Search

Employee well-being is a multidimensional construct, hence high performance work practices (HPWPs) may have diverse effects on its various dimensions. However, extant research does not provide any compelling conclusion regarding the possibility of such tradeoff effects since researchers have usually focused on single well-being dimensions while using diverse research designs (e.g. samples from different countries, different conceptualizations and measures of HPWPs and employee well-being). Diversely, this paper explores the relationship between employees' perception of HPWPs and three well-being dimensions (health, happiness, and relational well-being) using a probabilistic sample (n = 1,364 employees), from a single country (i.e. Germany), and a set of uniform measures of HPWPs and employee well-being. The findings show that some HPWPs indeed present tradeoff effects on different dimensions of employee well-being. Therefore, we argue that it is necessary to adopt an analytic view on the relationships between HPWPs and employee well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore how institutional actors push or resist equality, diversity and inclusion in light of power relations in their respective country contexts. We conducted interviews with a range of institutional actors, including governmental organizations, employer representatives, unions, professional associations, and civil society organizations working on EDI issues in Germany and Turkey, two countries with very different socioeconomic and political settings. Our findings suggest that EDI fields are structured by country-specific power relations: they appear as competitively dispersed in Germany and politically polarized in Turkey, depending on the social position of the actors and the type of field fragmentation. These field characteristics, in turn, nurture different patterns of actors' strategies such as framing and mobilizing aimed at maintaining or disrupting the institutionalized status quo of EDI. We propose that a critical, power-sensitive institutional work approach to EDI is a useful lens through which to examine extra-organizational country contexts in international HRM research and, in particular, context-sensitive studies of EDI. As a practical implication, EDI and HR managers will be sensitized to the relevance of building coalitions with external stakeholders if they are to advance EDI within their organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines continuity and change in employment relations in two key industries – auto assembly and retail banking – across five countries: the USA, Australia, Germany, South Korea and China. The subsequent papers that constitute this symposium are discussed drawing on the varieties of capitalism (VoC) approach. Particular emphasis is laid on the interplay between continuity and change in employment relations in different types of capitalism, the conceptualization of Asian VoC and the industry-specific effects of globalization on employment relations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper examines the German low cost airline industry by analysing how the growth of low cost competition has influenced the industry's pattern of employment relations. The paper highlights the role of Lufthansa, as both the traditional flag carrier and the leading site of employment relations within the German aviation sector. The paper explains how Lufthansa has positioned itself to face low cost competition by, among other initiatives, creating its own low cost subsidiary (Germanwings). Competitive pressures, stemming from the liberalization of European aviation and demand for low cost travel, have produced a marked divergence in this industry from the typical pattern of German employment relations. The paper explains this divergence by situating the case study within the varieties of capitalism literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on the links between training and organizational commitment have only looked at professional and managerial workers, mostly in the U.S. This paper focuses on a German manufacturing company that employed many blue-collar workers and offered generous training opportunities during short-time work in the post-2008 crisis. In an analysis based on employee survey data, only training in job-specific skills and training in skills usable outside of work were found to be associated positively with organizational commitment. The findings suggest that employer-provided training programs may be part of a model that achieves internal flexicurity in economies such as Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to our knowledge on talent management (TM) by conceptually and empirically investigating the peculiarities of TM and gender inclusion in talent development in the German context, as well as by analyzing whether TM is an inclusive HRM practice with respect to gender. Thus, we add an interdisciplinary perspective to the study of TM by linking it to important findings of gender and HRM studies with a specific focus on inclusion. A conceptualization of inclusive TM is suggested, and as a result of a comprehensive literature review, we identify five TM elements (talent definition, underlying career orientation, the content of talent development programs, the TM approach, and the talent selection process) which – depending on their design and characteristics – have an impact on the degree of gender bias and the discriminatory risk of TM. Respective propositions are suggested, and based on a qualitative comparative case study analysis, this paper provides empirical evidence from the German media industry, which shows important differences between cases in the identified TM elements and indicators concerning the gender inclusion of TM practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Only a few studies so far have tried to assess the role of HRM-flexibility in cross-national location decisions. None of these, however, investigates a potential heterogeneity across multinationals in terms of their specific needs concerning different types of flexibility in HRM. In this paper, I theoretically and empirically analyse the impact of HRM-flexibility on the type of investment being attracted. The theoretical implications are based on a real options framework and are derived in the context of a British-German comparison. They are confronted with data from an original survey on US-multinationals with manufacturing subsidiaries in Germany and the UK. The analysis reveals that in UK subsidiaries, investments in R&D are significantly lower, and technological uncertainty is significantly felt less strongly than in their German counterparts. Both results are compatible with the implications