Contents  1/2010     Contents  2/2010


Vladimiras Graźulis:  Editorial.

Rita Bendaravičiene: 
Benchmarking Good Practices of Performance Appraisal for Lithuanian Universities: United Kingdom Case Analysis.
[abstract]   [article]

Ruta Dačiulyte, Anastasija Pinchuk: 
Self-Directed Learning in the Context of Human Resource Development.
[abstract]   [article]

Lotars Dubkevics, Arturs Barbars: 
The Role of Organizational Culture in Human Resource Management.
[abstract]   [article]

Jozef Suchomel, Mikuláš Siklienka, Vlado Goglia: 
Exposure to the Hand-Arm Transmitted Vibration at Using Pneumatic Sanding Machine.
[abstract]   [article]

Sergii Kasian: 
Features of Marketing of the Personnel at Management of Companies Intellectual Capital.
[abstract]   [article]

Radka Majerová: 
Planning on the Base of Human-Potential Effectiveness.
[abstract]   [article]

Ilvija Pikturnaite, Jonas Jagminas: 
The Correlation between Strategic Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development in Lithuanian Republic Municipalities’ Administrations.
[abstract]   [article]

Andris Sarnovičs: 
Human Resource Development in Public Administration: A Case of Latvia.
[abstract]   [article]

Zuzana Vaďurová, Jana Blštáková: 
Managing Employees’ Performance in Condition of Slovak Economy.
[abstract]   [article]

Katri Vintiša: 
The Impact of Economic Crisis on Human Resources Management of Public Sector.
[abstract]   [article]



 Abstracts  1/2010   


Rita Bendaravičiene: 
Benchmarking Good Practices of Performance Appraisal for Lithuanian Universities: United Kingdom Case Analysis.
[contents]   [article]
A competition, reduced public funding, ownership shift from State budget to public institution, prime government change from Senate to Stakeholders’ Council – probably the need for effective personnel management in Lithuanian universities has never been more important as in the challenging nowadays. Development of appropriate performance appraisal system is pivotal involving and empowering personnel to contribute to the overall performance management at the individual and organizational level. This article analyses the state of performance appraisal in Lithuanian universities, outlining the problems and shortcomings to be dealt with. A benchmark tool is applied to look for good practice of performance appraisal in United Kingdom universities: comparative analysis of available “open access” appraisal policies and documentation in operation at three United Kingdom universities has been carried out. The article concludes with implications on the components of successful and effective performance appraisal system which have been benchmarked and advocated for adoption in Lithuanian universities.


Ruta Dačiulyte, Anastasija Pinchuk: 
Self-Directed Learning in the Context of Human Resource Development.
[contents]   [article]
The article discusses the importance of self-directed learning for human resource development, different aspects of successful self-directed learning at both individual and organizational levels. The article presents empirical findings on employees’ attitude towards self-directed learning and its components, the results of the comparative analysis of the attitudes of employees working in public and private organizations. For example: the majority of the respondents is not sure of define the concept of self-directed learning incorrectly, do not associate it with conscious assumption of responsibility and setting the learning objectives; half of the respondents (53 per cent) agree that their organizations appreciate pro-activity, i.e. the projection of an event in advance rather than response to the event occurred; within the private organization, employees receive leader’s assistance and encouragement more frequently, they also have better learning possibilities and highly valued learning culture within the organization. Employees from the private organization are more positive about self-directed learning than those in the public organization. The former are more ready for self-directed learning and use a wider variety of learning possibilities: they make use of specialists’ and their colleagues’ assistance and their knowledge acquired in other spheres of life, they learn from their own experience and experimentation, observation and modeling others’ performance more often than do the respondents from the public organization.


