Learning culture in a Chinese SME: the unique role of work-family enrichment

Human resource development in SMEs in a context of labor shortage: a profile analysis

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) level of participation in human resource development activities during a labor shortage. Drawing on human capital theory, it examines whether SMEs’ profiles, determined according to their participation in different types of training activities, relate to perceived benefits of training, barriers to participation in training and learning culture.

Design/methodology/approach

This study applies latent profile analysis (LPA) to 10 training practices of 427 SMEs in Quebec, Canada.

Findings

The LPA distinguished four profiles of SMEs, reflecting differing capacities for mobilizing training resources during a labor shortage. These four profiles show differences with regard to perceived training benefits, barriers to participation in training and learning culture.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is among the first to focus on the specific ability of SMEs to invest in their human capital in the unique and recent context of a labor shortage.

The influence of altruistic leadership behavior and learning culture on work–family relationship in Chinese SMEs

Purpose

This study aims to examine the relationship between supervisor’s altruistic leadership behavior (ALB) and family-to-work development (FWD) in the context of Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs); and test the mediation effect of learning organization culture (LOC) between ALB and FWD.

Design/methodology/approach

A non-experimental, quantitative, cross-sectional survey research approach was applied. A structural equation modeling technique was used to test all hypotheses.

Findings

Results indicated that ALB is positively and significantly correlated with FWD. Additionally, the relationship between ALB and FWD is mediated by LOC.

Practical implications

This study suggests that building and maintaining an effective LOC requires leaders to champion, human resource (HR) professionals to strengthen and employees to support learning as a system. Thus, HR professionals should implement altruistic leadership mentoring and coaching programs. In the case of Chinese SMEs, altruistic leaders are especially instrumental in generating followers’ positive outcomes in both work and family domains.

Originality/value

This study looks into the influence of organizational factors on the direction of FWD. In particular, this study seeks to examine organizational factors that relate to spillover from family to work.

Informal learning, work engagement and their effects on work-family enrichment

Purpose

Drawing from work-family enrichment (WFE) model and path-goal theory of motivation, this paper proposes and tests work engagement (WE) as a mediator between informal learning and WFE.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaires measuring informal learning, WE and WFE were filled out by 290 hotel employees in India. The abovementioned linkages were tested via structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings suggest that hotel employees' informal learning fosters their WE and WFE. The findings also reveal that WE partly mediates the impact of informal learning on WFE.

Originality/value

Most of employees' learning efforts in the workplace emerge from informal learning. However, there is still limited information whether employees' informal learning activates their WE, which is a timely and significant topic. Importantly, there is a paucity of evidence appertaining to the effect of informal learning on WFE, which is underrepresented in the current literature. Evidence about the mechanism linking informal learning to WFE is also sparse.