On the Existence of Unrecorded Human Assets: An Economic Prespective

Dittman, David A.; Juris, Hervey A.; Revsine, Lawrence

doi:10.2307/2490457

Cited by 21 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…As the threat of turnover is high in many industries, some researchers believe that general skills cannot be a source of sustained competitive advantage (Coff, 1997). Thus, it is human assets with firm-specific skills and knowledge that creates an advantage (Dittman, Juris, & Revsine, 1976; Nag & Gioia, 2012; Sheehan, 2014). Firm-specific training aids in creating tacit knowledge, that knowledge which is hard to codify and imitate (Itami, 1987), especially during times of uncertainty (Kim & Ployhart, 2014).…”

Section: Rbv and Hpwsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human resource development and human resource management levers for sustained competitive advantage: Combining isomorphism and differentiation

Chapman

Sisk

Schatten

et al. 2016

Journal of Management & Organization

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Numerous studies have investigated human resources as a source of sustained competitive advantage, indicating that the high-performance work systems created by certain human resource development and human resource management practices lead to greater firm performance. Though the mechanism by which this link exists remains a ‘black box,’ substantial evidence shows organizations benefit by adopting the human resource development and human resource management practices that lead to high-performance work systems. We discuss two divergent perspectives, institutional theory and resource-based view, and their impact on high-performance work systems. We argue that organizations adhering to tenets of institutional theory experience isomorphism in certain human resource development and human resource management practices, whereas resource-based view attributes create ways that firms differentiate their practices. We posit that to be competitive firms must balance the push–pull effect of institutional pressure with that of resource-based view differentiation.

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Section: Rbv and Hpwsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human resource development and human resource management levers for sustained competitive advantage: Combining isomorphism and differentiation

Chapman

Sisk

Schatten

et al. 2016

Journal of Management & Organization

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Dittman et al (1976) argue that the claims of unrecognized human resource assets are overstated and limited to only a few special cases. Following Oi, there is also an extensive economics literature about limited labour adjustment.…”

Section: Notesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Labour leverage, equity risk and corporate policy choice

Rosett¹

2003

European Accounting Review

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This paper investigates the role of labour utilization in assessing equity investment risk and corporate financial policy choices. Several existing models of the firm predict that labour utilization is costly to adjust in the short run. I argue that this leads to a relatively fixed obligation to pay cash to labour, in effect creating an off-balance-sheet intangible liability similar to a lease. The liability creates 'labour leverage' risk, analogous to financial leverage risk. Labour leverage is hypothesized to be positively correlated with equity investment risk as measured by characteristics of stock returns. Managers recognize this risk and adjust financial policies including debt financing and dividend policy accordingly. The main empirical results are that labour leverage is positively correlated with equity investment risk, and it plays the predicted role in regressions explaining financial structure and dividend policy. Proxies for labour leverage are simple measures based on existing disclosure. The results are consistent with the conjectures that market participants use labour disclosures to assess risk, and that managers take actions to mitigate this risk. The results are consistent across most sectors of the economy, and consistent over time.

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“…In the 1970s, there was an active debate in the literature about the appropriateness of measuring and recording the value of the human assets represented by an organization's employees. Revsine, with David A. Dittman and Hervey A. Juris (two Northwestern colleagues), published ''On the Existence of Unrecorded Human Assets: An Economic Perspective'' (Dittman, Juris, and Revsine 1976). Their analysis of labor market forces showed that the training of employees could create a future benefit for an organization only when that training produces capabilities valuable solely to that organization and when employee mobility is somehow restricted.…”

Section: Articlesmentioning

confidence: 99%