Knowledge that Transforms

Research on forced CEO succession has focused on determinants of exit, impact on the organization, or implications for the incoming CEO. Generally unexamined is what happens to the ousted CEO. Using a sample of 60 forced exits from the Business Week 1000 from 1988 to 1992, this study seeks to identify factors which influence the career outcomes for the ousted CEO. The study found that age matters—older CEOs were less likely to obtain other active executive positions, but were more likely than younger ousted CEOs to enter advisory roles. Further, the reason for the CEO's exit had a significant impact on the likelihood of subsequently assuming either an active or an advisory role. No relationship was found between career outcomes and the following: media coverage, levels of compensation at exit, board memberships.

This article presents a model and a detailed process for redesigning the human resources (HR) function by contracting with line executives for new roles and by upgrading the competencies of the human resource management staff while reengineering the HR delivery systems. The experience of a large, successful company that developed and implemented the process is described. The article argues that the use of “best practices” contributes less to creating a world‐class human resource management team than to redefining the fundamental partnership role supported by the line organization. Partnering is defined in an operational manner using the HR grid.

This article explores certification issues in human resource management based on a survey of four well‐known associations. First, it distinguishes certification from accreditation and licensure. Second, it presents information on certification practices, policies, and standards for four major certifying organizations. Third, it discusses the benefits and drawbacks of certification at the individual, company, and professional levels. Lastly, it points up the importance of continued research on certification in the human resource management field.

Data are presented to support the argument that motivation to manage is a major cause of managerial effectiveness, that it declined sharply in the college population during the activism of the 1960s and early 1970s, and that it is now severely lacking in the United States relative to many other countries. Thus America's competitiveness problems appear to be largely motivational in nature. Possible solutions are discussed, including recruiting and selecting for managerial motivation, increasing motivation to manage using training and development techniques, and changing organizational designs (telescoping the scalar chain, moving managerial tasks into non‐managerial positions, resorting to professional forms, and expanding venture structures).

The benefits of innovation to many organizational functions are well documented. Very little research has addressed innovation within the HRM function, however. Given the importance of the HRM function to organizational competitiveness, successful HRM innovations (HRMIs) can be important determinants of organizational success. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to understanding HRMIs, and thus, to assist managers in making more informed decisions regarding their adoption and implementation. In order to do so this article: (1) describes and defines HRMIs; (2) reviews three studies of HRMI implementation; (3) develops a model of HRMI implementation; and (4) discusses research and practical implications of the HRMI model.

Much has been made of “networks” and corporate “culture” as sources of cohesion in increasingly loosely structured international firms. But how strong is the “corporate glue”? Using a case study of human resource management (HRM) in an international accounting firm, this article shows that growth and internationalization may themselves weaken the corporate glue, just as the need for global integration of activities increases. The resulting stresses lead to a greater emphasis on formal bureaucratic structures and processes, further calling into question the role of traditional culture. Alternative strategies for managing these tensions are proposed.

There is growing awareness of the importance and role of the top management team (TMT). Little is known about how this group of executives should be treated from a human resource management (HRM) perspective since most research and writing on human resource management practices have focused on lower level personnel. A unique study of top management teams in specific firms affiliated with Fortune 500 companies is described which examined the relationship of 18 Executive Human Resource Management (EHRM) practices to a measure of organizational performance. A number of those were found to be associated with higher firm performance.

Most attempts to understand CEO succession fail to adequately differentiate the various ways by which CEOs are chosen. This article presents a conceptual framework that identifies four kinds of CEO succession processes, distinguished according to two key factors: political dynamics (who rules?) and the candidate search (are preferences known in advance?). Our main point is that the response of organizational stakeholders to CEO successions—(a) whether the process is perceived as fair, (b) whether the chosen successor is seen as good for an organization's future, and (c) the extent of disruption attending the leadership change—reflects how the politics and the search are managed. How internal and external stakeholders respond to a CEO succession can affect a new CEO's capacity for exercising effective leadership. Examples of each type (Apple, General Motors, Kodak, and Procter & Gamble) are offered and implications are drawn for researchers and for human resource executives.

Discussions of learning organizations too often end up intangible and obscure. While organizational learning is easy to recognize, it is often difficult to describe and dissect. Here, emphasizing the pragmatic rather than the abstract, the authors offer a solid strategy for creating a learning organization. Their extensive research suggests that at least five elements are essential for companies to become learning organizations. Together, these elements provide a formula for creating a learning organization. By closely examining each element within that formula, managers can measure and increase the rate of learning within their organizations.

Changing competitive dynamics are influencing the leadership capability requirements of global corporations. More than 1,200 managers from ten major global corporations in eight countries responded to an international survey on the core capabilities required for competitiveness. While the results highlighted six leadership capabilities that are globally valued, a comparative analysis of the data shows that culture affects the relative importance given to a leadership capability requirement. The article also investigates the most effective methods for developing each of the core leadership capabilities. Implications for HR professionals are suggested as they devise strategies for leadership development.