Human expertise development is a key concern of the HRD profession. When employees operate at higher levels of expertise, not only is their job performance superior, but their overall well-being is also higher. The rapid expansion of AI use in the workplace puts our assumptions about the role of HRD in expertise development under serious test. How can expertise be developed when increasingly large chunks of work are offloaded to AI, and humans no longer get a chance to learn from tackling complex problems, making mistakes, and experimenting with new approaches? In all knowledge work, there are specific core activities that are key to expertise development. These activities require prolonged periods of concentrated and challenging intellectual work. They cannot be outsourced to AI and need to be retained and cultivated as part of the developmental process.

Purpose Ethics of care (EoC) has received increased attention as an alternative approach for organizations with the potential to promote more socially responsive workplaces. Nonprofit organizations and social enterprises have embraced EoC, with positive impact on collaboration, learning, diversity and belonging in the working environment. However, it is unclear to what extent for-profit corporations can successfully adopt EoC, given the scarcity of empirical studies conducted in these organizations. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether EoC principles could also be adopted as a guideline for human resource development (HRD) practices in for-profit organizations. Design/methodology/approach A constructivist case study approach was used to gather rich data and develop a deep understanding of an exemplary case of the phenomenon under investigation – EoC adoption in human resource development (HRD) practices in a for-profit corporation. Findings Designing and implementing HRD practices aligned with EoC in for-profit businesses is possible and entails a similar approach adopted by nonprofit organizations and social enterprises. However, additional attention is necessary to ensure the sustainability of the caring approach. Originality/value This research investigated how a large Brazilian retail company designed and implemented HRD practices aligned with EoC. It proposes a caring HRD framework with practical recommendations to support organizations that wish to embrace EoC in their practices and suggests avenues to advance research on this topic.

Problem Despite the longstanding popularity of generational analysis, its validity is still questionable, and potential methodological flaws, such as conflating age and life cycle effects, remain unresolved. In HRD research, there is a tendency to unquestioningly adopt established generation-based thinking, which imposes risks of oversimplification and stereotyping. Solution HRD researchers and practitioners should be mindful of the dangers and difficulties associated with generalization and stereotyping based on generation. They should apply generational categories with greater caution, understanding the confounding influence of age and life cycle and preserving the original aim of generational research: to understand individual differences. Stakeholders Human resource development researchers and practitioners, and broadly, scholars from other disciplines who research topics related to generation.

This integrative literature review aims to review, critique, and synthesize the existing literature on appreciative inquiry (AI) in three disciplines where the most significant number of AI-related articles could be found: healthcare, higher education, and management. We sought to identify critical insights, along with similarities and divergencies between the three fields. We identified diverse reasons for adopting AI methods and differing degrees to which researchers adhere to the 4D cycle. The reviewed literature suggests that AI yields positive effects across three levels (individual, group, and organization). Our results indicate that positive impacts from AI can be achieved even when not all steps of the 4D cycle are strictly followed. Furthermore, we discovered numerous innovative AI applications and multiple instances of using modified AI models. Based on our research findings, we proposed a systems model for understanding the AI process and offered implications for both HRD research and practice.

