Identifying the determinants of individual scientific performance: A perspective focused on AMO theory

Purpose: The aim of this study is to empirically analyse how motivation and the opportunity to investigate enhance the direct relation between the researcher’s human capital and individual scientific performance.Design/methodology/approach: Following recent investigations of strategic human capital and the abilities-motivation-opportunity (AMO) theory, we propose a double quantitative-qualitative methodology to identify the determinants of individual scientific performance.Findings: Applying regression analysis to a sample of 471 Spanish academic researchers, we confirm the moderating role of a researcher’s motivation and opportunities.Originality/value: Drawing on the empirical evidence obtained, this work discusses the relevant determinants of scientific productivity, providing practical recommendations for research management and policy making.

Recruiting strategic human capital from MNCs—Does hiring MNC managers enable exporting in domestic firms?

Exporting is a central growth strategy for most firms and managers with international experience are instrumental for export decisions. We suggest that such managers can be hired from Multinational Corporations (MNCs). We integrate theory from strategic human capital research into models explaining export decisions. We theorize that hiring managers from MNCs increases the odds of domestic firms to start exporting and this effect depends on the similarities between hiring firms and MNCs. We hypothesize that young firms will benefit comparatively less from hiring MNC managers. In contrast, firms with internationally diverse workforces and with high degrees of hierarchical specialization will benefit the most from hiring MNC managers. We test and support these hypotheses for 474,926 domestic firms in Sweden, which we observe between 2007 and 2015.

Do star employees help or hinder department performance: the case of surgeons in South Korean hospitals

Based on strategic human capital theory, this study examines the effects of star surgeons on two different types of healthcare outcomes (i.e., number of surgical patients and length of patients’ in-hospital stay after surgery) in the surgery department. We also explore whether the relationship between star surgeons and healthcare outcomes is contingent on the expertise disparity between star and non-star surgeons. The results of an empirical analysis on colorectal cancer surgeons in 80 departments in South Korean hospitals show that the number of star surgeons increases the number of surgical patients and reduces the length of patients' stay after surgery. Moreover, the positive relationship between star surgeons and the number of surgical patients is strengthened when the expertise disparity between star and non-star surgeons is low. The implications of these findings for research and practice are also discussed.

Human Capital Management as a Resource in Achieving Competitive Advantage

The aim is to provide the conceptual framework for the administration of human capital (MHC) and to show how human capital may be employed to secure the competitive advantage of an organization. Human capital is a concept referring to the extra value provided to organizations by humans. It stresses the necessity for strategic human capital investments through commitment, retention, talent management, and learning and development programs. These studies often mostly depend on an examination of the literature available for their data. Study results stress the relevance of human capital and the strategic measures that contribute to success and competitiveness.

Resources for What? Understanding Performance in the Resource-Based View and Strategic Human Capital Resource Literatures

Barney’s presentation of the resource-based view (RBV) profoundly shaped the trajectory of management scholarship. This article considers the RBV’s impact specifically on the field of strategic human capital resources. Although Barney is still highly relevant, I suggest that research has not sufficiently appreciated the role that individual and collective performance behavior and outcomes play in linking human capital resources to competitive advantage. An alternative, what might be called RBV2.0, posits that research needs to recognize that human capital resources are distinct from performance behavior and outcomes. Such an observation raises the question, “Resources for what?” Answering this question leads to several important insights. First, a given type of human capital resource is only important to the extent it is related to performance behavior and outcomes that contribute to competitive advantage. Second, performance behavior is largely strategy-specific and thus firm-specific. Third, firm specificity is not a characteristic of human capital resources but rather a function of the proximity of the resource to firm-specific performance behavior and outcomes. Consequently, “Performance” is the answer to the question, “Resources for what?” This emphasis on understanding human capital resource-performance relationships adds considerable precision into the RBV, helps resolve puzzles in the strategic human capital literature relating to firm specificity and performance mobility, and promotes a deeper understanding hiding latent within Barney’s original view.