David O'Donnell - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by David O'Donnell

Research paper thumbnail of Critically Challenging some Assumptions in HRD

Social Science Research Network, 2005

This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD li... more This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD literature. These relate to: the exploitation of labour in enhancing shareholder value; the view that employees are co-contributors to and co-recipients of HRD benefits; the distinction between HRD and HRM; the relationship between HRD and unitarism; and, the relationship between HRD and organisational and learning cultures. From a critical modernist perspective, it is argued that these can only be adequately addressed by taking a point of departure from the particular state of the capital-labour relation in time, place and space. HRD, of its nature, exists in a continuous state of dialectical tension between capital and labour-and there is much that critical scholarship has yet to do in informing practitioners about how they might manage and cope with such tension.

Research paper thumbnail of Continuing professional development in the Irish legal profession : an exploratory study

This study explores the level and perceived importance of Continuing Professional Development (C.... more This study explores the level and perceived importance of Continuing Professional Development (C.P.D.) among members of the legal profession in Ireland. The paper consists of a brief examination and synthesis of the published literature on the development of knowledge workers in general, the linking of C.P.D. to organisational goals, the professionalisation of industry and responsibility for the provision of C.P.D. It utilises Broudy's career progression framework as an explanatory tool to discuss the linkage between C.P.D. and career development. Data reveals a high level of support for the concept of C.P.D. among legal practitioners, but concern is expressed about the time and monetary expense required in implementation. Results reveal that firm size is an influencing factor on attitudes to C.P.D., the types of training interventions employed and the existence of C.P.D. budgets.

Research paper thumbnail of A study of individual values and employment equity in Canada, France and Ireland

Equal Opportunities International, 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explo... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explore the relationship between individual values/beliefs and simulated hiring decisions of minority candidates in Canada, France and Ireland.Design/methodology/approachIndividual values/beliefs were elicited using Likert type scales; subjects responded to a series of simulated hiring scenarios.FindingsThe link between individual value and belief systems and EE‐related HR decision making on recruitment of minority candidates is modestly supported by the findings presented here. The values/beliefs of students from leading business schools influenced, if in part, their simulated hiring decisions on minority candidates presented in the scenarios. National context also matters as EE institutions differ at the societal level of analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThe subjects were business school students of limited work experience addressing scenario situations, not practicing managers mak...

Research paper thumbnail of Social Capital and HRD: Provocative Insights From Critical Management Studies

Advances in Developing Human Resources, 2007

The problem and the solution. This article initiates a critical management studies evaluation of ... more The problem and the solution. This article initiates a critical management studies evaluation of social capital in an HRD context by drawing on insights from Foucault and Habermas.This article presents alternative interpretations of three seminal social capital concepts—weak ties, structural holes, and social resources. Pragmatic, albeit critical, insights for HRD theory and practice are illustrated to counterbalance the managerialist appropriation of social capital in pursuit of largely economic ends. It is argued here that social well-being is as relevant to HRD practice as economic well-being. Ethical dimensions are noted and avenues of reflexivity for HRD practitioners are suggested.

Research paper thumbnail of The cultural boundedness of theory and practice in HRD?

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 2002

Argues that cultural influences may not only affect a professional’s implicit concept of what con... more Argues that cultural influences may not only affect a professional’s implicit concept of what constitutes effective practice, but may also affect researchers’ explicit theories. Suggests that this means that many HRD practices, processes, procedures and language are specific to cultures. Explores some of the reasons underlying the increasing importance placed on cultural issues by multinational companies, touching on a number of theoretical and epistemological debates. Draws no firm conclusions but attempts to locate various positions and boundaries on the universalism‐relativism continuum.

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptions of Continuity Management in an Irish Semistate Organisation

The Electronic Journal of Knowledge …, 2005

This paper draws on an exploration of continuity management (CM) in a large Irish semi-state orga... more This paper draws on an exploration of continuity management (CM) in a large Irish semi-state organisation in transition. Drawing on interviews with ten of the senior management team, findings are presented in terms of intellectual capital, replacement strategy, information sources, knowledge transfer to successors, tacit knowledge, CM systems, and barriers to CM implementation. There is a clear consensus in favour of introducing a CM system-but also clear recognition of the barriers, such barriers perceived to be mainly cultural.