derived from the real options framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine the drivers of vertical integration for an integrated and unified HR-process model for 42 large companies from the financial services (13 companies) and the non-financial services sector (29 companies). The basis of this paper is formed by the results of a survey analysing the structures, processes and sourcing activities of human resource organizations. We sent the survey to 500 companies in Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The survey is based on an integrated process model that uses an employee life-cycle approach and differentiates between eight HR activities.The purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to gain insights into the current status of HR outsourcing and understand the differences between the financial services and the non-financial services industry. Second, to develop a theory-based framework (transaction-cost, resource-based, principal agent) enabling us to derive and test eight hypotheses using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS)-regression analysis in order to examine the determinants of the vertical integration of HR processes. Third, to analyse the impact of the vertical integration of HR departments on company performance and characteristics. We find significant differences in the level of vertical integration between the HR subprocesses analysed. Even the processes with increased outsourcing activities (i.e. a lower degree of vertical integration) still show a relatively high proportion of in-house production.Regression analysis reveals a significant negative interrelationship between the relative size of the HR department compared to company size and vertical integration. This finding holds for the HR subprocesses 'Personnel Administration', 'Payroll and Benefits', and 'Off Boarding'. Second, we find a significant negative correlation between financial performance in terms of Return-on-Equity and vertical integration of 'HR-IT'. We also find support for the theoretical framework for the subprocess 'HR-Top Management'. Six hypotheses (out of eight) are supported by the analyses; two of these are highly significant.Three major findings are noteworthy when analysing company performance and the vertical integration of HR departments. First, we find that large companies (in terms of total staff and total assets) display significantly high levels of vertical integration for subprocesses which include a large amount of manual work and crucial managerial, controlling and reporting tasks ('HR-Top Management' and 'HR-Controlling and Reporting'). Second, large companies (in terms of total company staff) show lower levels of vertical integration for the HR subprocess 'HR-IT'. Third, companies that show superior financial performance in terms of Return on Equity (RoE) display lower levels of vertical integration for the HR subprocess 'HR-IT'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The wage policy of a German firm and a US firm is subjected to a comparative analysis, focusing on the relation between wages and hierarchies. While previous studies have examined only one particular firm, this paper investigates two plants belonging to the same owners with similar production processes but in different institutional environments. Convex wage profiles over the hierarchy levels of both plants are found. The US plant shows considerably higher intensity of intra-firm competition in terms of higher intra-level wage inequality and annual promotion rate. In contrast, wages are more distinctly attached to hierarchy levels in the German firm, as shown by wage regressions. The results are discussed in relation to previous studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on a comparative study of the UK and German operations of the McDonald's Corporation. The main focus of the paper is the interaction between multinational enterprises (MNEs) and the German system of co-determination. Commentators have suggested that industrial relations practices in host countries are particularly difficult for MNEs to avoid because they are so deeply embedded in societal frameworks. However, there are also opposing global pressures for MNEs to impose their industrial relations practices across national borders in order to transmit 'best practice' to their subsidiaries. Ferner and Edwards (1995) suggest that Germany is something of a 'test case' for MNEs because of the strength of its legislative underpinning and institutional arrangements. Most analysis on the German system of co-determination has suggested that it is only small and medium-sized firms which avoid or undermine the German system (Lane, 1989). However, evidence brought together in this study suggests that, along with other large companies and MNEs of different origins and across different industries, McDonald's have been able to take advantage of weaknesses in regulation in the German system of co-determination. The paper puts forward a typology of possible 'avoidance strategies' within the German system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the international economy over the past twenty years has bred considerable diversity in the form and substance of employment relations (labour-management relations, human resource management practices) throughout the world. Cases of 'social partnership' are today found in the 'free market' United States economy; some companies operating in Germany's 'social' market economy are rejecting traditional forms of social partnership in the name of more unilateral strategies. This paper examines (a) the extent to which 'strategic diversity' - variation in human resource strategies and policies - is possible within the heavily institutionalized, co-operative and codeterminative German economy, and (b) how managers perceive the effects of different kinds of HR approaches on organizational change and industrial adjustment. It is based on empirical evidence drawn from seven large chemicals companies operating in Germany - three of them US-owned firms and four German-owned. The main conclusions are that considerable strategic diversity is possible within the German context, and that managers perceive distinct costs and benefits to specific aspects of the typically American 'unilateral' style and the more German 'negotiated' approach to structuring the relationship with human resources. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of these trade-offs for the transferability of HR strategies across international borders, giving special attention to policies to avoid some of these potential costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines and analyses the major changes in work-force organization that have been introduced by British and German steel producers in the past decade, against a backcloth of retrenchment in the industry, new product development and technological change. Including multiskilling, a reduction in demarcation and team-working, these changes have had a major effect upon the composition of the work-force and the nature of work undertaken at the shopfloor level. While these changes have had a common broad trajectory, they have been introduced at a different pace and in different forms. The contrasts are provided not only at the international level, but between plants in the same countries. The paper further outlines the response of trade unions to these changes and the implications for industrial relations at the shopfloor level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Foreign-owned firms help to disseminate management practices across UK companies; this includes the ability of indigenous firms to learn improved human resource management (HRM) practices from leading foreign companies. Analysing the transfer of HRM policies forms an important strand of the international HRM and comparative capitalisms literatures; however, large-scale, comparative studies of voice patterns in German, US and, in particular, French subsidiaries in the UK are limited. This paper draws on a major survey that includes the, to date, largest sample of French MNC subsidiaries. It does not simply identify the existence of different kinds of voice mechanisms, but examines how these different practices come together in the implementation of subsidiaries' voice policies. This enables the detection of subtle, but important, differences in the subsidiaries' voice practices. French subsidiaries are significantly less likely to pursue a partnership approach to voice than their German and US counterparts. French and US establishments are significantly more likely to adopt a ‘bleak house’ approach than German ones. Importantly, these key differences only emerge at a fine-grained level of analysis that examines how subsidiaries implement voice practices. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Previous literature on self-initiated expatriates (SIEs) has mostly focused on an individual perspective and rarely on SIEs in an organizational context. This paper examines the effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on SIE employees' intention to stay in the host country, mediated by career satisfaction and moderated by career networks of host and home country nationals. Data from 112 SIE employees in Germany were collected and tested for moderated mediation. Results partially supported our proposed model: we found a direct positive effect between POS and intention to stay. However, there was a significant negative indirect effect between POS and intention to stay when the career network of home country nationals was large. Our study contributes to theories of POS, confirming its positive effect on SIEs' career satisfaction and intention to stay in the host country. For organizational practice, it provides insight to understand SIE employees' needs for support and mobility preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports on the employment effects of pacts for employment and competitiveness (PEC) concluded at company level and characterized by concessions from both bargaining partners. In these works, councils agree to company-specific deviations from an industry-level contract such as reduced wages or prolonged working time, in exchange for employment guarantees or investment programmes to mitigate a possible decline of employment or to improve the company's competitiveness. Since the number of empirical studies on the employment effects of PECs is very small and no investigation addressing the global economic crisis has been conducted until now, we base our analysis on the IAB Establishment Panel Survey of 2006–2009 and adopt conditional difference estimators to assess the role of PECs within the global crisis. In our analysis, we find evidence suggesting that the adoption of PECs is connected with a decreased negative employment effect within the crisis given an establishment is affected by the crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper explores a number of relocation outcomes for geographically mobile employees in the following three regions: Germany as the home country and destination for domestic assignments (n = 115), Western Europe (n = 116) and other countries (n = 236). The satisfaction with various aspects of the post-relocation environment, the perception of change between the pre- and post-relocation environment and the attachment to the post-relocation environment at various levels were compared between the three groups. For the European and international sub-samples differences in the ideal country and future plans were also investigated. The group that stood out most clearly was the domestic sub-sample. It emerged as the group least satisfied with their job or task characteristics, perceived significantly fewer changes in the environment and was comparatively eager to leave the site they were currently working at and the job they were currently employed in. The sometimes proposed redefinition of intra-European assignments as 'quasi-domestic' relocation appears to be inappropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper takes an explanatory approach to the triggers of Human Resource (HR) outsourcing decisions and evaluates them empirically. Our data show that many German firms have never explicitly considered outsourcing of HR functions. Obviously, explicit outsourcing decisions do not come into being automatically but have to be triggered. We analyze theoretically and empirically which triggers are relevant. In our definition, HR outsourcing includes a broad range of internal HR functions and the respective, externally procured personnel services (e.g., temporary agency work, payroll accounting, interim management, outplacement services, HR consulting, placement services and others). