PurposeDrawing on Bandura’s social learning theory (SLT), the purpose of this paper is to investigate, analytically, the impact that after-training skills level (i.e. perceived skill match) has on change self-efficacy. Moreover, this research also aims to identify which specific skills sets (if any) act as a protective factor during organizational change, supporting the change confidence (CC) level of the people involved.Design/methodology/approachQuantitative research was carried out on a sample of 200 workers in the bank sector.FindingsFindings of this study suggest that skill match has a significant impact on the CC level. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that, even in front-office jobs, a perceived skill match of soft skills does not have a significant impact on staff CC, unlike that suggested by common sense and by literature.Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should investigate if and how a training process enables change self-efficacy over time or instead shows its utility only when it is relating to a specific and limited period.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that in designing training, top and middle management should pay specific attention to change recipients’ needs by adopting a bottom-up approach. Moreover, to improve training effectiveness, it would be advisable to also train change recipients’ supervisors.Social implicationsThis study has social implications in suggesting how to foster the adaptive capabilities of change recipients in current turbulent times. In doing so, it suggests how to prevent some undesirable change consequences such as anxiety, intention to quit, work-related stress and change cynicism.Originality/valueThis paper shows that, from a methodological point of view, it is necessary to evaluate training effectiveness at the level of a specific skill area and not simply by comparing the trained/not trained people, as typically practiced until now.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to get the perspectives of human resource development (HRD) scholars about connections among HRD, corporate social responsibility and ethics. The authors also sought to discover if HRD academic programs need to have ethics-related courses for their graduate students.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the authors reviewed the literature and interviewed ten HRD scholars who substantially contributed to the field of HRD and have influential publications related to ethics or corporate social responsibility to find out the relationship between HRD, ethics and corporate social responsibility. A semi-structured interview method was adopted to collect data and purposeful sampling technique was used for analyzing data into identified themes.FindingsThe results from the interviews were categorized into seven different themes. While some scholars argued that ethics-related discussion needs to be integrated within every course, most scholars stated that ethics can be a required standalone course for HRD graduate programs.Originality/valueDespite ongoing consideration of the ethical nature of HRD, little research has been conducted on how ethics and corporate social responsibility are represented in the field of study and practice. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical paper in HRD that collected and analyzed experts’ perspectives in this topic.

Competence-based training for career developmentIt is with pleasure and at the same time with sorrow that we, Riccardo Sartori and Arianna Costantini, present this second special issue about competence-based

PurposeWhile the extant literature has mainly examined either organisational justice or performance appraisal on employee attitudes, studies assessing the effect of performance appraisal justice (PAJ) on employee work attitudes are very limited. Hence, this study aims to investigate the effects of PAJ on employee work attitudes (job satisfaction and employee commitment) using empirical insights from health-care workers in Ghana.Design/methodology/approachThe study collected data from 302 workers in six selected health-care institutions and used multiple regression and bootstrapping mediation methods for the analyses.FindingsThis study found that interpersonal and procedural PAJ has significant positive effects on job satisfaction, but distributive PAJ showed an insignificant positive outcome. Then, while distributive and procedural PAJ has significant positive effects on employee commitment, interpersonal PAJ was insignificant. Moreover, job satisfaction significantly mediated the relationship between employee commitment and the three dimensions of PAJ.Practical implicationsThis implies that PAJ can trigger positive employee work attitudes such as job satisfaction and commitment to facilitate the realisation of positive health-care outcomes if fairness and justice are effectively integrated into performance appraisal practices in health-care institutions.Originality/valueThe study contributes to extending organisation and human resource theories in the context of health-care services by applying the organisational justice theory to understand the job attitudes of workers in the health-care sector and institutions: a highly under-research context with respect to the topic.

PurposeThe alignment between the labour market and initial vocational education and training (IVET) is placing always more importance on technical knowledge and skills, whilst metacognitive competences such as critical thinking and media literacy are increasingly neglected. In the context of IVET, this results in authors and practitioners paying always more attention to how to devise possible training interventions, with the double aim of implementing their educational pathways and enhancing students’ critical thinking and media literacy. This paper aims to report the state of the art concerning such processes of enhancement in IVET students.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted the method of systematic scoping review to address the research questions on how to enhance critical thinking and media literacy in the context of IVET.FindingsThe paper presents the analyses of the n = 19 contributions collected. Then, it proposes an initial conceptualization of the dimensions of critical thinking and media literacy. Moreover, by combining evidence from various contributions, the review proposes implications for educational practices and strategies. Around these pieces of knowledge, further avenues of research and practice are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature on critical thinking and media literacy in the context of IVET by advancing initial comprehensive conceptualizations of the two dimensions. Moreover, the study advances initial practical implications for teachers and trainers for the development of training interventions.Originality/valueThe originality of the present review rests in its proposal of definitions of critical thinking and media literacy; moreover, it widens the discussion of practices on how to enhance such metacognitive competences. Indeed, the study identifies the teaching and training practices meant to enhance critical thinking and media literacy and proposes applied implications in the context of IVET.