Research paper thumbnail of A performative exploration of the lifeworlds of human capital and financial capital: an intellectual capital case vignette

Journal of Management & Governance, 2019

The primary purpose here is to briefly outline and illustrate how one particular relationist/real... more The primary purpose here is to briefly outline and illustrate how one particular relationist/realist ontological approach to performative research, with a focus on professionals' subjective interpretations of intangibles/intellectual capital, may be capable of generating reasonably substantive findings. Methodologically the paper illustrates, if in skeletal form, how adopting a Habermasian performative attitude allied with Wittgenstein's use-theory of language may direct performative research on values, value orientations, norms and legitimacy as a means of addressing the subjective interpretations of worker/manager/professional groups. Drawing on a case vignette, personal value orientations towards intangibles/intellectual capital provide both the performative methodological access points and the empirical focus. The performative method applied appears capable of generating reasonably substantive findings. Value orientations towards intangibles/intellectual capital are clearly present in the human resource (human capital) profession; what is striking is their apparent absence in the finance/accounting (financial capital) profession as the phenomenon may be perceived by the latter to lack professional accounting legitimacy. Mutually-recognised inter-subjective meanings, inclusive of common value orientations towards the case site's intangible value creating processes, are apparently absent in this professional relation. Theoretically, ontologically and methodologically influenced by Habermas and Wittgenstein the paper illustrates the potential of adopting a performative attitude towards values, norms and legitimacy as a means of addressing the subjective interpretations of workers/managers/professionals towards emergent business concepts such as intellectual capital or indeed integrated reporting.

Research paper thumbnail of Intellectual capital: a Habermasian introduction

Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2000

Intellectual capital creation is theorised in this conceptual paper as a dynamic process of colle... more Intellectual capital creation is theorised in this conceptual paper as a dynamic process of collective knowing that is capable of being leveraged into market value. The tacit, intangible and socially unconscious nature of substantive parts of this dynamic process presents some daunting theoretical challenges. Adopting a broadly social constructionist epistemology and a pluralist ontology, the point of departure introduced here is the set of symmetric and reciprocal relations presupposed in Jürgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action. In this worldview, interaction, as distinct from individual action, becomes the germ‐cell or basic unit of theoretical analysis. The relations and validity claims built into the medium of communicative action, viewed here as the nexus of intellectual capital creation, are substantive and real phenomena; they are thus open to empirical investigation.

Research paper thumbnail of Computing Careers and Irish Higher Education

Industry and Higher Education, 2007

This paper explores the impact of developments in the Irish economy and labour market on computin... more This paper explores the impact of developments in the Irish economy and labour market on computing course development in the higher education (HE) sector. Extant computing courses change, or new courses are introduced, in attempts to match labour market demands. The conclusion reached here, however, is that Irish HE is producing insufficient numbers of computing graduates, notwithstanding the anomalous fact that the capacity to produce them is available in the HE sector. Manpower planning is inefficient and IT skill shortages remain, not as a result of poor industry–HE relations but because of a lack of understanding of Irish students' perceptions, preferences and expectations. Pressures for radical institutional change are probably unlikely to emerge as skill gaps are being filled by immigrants with the requisite skills.