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We develop and empirically test a model of expatriate managers' work adjustment. In this model we relate the fit between work-related abilities and needs of expatriate managers as well as the fit between the job requirements of, and incentives associated with, an international assignment to the level of expatriate managers' work adjustment. We test this model with data gathered by means of an electronic survey among 118 German expatriate managers. The empirical findings largely support our theoretical model. The paper enhances our understanding of expatriate managers' work adjustment and its antecedents and contributes to the theoretical and empirical basis of research into expatriate management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite inpatriates' growing importance for the scope of international business, research on this specific group of international assignees transferred to the corporate headquarters (HQ) of multinational corporations (MNCs) still remains in its infancy. Due to this research gap, a qualitative approach to the analysis of inpatriates' experiences was selected to uncover directions for subsequent research and derive factors that are relevant in the context of these cross-cultural assignments. This paper reports the results of exploratory interviews with 13 inpatriates assigned to the HQ of three German MNCs. The interviews explored the purpose of inpatriate assignments in MNCs and focused on identifying critical dimensions to assess their success. In addition, the relevance of individuals' cultural background and other factors that may impact on assignment outcomes were examined. The empirical results are instrumental in deriving two major research questions that may guide future research in the field of inpatriate assignments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops a framework of international human resource management (IHRM) that moves beyond strategy and structure to focus on processes. The results of six case studies of large German multinational corporations in three countries show different configurations of IHRM strategies and policies. International knowledge flows and coordination varied in intensity, content, direction and mechanisms used. With 'cognofederate' IHRM one type was identified that has been hitherto neglected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chief objective of this paper is to develop suggestions as to how to learn from best practices in HRM across national borders. The analysis is based on survey data gathered from 232 HRM managers from American, Japanese and German top 500 companies. The managers provide information on how the HRM model of their respective country is characterized and from which of the other two country models they seek inspiration. The concrete attributes of the models considered worth adopting are described in detail and future developments with regards to convergence of the HRM models explored. The empirical data suggest that HR managers from all three countries expect a partial convergence towards a hybrid model. Curiously, the model that comes closest to this hybrid - the German one - is also the one that rates lowest as a source of inspiration. An argument is made that in order to better understand learning from best practice and resulting convergence tendencies, research should seek more insights regarding the knowledge of managers about foreign management models, their perceptions of these models, and how these perceptions are generated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper re-conceptualizes the adjustment of expatriate spouses during overseas assignments and explores various factors influencing the level of spousal adjustment. It does so by using a combination of qualitative data, collected through interviews and group discussions with expatriate spouses, and quantitative data, gathered by means of a questionnaire survey of American expatriate spouses in Germany. The results support the existence of a hitherto neglected facet of spousal adjustment, designated 'role adjustment', and highlight some important antecedents of spousal adjustment. The implications of the results for research and the practice of international HRM are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's global shipping industry have management functions often been outsourced to separate companies and to overseas locations. With the appearance of so-called 'flags of convenience', the world shipping industry has increasingly registered commercial vessels overseas. Following this trend, human resource management functions have also been relocated, with the opening of recruitment offices and the use of HR agencies outside OECD countries. Recently, new German regulation has sought to attract previously outsourced HRM functions back to Germany. A case study of such a newly established firm, called 'Reimarus', will exemplify the impact of the new regulation on HR firms in shipping. The following paper analyses this process based on an empirical study of Germany's commercial shipping industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the research about HRM and IR practices of MNCs in their host country has been conducted in deregulated countries such as the UK and the US. Host countries with relatively weak institutional arrangements facilitate the transfer of home-country practices. In contrast, those with institutionally strong systems, such as Germany, impose stronger pressures for adaptation. This paper reports research about nine US and four UK subsidiaries operating in Germany. It examines how their HRM and IR practices are shaped by German labour and IR institutions, how they differ from a control group of indigenous firms and what room for manoeuvre is left for the introduction of home-country practices. The main conclusions are that small and medium-sized subsidiaries in particular can to some extent avoid the pressures exerted by German labour and IR institutions. This facilitates the transfer of home-country practices. However, even larger affiliates that comply with the German institutions can transfer practices from their parent company. The highly regulated German system leaves some room for flexibility. Nevertheless, the institutional environment prevents large companies from following a unitarist HRM and IR approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the contribution of works councils to the overall success of German firms during the last few decades. It is argued that a successful implementation of flexible specialization strategies is the cornerstone of German prosperity. The acquisition and effective utilization of firm-specific skills is a precondition of successful flexible specialization. Effective skill utilization itself needs cooperation between employers and employees in order to safeguard the specific investments of either side. Thus, the crucial question is whether the dual system of worker representation in Germany, and particularly the part of the works councils therein, is an efficient institution in the sense that it guarantees the necessary co-operation. In analysing the effects of works councils on personnel turnover and vocational training, we find the works councils to be organizationally efficient, i.e., they balance out employers' and employees' interests. The legal structure underlying the dual system is found to be institutionally efficient