Investing in people and business performance - Human capital theories

13 important questions on Investing in people and business performance - Human capital theories

In which 2 diciplines does HC theory ground?

Economics and phychology

What can be said about the Human capital, economic theory, by Becker?

Education will increase human capital, this is an investment rendering good returns, it is not just an individual asset, but of the organization as well

Why does human capital need nurturing and investment

HC develops over time. It is important to keep it up to date in order for it to be sustainable. Without nurture the workforce is unable to deal with changes
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Why can HC provide organizations with a unique capability for competitive advantage?

-HC is rare; not all people have the same KSA
- HC is sustainable
- HC is non transparent ; difficult to see
- HC is non transferable

What is generic human capital

All the KSA obtained in general education; it can be used anywhere.
Think of broad diploma and general knowledge.

What is firm specific human capital?

Develops while working in an organization, it is difficult to use in other organizations. It exists and is produced in only 1 organization.
Often non written, and thus non transferable

What is the human capital theory about?

HC theory concentrates of KSA that workers gain through training and experience. Organizational investment in training and development will contribute to the HC of workforce, which is an important resource.
HC is the result of investment in training

What does the psychological theory of individual differences from Spearman state?

It is about the fact that individual differences can explain differences in performance.
Different types of jobs require different abilities, people differ in having those, and differences in ability matter for performance.
Abilities are stable!

What are 2 key abilities that matter for performance?

1. Intelligence
2. Personality

What are the 5 aspects of personality?

  1. Openness to new experience vs conventional
  2. Conscientiousness vs undirectness
  3. Extrovert vs introvert
  4. Agreeableness vs antagonism
  5. Neurocism vs emotional stability

Which 2 personality traits predict performance?

1. Conscientiousness = preference to work hard (no correlation with intelligence)
2. Emotional stability = dealing with stress (no correlation with intelligence and weaker correlation with performance)

What types of people are best capable of learning a job and getting result?

People who think fast, want to work hard, and do not get stressed.
It is the combination of individual capabilities that enables people to succeed.

How do you build a source of HC that is unique, non transparent and non transferable?

By selecting those with outstanding abilities (indiv diff theory) and keep investing in their training (HC  theory)

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