chapter 1 rm slides

Human Resource Research Methods

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Who is the guy in the front?

• Chris Chan, PhD • Atkinson 122 (416) 736 2100 ext. 30593 [email protected]• Courses I teach • Research I do • My administrative duties • My previous jobs

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Housekeeping matters

• Food and drinks in class. • Lateness and missing class. • Bell curve. • Daily studying habits, nightly examination of your

day’s studying habits, and resolution for the next day.

• What is HRM 4420 about & what will you be expected to learn?

• Recommended text.• Bring your laptop to class! • Due dates for the assessments are non-negotiable

& one assessment builds onto the next component.

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Housekeeping matters

• Assessments – Initial Proposal* (10%)– Revised Proposal* (5%) – Participation (10%) – Presentation* (15%) – Project Report* (40%) – In-class exam (20%) Note: * To be submitted to me by email only!

• 20% penalty for an assignment handed in late on that day, 40% for 2 days late, 60% for 3 days late, 80% for 4 days late, and for the 5th day and beyond …

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Initial Proposal

• What is the BIG HR idea that you want to investigate?

• Why do you want to investigate this idea? • What are some related ideas? Use a mind

map to help! • Is my coverage too broad or too narrow?

(How much paper do you need to wrap up a present?)

• Do some reading in ProQuest to learn about the latest development in the idea(s).

• Demonstrate ProQuest’s capabilities.

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Initial Proposal

• Background of the Study (1 page)

• Theoretical (1/2 page) and Practical (1/2 page) contributions

• Proposed Research Methods (e.g. Data Collection, Sample, & Data Analysis) (1-2 pages)

• References NOT Bibliography

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Revised Proposal

• Same structure as the Initial Proposal • Submit your Initial Proposal (with the

extensive feedback) with your Revised Proposal

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Participation

• Active NOT passive participation.

• Attendance ≠ Participation.

• Ask course related questions.

• Offer additional/new/different insights.

• Challenge the ideas presented.

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Presentation

Assessment Criteria: • The relevance of the topic to HR. • The extent of literature review. • The appropriateness of the research method. • The appropriateness of the analyses. • The conclusions drawn from the results. • Clarity of presentation. • Ability to handle questions from the audience. • Keeping to the time.

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Presentation

• Each criterion will be rated on a 10-point scale, ranging from 0 (Not demonstrated) to 10 (Excellent).

• Peer rating = 50%, My rating = 50%.

• Check the day and time you’ll be presenting. Information will be posted on the blog.

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Project Report

• Cover page • Executive summary • Table of contents • Background of the study • Development of arguments leading to the question or

hypotheses • Research Method (the procedure for data collection, a

description of the sample, and technique used to analyze the data)

• Results • Discussion of the results • Conclusions • References

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Project Report

Miscellaneous things to note: • Spelling and grammar. • Consistent referencing style. • Correct hierarchy of headings (e.g. BOLD AND

CAPS for first level heading, Bold for second level headings, and Italics for third level headings) and page numbers.

• Ideas are referenced appropriately. • Any additional materials such as interview

questions, questionnaires, and so forth should be included in the appendix.

• Plagiarism.

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In-Class Exam

• Last session of this course.

• Comprehensive.

• 2-hrs.

• 40 short-answer questions – May contain theoretical questions – May contain questions relating to SPSS

outputs

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Chapter 1: Introduction

• How do you know whether your employees are satisfied?

• How do you know whether the $50000 you spent on training has any impact on employee performance?

• How do you know the “7 habits of effective people” by Stephen F. Covey are really effective?

• Did your conclusions come from intuition-based management or research-based HRM?

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• When you read a research report, business report, journal article, etc, do you readily accept what is reported? Why?

• HR professionals need the analytical skills to evaluate research proposals, reports, and studies (internal and external).

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• Risks/Disadvantages of intuition-based HR approach: – Overly costly HR policies and practices – Redundant HR policies and practices – May not consider other possible explanations in the

outcomes – Questionable HR policies and practices with poor

validity and reliability – Hit & miss approach – too time consuming – Poor employee performance – Reduction in job satisfaction, commitment, loyalty,

organizational citizenship behavior, etc etc etc. – Any other risks? 16


Why research-based HRM is superior…• Saves you time

• Build upon existing foundation • Choose effective HR policies and practices

over ineffective ones• Development of better HR policies and

practices • Better abilities in assessing the effectiveness

of the HR policies and practices 17


• A historical perspective of HR research – The Early Years – War Years – Post-War Years – HR Research Today

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The Early Years– Early 1900s – Industrial era (tremendous growth and labor

unrest) – Academics brought by government as

consultants – Initial skepticism of psychologists – Use of ‘Introspection’ (what is this?) in studying

human behavior – Use of ‘Empiricism’ or empirical evidence (what is

this?) – Application of psychology in advertising (1896),

and later in business19


The Early Years– Some important names you should know!

• Wilhelm Wundt – promoted the use of psychology in business, use of empiricism in research, & downgraded the use of introspection.

• James Cattell – developed measurements of mental characteristics and traits, & understanding the causes or antecedents of the outcomes.

• William McDougall – argued that instincts are permanent properties in individuals and explain people’s motivation.

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• Walter Dill Scott – 1910 – leadership, efficiency, selection, motivation, etc.

• Organizational culture and employee attitudes.

• Extended to marketing • Job satisfaction, employee performance• E.g. Federick Taylor (Taylorism) and Henry Ford

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• Hugo Munsterberg – application of differential psychology

• How can we get people to be more productive?!

