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As employees' international mobility has increased, implementing repatriation processes has become a significant human resource (HR) issue. Through an exploratory study using a semi-structured interview method, we examine repatriated employees' views about HR activities that facilitate and hinder the repatriation process in the emerging economy of India. Respondents described lack of formal repatriation assistance, no contact person in HR to help with repatriation, and lack of re-entry culture-related training as characteristic of the repatriation process. Managing employees' expectations, along with creating a more sensitive, structured, and strategic HR function, are recommended to improve the repatriation process. From a theoretical perspective, results point to the multi-dimensionality of the repatriation construct and provide evidence of the context-specificity of HR practices. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopting the view that career development can be influenced by the organization, the present study outlines employer initiatives aimed at developing careers of employees with a disability. More specifically, through 17 in-depth interviews – across five states in India – with human resource personnel in companies known for good policies in hiring people with disabilities, the study outlines how employers have helped and continually aim to help those with a disability attain career success through certain human resource philosophies and practices. The present study complements prior research which has noted barriers to career success and outlines how employers and human resource practitioners can help develop careers of employees with a disability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to outline activities of training and placement agencies in India aimed at employment of persons with a disability. We contend that persons with a disability are an underutilized human resource and that utilizing their abilities should be a key part of an inclusive approach to talent management. As there is little empirical research on this subject, our approach is exploratory and we seek to create a platform for further studies. A key finding of the study is the preference of agencies to engage in non-traditional and ad hoc approaches to build and showcase underutilized talent of those with a disability. Based on present findings and the contextual approach to talent management, a more comprehensive agenda for future research areas in inclusive talent management is outlined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Language-based diversity is a relatively understudied area within diversity research. Drawing upon the social identity-based fault lines literature, the present paper describes the effects of language-based diversity within organizations operating in India. Interview-based findings indicate that organizationally mandated languages are occasionally disregarded by employees in both national and multinational organizations. Respondents noted how even benign and momentary language switching can lead to the formation of language-based groups and cause negative consequences such as feelings of being devalued. Respondents also noted strategies that let them attenuate negative effects of multilingualism while simultaneously leveraging its benefits. Overall, the present study indicates that momentary exclusion based on incomprehensible language, when experienced on a daily basis, may have a far-reaching influence on individual and team functioning. Findings thus point to language use as a trigger that can activate social identity-based fault lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anchored in institutional theory, our aim in the present study was to understand how large and economically successful organizations in India engage with the issue of disability within and outside of their organizational boundaries, and communicate such engagements through their annual reports. Based on a qualitative content analysis of the organizations' annual reports for the year 2009–2010, we examined if these organizations spoke about recruitment and other organizational treatment of people with disabilities (internal focus), and if they engaged with issues related to disability in the realm of corporate social responsibility (external focus). We found that, despite no institutional pressures, organizations engaged with disability-specific issues both internally and externally. While we found differences with respect to organizational age and sector (public and private sector), we did not find any differences in the engagement and communication of activities based on organizational industry type and global presence. We discuss implications for research and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – Past research has largely portrayed job choice as a relatively rational and goal-directed behavior where applicants make decisions contingent on organizational recruitment activities, or evaluations of job and organizational attributes. Research now informs us that job choice decisions may also be based on social comparisons and social influence. The purpose of this paper is to add to this body of knowledge by examining reasons why social influence is a key factor in job choice decisions of relatively young job seekers. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on in-depth interview data from graduating seniors at an elite business school in India. Findings – Respondents did not see themselves as acting based on social influence as much as they perceived others around them to be. Reasons they noted for others' socially influenced job choice decisions were: peers and seniors are seen as more accessible and trustworthy than organizations; organizations do not share all and/or objective data, driving job seekers to other sources; job seekers are clueless and hence follow a "smart" herd; and job seekers make decisions for social status signaling. Respondents pointed to socially influenced job choices as being rational behaviors under certain conditions. Research limitations/implications – Generalizability of findings may be limited to young job seekers or to the Indian context, and the authors encourage replication. The authors also acknowledge the importance of individual difference variables in job choice decisions, a factor not considered in the present research. Practical implications – Given that job seekers rally around others' notion of an attractive job or an organization, the paper outlines several implications for managerial practice. Originality/value – This study, in a yet unexamined cultural context, points to the simultaneous and combined importance of normative and informational social determinants of job choice, bias blind spots in one's own job choice perceptions and decisions, gender specific socialization influences on job choices, and the notion of job fit in terms of fitment with expectations of important reference groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]