SUMMARY Direct reprogramming of induced cardiomyocytes (iCMs) suffers from low efficiency and requires extensive epigenetic repatterning, although the underlying mechanisms are largely unknown. To address these issues, we screened for epigenetic regulators of iCM reprogramming and found that reducing levels of the polycomb complex gene Bmi1 significantly enhanced induction of beating iCMs from neonatal and adult mouse fibroblasts. The inhibitory role of Bmi1 in iCM reprogramming is mediated through direct interactions with regulatory regions of cardiogenic genes, rather than regulation of cell proliferation. Reduced Bmi1 expression corresponded with increased levels of the active histone mark H3K4me3 and reduced levels of repressive H2AK199ub at cardiogenic loci, and de-repression of cardiogenic gene expression during iCM conversion. Furthermore, Bmi1 deletion could substitute for Gata4 during iCM reprogramming. Thus, Bmi1 acts as a critical epigenetic barrier to iCM production. Bypassing this barrier simplifies iCM generation and increases yield, potentially streamlining iCM production for therapeutic purposes.

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The problem and the solution. Training program evaluation is an important and culminating phase in the analysis, design, develop, implement, evaluate (ADDIE) process. However, evaluation has often been overlooked or not implemented to its full capacity. To assess and ensure the quality, effectiveness, and the impact of systematic training, this article emphasizes the importance of summative evaluation at the last phase of ADDIE and presents developments toward a summative evaluation framework of training program effectiveness. The focus is the connection of final summative evaluation to the direction provided by the analysis phase and the concerns of the host organization.

Recent human resource development (HRD) literature focuses attention on national HRD (NHRD) research and represents problems in both HRD identity and research methodology. Based on a review of development economics and international development literature, this study analyzes the existing NHRD literature with respect to the theory development methodology. The study presents four propositions that challenge the present idea of NHRD. This study concludes that the methods used in the NHRD literature fall short in rigor when compared to economic theory research. This study also presents detailed implications for NHRD policy research and theory development.

Return on investment (ROI) in human resource development (HRD) has been a hot issue pursued by many HRD researchers, practitioners, and organizations during the past decade (Phillips, 1997b). Current approaches to ROI measurement in HRD are rooted in and center around an accounting model developed by the DuPont company in 1919 for decentralized financial control (Koontz, O'Donnell, and Weihrich, 1984;Nikbakht and Groppelli, 1990). HRD intervention is a process much more complex than accounting because the former involves dynamic human behaviors. Benefits derived from HRD intervention often tangle with the impact of other organizational variables. HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, vol. 13, no. 2, Summer 2002 Copyright © 2002 Note: The authors are grateful to seven anonymous reviewers for their many constructive comments and suggestions on earlier versions of this article. We also wish to thank the twelve hundred members of ROInet, an Internet forum dedicated to this subject, especially Dean Spitzer, Fred Nickols, Phillip Rutherford, Terje Tonsberg, and Matt Barney, for their many thought-provoking online discussions over the past two years.

The relationship between social capital and R&D team innovation has received increasing attention in the literature. However, little is known about the mechanisms between the two. This study aims to narrow the gap by investigating the mediating roles of psychological safety and learning from mistakes between the three dimensions of social capital and innovation at team level. Our sample comprised 151 R&D teams with 585 members from nine Chinese high-tech companies. The results showed that psychological safety and learning from mistakes (LFM) partially mediated the relationship between the structural and cognitive capital and innovation in R&D teams, and fully mediated the relationship between the relational capital and innovation in R&D teams. We further discussed subsequent managerial implications and future research directions. Mediating roles of psychology safety and learning from mistakes R&D Management 43, 2, 2013 1,856.48 349 5.32 0.17 0.62 0.59 CFI, comparative fit index; RMSEA, root mean square error of approximation; TLI, Tucker-Lewis index.

Mainstream human resource development (HRD) views are based on assumptions derived from organizations and societies in the western open contexts. They are inadequate and misleading in explaining the causality and regularities of HRD practices in non-mainstream closed contexts, which account for majority countries according to the 2022 World Press Freedom Index. As the fourth study in a progressive multi-stage theorizing program, we theorize HRD as multi-level and multi-context practices to decode the causality and regularities from open to closed sociopolitical contexts. We adopt an emancipatory theoretical stance to derive law-like axioms and theorems of HRD with its corresponding host system (HIS) contexts. We do so through formal and theoretical language and abstraction. We provide illustrative cases at the organizational and national levels to demonstrate the applicability of our theorizing. We further discuss implications for HRD theory, research, and practice, as well as limitations and future research directions for continued theorizing.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extant human resource development (HRD) definition research literature and theorizes a new definition of HRD. Design/methodology/approach The authors adopted keyword and content analyses to examine selected 32 HRD definitions in relation to different organizational and sociopolitical contexts base on theory development criteria and methodology for definition research. Findings From a theoretical perspective, the extant definitions were mostly empirical descriptions of HRD practice with conceptualization being absent. From a context perspective, the definitions were based on HRD phenomena indigenous to the western world, especially the USA and Western Europe. They can hardly explain HRD phenomena in a non-western context. The glaring gaps lead to theorizing a new definition by focusing on the hard core of HRD in defining and criterial attributes. The defining attribute of HRD is its host-system-dependence, and the criterial attributes are its shaping and skilling mechanisms. Research limitations/implications This study unveils that HRD is a means to support the ends defined by the corresponding host system, and not an end in itself. This definition is applicable to different sociopolitical, cultural, and organizational contexts. It provides clear criteria and boundaries to gauge the relevance of HRD research and shows the unique identity of HRD, thus offering new directions to expand the landscape of HRD research. Practical implications The new definition can help human resources practitioners better understand the role and mechanism of HRD that the worldwide practitioners can resonate in various sociocultural and political contexts. Communicating the definition and goals of HRD will enhance internal clients’ understanding and appreciation of the value of HRD. Originality/value This study fills important research gaps in HRD definition research. It is the first HRD definition derived through a rigorous theory development process. The new definition connects the HRD research niche to the general human resource literature and lead to new HRD research.