Tag: literature search

HRD, Training, Training & Development

Does HR Influence Organizational Culture? #AHRD2015

Laura Pasquini

Does the human resources (HR) function influence organizational culture?

To review all four roles of Ulrich’s (1997) HR function model –  administrative expert, employee champion, change agent, and strategic partner – our 2015 AHRD abstract presents the results from our literature search to identify scholarly publications from 1997 until 2014.

ulrichs-matrix

In human resource development (HRD) research, organizational culture is “limited to the rational managerial perspective on culture, employees and organization” (Plakhotnik & Rocco, 2005, p. 97). The HR function impacts organizational culture, that is, the set of beliefs, values, assumptions, and perceptions that influence organization members; however a comprehensive review of the research further identified HOW organizational culture has been impacted by HR. This has also taken into consideration human resource management (HRM) and organizational development (OD), as strategic partners with HRD in discussing the HR function.

Copyright © 2015 Mariya Gavrilova Aguilar, A. Esther Joshua-Gojer, Denise R. Philpot, & Laura A. Pasquini

The critical importance of utilizing the HR function towards organizational culture influence, identified two key themes:

  • The role of the Human Resources function is evolving.
    • Performance is influenced by employees’ perceptions & interpretations of their organization
    • HRD can support change, changing organizational culture, connecting with organizational stakeholders, and approaches/strategies
    • OD activities focus on changing or improving organizational culture; limited research done how these activities actually impact organizational culture
  • The HR Function is a Change Agent.
    • A direct link between HR and social common structures such as climate and culture
    • Organizational effectiveness depends on its culture;  developed by various HRD measures incorporated in everyday organizational life

Implications for HRD and Practice

Organizational culture is positively affected by the HR function, specifically in the areas of recruitment, selection, training, development, performance appraisal, progressive discipline, and organizational diversity, and inclusion. This means that HRD scholars and practitioners will need to consider  to secure and develop talented employees through effective organization implementations and interventions. For the HR function to best support organizational culture, it will need to align its practices with the strategic organizational goals and develop innovative approaches.

References

Plakhotnik, M. S., & Rocco, T. S. (2005). Organizational culture: A literature review of the AHRD 1994-2005. Proceedings of the 2005 AHRD International Research Conference in the Americas. Miami, FL.

Ulrich, D. (1997). Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

#AcWri, #AcWriMo

#AcAWriMo Reading: The Literature Review

Laura Pasquini

In SAGE’s Doing a Literature Review, Hart (1998) defines the literature review as “The selection of available documents (both published and unpublished) on the topic, which contain information, ideas, data and evidence written from a particular standpoint to fulfill certain aims or express certain views on the nature of the topic and how it is to be investigated, and the effective evaluation of these documents in relations to the research bring proposed.”

Reviewing my literature this afternoon. #phdchat

I have been collecting and organizing literature, publications, and more on the topic of social media guidance for quite some time. I have been reviewing the key questions used for a typical literature search and review of my research topic (Hart, 1998):

  • What are the key sources?
  • What are the major issues and debates around the topic?
  • What are the key theories, concepts, and ideas?
  • What are the epistemological and ontological grounds fro the discipline?
  • What are the political standpoints?
  • What are the origins of this topic?
  • What are the definitions involved with this topic?
  • How is knowledge on the topic structured and organized?
  • How have approaches to these questions increase our understanding and knowledge?

In thinking about my own doctoral research, the literature review, a.k.a. Chapter 2 and part of Chapter 3 (methodology), often demonstrates a specialization in a topic and focus. For a number of doctoral researchers, the dissertation/thesis is requires a high level of scholarship, and it is an opportunity to make an original contribution to the field. Phillips and Pugh (1994) conducted a study around doctoral research and literature reviews, in which they identified nine definitions for originality:

  1. doing empirically based work that has not been done before;
  2. using already known ideas, practices or approaches but with a new interpretation;
  3.  bringing new evidence to bear on an old issue or problem;
  4. creating a synthesis that has not been done before;
  5. applying something done in another country to one’s own country;
  6. applying a technique usually associated with on are to another;
  7. being cross-disciplinary by using different methodologies;
  8. looking at areas that people in the discipline have not looked at before;
  9. adding to knowledge in a way that has not previously been done before.

It appears I will be working on #1, #6, & #7 with my dissertation research methodology. Enough talking about it, back to my literature review additions, and more writing. Go #AcWriMo Go! [p.s. Word count to date for #AcWriMo = 16, 271 now. How are you doing?]

References:

Hart, C. (1998). Doing a literature review: Releasing the social science research imagination. Sage.

Phillips, E. M., & Pugh, D. S. (1994). How to get a Ph. D.: a handbook for students and their supervisors. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.