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The effective management of human resources is an important challenge for MIS executives. Part of the challenge is obtaining and retaining MIS personnel with the skills and knowledge required to support the organization effectively. The purpose of this paper is to provide managers and educators with information on the current and future demand for MIS professionals and with information about the relative importance of specific MIS skills. To address these issues a survey of MIS managers was undertaken in the summer of 1990. The results include projections of demand for ten MIS job types. Also reported are the perceptions of importance of fifty-four skills for systems developers and twenty-six technical specialist skills. A model is proposed for explaining perceptions of skill need. Implications of the results are discussed for businesses, educational institutions, and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Demotion - the reduction of an employee’s rank and salary - is often mentioned by managers and policy-makers as a means of increasing the employability of older workers in an ageing labour force. However, so far in practice demotion is rarely applied. This paper is the first empirical investigation of how managers perceive demotion as an instrument of human resource management. By means of a survey and a vignette study among managers in the Netherlands (N = 355), we examine whether managers consider demotion of poorly performing older workers a fair solution. Three contributions stand out. First, based on attribution theory we find support for the hypothesis that managers judge demotion to be fair in those cases where deterioration in task performance is caused by controllable factors (such as work motivation) and unfair when the causes are uncontrollable (such as age). Second, the expectations of managers about the organization-wide consequences of introducing demotion as a human resource policy play a significant role in considering demotion. Most managers perceive negative organizational externalities (e.g. decrease in loyalty and motivation of staff) to arise when introducing demotion and are reluctant to apply demotion in practice. And a third contribution: positive (negative) beliefs of managers about the hard skills - e.g. creativity, willingness to learn, flexibility - of older workers make demotion less (respectively more) likely. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border labor mobility of hospitality employees has resulted in an increase in illegal immigrants in the workforce. The purpose of this study was to generate a list of top legal issues associated with the employment of foreign workers in the U.S. hospitality industry and to identify factors defined by the importance ratings of these issues. Snowball sampling was used to collect data from hospitality managers. Findings reveal that respondents perceive document verification to be important but may not perceive knowledge of various visa types and employment termination reporting procedures associated with employing foreign workers to be important. Managerial implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the importance of environments for managers’ successful introduction of a new management technique. Two empirical examples illustrate the interrelatedness of external and internal environments and its consequences for the propensity of organizations to accept and implement managerial propositions. It is suggested that an intrusive external environment, which clearly relates to generally accepted facts, facilitates managerial action and makes organizations change prone. Mangers, who seek to forestall future environmental problems, in contrast, seem likely to meet with a hostile and conservative internal environment. In both instances managers depend on the social construction of the external environment of their organizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the basis of the sense-making and sense-giving literature, this study addresses factors helping the HR function gain greater acceptance by employees for its proposals and innovations. Using an original sample of 298 employees from nine firms in Spain, we find that HR department credibility is only one of the factors that influence employees' acceptance. Other essential elements are top management and supervisor support. We also investigate the consequences that differential levels of support from supervisors and top managers can have for the acceptance of HR innovations, and we find that supervisor support carries more weight than that of top managers. Finally, we explore variations in the importance of the HR function credibility as an acceptance enabler under different organizational innovation climates. The results suggest that HR credibility plays an essential role independently of climate. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The aim of this paper is to investigate the existence or absence of an Arab Middle Eastern (AME) human resource (HR) model. The paper adopts the HR value proposition model (VPM) introduced by Ulrich and Brockbank (2005,The HR Value Proposition, Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press) as a conceptual framework and examines the role of HR along the model's five dimensions: (1) knowledge of external business realities, (2) serving the needs of internal and external stakeholders, (3) crafting HR practices, (4) building HRs and (5) ensuring HR professionalism. A total of 59 articles tackling human resource management practices in the AME are identified and critically analyzed along the model's dimensions. A descriptive survey method is used, whereby a multi-question protocol is administered to senior human resource managers of banks across 13 countries in the region. The descriptive results from the 85 surveyed HR managers suggest that current HR practices in the AME fall along the dimensions of the VPM. Results also show a shared perception concerning the most and least common HR practices in the region and imply that we can start identifying the contours of an ‘AME HR model’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

