational culture more effectively.

In the present times, volunteers constitute a critical element of the human resources (HR) of non-profit organizations. All over the world, non-profit organizations work in complex environments, which are why non-profit organizations are facing increasing pressures to adopt contemporary HR management practices, not just in terms of their paid employees, but also with respect to managing their volunteers. It is frequently believed that volunteers are central to the functioning of non-profit organizations. Volunteers perform their responsibilities for the non-profit organization only because they care about its beneficiaries; however, a vital part is played by HR in facilitating their involvement, dedication and efficiency. Previously, non-profit organizations concentrated on developing and executing their objectives for the future; however, they are now starting to accept the significance of adopting a more professional approach regarding managing the volunteers so as to accomplish those objectives. In this regard, the purpose of the chapter is to: (1) analyze the factors that encourage volunteering in non-profit organizations; (2) offer theoretical anchoring through which it can be comprehended how HR practices draw, involve and sustain volunteers; (3) describe the HR practices that are most appropriate for volunteers and (4) offer the pathway for subsequent research regarding how HR and volunteering are related to each other.