because it guarantees this result. Even in times of crisis and if exposed to great pressure, the dual system seems to remain stable, as is illustrated in the light of recent labour market developments that have been triggered by German unification and the last recession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper compares recent developments in the recruitment and training practices of retail banks in Germany, Britain and France. It examines how common competitive pressures have resulted in companies adopting significantly different solutions to these challenges. This is largely due to the constraints and opportunities created by national as well as particular sectoral institutional arrangements in each country. As a result of the behaviour of individual banks, sectoral training providers and state-guided training institutions, the creation of a pool of highly skilled labour with higher levels of individual motivation varies between the countries. This research shows how by cooperating at both the sectoral and the national level companies can reduce the problem of free riders and benefit from a general improvement in the quality of available labour. However, this problem has been more successfully managed in France and Germany than in the UK. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore how subsidiaries in a high-trust (Germany) and low-trust (France) country adopt the performance appraisal (PA) system from their US-headquarter. In-depth interviews with 30 informants illustrate trickle-down effects of trust from the national level to the organizational and individual levels shaping processes, outputs, and interactions of PA. While German informants expressed trust in the overall PA practice of the US-headquarter, French informants reacted with mistrust to PA manifested in different processes, rater and ratee attitudes, outcomes of PA, as well as the role of HR. We add to the comparative HRM literature by untangling, within an MNE context, the interaction of societal, organizational, and individual trust with the overall PA to provide a more holistic explanation for cross-national variations in PA beyond the mere assignment to separate cultural categories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ulrich's framework of the human resource business partner model (HRBPM) suggests that both the strategic HRM roles (i.e. strategic partner and change agent) and operational HRM roles (i.e. administrative expert and employee champion) jointly add value to an organization. To deepen our understanding of the link between the HRBPM and organizational performance, this study jointly examines the influence of strategic and operational roles on organizational performance and introduces internal efficiency as a central mediating mechanism that explains how the HRBPM contributes to organizational success. In addition, we offer an institutional perspective on the HRBPM to improve our understanding of how the HRBPM is designed in different institutional contexts and whether the performance implications depend on the organization's institutional environment. Based on data from 300 medium-sized and large organizations from Germany and the UK, we found a joint impact of the HRM roles on organizational performance, mediated by internal efficiency. We also found differences in the design of the HRBPM between the UK and Germany; however, we did not find a moderated mediation for the country comparison concerning the performance implications of the HRBPM. These findings improve our understanding of the success of the HRBPM in different institutional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite growing interest in the influence of social and institutional settings on the nature of career trajectories, research into comparative differences in boundaryless careers is scarce. Informed by the Varieties of Capitalism approach, which emphasizes the embeddedness of employment practices within discrete types of capitalist market economy, and based on rich qualitative data from in-depth interviews with 32 self-employed and directly employed information and communications (ICT) professionals based in the UK and Germany, we investigate variation in their experience of, and attitudes towards, boundaryless careers. The research findings provide scant evidence that ICT professionals embrace boundaryless careers, despite working in a sector where positive engagement with boundarylessness, if it is going to be found anywhere, should be evident. The findings also point to cross-national differences; directly employed ICT professionals based in Germany are more concerned about the insecurity than their UK-based counterparts. In highlighting the complex and subtle influences on how boundaryless careers are experienced and understood, the research builds on existing work which both attests to the importance of context in influencing boundarylessness and its consequences and questions an overly crude distinction between 'bounded' and 'boundaryless' careers, to emphasize the value of an approach which is concerned with understanding comparative variation in the degree of career boundarylessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using nationally representative panel data from Australia and Germany, this article investigates the relationships between working-time regulation, long working hours, overemployment and mental health, as measured by the Mental Component Summary score from the 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12). Fixed effects and dynamic linear models are estimated, which, together with the longitudinal nature of the data, enable person-specific traits that are time invariant to be controlled for. Drawing on the Varieties of Capitalism literature it is hypothesized that the system of collective regulation of working time in Germany will be more effective in limiting the incidence of overemployment than the more individualized system of regulation in Australia so that the prevalence of working time related mental ill health is lower. Results do not support this hypothesis. Overemployment is similarly common in both countries and is also associated with lower levels of mental health in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study draws on data on dual apprenticeship training in Germany to investigate which factors determine how fast the decision to terminate an apprenticeship before its completion is taken and executed. Information on the speed of this process can help organizations improve their decision-making in taking measures aimed at preventing premature terminations. As the results of our probit regression show, the decision to terminate an apprenticeship early is likely to be implemented in less than