Emerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services. Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation.

There have lately been rising interest relating to human resources (HR) in small and medium-sized companies (SMEs). This study focuses on agile and innovative human resource management (HRM) practices in 100 Finnish SMEs. Chief executive officers (CEOs), HR directors, supervisors, and shop stewards were asked what kinds of agile/innovative HRM practices are present in their company. There are great expectations of SMEs in Finland because the country's economic growth relies on them. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the more-agile, innovative and productive HRM practices that can nurture profitability and growth among SMEs.

In terms of innovation generation and management, creative employees are the most valuable resources in small firms. Thus, knowledge leaking and leaving are the major staff-related risks. Protecting HRM-related knowledge is one effective way of dealing with these challenges, although this is not always acknowledged by academics or by managers. It is particularly valuable in safeguarding the existing background knowledge of the firm, and thus the prerequisites for future innovation. The aim in this study is to shed light on what is a somewhat neglected protection and appropriability mechanism, and thus to enhance understanding of the role of HRM in protecting core company knowledge—especially in SMEs. These issues are explored in a review of the latest literature and a case study of 15 SMEs representing three industries. The theoretical contribution of the study is to introduce and empirically test a typology of five HRM-related knowledge-protection mechanisms: recruitment, education and training on matters of confidentiality, retaining employees, capturing and diffusing knowledge in-house, and monitoring.

This study examines different dimensions of organizational trust as antecedents of employees' organizational commitment. Quantitative survey data from a large forest company (N = 411) and a large ICT company (N = 304) in Finland were collected. A structural equation modeling was used in order to test the hypotheses. The results from both samples demonstrated that impersonal trust dimensions were positively related to organizational commitment. Whereas, interpersonal trust dimensions did not have a significant impact on employees' organizational commitment. Perceived fairness and capability of the organization's policies and practices play an important role in terms of reinforcing employees' organizational commitment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

PurposeDuring the last decade, a firm's ability to innovate has gained substantial attention in the literature devoted to innovation and strategic management. This study aims at discussing on what is the relationship of a firm's commitment to learn and its open-mindedness with its activity in introducing organizational innovations. The data collection was carried out in Russia. In order to make the research more specific, the organizational innovation is broken down into two subtypes, namely innovation in management practices and innovation in workplace organization.Design/methodology/approachThe study is grounded on the data obtained by the surveying of 123 Russian top managers working in manufacturing firms. The structural equation modeling was approached in order to investigate the impact of a firm's commitment to learn and open-mindedness on its organizational innovation.FindingsThe results indicate that the commitment to learn and the open-mindedness have considerable impact on organizational innovation activity in a firm. The findings also provide evidence that both the investigated subtypes of organizational innovation are positively influenced by commitment to learn and open-mindedness, though the degree of that influence differs.Originality/valueThe literature traditionally focuses mostly on the technological type of innovation leaving the organizational innovation covered by scarce research. In this respect the study contributes to the theory of organizational innovation by elaborating its relations with organizational learning dimensions. Apart from the investigation on the research question at a general level, the study explores the specific context related to the manifestation of phenomenon in a transition economy of Russia.