• Vocational guidance, recruitment and selection, marketing

• Job satisfaction • Psychologists should just do the study and butt

out of organizational policies

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The War Years• Walter Dill Scott and Walter Van Dyke Bingham –

applying psychological techniques for selection, training and performance assessment in the military.

• Simultaneous growth in interest in recruitment & selection, evaluation of training effectiveness, performance appraisals, and links of HR practices and policies to individual & organizational effectiveness

• Start of personnel departments • Interests in research design & employee attitudes.

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The War Years• More parallels between the war years and

modern organizations– Analyzed propaganda ≈ Corporate speeches and

reports– Trained personnel to deal with foreign cultures ≈

cross cultural training for expatriates – Design of the military hardware on performance ≈

office space & ergonomics on employee performance

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The Post-War Years• Inaugurations of two important journals that

bridge psychology and business e.g. Personnel Psychology and the Journal of Applied Psychology.

• Areas of study – recruitment, selection, performance appraisals, training & development, pay equity, compensation, quality of life, job satisfaction, workers’ motivation, & productivity.

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HR Research Today

• HR practices & organizational effectiveness

• Accountability

• Strategic HRM

• Value-added HR

• New HR

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HR Practices & Organizational Effectiveness

• HR practices are related to organizational effectiveness/failures.

• HR practices are linked to the Balanced Score Card.

• Refer to Figure 1.1 in your text, the model on HR research and practice and its similarity to the research project you are required to do.

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Accountability• Growing recognition of the importance of HR. • Equal partner in the organization. • Accountable to the organization e.g.

spending $$$ in training, hiring consultants, expensive selection system, etc etc.

• Greater reliance on research to justify spending and implementing programs.

• Poor justification will weaken HR’s credibility.

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Strategic HRM • SHRM = aligning HR policies and practices to

create sustainable competitive advantage for the organization. What does that mean?

• What happens in the background? – Research design– Data collection– Data analyses – Reporting – Monitoring – Tracking or Evaluating – Repeat the process

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• Value-Added – Porter’s value chain analysis

• Analysis of processes that contribute to the competitive advantage of an organization

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• Value-Added– Some argue that HR isn’t adding value to the

organization and the bottom line. – Many HR functions can be outsourced. – What do you think is happening to HR when

recruitment and selection are outsourced? What about training?

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• The New HR – From personnel department to HR

department. – Must be process and outcome focused. – Must be research-based/evidence-based. – Greater accountability, value-adding, play a

strategic role (equal partner working with marketing, finance, etc)

– We are all part of the new HR era!

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• The Research Process– Select research issue

• What HR topics are you interested in? What topic motivates you personally?

• What is an important HR topic for today’s new HR?

• How is it relevant to today’s organization? • Do some reading on ProQuest and you might

discover contradictory research findings. Why is this so?

• What other areas might be related to my initial topic? Draw a model/diagram.

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• The Research Process– Review the situation

• Read existing literature about the topic to familiarize yourself with the topic (e.g. ProQuest BIG hint!).

• Did someone do a similar study that might be similar to what you might be interested in?

• How was the study done? Research design? Analyses used? Conclusions drawn?

• Hypothesis ≠ Theory (What’s the difference?)

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• The Research Process– Formulate hypotheses

• Based on your reading, what are your hunches?

• A good hypothesis is stated in a way that it can be disproved.

• E.g. 1 Students who spend less time on online chatting will earn higher grades than those who spend more time chatting online.

• E.g. 2 Higher level of cultural intelligence will lead to higher task performance.

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• Another indicator of a good hypothesis is that the variables to be investigated are stated clearly

• E.g. 1 time spent on online chats and grade

• E.g. 2 cultural intelligence and task performance • Independent variable (aka antecedent variable;

aka predictor variable) • Dependent variable (aka outcome variable; aka

predicted variable)

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• Is there something else that might explain the relationship between time spent online and grade? Maybe number of courses you are doing? Maybe availability of internet at home?

• Is there something else that might explain the relationship between cultural intelligence and task performance? Maybe one’s level of open mindedness? Maybe one’s level of conscientiousness?

• Mediating & Moderating variables

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• Mediating variable (aka mediator) – A go-in-between variable – A B C (B is the mediator) – Maybe cultural intelligence improves a person’s self

efficacy, which then improves one’s task performance.

• Moderating variable (aka moderator) – An interacting variable – A*B C (B is the moderator; A moderator changes the

original relationship) – Cultural intelligence might not be directly related to

performance, but when interacted with openness, performance might increase

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• The Research Process– Research design & methods

• Choosing the appropriate design and methods to test the hypotheses.

• How will the data be analyzed and why use that particular data analysis?

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• The Research Process– Measurement

• How do you measure your variables?

• Inappropriate measures will lead to inappropriate results and conclusions.

• There are numerous measures out there

(e.g. ProQuest BIG hint!)

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• The Research Process– Evaluation & interpretation

• In research terms, this is the ‘Data Analysis, Results, and Discussion’.

• There are 3 levels of measures: 1. individual level, 2. group level, & 3. organizational level.

• Individual level measures typically deal with attitudes, perceptions, reactions, behaviors, & individual performance.

• Group level measures typically deal with interactions, dynamics, processes, group performance, & quality.

• Organizational level measures typically deal with profitability, productivity, quality, absenteeism, & turnover.

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• The Research Process– Report writing & action planning

• Recommendations for management.

• May be informed by research-evidence HR.

• May include cost-benefit analysis. • May include time line for implementation. • Etc.

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chapter 1 rm slides

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