Research paper thumbnail of Governance, compliance and legal enforcement: evaluating a recent Irish initiative

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 2007

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to present an initial evaluation of recent Irish legislatio... more PurposeThe objective of this paper is to present an initial evaluation of recent Irish legislation in the area of corporate governance.Design/methodology/approachThe background to the introduction of the 2001 Company Law Enforcement Act, establishing the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), and the Companies (Auditing & Accounting) Act of 2003, establishing the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA), is first outlined. Some empirical evidence is then presented on how such initiatives are perceived by Irish accountants, auditors and directors.FindingsThe tentative conclusion reached is that these regulatory and legislative changes, particularly the active stance of the ODCE, are contributing positively towards creating a compliance culture among Irish directors and their professional accounting advisers. The most striking aspect of the IAASA is its mere existence at a regulatory level over the main professional bodies for the first time in the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Perspectives on Human Resource Development: An Introduction

Advances in Developing Human Resources, 2007

The problem and the solution. This issue overview presents a brief justification for adopting a m... more The problem and the solution. This issue overview presents a brief justification for adopting a multiperspectival approach to theory and practice in human resource development (HRD). It is argued that such an approach has the potential to add theoretical depth and breadth to HRD discourse as well as contributing to reflective HRD practice.The contributions are then briefly introduced.

Research paper thumbnail of Repository Use Policy

of individual values on the importance attached to training and development by line managers&quot... more of individual values on the importance attached to training and development by line managers", Presented at the 6th Conference

Research paper thumbnail of Making strategy in half an hour

Dear reader, welcome to strategy in the desert of the real! This is essentially an exploratory wo... more Dear reader, welcome to strategy in the desert of the real! This is essentially an exploratory work in which we attempt to address the question-How do we make strategy in half an hour? Traditional business strategy can be neatly summed up in two words: "formulate" and "implement". Two facets of the emerging e-business landscape, however, appear to strongly conflict with this model (Bontis & De Castro, 2000). Firstly, the speed at which ebusiness changes, morphs or develops allows neither senior management nor front level employees the luxury of traditional strategic planning exercises-action and decisions are often needed NOW. Secondly, the loosely coupled nature of network relationships suggests that virtual organisational structures no longer conform to traditional configurations. Strategy is a construction, reproduced by a variety of texts and practices that assist us in making some sense (or nonsense) of the world-in this sense, strategic discourse does not simply mirror social reality-strategic discourses create social realities (Hardy, Palmer & Phillips, 2000) and sometimes even social orientations. Create your own realities-your first assignment is to view the movie, The Matrix. Drawing mainly on insights from complex adaptive systems theory and Habermas we frame our discourse here with reference to the metaphor of the Matrix-we can choose the red pill or the blue pill! Within our digital real time experiences of ambiguity, fundamental uncertainty and sometimes sheer terror or fear, we can accept the code that puts our observations and actions into form; complain about it; change it; or write some completely new code. How do we operate in digital real-time? How do we address this question?

Research paper thumbnail of CFOs in e-business: e-architects or foot-soldiers?

Knowledge and Process Management, 2004

Both the role of the CFO (chief financial officer) and the discipline of accounting can be viewed... more Both the role of the CFO (chief financial officer) and the discipline of accounting can be viewed as being in transition due to developments in the e-Business world. One perspective suggests that CFOs are becoming "e-process architects"-an alternative suggests that the CFO role is becoming commoditised to "foot-soldier" status with other roles such as CIOs (chief information officers) and CTOs (chief technology officers) staking a claim to its traditional accounting space. In this paper we present some preliminary evidence relating to this e-architect/footsoldier question, and on levels of e-Business activity, based on data obtained from over 120 CFOs in the Irish ICT sector.

Research paper thumbnail of On the “essential condition” of intellectual capital: labour!

Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2006

PurposeFollowing Marx and Engels' identification of the “essential condition of capital”, the... more PurposeFollowing Marx and Engels' identification of the “essential condition of capital”, the purpose of this paper is to begin an initial critical exploration of the essential condition of intellectual capital, particularly the ownership rights of labour.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a critically modernist stance on unitarist HR and OB discourse, and contextualised within a background on the stock option phenomenon and recent accounting regulation, the paper argues that the fundamental nature of the capital‐labour relation continues resiliently into the IC labour (intellectual capital‐labour) relation.FindingsThere is strong evidence that broad‐based employee stock options (ESOPs) have become institutionalised in certain firms and sectors – but the future of such schemes is very uncertain (post 2005 accounting regulation). Overly unitarist HR/OB arguments are challenged here with empirical evidence on capital's more latently strategic purposes such as conserving cash,...