PurposePresent day organizations are considering workforce diversity as one of the main challenges in the human resource management. This study aims to find out the relationship between diversity management (DM) in the context of strategic human resource management (SHRM) and organizational performance (OP). An attempt is made to find out the mediation effect of cognitive diversity (CD) and affective diversity (AD) in the relationship between DM and OP.Design/methodology/approachThe constructs investigated in the present study include DM, OP, CD and AD. Structural equation modeling has been used to test the model fit. The data was collected from 50 human resource professionals working in different organizations in the information technology (IT) sector in Bangalore, India. Confirmatory factor analysis has been used for establishing the reliability.FindingsThe results show that there exists a significant relationship between DM and OP. This significant positive relationship can be attributed to the mediating role of CD and significant negative relationship is because of the AD.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has several limitations. In this study, only three DM practices have been considered. The generalization of the results is another limitation as the study has been conducted in the IT sector in Bangalore, India. Similarly, sample size also affects the implications of an empirical study and sample size in this study is small. This study has investigated only the impact of two aspects of diversity, cognitive and affective, while neglecting the effect of communicational and symbolic processes.Practical implicationsThe results indicate that organizations must consider that by providing intercultural trainings (ICTs), work–life balance (WLB) and work-time flexibility options, the negative aspects of diversity can be minimized. Moreover, organizations should encourage the task conflict which leads to better decision-making as well as creates a sense of group identification, which may help in the avoidance of negative consequences of AD.Originality/valueThis study is undertaken to find out the effect of certain diversity-oriented SHRM practices such as flexible working times, WLB, ICT and its impact on the OP in the Indian IT industry. This study has investigated the mediating role of CD and AD on the relationship between diversity-oriented SHRM practices and OP, which is the novelty of this study. Third, the study has been undertaken considering that there is a dearth of research on the impact of AD and CD on OP in the Indian context.

PurposeThe study aims to investigate the impact of “decent work” dimensions on faculty members’ work engagement levels in the higher education institutions in India.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from 293 faculty members working in higher education institutes in India. The proposed study hypotheses were tested by deploying the statistical technique of multiple regression analysis using statistical package for social sciences Version-24.FindingsResults demonstrated that of the five dimensions of “decent work,” only “access to health care” and “complementary values” were significant predictors of work engagement. “Adequate compensation,” “free time and rest” and “safe interpersonal working conditions” as dimensions of “decent work” were not found to be significantly related to work engagement.Research limitations/implicationsFindings encourage education policymakers to implement a “decent work” policy for faculty members with greater emphasis on ensuring workplace-fit and provision of adequate health-care facilities to keep the workforce engaged.Originality/valueIt is one of the few studies conducted in the South-Asian context that highlight “decent work” as a crucial job resource, useful in enhancing the work engagement of faculty members in higher education institutions.

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the effect of students’ self-regulation, co-regulation and behavioral engagement on their performance in flipped learning environments in higher education.Design/methodology/approachThe subjects were college students taking an education course offered at a 4-year university in South Korea. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze 221 student responses.FindingsThe findings indicated that the more students self-regulated, the more likely they were to engage in co-regulation with other students in the class. Students’ self-regulation and co-regulation also significantly affected their behavioral engagement. Finally, students’ self-regulation positively affected their academic performance, while co-regulation and behavioral engagement did not affect their performance.Originality/valueBased on these findings, this study provides meaningful implications for scholars and practitioners on how to select and use more appropriate instructional and evaluation strategies to improve students’ positive behavior, engagement and performance in a flipped learning environment.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand the process of large-scale organizational change in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study methodology was selected to understand the phenomenon of change in a community-based enterprise in Myanmar. Data were collected over a four-week period of fieldwork through individual interviews, focus groups, observations and document collection. Data were analyzed via a modified inductive analytic strategy using constant comparative analysis. Findings Findings revealed the processes used in this large-scale organizational change as impacted by the national cultural dimensions of Myanmar and the social learning experienced by the participants. Learning about organization development and change and sharing that learning in the organization by its members who participated in a certificate program in organizational development designed by Payap University (Thailand) and the International Rescue Committee had a major role in the change processes. Myanmar’s high power distance and collectivist culture facilitated social learning by highlighting authority figures as role models and providing high interaction environments conducive to learning. Originality/value This study illuminates the change process in a community-based organization in the emerging economy of Myanmar where no roadmaps for change in these types of organizations exist. The findings of this study are transferrable to community-based organizations in emerging economies with similar national cultural characteristics and call for future case studies to understand the complexities of change in these unique organizations and environments.

Purpose Human resource development (HRD) as an applied discipline is an example of a scholarly field that has emerged through the collaboration of scholars and practitioners with backgrounds in various foundational disciplines. This study interested in both the influence of other disciplines on HRD research and in HRD’s influence on other disciplines. The purpose of this study is to take stock of the relationships between HRD research and research in other academic disciplines affecting and affected by HRD research. Design/methodology/approach The study used content analysis of the top 100 most frequently cited empirical articles published in three HRD journals between 2000 and 2019 to identify disciplinary foundations of HRD research. The influence of HRD on other disciplines was scrutinized through citation analysis of work citing the top 100 articles. In addition, categorizing the 100 articles into six research themes, the influence of six research themes on citation patterns was explored. Findings The findings indicated that empirical research in HRD, as represented by the top 100 articles, relied mainly on theories and frameworks from two disciplines, management and psychology. Another important finding is that the top 100 HRD articles were cited most often in management publications and the rate of citation in management journals has been growing rapidly since 2005. The citation frequency of HRD articles in other disciplines including psychology, social sciences, education and medicine and nursing shows a general upward trend as well. In addition, there was a difference in disciplines providing theoretical foundations to the HRD articles and citing the articles depending on six predominant research themes, identified in HRD articles. Originality/value This study empirically identified theories and disciplines contributing to HRD research, considering the influence of cited research on the HRD articles through content analysis. In addition, the findings of this study broadened the understanding of the relationship between HRD research and other disciplines by examining the contributions of HRD articles to other disciplines. Finally, this research provided new information regarding the changes in dominant themes in HRD research over time.