1,721,137 research outputs found
How do human resource development strategies influence performance? A contingency perspective
No full text So far, contingency studies in the Human Resource Management (HRM) literature have provided minimal information on whether firms should buy their human capital or grow it on their own, depending on their environmental conditions. Using key insights from the resource-based view (RBV), the paper tests empirically whether firms should buy human capital or develop it internally. The study uses multisource and lagged data from a survey on the Human Resource directors of 304 Italian firms. The paper shows that when firms combine the internal accumulation of human capital with its acquisition in the form of hiring experts from outside they enjoy greater returns on financial performance than when they pursue either the internal development or the external acquisition strategies. Furthermore, the higher the dynamism in the environment, the more autarchic approaches to human capital development are detrimental to firm performance and the higher are the returns of human resources strategies that include the acquisition of human capital from the external labour market. Coherently with RBV, buying human capital also produces greater returns in resource scarce environments. The paper provides an empirical contribution to strategic HRM literature by illustrating how the returns of internal accumulation and external acquisition of human capital depend on environmental contingencies. In this way, the study provides some practical implications to managers on the environmental contexts where poor ‘make or buy’ decisions in human capital development are more critical to firm performance. </jats:p
Mapping the Accumulation Dynamics of IT Resources and Capabilities in SMEs: the Role of Organizational configurations and Environmental Factors
No full textIl complesso legame fra investimenti in formazione e processi di innovazione. Alcune evidenze dalle grandi imprese italiane
No full textLa gestione degli investimenti in formazione tra scelte di mercato e di organizzazione interna
No full textNegli ultimi anni l'aumento dell'importanza delle attività formative e lo svilupparsi di un loro mercato hanno portato ad un crescente ricorso da parte delle imprese a fornitori specializzati nel progettare ed erogare interventi formativi. Alcune teorie suggeriscono tuttavia che il ricorso al mercato della formazione possa avere alcune controindicazioni, in particolare quando questi investimenti sono rivolti ad acquisire competenze specifiche ed altamente strategiche. E' tuttavia difficile desumere da tale letteratura un modello di scelta che aiuti i manager ad orientarsi tra le alternative di mercato ed organizzazione interna nel gestire le diverse fasi del processo formativo. Tale articolo cerca di colmare questo limite utilizzando i dati provenienti da un rilevazione effettuato su 351 grandi imprese italiane. L'analisi evidenzia come le imprese tendano a mantenere al proprio interno il processo formativo quando effettuano elevati investimenti in formazione, acquisiscono attraverso questa competenze specifiche del business aziendale e presentano capacità di sostenere innovazioni. L'articolo evidenzia inoltre come in numerose imprese gli investimenti in formazione vengano bloccati non tanto dalla scarsa disponibilità di risorse finanziarie, quanto piuttosto dalla mancanza delle competenze necessarie per organizzare il processo formativ
Balancing Cognitions and Emotions to Advance Lean Corporate Programs
Full text linkThis study investigates how cognitive and emotional mechanisms drive advancement in lean corporate programs, addressing a key yet underexplored factor in continuous improvement. While existing research documents lean program successes, it often overlooks the role of cognitive and emotional factors in program progression. Using a phenomenological approach, we integrate individual and plant-level data through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Focusing on a lean corporate program implemented across 22 Italian plants of a leading global carmaker, we employ a structural equation model to assess the relationships among lean organizing principles, cognitive involvement, emotional perceptions, and lean program advancement. Three key insights emerge: 1) A comprehensive application of lean organizing principles enhances employees’ cognitive involvement in lean practices; 2) Cognitive involvement is essential for advancing lean corporate programs; 3) Positive emotional states—such as pride, self-efficacy, and perceived fairness—significantly mediate the relationship between cognitive involvement and lean advancement. This study contributes to lean management literature by demonstrating that positive emotions are critical for sustaining lean progress. By bridging the knowledge-based view with behavioral theories, we provide researchers and practitioners with a nuanced understanding of the interplay between cognitive and emotional factors in advancing lean programs
Do Firms Sustain Innovation Through More Employee Training? Evidence from Italian Enterprises
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Digitalization and middle-skill gaps: The moderating role of lean production
No full textDigitization technologies such as the Internet of Things, material tracking and machine vision are transforming manufacturing plants’ operations enabling, for example, predictive maintenance and data-driven decision making. While automation had an unprecedented impact on production workers, the interconnected technologies that make huge amounts of operational data available in real time – the so-called Industry 4.0 – is affecting middle-skill jobs as production supervisors, team leaders, or maintenance and quality specialists. In order to base their daily decisions on such data, they need knowledge in statistics, IT and analytical skills, and relational skills to foster increasingly frequent interactions with production workers, who know better than anyone what such data mean. Firms adopting lean production, where production workers are already involved and data is already used for continuous improvement, might hold an advantage in having middle-skill workers prepared for this digitalization wave. Through a survey issued to 101 manufacturing plants of the Italian automotive supply chain, we showed that the presence of formal lean production programs negatively moderates the impact of digitization technologies on the presence of skill gaps in middle-skill workers. What emerges is the need, when digitalizing operations, of a holistic management innovation considering technology, inclusive organizational structures, and data-driven managerial practices
Assessing Industry and Firm Effects on IT Adoption Strategies: Some Stylized Facts on Italian Enterprises
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