In this article, we report results of an experimental study investigating the use of ChatGPT in the design of an HRD intervention. Our goal was to identify the benefits and drawbacks of using this technology in HRD practice. The theoretical framework for the study was provided by the Activity Theory, an often used approach in Human-Computer Interaction research. The study participants were HRD doctoral students from two large public universities in the USA. The participants used ChatGPT in developing an HRD intervention plan, based on a supplied organisational scenario. Data for the analysis included the intervention plans, prompts used by participants, outputs received from ChatGPT, and participants' responses to open-ended questions. The study revealed varied participant experiences with ChatGPT, including differences in time investment and interaction rules. Among key findings were the tendency to interact with ChatGPT as if it were a human consultant, and steps to establish division of labour between the tool and the human agent. ChatGPT was valued for its usefulness in initial planning and brainstorming ideas for HRD interventions, yet its limitations were apparent in generic responses and lack of contextual understanding. Across all participants, the crucial role of human expertise in refining ChatGPT's output was consistently highlighted.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between organizational justice and work engagement, to discover the moderating effect of the supportive learning environment on the relationship between organizational justice and work engagement, and to determine whether there is a difference in moderating effect for general workers and public service workers. Design/methodology/approach The authors collected data by surveying a public enterprise’s general and public service workers in South Korea. A total of 300 responses were used for analysis. The hypothesized relationships were tested using correlation, regression, and moderating effect analysis. Findings Organizational justice had a statistically significant positive effect on work engagement. At the sub-factor level, distributive and procedural justice positively affected work engagement. Further, the supportive learning environment did not moderate the relationship between organizational justice and work engagement. However, organizational support, a sub-factor of the supportive learning environment, moderated the relationship between organizational justice and work engagement. Finally, the moderating effect of the supportive learning environment on the relationship between organizational justice and work engagement was insignificant for both general and public service workers. Originality/value From the human resource development (HRD) standpoint, this paper emphasized the importance of creating supportive learning environments in integrating large groups of new employees into the organizational structures and culture. Highlighting that public service workers perceived organizational justice as lower than general workers, the study provided insights into future organizational strategies for accommodating these workers. It is particularly meaningful in that it was the first attempt at studying the difference between general and public service workers after integrating public service workers in South Korea. The findings can inform practice beyond the South Korean context, particularly the countries where similar labor market dualisms exist.

Entrepreneurship involves the pursuit of opportunities to bring about innovations in the marketplace and create new value for individuals, the economy, and society. Over the last two decades, the recognition of entrepreneurship as a potential 'force for social good' has driven practitioners and scholars in the entrepreneurship field – traditionally narrowly focused on financial motives and economic growth – to explore the application of entrepreneurial approaches to promote sustainable development, including in the context of conservation. However, these recent advances in entrepreneurship concepts and practice remain underutilized in conservation science. Herein we review published research on conservation entrepreneurship to provide a conceptual basis for developing a shared understanding of that research field. We offer an overview of key concepts and the scope of entrepreneurship research in four interrelated themes: entrepreneurial opportunity, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship context, and entrepreneurship outcome. We further discuss potential contributions of conservation entrepreneurship research to five areas of inquiry in conservation: action under uncertainty, conservation innovation, financing, scaling impact, and support for the conservation community. We conclude by putting forward a view of conservation entrepreneurship research as the study of the process by which individuals or teams explore and/or exploit entrepreneurial opportunities to solve conservation problems within social-ecological systems. Conservation entrepreneurship is not a panacea but has the potential to offer relevant approaches that supplement existing conservation efforts. It is our hope to stimulate scholarly interest in conservation entrepreneurship as a phenomenon rapidly growing in the real world and diversifying the ways of practicing conservation.

Impacts of COVID-19 pandemic, combined with an array of other severe threats to societal well-being (e.g. inequality, systemic racism, and environmental degradation), have shed light on the importance of ethics of care as a guiding normative for HRD. However, the current understanding of care as HRD practice is limited and primarily studied in the context of leaders’ behaviours towards employees. This study addresses this shortcoming by conducting a case study of social enterprises located in impoverished communities surrounding the UNESCO World Heritage Site Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil, to examine what caring HRD looks like and how it can be operationalised in organisations. We conducted a qualitative study based on interviews and documentation analysis to map the flow of care practices implemented by these social enterprises. Our findings suggest that caring HRD entails a reciprocal and systemic approach highly relevant to organisations operating in collaborative and complex social contexts. We observed that moral values are critical requirements for a caring approach and must be embedded in the organisation’s mission, culture, and processes. Our work expands the range of care interventions proposed in HRD literature by offering strategies that target the whole organisational system, including the surrounding environment and community.

To promote human development and flourishing and the creation of just and sustainable workplaces, HRD professionals need a better understanding of the political and economic forces shaping organizational realities. We need new models, grounded in an updated understanding of the political economy of labor and workforce development. This essay offers a brief critique of the current models and discusses alternative ways of thinking about political and economic mechanisms that can promote human flourishing, equity, and sustainability. We offer suggestions for how HRD researchers and practitioners can use this new lens to develop interventions and advance scholarship.