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptions of Intellectual Capital: Irish Evidence

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, 2001

Recent market volatility has provided a fundamental challenge to those arguing for the central ro... more Recent market volatility has provided a fundamental challenge to those arguing for the central role of intellectual capital as a source of organisation value. Using perceptual data relevant to the importance of intellectual capital as a source of enterprise value gathered in two studies conducted before and after the recent market ‘downturn’ respectively, this paper provides empirical evidence in support of the continuing and central importance of intellectual capital. The findings from these two studies also demonstrate consistency in the composition of the human, internal and external components of intellectual capital. The Irish software/telecom sector provides an ideal research frame work for any such investigation. In recent years Ireland has established itself as the largest software exporter in the world and this sector has been one of the primary engines of growth in an economy that has experienced real growth of over 40% in 6 years, a rate unparalleled in the developed world.

Research paper thumbnail of Creating intellectual capital: a Habermasian community of practice (CoP) introduction

Journal of European Industrial Training, 2003

John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To ... more John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To move forward, Brown suggests, we must not merely look ahead but we must also learn to “look around” because learning occurs when members of a community of practice (CoP) socially construct and share their understanding of some text, issue or event. We draw explicitly here on the structural components of a Habermasian lifeworld in order to identify some dynamic processes through which a specific intellectual capital creating context, CoP, may be theoretically positioned. Rejecting the individualistic “Cogito, ergo sum” of the Cartesians, we move in line with Brown’s “we participate, therefore we are” to arrive within a Habermasian community of practice: we communicate, ergo, we create.

Research paper thumbnail of Critically challenging some assumptions in HRD

International Journal of Training and Development, 2006

This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD li... more This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD literature. These relate to: the exploitation of labour in enhancing shareholder value; the view that employees are co-contributors to and co-recipients of HRD benefits; the distinction between HRD and HRM; the relationship between HRD and unitarism; and, the relationship between HRD and organisational and learning cultures. From a critical modernist perspective, it is argued that these can only be adequately addressed by taking a point of departure from the particular state of the capital-labour relation in time, place and space. HRD, of its nature, exists in a continuous state of dialectical tension between capital and labour-and there is much that critical scholarship has yet to do in informing practitioners about how they might manage and cope with such tension.

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of individual values on human resource decision‐making by line managers

International Journal of Manpower, 2006

PurposeThis paper explores this relationship between the individual values of managers and human ... more PurposeThis paper explores this relationship between the individual values of managers and human resource (HR) decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire data were collected from a total of 340 line managers from both Ireland and Canada. The questionnaire instrument comprises three components: Rokeach's instrumental and terminal values instrument; two HR related decision scenarios; and demographic and human capital data.FindingsThe results provide modest support for the proposed model that individual values affect HR decision‐making in that capability values were shown to be a significant positive predictor of the importance of health and safety, and peace values were a significant positive predictor of the importance of employment equity.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings emphasise the need to simultaneously examine both individual values and organisational factors as predictors of HR decision‐making. Future work should examine the psychometric use of v...

Research paper thumbnail of Positioning management accounting on the intellectual capital agenda

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2007

This paper presents a conceptual framework that situates, integrates and tests, using a structura... more This paper presents a conceptual framework that situates, integrates and tests, using a structural equation model, the possible contribution of management accounting systems to the management of intellectual capital (IC). Drawing on perceptual data from Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in an ICT sector the findings are mixed. They show positive path coefficients between management accounting systems, structural capital and business performance, as proposed by the model-but none are statistically significant. Other relationships found, however, strongly support earlier work in the field of intellectual capital.