Lotars Dubkevics, Arturs Barbars: 
The Role of Organizational Culture in Human Resource Management.
[contents]   [article]
The purpose of this paper is to look into the theories of the organizational culture and to analyze an example of one effective organization. In the paper, the questionnaires for evaluation of the organizational culture were use. This is the first such kind of empirical research of the organizational culture as a background of the human resource management in Latvia done by using testing and retesting research methods. Practical implications: a need for more management attention to organizational culture as a measure for human potential development. Moreover, a need to recognize a significant role of the culture in organizations effectiveness is emphasizes in this paper. With a sufficient degree of certainty the study can argue that the dominant organizational culture type is hierarchical and market (Quinn, Cameron), or bureaucratic organizational culture dimension (Wallach), a discussion provoking is relatively high level of supportive organization culture dimension by E. J. Wallach research methodology. Organizational culture (HRM environment) can be considered as effective as the degree of approximation of the existing and preferred culture in both (staff and management) subculture levels is high. In context of the specific research, we can conclude that an effective organizational culture promotes the organization’s competitiveness.


Jozef Suchomel, Mikuláš Siklienka, Vlado Goglia: 
Exposure to the Hand-Arm Transmitted Vibration at Using Pneumatic Sanding Machine.
[contents]   [article]
According to some recent data approximately 1.5 to 2 million workers in the USA, 1.6 millions in GB and several millions in EU are exposed to vibration. Therefore protection against vibration gains more and more attention. In 2002 the Directive /44/EC - On the Minimum Health and Safety Reqiurements regarding to Exposure of Workers to the Risk Arising from Physical Agents: Vibration - was issued. It set limits for the worker’s exposure to hand-transmitted vibration to 2,5 m/s2 (action value), i.e. 5 m/s2 (upper limit value). Written into laws the Directive became obligatory for all EU member-states. The whole-body vibration limits are set at 0,5 m/s2 , i.e. at 1,15 m/s2. As generally known, the pneumatic hand-tools are one of the most dangerous sources of hand-transmitted vibration. In the last few years only in GB there have been some 140.000 miners with signs of VWF (Vibration White Finger desease) who were paid nearly 3, 000,000,000L. Indemnity (Griffin, 1996). The measurement results and vibration acceleration analyses confirm that the risk of permanent health damage to persons operating hand sanding machines is quite real. As a matter of fact, this investigation work was initiated because of health damages observed with sanding machines operators in the woodworking and wood processing plants in Croatia. Daily exposure should be strictly limited in accordance with the recommended exposure times.


Sergii Kasian: 
Features of Marketing of the Personnel at Management of Companies Intellectual Capital.
[contents]   [article]
In paper, approaches to management of the personnel of the enterprises of business on the basis of the marketing approach are considered. Approaches to concept the intellectual capital of the enterprise are described and principles of its estimation are deduced. The separate attention in article is given to functioning of the mechanism of management by the personnel on the basis of use of an intellectuall potential in the conditions of crisis processes in economy of transitive type. One of the major purposes of management of the personnel is creation of the certain educational environment “learning environment” which will include the most suitable elements of formation for the given company. The paper analyzes an existing situation, tendencies of development of the market of the personnel in Ukraine, and internal management of the personnel at the enterprises. Examples of experience in personnel training on world leading enterprises are resulted. Functional problems of marketing are estimated by the personnel. Actually, monetary and social security of the worker is the best method of prompting to work, now. Follows has noticed also that the personnel purposes should be almost completely integrated with the purposes of the employer.


Radka Majerová: 
Planning on the Base of Human-Potential Effectiveness.
[contents]   [article]
This article deals about implantation of information about dynamic human-potential system to planning process in Slovak enterprises. Two re-bound parts are joined in this paper - results of research and proposed model. Research has been oriented on next areas: identification of personnel-specialist’s post in Slovak enterprises, detection of source areas and information about human potential which are used in planning process by managers, investigation of dependency between cooperation of personnel specialists with managers and engagement of employees in planning process. Results of research and analyses of domestic and foreign information resources have been a source for creation of model of planning on the base of human-potential effectiveness.
The proposed model is a composition in which are synthesized four base components: comprehensive effectiveness-evaluation process, conceptions of human-potential effectiveness, human-potential processes and enterprise planning process. In the end, there are some advises how to make planning process more qualitative on the base of human-potential effectiveness.


