Knowledge that Transforms

AbstractCurrent competitive environments have created a growing interest in employee flexibility in firms. Recently researchers have differentiated between two facets of employee flexibility: behavior flexibility and skill flexibility. This study proposes a model of relationships between these two facets of employee flexibility and the extent to which HR practices influence them. This model is tested by estimating structural equation models on a sample of 226 commercial departments in Spanish companies. The results of the study show that the two facets of employee flexibility are interrelated, in that skill flexibility influences behavior flexibility. Furthermore, findings confirm the influence of job enrichment on employee flexibility and the significant effect of the internal fit among HR practices on employee flexibility. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

AbstractWe want to create a new narrative about the human resource (HR) profession. HR professionals have often been plagued with self‐doubts, repeatedly re‐exploring HR's role, value, and competencies. If HR is to fully (and finally) become a profession, these self‐doubts need to be replaced with informed insights. These informed insights should be based more on global data than personal perceptions so that the emerging narrative for the HR profession has both substance and meaning.

AbstractA narrow and partial theoretical base has limited current concepts of expatriate adjustment and the research based upon them. This conceptual article explores one of the less theorized aspects of expatriate adjustment: the fact that it has multiple dimensions. We conceive of adjustment as a person‐environment relationship that takes place in the three dimensions of cognitions, feelings, and behaviors. Combining these elements takes us one step closer to a comprehensive and more realistic understanding of the nature of expatriate adjustment. We include suggestions for future research that follow from our reconceptualization.