Research paper thumbnail of Critically Challenging some Assumptions in HRD

Social Science Research Network, 2005

This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD li... more This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD literature. These relate to: the exploitation of labour in enhancing shareholder value; the view that employees are co-contributors to and co-recipients of HRD benefits; the distinction between HRD and HRM; the relationship between HRD and unitarism; and, the relationship between HRD and organisational and learning cultures. From a critical modernist perspective, it is argued that these can only be adequately addressed by taking a point of departure from the particular state of the capital-labour relation in time, place and space. HRD, of its nature, exists in a continuous state of dialectical tension between capital and labour-and there is much that critical scholarship has yet to do in informing practitioners about how they might manage and cope with such tension.

Research paper thumbnail of Continuing professional development in the Irish legal profession : an exploratory study

This study explores the level and perceived importance of Continuing Professional Development (C.... more This study explores the level and perceived importance of Continuing Professional Development (C.P.D.) among members of the legal profession in Ireland. The paper consists of a brief examination and synthesis of the published literature on the development of knowledge workers in general, the linking of C.P.D. to organisational goals, the professionalisation of industry and responsibility for the provision of C.P.D. It utilises Broudy's career progression framework as an explanatory tool to discuss the linkage between C.P.D. and career development. Data reveals a high level of support for the concept of C.P.D. among legal practitioners, but concern is expressed about the time and monetary expense required in implementation. Results reveal that firm size is an influencing factor on attitudes to C.P.D., the types of training interventions employed and the existence of C.P.D. budgets.

Research paper thumbnail of A study of individual values and employment equity in Canada, France and Ireland

Equal Opportunities International, 2008

PurposeThe purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explo... more PurposeThe purpose of this paper, in the context of the employment equity (EE) field, is to explore the relationship between individual values/beliefs and simulated hiring decisions of minority candidates in Canada, France and Ireland.Design/methodology/approachIndividual values/beliefs were elicited using Likert type scales; subjects responded to a series of simulated hiring scenarios.FindingsThe link between individual value and belief systems and EE‐related HR decision making on recruitment of minority candidates is modestly supported by the findings presented here. The values/beliefs of students from leading business schools influenced, if in part, their simulated hiring decisions on minority candidates presented in the scenarios. National context also matters as EE institutions differ at the societal level of analysis.Research limitations/implicationsThe subjects were business school students of limited work experience addressing scenario situations, not practicing managers mak...

Research paper thumbnail of Social Capital and HRD: Provocative Insights From Critical Management Studies

Advances in Developing Human Resources, 2007

The problem and the solution. This article initiates a critical management studies evaluation of ... more The problem and the solution. This article initiates a critical management studies evaluation of social capital in an HRD context by drawing on insights from Foucault and Habermas.This article presents alternative interpretations of three seminal social capital concepts—weak ties, structural holes, and social resources. Pragmatic, albeit critical, insights for HRD theory and practice are illustrated to counterbalance the managerialist appropriation of social capital in pursuit of largely economic ends. It is argued here that social well-being is as relevant to HRD practice as economic well-being. Ethical dimensions are noted and avenues of reflexivity for HRD practitioners are suggested.

Research paper thumbnail of The cultural boundedness of theory and practice in HRD?

Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 2002

Argues that cultural influences may not only affect a professional’s implicit concept of what con... more Argues that cultural influences may not only affect a professional’s implicit concept of what constitutes effective practice, but may also affect researchers’ explicit theories. Suggests that this means that many HRD practices, processes, procedures and language are specific to cultures. Explores some of the reasons underlying the increasing importance placed on cultural issues by multinational companies, touching on a number of theoretical and epistemological debates. Draws no firm conclusions but attempts to locate various positions and boundaries on the universalism‐relativism continuum.

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptions of Continuity Management in an Irish Semistate Organisation

The Electronic Journal of Knowledge …, 2005

This paper draws on an exploration of continuity management (CM) in a large Irish semi-state orga... more This paper draws on an exploration of continuity management (CM) in a large Irish semi-state organisation in transition. Drawing on interviews with ten of the senior management team, findings are presented in terms of intellectual capital, replacement strategy, information sources, knowledge transfer to successors, tacit knowledge, CM systems, and barriers to CM implementation. There is a clear consensus in favour of introducing a CM system-but also clear recognition of the barriers, such barriers perceived to be mainly cultural.

