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The rapid development of technology and the consequent change in working practices require a dramatically different approach towards training and development in organisations than has traditionally been the case. A review of the literature reveals a negative attitude towards training and development in SMEs, with long‐term strategy being substituted for short‐term financial gain. Our results confirm this conjecture that the same holds true in Northern Ireland, which is witnessing rapid technological advancement. This article lays the foundations for a body of work which will provide greater insights into training and development needs in SMEs.

This paper raises the question whether or not a social and economic dimension exists (community and social involvement, career service intervention/assistance, employer requirements, qualification building) within the Jobskills Training Programme in Northern Ireland. For many young school leavers it has undoubtedly assisted them in the transition from school to the world of work. In addition, many of the cohort study gained an accredited qualification for the first time. All of this, of course, has the aim of making them more employable within the labour market. However, with the local economy becoming stronger and skills shortages rising quickly we have to ask what real contribution does a training intervention like Jobskills really make. In order to determine the effectiveness and contribution to the local labour market, a comparison is made to the Danish vocational and education training model, which highlights significant fundamental differences. The paper concludes by demonstrating the key policy differences and thus presents a new vocational model for youth training in Northern Ireland.

With the emergence of human resource management models and literature came a realisation that in many cases personnel specialists were faced with many new opportunities and challenges. There was a perception that a number of the key functions of the specialism had been underdeveloped or even ignored. This article presents a quantitative analysis of human resource management practices in the Northern Ireland clothing industry. The findings are derived from a survey sample of 90 organisations and the data analysed is based on the 69 company responses representing a 76 per cent response rate. The article focuses on one area of the personnel function, which it was considered would be dramatically changed by the implementation of a new approach to managing people; namely, training and development. The article presents a positive view of human resource interventions in the surveyed industry and of the progress specialists within the industry have made.

This paper examines the findings of a large‐scale postal survey based on an adaptation of the Cranfield Network (CRANET) Survey of International Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) to facilitate the analysis of HRM practices in the SME business environment. These findings are considered in light of a review of HRM literature. The survey utilised a sample of 1,369 organisations representing every company employing between 20‐100 people in Northern Ireland. This paper analyses key issues emerging from the 219 (16 per cent) responses received and provides a comparison of HRM practices in family and non‐family businesses. Overall, the findings suggest that family business practices within HRM are different than their non‐family counterparts.

The purpose of this paper is to find industry wise differences in relationship between onboarding experience (OE) and turnover intention (TI). An attempt has been made to find the intervening role of psychological variables such as locus of control and self-efficacy.

An online questionnaire was administered to 596 newcomers in five industrial sectors: fast-moving consumer goods, information technology (IT), pharmaceuticals, automobile manufacturing, and hospitality. The questionnaire measured the constructs of locus of control, self-efficacy, perceived OE, and TI.

Inverse relationship was found between perceived OE and TI. There is a significant positive relationship between motivation-based self-efficacy and TI which is mediated through OE. Affective self-efficacy moderates the impact of OE on TI, such that for individuals with low efficacy the inverse relationship between OE and TI is strong, but for individuals with high self-efficacy the relationship between the two variables is direct. The OE in automobile manufacturing industries is significantly higher than other industries. TI is significantly higher in IT and hospitality industries. Exploratory factor analysis of the instrument on OE led to extraction of four factors. Based on socialization resource theory, they were termed as orientation, socialization, task characteristics and leadership. Aspects of socialization and leadership are most significant factors in determining TI across industrial sectors, whereas in case of the hospitality and automobile manufacturing sector it was found that better the task characteristics higher is the chance of TI.

There are limited studies linking various aspects of OE with TI across industries, especially in the Indian context. So, this will be the unique contribution of this research.

The purpose of this paper is to present an overview of the conceptual frameworks and concepts with which the research on internationalization patterns of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) should be conducted.

A comprehensive overview of concepts and a conceptual framework to study internationalization patterns of SMEs is offered.