There is a growing interest in how entrepreneurship animates deliberate sustainability transformations across societal levels. Few studies, however, have provided an empirically grounded account of practices employed by sustainability-driven entrepreneurial organizations for sustainability transformations. We address this gap by applying the critical Human Resource Development (CHRD) framework to identify practices for developing organizational and community capacity conducive to sustainability transformations in two cases of sustainability-driven entrepreneurship in the UNESCO World Heritage Site Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil. We used case study methodology to identify five practices by conducting a reflexive thematic analysis with qualitative data from key informant interviews, documents, and secondary sources. Our results show that each practice was strongly oriented by relational values of care and social–ecological systems thinking. Both humans and nonhumans were taken as stakeholders who participate in and benefit from practices. Caring for the local place, place-based learning, and regenerative organizing appeared to be relevant for learning and development interventions that imparted significant changes in the local social–ecological context. We updated the CHRD framework to incorporate a nonhuman dimension and highlight caring, place-based learning, and regenerative organizing as essential areas of engagement in which HRD practices in support of place-based sustainability transformations occur.

Problem The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) is assumed to lead to increased productivity of knowledge workers. However, AI could also have negative effects on the development of professional expertise. Solution A review of the literature on expertise development is provided, followed by examples of AI implementation in a knowledge-intensive profession, accounting. The analysis of these examples suggests that automation can result in the loss of expertise due to reduced opportunities for learning from deliberate practice and experienced colleagues, and from working on progressively more complex tasks. Implications for human resource development (HRD) include creating alternative individual development opportunities and promoting organizational cultures conducive to expertise development in human-machine interaction modes. Stakeholders The results of this study will be of interest to scholars of HRD, accounting education, and human-machine interaction. Practical implications will be of relevance to HRD professionals and managers responsible for the implementation of artificial intelligence solutions.

Purpose This study aims to examine how case study research has been applied in the field of human resource development (HRD). Design/methodology/approach The authors examined HRD case study research by analyzing 118 refereed, empirical case study articles published between 2000 and 2020 in three Academy of HRD-sponsored journals. Findings Findings suggest that case studies have an established place in HRD research. The disciplinary convention has been exploratory case studies, which, to a greater extent, draw on single-case research designs. When examining the proportion of case study articles in relation to all empirical, peer-refereed publications in the journals, the authors found a slight decline in case study research publications in recent years. The results of our post hoc exploratory analysis indicate that HRD case study research that contributes to theory development by eliciting concepts and their relationships is likely to receive more scholarly attention than case studies that provide rich descriptions of the phenomenon. The results also suggest that it is rather case study’s contribution to theory than selected features of case study that attracts scholars’ attention. Originality/value The study identified several approaches to conducting case study research that have received less attention by HRD researchers. The authors encourage HRD researchers to expand their repertoire of case study approaches. The authors also provide recommendations addressing the issues of methodological self-awareness, rigor and transparency in case study research.

Purpose Human resource development (HRD) as an applied discipline is an example of a scholarly field that has emerged through the collaboration of scholars and practitioners with backgrounds in various foundational disciplines. This study interested in both the influence of other disciplines on HRD research and in HRD’s influence on other disciplines. The purpose of this study is to take stock of the relationships between HRD research and research in other academic disciplines affecting and affected by HRD research. Design/methodology/approach The study used content analysis of the top 100 most frequently cited empirical articles published in three HRD journals between 2000 and 2019 to identify disciplinary foundations of HRD research. The influence of HRD on other disciplines was scrutinized through citation analysis of work citing the top 100 articles. In addition, categorizing the 100 articles into six research themes, the influence of six research themes on citation patterns was explored. Findings The findings indicated that empirical research in HRD, as represented by the top 100 articles, relied mainly on theories and frameworks from two disciplines, management and psychology. Another important finding is that the top 100 HRD articles were cited most often in management publications and the rate of citation in management journals has been growing rapidly since 2005. The citation frequency of HRD articles in other disciplines including psychology, social sciences, education and medicine and nursing shows a general upward trend as well. In addition, there was a difference in disciplines providing theoretical foundations to the HRD articles and citing the articles depending on six predominant research themes, identified in HRD articles. Originality/value This study empirically identified theories and disciplines contributing to HRD research, considering the influence of cited research on the HRD articles through content analysis. In addition, the findings of this study broadened the understanding of the relationship between HRD research and other disciplines by examining the contributions of HRD articles to other disciplines. Finally, this research provided new information regarding the changes in dominant themes in HRD research over time.