Research paper thumbnail of A performative exploration of the lifeworlds of human capital and financial capital: an intellectual capital case vignette

Journal of Management & Governance, 2019

The primary purpose here is to briefly outline and illustrate how one particular relationist/real... more The primary purpose here is to briefly outline and illustrate how one particular relationist/realist ontological approach to performative research, with a focus on professionals' subjective interpretations of intangibles/intellectual capital, may be capable of generating reasonably substantive findings. Methodologically the paper illustrates, if in skeletal form, how adopting a Habermasian performative attitude allied with Wittgenstein's use-theory of language may direct performative research on values, value orientations, norms and legitimacy as a means of addressing the subjective interpretations of worker/manager/professional groups. Drawing on a case vignette, personal value orientations towards intangibles/intellectual capital provide both the performative methodological access points and the empirical focus. The performative method applied appears capable of generating reasonably substantive findings. Value orientations towards intangibles/intellectual capital are clearly present in the human resource (human capital) profession; what is striking is their apparent absence in the finance/accounting (financial capital) profession as the phenomenon may be perceived by the latter to lack professional accounting legitimacy. Mutually-recognised inter-subjective meanings, inclusive of common value orientations towards the case site's intangible value creating processes, are apparently absent in this professional relation. Theoretically, ontologically and methodologically influenced by Habermas and Wittgenstein the paper illustrates the potential of adopting a performative attitude towards values, norms and legitimacy as a means of addressing the subjective interpretations of workers/managers/professionals towards emergent business concepts such as intellectual capital or indeed integrated reporting.

Research paper thumbnail of Intellectual capital: a Habermasian introduction

Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2000

Intellectual capital creation is theorised in this conceptual paper as a dynamic process of colle... more Intellectual capital creation is theorised in this conceptual paper as a dynamic process of collective knowing that is capable of being leveraged into market value. The tacit, intangible and socially unconscious nature of substantive parts of this dynamic process presents some daunting theoretical challenges. Adopting a broadly social constructionist epistemology and a pluralist ontology, the point of departure introduced here is the set of symmetric and reciprocal relations presupposed in Jürgen Habermas’ theory of communicative action. In this worldview, interaction, as distinct from individual action, becomes the germ‐cell or basic unit of theoretical analysis. The relations and validity claims built into the medium of communicative action, viewed here as the nexus of intellectual capital creation, are substantive and real phenomena; they are thus open to empirical investigation.

Research paper thumbnail of Computing Careers and Irish Higher Education

Industry and Higher Education, 2007

This paper explores the impact of developments in the Irish economy and labour market on computin... more This paper explores the impact of developments in the Irish economy and labour market on computing course development in the higher education (HE) sector. Extant computing courses change, or new courses are introduced, in attempts to match labour market demands. The conclusion reached here, however, is that Irish HE is producing insufficient numbers of computing graduates, notwithstanding the anomalous fact that the capacity to produce them is available in the HE sector. Manpower planning is inefficient and IT skill shortages remain, not as a result of poor industry–HE relations but because of a lack of understanding of Irish students' perceptions, preferences and expectations. Pressures for radical institutional change are probably unlikely to emerge as skill gaps are being filled by immigrants with the requisite skills.

Research paper thumbnail of Governance, compliance and legal enforcement: evaluating a recent Irish initiative

Corporate Governance: The international journal of business in society, 2007

PurposeThe objective of this paper is to present an initial evaluation of recent Irish legislatio... more PurposeThe objective of this paper is to present an initial evaluation of recent Irish legislation in the area of corporate governance.Design/methodology/approachThe background to the introduction of the 2001 Company Law Enforcement Act, establishing the Office of the Director of Corporate Enforcement (ODCE), and the Companies (Auditing & Accounting) Act of 2003, establishing the Irish Auditing and Accounting Supervisory Authority (IAASA), is first outlined. Some empirical evidence is then presented on how such initiatives are perceived by Irish accountants, auditors and directors.FindingsThe tentative conclusion reached is that these regulatory and legislative changes, particularly the active stance of the ODCE, are contributing positively towards creating a compliance culture among Irish directors and their professional accounting advisers. The most striking aspect of the IAASA is its mere existence at a regulatory level over the main professional bodies for the first time in the ...