two months if the sole initiator of the termination is the apprentice and the decision is made within the probationary period or during the first year of the apprenticeship. Our analysis also shows that dissatisfaction with the quality of training increases the probability of a swift termination. In contrast, when the reason is unsatisfactory performance on the part of the apprentice at the vocational school, the process of premature termination is likely to be significantly slower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a cross-lagged study using two-wave data of N = 581 employees from Germany, we explored the role of career-related self-efficacy beliefs as a main cause of subjective career success – reflected by the two indicators of self-rated success, and career satisfaction. Moreover, we aimed at shedding light on those antecedents (exceeding demands, transformational leadership, emotional strain) that, according to Bandura's four sources of self-efficacy (performance accomplishments, vicarious experience, verbal persuasion, physiological states), could be shaped to foster career-related self-efficacy. Results of SEM were mostly in line with our theoretical assumptions. Career-related self-efficacy turned out to boost career satisfaction though not self-rated success. However there was a lagged effect from self-rated success to self-efficacy. In addition, we found exceeding demands and emotional strain negatively affecting career-related self-efficacy, whereas leadership showed only an impact when simultaneously analyzed with the other sources; and contradicting to our theorizing transformational leadership behavior diminished self-efficacy experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article applies discursive institutionalism (DI) to a comparative analysis of the relationship between diversity management and social dialogue. Schmidt's method of 'who said what, when and why' and her concepts of actors' 'background discursive' and 'foreground ideational' abilities are used to analyse the dynamic relationship between ideas (diversity management) and the institutional environment (social dialogue and national models of integration). It is argued that diversity management provided an opportunity either to maintain or strengthen existing levels of social dialogue, or to promote a more voluntary, managerial and individualist approach to equality issues. The research demonstrates the merits of DI for providing a fine-grained explanation of the (arguably) counter-intuitive outcomes in France, Germany and Sweden. Another aim is to respond to Hauptmeier and Heery's calls for more recognition of the role of ideas in shaping the form, dynamics and products of the employment relationship and HRM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceived work-related stress has increased notably in recent years, reducing individuals' well-being and increasing organizations' and economies' costs. This study focuses on worktime control as a key approach to reducing work stress, as the extant research on its effects reports inconsistent results. The study argues that comparisons play a major role in how work stress, conceptualized as effort-reward imbalance, occurs. Ordinary least squares is used to test hypotheses with a sample of 1721 employees from Germany to determine whether employees' prior worktime control and employees' referents' worktime control affect the relationship between worktime control and work stress. Results show that (1) worktime control is negatively associated with the experience of work stress, (2) employees' prior worktime control moderates the relationship between worktime control and work stress, and (3) there is no moderating effect of employees' referents' worktime control. The results are discussed in light of gift-exchange theory and related empirical findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Notwithstanding the contemporary relevance of alliance strategies for SME internationalisation, especially in the case of uncertain business environments, few studies have investigated human resource issues in the context of SMEs prior to alliance formation. Even more scarce are studies looking at the impact of a manager/entrepreneur's characteristics on pre-alliance formation, despite recognition of the expected crucial role of the entrepreneur in this context and of the strong connection between an entrepreneur and their SME. Drawing on international entrepreneurship theory and empirical observations from an exploratory study, we propose a post hoc conceptual model. The exploratory empirical part of our study employs a sample of entrepreneurs from biotechnology SMEs in the United Kingdom and Germany intending to ally in a large emerging market (i.e. Brazil). Our empirical observations suggest an anomalous (at first glance) negative association between the entrepreneur's level of higher education (a construct at the individual level) and the attractiveness of the SME as a partner firm vis-à-vis alliance formation (a construct at the firm level). Our post hoc model emphasises the role of practical experience and the corresponding levels of international entrepreneurial orientation as theorised variables mediating the observed empirical relationship. We develop theoretical propositions, and suggest practical implications and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Job rotation, i.e. a lateral transfer of an employee between jobs within a company, is frequently used as a means to develop employees, learn about their abilities as well as to motivate them. We investigate the determinants and performance effects of job rotation empirically by analyzing a large panel data-set covering the German banking and financial services sector. In particular, we study (i) how prior individual performance affects the propensity to rotate and (ii) how performance changes after the rotation. We find that while both, low- and high-performers rotate, lateral moves are more frequent among low performers. However, those having been rotated between jobs achieve a higher performance in subsequent years as compared to other non-rotating employees in a comparable position. Interestingly, this effect is driven by high performers, whereas for low performers, we find no significant relationship between job rotation and future performance. The results thus suggest that firms should focus their job rotation programs on high performers and should not expect that low performers achieve performance gains when being rotated to a different function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In developed markets, Emerging Market Multinational Enterprises’ (EMNEs) organizational attractiveness may crucially depend on applicants’ country and corporate character images (CCIs). Applying image and signaling theory, this study compares the influence of these images on the organizational attractiveness of Chinese, Russian and US companies in Germany. Employing data from 287 German business students, findings show that applicants prefer US over Chinese and Russian companies as future employers, confirming the existence of the liability of emergingness. Moreover, findings indicate gender differences in applicants’ attraction toward EMNEs. In particular, female applicants are less attracted to EMNEs with a bad CCI than male applicants are. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing upon the debate on institutional mediation of macro processes, we examine how multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage with global competition through restructuring their operations situated in local supply chain environments and how employment relations (ER) of coordinated market economies are reconfigured in the course of this restructuring process. Our empirical setting is the German chemical industry which is both an exemplar of coordinated labour-management-collaboration and highly exposed to global competition. Using a comparative case study design, we observe how MNEs re-structure two local production sites into ‘Chemieparks’. Our empirical data suggest that local agency diverges in the extent to which the social partnership type of ER is maintained or disrupted. Furthermore, we highlight the importance of micro-political practices for understanding the restructuring outcome as well as the local enactment and change of macro institutions within production networks as meso-level arenas for institutional mediation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Using a sample of over 5000 establishments in Germany, we analyze the antecedents and effects of profit sharing (PS) and employee share ownership (ESO) with respect to the ability of firms to meet their recruitment and retention objectives and to achieve employment growth. We draw on both economic and behavioral perspectives to argue that firms that adopt PS and ESO plans do so in order to attract and retain employees. Using logistic regression and a propensity score matching technique, we find that firms that face higher recruitment problems, and those that have greater employment growth objectives, are more likely to use ESO and PS. Unlike ESO, PS enhances firm-level employment growth. However, neither ESO nor PS help firms to fully resolve recruitment and retention problems. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Many previous studies try to discover job preferences by directly asking individuals. Since it is not sure whether answers to these surveys are relevant for actual behaviour, this empirical examination offers a new approach based on representative German data. Employees who quit their job and find a new one compare the two jobs with respect to eight job characteristics: type of work, pay, chances of promotion, work load, commuting time, work hour regulations, fringe benefits and security against loss of job. It is argued that the observation of many improvements (and few declines) for a certain attribute indicates a particular relevance and high preference for this attribute. It turns out that pay and type of work are most important for employees in this sense. Differences across subgroups of employees with respect to individual characteristics, such as sex and age, are explored. Those between East and West Germany diminish over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to make a contribution to our conceptual and empirical understanding into the nature of talent management (TM) in German small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), an under-researched area in the field. The approach of this investigation recognizes that TM may vary significantly between different types of companies and national contexts. The findings are based on data collected from 700 SMEs in Germany. Three distinct clusters of TM intensity profiles are identified (highly engaged talent managers, reactive talent managers and retention-based talent managers), which vary according to annual sales volumes, industry affiliations, cooperative behavior with respect to human resource (HR) and TM networks, the long-term focus of TM and future HR and TM budgets. In summary, most of the investigated companies place a high importance on TM reflecting a developmental approach which fits well with the German business system. One key finding of the study was the preference of most German SMEs to choose a more inclusive approach to TM and target all or most employees, in contrast to large multinational enterprises where a more elitist approach is favored. Another major finding was that TM cooperation with other firms and institutions was used as a strategy to cope with the war for talent in a country, which despite the Global Financial Crisis is characterized by strong economic growth and important demographic challenges. Based on these findings and the contextual approach to TM, a comprehensive agenda for future research areas in TM is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Human resource management literature pays little attention to the agency of skilled ethnic minorities in Europe in terms of explaining their career choices and outcomes. As a step towards addressing this gap, we draw on two field studies based on qualitative interviews. One of these studies draws on interviews with 49 participants in France, and the other is based on interviews with 30 participants in Germany. Through a Bourdieuan analysis, we contribute to the human resource management literature, and demonstrate the varied forms that the agency of highly skilled ethnic minorities takes, in terms of their work experiences, in the context of structures of inequality in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on expatriates indicates that substantial differences exist within internationally active employees. Several typologies of expatriates have been suggested to account for this diverseness. However, empirical evidence on the accuracy of these classification schemes is scarce. On the basis of these research efforts, we introduce a data-based taxonomy of internationally mobile managers. By means of sequence analysis, we derive four career patterns from the curriculi vitae of 202 German managers. These patterns are built on the dimensions mobility and duration of the stays abroad. We further show that these patterns differ with regard to various individual and organizational variables. On the basis of these findings, we argue that expatriation career management practices and responsibilities need to be