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine whether the indices of the meaning of work (MOW) change over time. The study sample included mid-level managers, with measurements taken twice, in 2006/2007 and in 2017/2018. Design/methodology/approach This survey-based study was conducted in Poland, a country that went through significant socio-economic transformations in the past decade. The MOW instrument, developed by the MOW international research group, was used to measure absolute and relative work centrality, societal norms regarding work, valued work outcomes and the importance of various work goals. The hierarchical regression analysis method was used for hypotheses testing. Findings The study results show that there were no statistically significant changes in either absolute or relative work centrality over the studied decade. The family remained the highest-ranked value, ahead of work and leisure held the third place. The role of religion and community has remained largely unchanged, with these domains ranked significantly lower compared to work, family and leisure. An important finding was that the preference for job stability has significantly increased in the studied decade. At the same time, there was a marked growth in preference for flexible and convenient work hours. The study concludes with implications for future research and for human resource development (HRD) practice. Originality/value The study makes an important contribution to the MOW and HRD literature by demonstrating that the main indices of MOW, as measured by the MOW instrument, tend to remain unchanged despite socio-economic changes in the society.

Purpose This study aims to explore key factors influencing the work of interdisciplinary university research teams of small size. Design/methodology/approach This is a multiple-case study of four interdisciplinary university research teams of small size in which science and/or engineering was an important component. Findings Data analysis revealed 17 critical factors classified into five groups. Although some factors were more influential than others, it was rather multiple factors at various levels of analysis, and not a single factor, that influenced the work of research teams. Another important finding was the identified need to develop project management capacity of university researchers. The study also revealed two strategies, conditioned on the availability of funds, that small university research teams use as a way to adapt to situational demands and research opportunities. Originality/value Although previous research examined various aspects pertinent to the work of industry research teams and large research groups, empirical research into interdisciplinary university research teams of small size has been limited.

This integrative literature review examines the links between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and human resources (HR). We review and closely examine three bodies of literature that discuss the CSR-HR link: (a) the CSR literature, (b) the human resource management (HRM) literature, and (c) the human resource development (HRD) literature. Our review suggests that although CSR and HR are closely interrelated, there is currently a lack of developmental perspectives underlying the CSR-HR link. Thus, based on our review of theoretical and empirical research, we point to four main areas in which HRD may play an important role in promoting CSR in organizations, including leadership development, education and training, culture change, and fostering critical reflection. Our findings underline the increasing relevance of CSR to the field of HR including HRM and HRD, and provide implications for HRD research and practice, along with recommendations for future research.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the role of human resource development (HRD) in corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainability initiatives of multinational companies (MNCs).Design/methodology/approachThe authors analyze contents of corporate responsibility (CR) reports disclosed by 23 MNCs from Europe, Asia and North America to examine HRD’s contribution to CSR and sustainability, with particular attention to long-term human development and organization development.FindingsThe analysis of CR reports indicates that HRD is perceived as playing a role in the following areas: diversity, equity and inclusion; community engagement; work–life balance; employee long-term growth and development; performance management; business ethics and ethical culture; and raising CSR awareness. In all areas, HRD was identified as playing a significant role in supporting companies’ CSR agendas.Originality/valueThis study extends research on the intersection of HR, CSR and sustainability and provides evidence of HRD’s important contributions to CSR and sustainability.

This article provides an overview of the history and current status of graduate and undergraduate Human Resource Development (HRD) programs at the University of Minnesota. The HRD program at the UMN is situated within the Department of Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development of the College of Education and Human Development. The program offers undergraduate, master's, and PhD degrees, and is characterized by healthy enrollment numbers and a strong alumni base, both nationally and internationally. The UMN HRD program has a long history of significant contributions to the development of HRD with research and strong education programs which continue to influence the academic field and professional field of practice in the U.S. and internationally.