Research paper thumbnail of Exploring Perspectives on Human Resource Development: An Introduction

Advances in Developing Human Resources, 2007

The problem and the solution. This issue overview presents a brief justification for adopting a m... more The problem and the solution. This issue overview presents a brief justification for adopting a multiperspectival approach to theory and practice in human resource development (HRD). It is argued that such an approach has the potential to add theoretical depth and breadth to HRD discourse as well as contributing to reflective HRD practice.The contributions are then briefly introduced.

Research paper thumbnail of Repository Use Policy

of individual values on the importance attached to training and development by line managers&quot... more of individual values on the importance attached to training and development by line managers", Presented at the 6th Conference

Research paper thumbnail of Making strategy in half an hour

Dear reader, welcome to strategy in the desert of the real! This is essentially an exploratory wo... more Dear reader, welcome to strategy in the desert of the real! This is essentially an exploratory work in which we attempt to address the question-How do we make strategy in half an hour? Traditional business strategy can be neatly summed up in two words: "formulate" and "implement". Two facets of the emerging e-business landscape, however, appear to strongly conflict with this model (Bontis & De Castro, 2000). Firstly, the speed at which ebusiness changes, morphs or develops allows neither senior management nor front level employees the luxury of traditional strategic planning exercises-action and decisions are often needed NOW. Secondly, the loosely coupled nature of network relationships suggests that virtual organisational structures no longer conform to traditional configurations. Strategy is a construction, reproduced by a variety of texts and practices that assist us in making some sense (or nonsense) of the world-in this sense, strategic discourse does not simply mirror social reality-strategic discourses create social realities (Hardy, Palmer & Phillips, 2000) and sometimes even social orientations. Create your own realities-your first assignment is to view the movie, The Matrix. Drawing mainly on insights from complex adaptive systems theory and Habermas we frame our discourse here with reference to the metaphor of the Matrix-we can choose the red pill or the blue pill! Within our digital real time experiences of ambiguity, fundamental uncertainty and sometimes sheer terror or fear, we can accept the code that puts our observations and actions into form; complain about it; change it; or write some completely new code. How do we operate in digital real-time? How do we address this question?

Research paper thumbnail of CFOs in e-business: e-architects or foot-soldiers?

Knowledge and Process Management, 2004

Both the role of the CFO (chief financial officer) and the discipline of accounting can be viewed... more Both the role of the CFO (chief financial officer) and the discipline of accounting can be viewed as being in transition due to developments in the e-Business world. One perspective suggests that CFOs are becoming "e-process architects"-an alternative suggests that the CFO role is becoming commoditised to "foot-soldier" status with other roles such as CIOs (chief information officers) and CTOs (chief technology officers) staking a claim to its traditional accounting space. In this paper we present some preliminary evidence relating to this e-architect/footsoldier question, and on levels of e-Business activity, based on data obtained from over 120 CFOs in the Irish ICT sector.

Research paper thumbnail of On the “essential condition” of intellectual capital: labour!

Journal of Intellectual Capital, 2006

PurposeFollowing Marx and Engels' identification of the “essential condition of capital”, the... more PurposeFollowing Marx and Engels' identification of the “essential condition of capital”, the purpose of this paper is to begin an initial critical exploration of the essential condition of intellectual capital, particularly the ownership rights of labour.Design/methodology/approachAdopting a critically modernist stance on unitarist HR and OB discourse, and contextualised within a background on the stock option phenomenon and recent accounting regulation, the paper argues that the fundamental nature of the capital‐labour relation continues resiliently into the IC labour (intellectual capital‐labour) relation.FindingsThere is strong evidence that broad‐based employee stock options (ESOPs) have become institutionalised in certain firms and sectors – but the future of such schemes is very uncertain (post 2005 accounting regulation). Overly unitarist HR/OB arguments are challenged here with empirical evidence on capital's more latently strategic purposes such as conserving cash,...

