This integrative literature review reports on strategic human resource development (SHRD) models that examine the strategic embeddedness of HRD (SHRD maturity) in organizations. A review and critique of all existing SHRD models is provided, exemplifying their limitations and building upon their strengths to inform a modified SHRD framework. The latter suggests an enhanced set of strategic components to assess SHRD maturity. This article further outlines how SHRD aspirations can be practiced within complex, dynamic, and continually changing business and economic environments. The SHRD literature is advanced by new insights on how HRD scholars and practitioners could assess and enhance the maturity of their HRD interventions in the context of constantly changing (dynamic) environments. The modified SHRD framework further contributes to the academic literature with its enhanced set of strategic characteristics, as well as with its SHRD pointers, all of which can offer a better evaluation of SHRD maturity during periods of business and economic complexity and uncertainty.

Endlessly changing business and economic landscapes urge organizations to become resilient to ensure business survival and growth. Yet, in many cases, business world is becoming turbulent faster than organizations are becoming resilient. Relevant research indicates the ways through which organizations could respond to unforeseen events, mainly through suggesting that individual and group resilience could lead to organizational one. However, research is nascent on how particularly human resource development (HRD) resilience could be built, and thus to contribute to organizational resilience as well. Within today's business uncertainty and complexity, HRD resilience comes in line with the developmental strategies of organizations.Therefore, the purpose of this perspective article is to set the foundations of the term (HRD resilience) in order to initiate a dialogue around its ability to make a substantial contribution to organizational practice, and thus to be seen as a new 'success element' of organizational resilience.

Nowadays, the global economic crisis (GEC) highly influences organizations through its macroeconomic causes and effects, which account for a significant impact on firms' human resources (HR) practices and labor relations (IR) as well. Of greatest concern is the extent to which the actual impacts of the crisis may be hoarding future problems for organization's operations. Owing to the dynamic nature of contemporary business, its complexity, along with the increasing need for expertise, strategic HR interventions are highly required in an attempt of creating mature and resilient, in HR terms, organizations which will be able to assure their competitiveness, survival, change and growth. However, most organizations (banks) failed to adequately finance their daily operations, accompanied by their failure to finance national economies as well. In that event, the straightaway effects of GEC have resulted into a collapse of most financial systems and in major shortages at financial institutions around the globe. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the impact of GEC through demonstrating key facts related to the current economic crisis in Greece, and more precisely for Greek banking organizations.

This article discusses the story of Steven, a precarious academic worker, and his decision to work from home while being infected with Covid-19; a phenomenon called virtual presenteeism. As argued, Steven’s sickness presence is the outcome of the increasing precarity and job insecurity in the sector, as well as the outcome of a presenteeism culture in academia which is being facilitated by technology and the blended learning approach adopted during the pandemic. The article outlines precarious academic workers’ fear to go off sick, illustrating how Steven negotiates the precarity of his contract via virtual presenteeism to portray over-commitment to the institution and avoid the risk of job loss. As concluded, while blended learning becomes the new educational norm in higher education, virtual presenteeism risks becoming the new attendance norm. This article calls for more research to examine how the blended teaching approach will further impact on academic work, post-pandemic.

Constantly changing business and economic environments have challenged organizations to re‐think the crucial role of their human resource development (HRD) policies and practices in relation to individual and organizational competitiveness, change and growth. Being proactive/strategic, in HRD terms, corresponds to the concept of strategic HRD maturity, a state evidenced by a specific set of strategic characteristics, but research into this concept within the challenging context of the economic crisis is limited, as is research into employees’ perceptions of it. Previous research has been applied mostly within ‘static’ business and economic environments, with much of the existing strategic HRD models neglecting employees’ perspectives. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 42 bank employees in Greece, with the aim of examining their perceptions of strategic HRD before and after the global financial crisis. The study raises important questions for both HRD academics and practitioners because its findings indicate a setback in the development of HRD. Whilst there were a few contradicting perceptions, the dominant employee view was that strategic HRD was a theoretical notion rather than an organizational reality.

The competitive forces firms face today, and will continue to face in the future, demand organizational excellence through which HR departments could make a real contribution to the business through their value-added and risk reduction capacity, while been accepted as equal strategic business partners in organizations. The article discusses HR department's capability of being seen as an integrated value-driven business function, while it also demonstrates its risk reduction capacity, both critical outcomes of HR's strategic positioning within the business agenda.

This study investigates the nature and changes of Human Resource Development (HRD) in two Greek banks under the challenging context of the economic crisis. It examines the latter's impact upon HRD as it was perceived from different stakeholders and through a pre and ongoing-crisis assessment approach.The study draws upon qualitative research data from two case study banking organizations in Greece, reporting on 76 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders (HR staff, Bank Managers, employees) undertaken in 2014, six years after the fall of Lehman Brothers.The study contributes to academic knowledge as being the first empirical research offering a unique perspective through examining changes of HRD within a specific industry and national context (Greek banks) against a backdrop of an economic downturn. Its findings also raise important questions for HRD professionals, in both academia and practice, in relation to claims and aspirations which prevail in respect of HRD and organizational change and business transformation.

This paper investigates the strategic decision-making process (SDMP) of Greek banks' top management in the context of profound organisational changes introduced in 2012 as a result of the 2008 global financial crisis. It focuses on the impact of three key dimensions of the SDMP, namely, rationality, intuition and political behaviour, relating to four changes introduced, namely, acquisitions, branch network rationalisation, integration of information technology (IT) and downsizing of operations and personnel. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted, targeting Greek banks' top management. Out of 140 questionnaires, 78 were returned, a 55.71% response rate. Data was analysed using structural equation modelling. Research findings identify rationality as a key dimension of SDMP for all organisational changes, as there was high focus on identifying and analysing all required information, use of external financial advisors, and reliance on multiple methods of information gathering. Decision-makers used their intuition in the form of past experience when making acquisition decisions, whilst their personal judgment and "inner voice" were neglected. Finally, political behaviour was not displayed during this process, as decision-makers were open with each other about their interests and preferences, and there was no bargaining, negotiation or use of power amongst them. One limitation was that of not considering all the factors that might help measure SDMP characteristics. Also, this study was conducted in a period of political and financial uncertainty for Greek banks, as well as for the Greek economy in general, so findings may not be generalizable to other industries and countries. Conducting interviews could have offered deeper insight as well. This study's value lies in the fact that the organisational changes were determined by Greece's leaders, and thus the Greek banks had to operate under a dynamic, inflexible and non-autonomous environment. Also, this study extends prior SDMP research by examining the impact of the three key SDMP dimensions on four types of organisational change.