China suffered minimal fallout from the global financial crisis due to its burgeoning economy and ‘socialism with Chinese characteristics’ political strategy. However, despite this, its industries face enormous human resource management (HRM) challenges associated with the country's rapid economic growth. Principal amongst these HRM challenges is the need to attract and retain crucial talent. It is likely that if Chinese industry is unsuccessful in these endeavours, the future economic growth of China may be stalled, resulting in more serious long-term outcomes. This paper explores these challenges together with some possible solutions and future research directions.

This book presents a comprehensive analysis of the similarities and differences of contemporary human resource management systems, processes and practices in the two increasingly important economic great powers in Asia. It covers the full range of human resource management activities, including recruitment, retention, performance management, renumeration, and career development, discusses changing industrial relations systems, and sets the subject in its historical, social and cultural contexts. It examines newly emerging strategies, and asssesses the extent to which human resource management systems in the two countries are coverging or diverging.

The shortcomings of traditional performance management practices (PMS) are widely acknowledged. There is growing interest in ‘New Performance Management’, suggesting a shift from an evaluative to a developmental focus. In Australia, little is known about the current utilisation of both ‘old’ and ‘new’ practices. Using survey data from Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) members we examine the incidence, coverage and perceived effectiveness of ‘traditional’, ‘transitional’ and ‘new’ practices in Australian organisations. Further, since data were gathered during the COVID‐19 pandemic, we examine the reported effects of pandemic‐related disruptions on practice intensity. Although descriptive results suggest that both workforce size and sector may be associated with practice incidence, regression results indicate that sectoral effects are non‐significant, and size matters only in relation to traditional practice use. However, our regression results indicate that COVID‐19's impact is significantly related to all three practice categories. Furthermore, overall PMS effectiveness is not rated highly.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine the HR roles of Bangladesh HR professionals in the public and private firms in Bangladesh using Human Resource Competency Study (HRCS) model (2016). The impact of identified HR competencies on firm performance and moderation of this relationship concerning different stages of organisation life cycle (OLC) is also explored.Design/methodology/approach: This quantitative study uses the HRCS model (RBL, 2015) as its underpinning analytical framework, and explores the impact of identified HR competencies on firm performance and analyses whether this relationship is moderated by different OLC stages. The sample for this study consisted of 202 HR professionals from both public and private organisations in Bangladesh.Findings: Results confirmed that all the nine competencies of HRCS model were demonstrated by the HR professionals in Bangladesh. The “credible activist” competency achieved the top ranking and “paradox navigator competency” recorded the lowest. Minor variation in terms of levels of competencies was observed in the context of private and public firms. HR competencies positively impacted the firm performance and only the maturity and growth stages of a firm’s life cycle moderated this relationship.Originality/value: There is a deficit of studies which have tested this relationship in terms of the moderating effects of OLC stages in the Asian developing country context. Focusing on this paucity of research concerning the transference of western human resource management models in developing economies and their resultant impact on firm performance, this is the first study set out to explore whether the most cited western HRCS model (RBL, 2015) is useful in understanding HR competencies in Bangladesh.

Purpose: The study aims to reflect on past research, uncover current trends and propose a future research agenda in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) for competency-based personalised learning.Design/methodology/approach: The study followed the SPAR-4-SLR protocol to retrieve 855 articles related to the field indexed in the Scopus database. Performance analysis, network analysis and science mapping were then performed using VOSviewer and the Biblioshiny app.Findings: The analysis identified nine clusters of intellectual structure (healthcare, competencies, learning systems, digital transformation, AI literacy, computer-aided education, AI ethics, e-learning and active learning) and twelve themes (including motor, basic, emerging and niche).Originality/value: Following an extensive review of the literature, this would appear to be the first study to provide a panoramic view of AI for competency-based personalised learning based on the Scopus database. The core gaps in the current literature have been identified and the corresponding future agenda will be instrumental in shaping future research directions in the field.