Research paper thumbnail of Perceptions of Intellectual Capital: Irish Evidence

Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, 2001

Recent market volatility has provided a fundamental challenge to those arguing for the central ro... more Recent market volatility has provided a fundamental challenge to those arguing for the central role of intellectual capital as a source of organisation value. Using perceptual data relevant to the importance of intellectual capital as a source of enterprise value gathered in two studies conducted before and after the recent market ‘downturn’ respectively, this paper provides empirical evidence in support of the continuing and central importance of intellectual capital. The findings from these two studies also demonstrate consistency in the composition of the human, internal and external components of intellectual capital. The Irish software/telecom sector provides an ideal research frame work for any such investigation. In recent years Ireland has established itself as the largest software exporter in the world and this sector has been one of the primary engines of growth in an economy that has experienced real growth of over 40% in 6 years, a rate unparalleled in the developed world.

Research paper thumbnail of Creating intellectual capital: a Habermasian community of practice (CoP) introduction

Journal of European Industrial Training, 2003

John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To ... more John Seely Brown notes that context must be added to data and information to produce meaning. To move forward, Brown suggests, we must not merely look ahead but we must also learn to “look around” because learning occurs when members of a community of practice (CoP) socially construct and share their understanding of some text, issue or event. We draw explicitly here on the structural components of a Habermasian lifeworld in order to identify some dynamic processes through which a specific intellectual capital creating context, CoP, may be theoretically positioned. Rejecting the individualistic “Cogito, ergo sum” of the Cartesians, we move in line with Brown’s “we participate, therefore we are” to arrive within a Habermasian community of practice: we communicate, ergo, we create.

Research paper thumbnail of Critically challenging some assumptions in HRD

International Journal of Training and Development, 2006

This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD li... more This paper sets out to critically challenge five interrelated assumptions prominent in the HRD literature. These relate to: the exploitation of labour in enhancing shareholder value; the view that employees are co-contributors to and co-recipients of HRD benefits; the distinction between HRD and HRM; the relationship between HRD and unitarism; and, the relationship between HRD and organisational and learning cultures. From a critical modernist perspective, it is argued that these can only be adequately addressed by taking a point of departure from the particular state of the capital-labour relation in time, place and space. HRD, of its nature, exists in a continuous state of dialectical tension between capital and labour-and there is much that critical scholarship has yet to do in informing practitioners about how they might manage and cope with such tension.

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of individual values on human resource decision‐making by line managers

International Journal of Manpower, 2006

PurposeThis paper explores this relationship between the individual values of managers and human ... more PurposeThis paper explores this relationship between the individual values of managers and human resource (HR) decision‐making.Design/methodology/approachQuestionnaire data were collected from a total of 340 line managers from both Ireland and Canada. The questionnaire instrument comprises three components: Rokeach's instrumental and terminal values instrument; two HR related decision scenarios; and demographic and human capital data.FindingsThe results provide modest support for the proposed model that individual values affect HR decision‐making in that capability values were shown to be a significant positive predictor of the importance of health and safety, and peace values were a significant positive predictor of the importance of employment equity.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings emphasise the need to simultaneously examine both individual values and organisational factors as predictors of HR decision‐making. Future work should examine the psychometric use of v...

Research paper thumbnail of Positioning management accounting on the intellectual capital agenda

International Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Performance Evaluation, 2007

This paper presents a conceptual framework that situates, integrates and tests, using a structura... more This paper presents a conceptual framework that situates, integrates and tests, using a structural equation model, the possible contribution of management accounting systems to the management of intellectual capital (IC). Drawing on perceptual data from Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) in an ICT sector the findings are mixed. They show positive path coefficients between management accounting systems, structural capital and business performance, as proposed by the model-but none are statistically significant. Other relationships found, however, strongly support earlier work in the field of intellectual capital.