The complexities of existing definitions and methodologies for researching internationalization patterns are highlighted, and a synthesis of the issues is provided. An integrative model of internationalization pathways, and their antecedents and outcomes is presented.

It is recommended that future research focuses especially on the time dimension of internationalization patterns. Future research can contribute to the literature by adopting a longitudinal approach with larger samples and more detailed cases to capture the dynamics of internationalization.

Practitioners might map their positions, and look for challenges and opportunities with regard to their chosen internationalization pattern. They can also benchmark other firms’ pathways and fine‐tune their own approach to internationalization.

The paper integrates a large body of research in an important research area in international marketing. It also provides guidance on how to conduct future research in the area, and introduces the content of this special issue of the International Marketing Review.

We investigate outcomes associated with the turnover of unskilled workers, isolating its effects on revenue, cost, and profit. Little attention from researchers has been given to unskilled workers, a significant portion of the workforce.

This study investigates the relation between turnover among unskilled workers and financial performance using data from 527 hotels owned by the same lodging chain. The workers in our sample are full-time housekeepers and front desk attendants.

We find that the relation between turnover and performance differs by turnover type (voluntary vs. involuntary) and category of unskilled worker, reiterating the need to differentiate between turnover type and the importance of context in studying turnover. We challenge the assumption that voluntary turnover is categorically harmful and our results for front desk attendants support the view that organizations choose turnover levels that maximize performance. We also provide new evidence on the effects of involuntary turnover. Contrary to the established notion that dismissing less able employees should improve performance, we find that involuntary turnover has negative consequences.

Our results demonstrate the importance of distinguishing voluntary turnover from involuntary turnover and the need to include both in models predicting turnover’s performance effects.

The purpose of this paper is to examine skill underutilization and collective turnover in a large professional service firm (PSF). The authors hypothesize that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover, that skill underutilization is greater among professionals than nonprofessionals, and that the positive relationship between skill underutilization and collective turnover is stronger for professionals than for nonprofessionals.

Using survey data from a large PSF, the authors test these predictions across 191 groups (professional and nonprofessional) in 80 offices. Collective turnover rates were taken from company records one year after the survey was administered.

The authors find support for the prediction that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover. In addition, skill underutilization is greater among professionals than nonprofessionals within a PSF. However, the relationship between skill underutilization and collective turnover did not differ between professionals and nonprofessionals.

While the authors find that skill underutilization is positively related to collective turnover, future research is needed to measure the group processes that occur among group members and lead to collective turnover. Limitations of this study include the inability to validate the aggregation of data from the individual level to the group level, and the generalizability of findings to other PSFs or to involuntary turnover situations.

Understanding the antecedents of collective turnover is of particular concern to PSFs, as they are composed of highly skilled, intrinsically motivated professionals, who generate value for the firm. These findings are particularly timely, given the significant levels of underemployment in countries throughout the world.

In addition to extending skill underutilization and collective turnover research to the occupational group level, the findings highlight the importance of providing development opportunities for employees during difficult economic conditions in order to minimize collective turnover.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the behavior of individual employee's performance concerning their organizational citizenship and turnover intention in the higher education sector. This study attempts to examine the effects of two potential sequential mediators – job satisfaction and employee engagement – on employees' job embeddedness, organizational citizenship behavior, and turnover intention.

This study is based on a survey conducted among the employees of major universities in the Republic of Korea. A total of 213 valid responses are used to analyze the hypotheses.

The results suggest that the relationship between job embeddedness and organizational citizenship behavior is significantly mediated by job satisfaction. However, the mediating role of job satisfaction on the link between job embeddedness and employees' intention to leave is not significant. Relatedly, employee engagement has a significant mediating effect on job embeddedness and organizational citizenship behavior but no demonstrable mediating effect between job embeddedness and employees' turnover intentions.

The results provide guidance that can assist organizations in increasing their employees' organizational citizenship behavior and lowering their intentions to leave, particularly in the education sector.

This study contributes to existing knowledge regarding the roles that job satisfaction and employee engagement play as two potential sequential mediators in the relation between job embeddedness and organizational citizenship behavior.