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While much has been written about skill shortages and gaps in Australia and China, less attention has been paid to skills in New Zealand and Vietnam, countries which also experience skill challenges. This special issue of the Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources includes papers that focus on the four countries in order to examine skills and the role of human resource management (HRM). The intention is to advance theoretical and empirical research, helping to explain how HRM can provide responses to manage the challenges associated with skill development and talent management. We conclude that, at a broader level, effective alliances between education providers, industry and other stakeholders are needed to reduce skill shortages and improve skill development. At an organisational level, it is advocated that HR strategies focus on the creation of talent pipelines and talent management to reduce skill gaps and improve the quality of human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an empirical study exploring the expatriate performance management systems of 16 Australian multinational firms operating in China. The results show that highly internationalized firms tend to be better at deploying the ‘hard’ components of performance management (goal-setting and performance appraisals), and yet most firms, and in particular highly internationalized ones, are poor at managing ‘soft’ control mechanisms like training and mentoring. The results give some support for the notion that expatriate performance management takes on increased importance as a firm's international operations become more dispersed; however, it also suggests a lack of appreciation of the value of soft control mechanisms in achieving this. The study contributes to international human resource management literature by identifying the relationship between the degree of internationalization of firms and the nature of expatriate performance management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form 5X (MLQ5X) is used to study leadership across two large sample groups from the People's Republic of China and Australia. Understanding leadership across cultures is a significant dimension of the human resource capacity of effective international businesses. Both transformational and transactional attributes feature as influencing factors in Extra Effort, Effectiveness and Satisfaction across both cultural sample groups. While the transactional dimension of Contingent Reward is deemed significant, it is not as significant as transformational attributes aligned with critical thinking, empowerment, challenging workplaces in increasing positive outcomes associated with effective leadership behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]