Ilvija Pikturnaite, Jonas Jagminas: 
The Correlation between Strategic Human Resource Management and Human Resource Development in Lithuanian Republic Municipalities’ Administrations.
[contents]   [article]
Article reveals correlation between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and human resource development (HRD) in LR municipalities’ administrations. The analysis of scientific literature indicated resilient correlation between strategic human resource management and human resource development. Strategic human resource management concepts essence analysis indicated specifical human resource development activity’s stages. Evaluation of strategic human resource management principles influence on human resource development implementation highlight the importance of human resource development’ decisions in organizational strategy. Analysis of national attitude revealed disagreement between perception of human resource development importance and aspirations of its improvement, legal regulation of civil servants training. Document analysis and pilot questionnaire survey were used in order to evaluate human resource development in Lithuanian Republic municipalities’ administrations. Lithuanian Republic municipalities’ administrations planning documents and reports analysis revealed that human resource qualification adequacy for strategic goals is not evaluated. Pilot survey of Klaipeda’s region municipalities’ administration personnel specialists’ attitude revealed that correlation between human resource development in the concept of strategic human resource management and human resource development in Lithuanian Republic municipalities’ administrations is not distinct and very obvious.


Andris Sarnovičs: 
Human Resource Development in Public Administration: A Case of Latvia.
[contents]   [article]
The goal of the article is to analyze disadvantages in human resource management that disallow achieving the strategic goals of public administration of Latvia, as well as to introduce the establishment process of public sector organization’s human resource strategy. Based on a survey of civil servants and employees of ministries and other direct administration institutions of Latvia and using the statistical methods of analysis (calculation of average, group comparison), the author examines the factors influencing the work of intellectual employees of public administration. Conclusions of mentioned analysis are related to principles that should be used in human resource development strategies of public administration institutions and management methodology of intellectual workers. Public administration organizations with a traditional hierarchy and under the circumstances of a centralized human resource management do not promote loyalty and an increase in work effectiveness amongst intellectual workers which include civil servants and public administration institution workers. Upon initiating a position civil servants and workers express confidence of their opportunities to develop and build a career in public administration, evaluate the significance of the experience they are about to acquire; they feel motivated to develop and keep building a career in public administration.


Zuzana Vaďurová, Jana Blštáková: 
Managing Employees’ Performance in Condition of Slovak Economy.
[contents]   [article]
Emphasizing employees’ performance management importance as one of the latest tendencies in human resource management the paper focuses on leadership and employees’ motivation in unison with current claims on improvement of the performance of individual employees and/or teams, as well as the whole organization. The paper focuses on practical use of employees’ performance management, in particular its methods and procedures applied in Slovak organizations, and their impact on business results of an organization. The paper findings are based on the questionnaire survey carried out by the department of Human Resource Management on the Faculty of Management at the University of Economics in Bratislava. Survey covers period 2006-2008. Based on the survey results within the research we may state that only a minority of Slovak organizations applies performance management as a concept in human resource management (in the year 2006 it was 28.8% organizations). However, we do not consider the situation negative, since there has been increase of performance management application taken note of in monitored period of time. In three years trail the number of organizations stating performance management application as the whole concept has risen by 7.8%. We have detected the greatest increase in the period of 2007-2008, by 6.1%. Based on the tendency, we have made assumption that current financial crisis doesn’t affect organizations in the extent great enough, so that they would question the need of performance management application within they human resource management.


Katri Vintiša: 
The Impact of Economic Crisis on Human Resources Management of Public Sector.
[contents]   [article]
The paper comprises a comparative analysis of public sector human resource management reforms, caused by economic downturn, in 10 countries: Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, FYR Macedonia, Serbia and the Ukraine in the period of 2008- 2010. The main topics of the study were: approach to personnel cost cutting, civil service transformation trends, human resource management policy planning practice, strategic human resource management developments, approach to communication of government actions to the public and civil servants, and impact of cost cutting measures to motivation of civil servants and further development of public sector human resource management. The author summarizes and discusses the differing approaches to human resources management reforms, initiated by crisis, and argues the possibility of future development and innovation in the field. A strategic partner is a driver of change and innovation, a pro-active policy developer; the administrator supports and responds well to the policy of the government. In countries that participated in the study, this role has also been different, and an impact of HRM management measures, advancement of HRM practice and the future provisions of human resource development will be subsequently varied.