People Analytics Enabling HR Strategic Partnership: A Review

South Asian Journal of Human Resources Management, Ahead of Print.
For more than two decades, academicians and practitioners have been theorising the role of people analytics in enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness and impact of the human resource (HR) management function, thereby prescribing people analytics as an enabler of HR strategic partnership. The objective of this study is to identify and synthesise existing literature on people analytics and its conceptualised efficacy. This is done with a view to assess how and why people analytics enhances HR as a field and elevates it to a function of strategic significance. The study uses the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) framework for systematic literature review to address the research objective. A total of 90 articles on the subject are identified majorly from Scopus. The analysis of this literature reveals four significant themes underscoring the role people analytics can play in enabling HR as a field and function. These include the following: (a) application of people analytics leads to greater vertical, horizontal and external alignment of the HR function; (b) people analytics facilitates better integration of HR management with the organisation’s strategic planning process; (c) people analytics aids the demonstration of causal links between HR management and business performance; and finally (d) people analytics endows the field with scientific rigour, consistency and resulting credibility. The study contributes to the existing knowledge on people analytics and HR strategy linkage by building a foundation and offering specific propositions for empirical enquiry relating the two. The significance of the study also emanates from its focus on the efficacy of people analytics which is being viewed as an HR approach with immense potential.

Innovation in Irrigated Fields in a Semi-arid Region: Southeastern Spain Case

International Journal of Rural Management, Ahead of Print.
In Spain, in the last 25 years (1996–2020), more than a million and a half hectares of irrigated land have been modernised with irrigation systems. Almost half of this irrigated surface is immersed in a second generation of modernisation in order to be more efficient and save water and energy. This represents a strategic issue in a climate crisis scenario, to assure the quantity and quality of the productions of these irrigable areas, bases of market supply, agro-industries and sources of employment. Throughout this process, innovation was experienced (pressure irrigation, deficit irrigation, accurate irrigation, fertigation and nutrient solution, energy self-consumption, new crop varieties, hydroponic cultivation with or without substratum, etc.). The drivers of these innovations are the harvesting-exporting companies and the irrigation communities. This research is a diachronic study of regional geography; data are provided by official statistics and through extensive fieldwork and interviews with managers. The objective is to explain the irrigation innovation techniques undertaken in the semi-arid environment of Southeastern Spain, one of the driest regions in Europe.

Can the Leadership Sense of Duty of Gen Z Be Bought? Evidence from Malaysian Gen Z Students

Business Perspectives and Research, Ahead of Print.
Gen Z constitutes 29% of Malaysia’s population and a growing proportion of the workforce in the near future. Very little is known about their leadership potential. This study investigates whether Gen Z’s sense of duty to lead can be influenced by rewards. Extant literature characterizes Gen Z as convenience-oriented, reward-seeking, calculative, independent, idealistic, and optimistic. An anonymous online questionnaire was used to survey students in schools and universities in Malaysia, targeting respondents 25 years old and below to represent the Gen Z cohort. A total of 153 valid cases were used for statistical analysis. Contrary to their purported self-serving and entitled sentiments, the evidence in this study suggests that Malaysian Gen Z’s sense of duty to lead cannot be easily swayed by rewards. We further found that they do not necessarily dislike working in groups as claimed by past studies; instead, they avoid conflict and discord in teamwork if possible and therefore prefer to work independently if team disharmony is inevitable. While the literature on Gen Z indicates that they prefer convenience, comfort, and are self-interested, this study suggests that their sense of duty to lead can be sacrificial and selfless.

Does entrepreneurial intention for innovation at firm-level matter to affect performance?

The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Ahead of Print.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to 1) examine the influence of firm-level entrepreneurial attitude toward innovation, subjective norms for innovation, and perceived control over innovation on firms’ intention for innovation; 2) study the influence of firms’ intention for innovation on new product development performance; 3) test the effect of new product development performance on firms’ financial performance. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed theoretical model has been analyzed through structural equation modelling using SmartPLS software and structured questionnaires has been distributed among 244 entrepreneurs in Oman. Findings: By empirically testing the antecedents of the firm-level entrepreneurs’ intention with a focus on existing firms (not their intention for new venture creation), it was found that attitudes toward innovation and perceived behavioral control do predict firm-level entrepreneurs’ intention for innovation. The firm-level entrepreneurs’ intention for innovation was also found to positively affect new product development performance. And new product performance was found to enhance financial performance of firms. Practical implications: The findings of this study interject a better understanding of the new product development performance and financial performance which can be achieved by the firm-level entrepreneurial intention for innovation. Entrepreneurs can effectively convey the relative benefit of SME's innovation by emphasizing how the innovation in the firm can help to increase revenue, profitability, boost sales growth, and strengthen the financial health of the SMEs by developing new products for the market. Originality/value: This research contributes to the understanding the relationship between the entrepreneurs’ behavioural characteristics and the firm level entrepreneurial’ intention and how it affects new product development performance and financial performance.