On the basis of a questionnaire survey of 67 Korean expatriate managers in India, this exploratory study investigates the factors that affect the Korean expatriates’ satisfaction with an international assignment in light of the opportunities and challenges associated with working and living in India. The study showed that the expatriates’ (1) elevated position/title abroad, (2) unrealistic expectations toward international relocation and (3) inability to manage work–life balance issues had a negative influence on their overall satisfaction with an international assignment to India. The results also revealed that the homogeneous Korean expatriates maintained their Confucian values in the diverse and challenging Indian environment – this has both a positive and negative impact on their overall satisfaction. The implications, both theoretical and practical, for international human resource management are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The current work has two main objectives. First, after building an integrated model, we analyze relations between managers' perceptions, orientations, behaviors, and attitudes toward exporting. Second, we examine whether these relations differ between groups of firms. The results confirm that organizational learning (evaluated using the relation past export performance-export proactivity-export market orientation) acts as an antecedent of both export commitment and adaptation of the marketing mix to the foreign markets. The findings indicate that the variables export commitment and marketing-mix adaptation determine perceived competitive advantages in the foreign markets, and these perceived competitive advantages condition managers' attitudes toward future exporting. The results also suggest the existence of two latent classes-proactive and conservative exporters-and the characteristics of these two distinct types of exporters are described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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A survey was conducted with 70 managers responsible for hiring in large-, medium- and small-sized companies in the Montreal and Quebec City areas. A content analysis of the semi-structured interviews allowed us to examine the social representations underlying the managers' attitudes towards the issue of substance misusing in the company or the hiring process. This examination in turn allowed us to develop a typology of the managers' needs regarding the integration of this category of people into employment. Our results show how the representations of the determinants of drug addiction and of the role of the workplace generate attitudes that are closed-minded, ambivalent, tolerant or supportive, and that underlie the managers' requirements for information on drug addiction, for internal rehabilitation services or external services supporting the reintegration of drug abusers into employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Literature on Japanese transplant manufacturing firms in the automotive sector often emphasise the importance placed on attitude as opposed to skills in the hiring decisions for line workers. In this paper, a case study of one second-tier components supplier for a major Japanese automotive assembler in the Midwestern United States provides the opinions of senior managers and human resource associates regarding recruitment and selection practices. In-depth interviews, carried out over a two-week period in August 2000, are used to develop an understanding of the recruitment and selection process for line workers as well as to investigate the desired skills and value of previous Japanese experience. Results of the case study analysis are compared with two models from the literature: (1) a model of recruitment and selection at Japanese automotive-related firms in Japan and (2) a model of recruitment and selection at Japanese transplant automotive-related firms abroad. Deviations from the two models point not to a new paradigm of "second-generation" Japanese transplants - those that have moved into regions quite familiar with Japanese firms and related management and production methods - but rather to overall weaknesses in the stereotypical models. Managerial opinions within the case study firm place limited value on familiarity with a Japanese environment, considering such experience secondary to attitudes and work ethics that are in line with the philosophy of the case study firm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australian firms are attempting to internationalize and to become global companies. One way of staffing the forays into international business is by incorporating international work into domestic jobs. This study sought to understand the factors related to the amount of international work Australians perform in their domestic jobs. Alumni from an Australian university were surveyed, providing 1,046 full-time domestic employees working in a range of industries. Regression analysis showed that, beyond individual and organizational controls, employees performed more international work in domestic jobs when they worked in organizations at higher than at lower international levels with human resource support, worked in jobs at higher rather than at lower managerial levels and had international skills. However, there was no or little link with employees' international attitudes or family situation. As predicted, the managerial level of the job made a difference to the effects of the work environment. Working in MNCs and domestic organizations with operations abroad was related to the amount of international work in domestic jobs performed by senior managers and executives more than by lower and middle managers or subordinates and supervisors. Analysis of open-ended responses shows the major reasons Australians take up domestic international work are money, professional development and challenging content. The major reasons they would not are family commitments and disruption, in contrast to the quantitative results in which family factors are unimportant. The difference between the quantitative and qualitative results and the importance of family factors, international skills versus attitudes and human resource support are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Encroachment occurs in public relations when professionals with expertise in such fields as marketing, law, human resources, or engineering occupy the senior public relations position in an organization. When encroachment occurs, public relations frequently becomes little more than a technical support function servicing other units of the organization—rather than a central management function in itself. I explored the idea that encroachment does not result so much from outsiders grabbing the turf of public relations as from weaknesses of public relations practitioners themselves. I used a systematic sample of 166 public relations practitioners in the United States to test the idea that public relations manager role aspirations and competencies and the schema held regarding the public relations function explains the extent to which encroachment takes place. Results suggest that managerial aspirations and competencies and the belief that public relations is a powerful organizational function decrease the likelihood of encroachment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses issues and procedures that can improve management practices of humanism and simple good manners personnel recruitment. As the behavior of managers shapes both the image of the agency and its style of operation, suggestions are offered to social work employers to guide them in the recruiting and hiring process with appropriate etiquette. The failure to display behaviors associated with ethical obligations, good management, and good manners suggests that there may be gap between what is adopted in theory and what is manifested in practice.

In foreign-owned Philippine firms, human resource approaches and practices tend to converge. Japanese-owned firms localize their human resource practices by emphasizing local standards and practices in compensation, hiring, recruitment, job assignments and the like. On the other hand, Western-owned firms tend to adopt well-known Japanese style practices. Filipino-Chinese-owned firms tend to be traditional, emphasizing both informal and hierarchical control mechanisms which put a premium upon loyalty and trust, through familistic, informal but hierarchical control mechanisms. As the owners of these firms pass on control to the next generation, they tend to hire professional managers. These managers include younger generation Filipino-Chinese educated abroad. They are torn between the rational, and traditional norms and practices insisted upon by their Confucian-oriented elders, and the demands of a competitive and ever-changing technology and economy. It is quite meaningless to attach adjectives like 'Japanese', 'Filipino-Chinese' or 'Western' to universal concepts like industrial relations and human resource approaches - the search for the best approach in work relations is beyond the issue of convergence or divergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

People and information are the key resources through which managers carry out their work. This article presents information on construction managers ability to understand the people involved in their projects. It also provides information on construction applications of sophisticated information technology. In doing so, it demonstrates the potential benefits of modern, sophisticated technology in helping with the management task. It demonstrates how sensitive observation of teamwork situations can reveal factors in the culture of a company which enhance or constrain the effectiveness of the whole organization. Basic theories of small group working are used to describe these factors. The paper provides an especially useful starting point for understanding the cultures of organizations facing rapid change and development as a consequence of the shifting nature of their business or its market. Relational database technology and database design methodology can be used to provide a more flexible source of information. Thus each different user can tailor one common set of information to his or her own individual needs. The work shows that new technologies can be applied in such a way as to allow greater flexibility in the use of project information. The amount of flexibility provided is measured using a database set up with data from a case study project.