differentiated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the relevance and development of further training in private sector firms using the German Socio-Economic Panel, which is a representative sample of German residents. We focus on formal training and explore possible individual and job-based determinants of its incidence. We also show changes over time during a 20-year observation period from 1989 to 2008. Most hypotheses are supported by the empirical evidence. Job status and firm size are the most relevant characteristics for training participation. Furthermore, our analyses reveal a general trend of rising training rates from 1989 to 2008, indicating an increased importance in the German labor market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between 2008 and 2010, the German economy faced the most serious economic downturn since the Second World War. The German Federal government, the state governments and the social partners have introduced and/or adapted a wide range of policy instruments to cope with the situation. Companies affected by the crisis have applied a number of adjustment policies, ranging from the exploration of new markets to wage reductions to redundancies. This article reports on and analyses the impact of the global financial crisis at company level, focussing on management responses among those establishments that were affected by the crisis. Drawing on representative data form the German Job Vacancy Survey, it investigates internal and external influences on the company's choice of establishment-specific adjustment policies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This article discusses how both globalisation and corporate governance influence the German coordinated model of employment relations. It outlines recent developments in employment relations in the German automotive and banking industries with a particular focus on skills, staffing and pay systems. It argues that while various changes have taken place in employment relations in both industries, they remain largely within the coordinated framework. Not all the changes are directly associated with globalisation. Rather, an increasing focus on shareholder value in corporate governance has also contributed to these changes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Based on compliance theory and resource dependence theory, we develop a taxonomy of five organizational resource retention strategies that are appropriate to secure the inflow and stock of professional and managerial staff's competences. These competences are characterized as different categories of resources that professionals and managers control and that are potentially critical for the company's success. We postulate that organizational decision-makers evaluate retention strategies according to their assessment of the criticality of these resources. A cluster analysis, based on data from interviews with 159 top HR managers of German companies, supports the reliability and validity of the theoretically derived taxonomy. We discuss the implications for research and managerial practice. This study contributes to retention literature by introducing a resource dependence perspective. Thereby, we specify a resource-based strategic human resource management view on core employees' competences as strategic assets and offer a theoretical rationale that explains the coherence and scope of retention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study focuses on the international staffing of early internationalizers by linking the Ethnocentric, Polycentric, Regiocentric, and Geocentric (EPRG) concept with the Process Theories of Internationalization. On a dataset of 116 (N) German medium-sized companies, we test whether the determinants which allow firms to internationalize shortly after their inception, namely prior international experience, technological intensity, and networks, influence the firms' international staffing. We further elaborate whether this influence differs between early and late internationalizers. The empirical results show that prior international experience is not associated with the firms' international staffing at all, and thus, does not allow conclusions. Technological intensity increases the probability of the choice of an ethnocentric staffing policy, especially for early internationalizers. In contrast, networks enable firms, especially early internationalizers, to pursue regiocentric or geocentric staffing policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of a study of partners who accompany the expatriated representatives of multinational corporations (MNCs) on overseas missions and identifies that they are mostly home alone and often unprepared. Following a review of the literature on issues related to expatriated partners, in particular intercultural communication training (ICT), the article presents the findings of empirical research conducted in Germany on current ICT trends for expatriated partners. The study identifies the ICT methods German MNCs use to support these partners before and during international assignments. The authors surveyed 141 German expatriated partners who went on overseas missions to 36 countries. The results of this research project indicate that traditional ICT is only provided to the minority of partners in German MNCs, follows no predictable time pattern, and is mostly perceived as rather useless by participants. Particular attention is paid, however, to the target culture in the ICT design. Non-traditional ICT methods, such as Look-&-See Trips, are rather generously taken advantage of. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of diversity management, which stems from the USA, has been advancing rapidly in Germany since the late 1990s. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of empirical research into the dissemination and application of the concept in Germany. A survey conducted among 210 companies seeks to identify factors influencing the implementation of diversity management and presents first results concerning its design and cultural adaptation. Findings reveal a sharp increase in the use of diversity management in Germany. Whether companies use the concept depends in particular on their size and country of origin. Other influencing factors can be explained on the basis of sociological new institutionalism and are considered as signs that the increasing dissemination may (also) be ascribed to isomorphic processes. Further, a country-of-origin- effect for subsidiaries of US multinational companies in Germany is detected. This effect cannot be identified for the design of the concept, so that it is perceived as being cultural-invariant in Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]