National Hsinchu University of Education Graduate Institute of Human Resource Development The Challenges and Trends of HRD in High-Tech Industry Hsiu-Yen Hsu ( 徐秀燕 ) Work and Human Resource Education University of Minnesota

Contents The Challenges of HRD in Taiwan High-Tech Industry. Case Study of Trends- The Impact of Organizational Learning Culture on Job Behaviors among R&D Professionals in Taiwan.

Part I The Challenges of HRD in Taiwan High-Tech Industry

Taiwan High-Tech Industry Definition of High-tech Industry History Number of Employees in Hsinchu Science Park Industry Area

HRD and National HRD HRD varies from nation to nation, and the context of HRD is established in part by culture (McLean & McLean, 2001). National HRD is to improve national economic development, political and social development by enhancing the learning and performance capabilities of all the national levels (Osman- Gani, 2004).

National HRD in Taiwan Closing the gap between the supply of and the demand for skilled manpower. Decreasing the unemployment rate. Providing the talent and highly skilled manpower for high-tech industry. Combining human capital investment and HRD policy.

HRD for Taiwan High-Tech Industry Controlling the number of students graduating at high school and university levels. Producing the number of trained workers needed in a particular period of time. Recruiting oversea talent. Establishing economic infrastructures.

Challenges of HRD at National Level Developing effective training programs. Reducing the shortage of talent and highly skilled manpower. Increasing the employment rate of higher education graduates. Establishing a mechanism to improve investments in human capital.

Challenges of HRD at Organizational Level Shifting the function of HRD from training to organizational learning and performance. Creating better interventions to retain highly skilled manpower. Using technology to facilitate the training and learning effectively. Engaging HRD in increasing capacities, skills, and knowledge globally.

Part II Case Study of Trends: The Impact of Organizational Learning Cultures on Job Behaviors among R&D Professionals in Taiwan.

Problem Statement A significantly higher turnover rate in high-tech companies. (Garden, 1990; Lazar, 2001). Effective training, recruitment, and retention of R&D professionals is a major issue in developing high-tech industries (Chen, Chang, & Yeh,2003; Tai & Wang, 2006). Relatively few empirical studies on the relationship between organizational learning culture and job behaviors.

Researchers per 1000 Employed Persons in Various Countries Source: National Science Council, 2007

The Importance of Learning Organization for R&D Professionals Intellectual and knowledge capital Invested heavily in training and knowledge Reducing the turnover rate of R&D professionals and increasing organizational performance. Learning orientation has a positive impact on organizational innovation and performance.

Characteristics of Organizational Learning Culture Creation, acquisition, and transformation of information and knowledge Shared vision, value, and goals Increasing the learning capacity of members of the organization Creativity and innovation Increasing productivity and improving performance

Dimensions of the Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) Individual Level 1. Continuous Learning 2. Inquiry and Dialogue Team or Group Level 3. Team Learning Organizational Level 4. Empowerment 5. Embedded System 6. System Connection 7. Strategic Leadership (Marsick & Watkins, 1997)

Job Satisfaction Definition: “the pleasurable emotional state resulting from the appraisal of one’s job as achieving or facilitating the achievement of one’s job values” (Locke, 1969, p. 316). Intrinsic factors: job-related rewards Extrinsic factors: environment-related rewards Antecedents and consequences

Organizational Commitment Definition: “the strength of an individual's identification with and involvement in a particular organization” (Porter, Steers, Mowday, & Boulin, 1974, p.604). Organizational commitment model: affective commitment, continuance commitment, and normative commitment. Antecedents and consequences

Turnover Intention Focusing on voluntary turnover. Antecedents: demographic variables, job satisfaction, organizational commitment, training opportunity, career orientation. Turnover intention has been identified as the most common predictor of turnover.

Hypothesized Structural Equation Model H1 H2 H4 H6 H3 Organizational Commitment Job Satisfaction Turnover Intention H5 Organizational Learning Culture

Summary of Construct Construct ItemsSource of Instrument Reliability Organizational Learning culture (OLC) 35DLOQ (Watkins & Marsick, 1997).72~.89 Job Satisfaction (JS) 9JSS (Spector, 1997).91 Organizational Commitment (OC) 16ACNCS (Allen & Meyer, 1990).73~.82 Turnover Intention (TI) 4SLI (Bluedorn, 1982a).84~.92 Demographic Information 7 Total Number of Items71

Construct of Reliability and Validity The reliability of all the scales ranged from 0.65 to For the factor loadings of all the items included in the analysis, only the value of continuance commitment was less than 0.5. The overall measurement model fit: χ 2 (204) = , p =0.00, χ 2 /df=5.25, RMSEA=0.10, CFI=0.96, NFI=0.95, NNFI=0.95, IFI=0.96, RMR=0.084

Population and Sample Population: R&D professionals from business enterprises. Sample: (a) Industry category: IC, PC and peripherals, telecommunication, or optoelectronics industries in HSP. (b) Name list on the website for the Association of Industries in Science Park. (c) More than 10% of employees in R&D.

Sampling and Response Rate Participants: 775 R&D professionals from 75 companies Respondents: 418 completed the survey from 65 companies Response rate was 53.9 %.

Data Analysis Descriptive statistics, correlations, and structural equation modeling (SEM) SPSS 16 and LISREL 8.7 were employed to examine the results.

Final Model Organizational Commitment Job Satisfaction Turnover Intention Organizational Learning Culture Note:  significant path; ---> non-significant; p 1.96) -0.38

Summary of Hypotheses and Findings HypothesesDirect EffectIndirect EffectResults H1: OLC  JS 0.93 (12.42)Supported H2: OLC  OC 0.36 (2.50)Supported H3: OLC  TI OLC  TI (-7.24) Not Supported Supported H4: JS  OC 0.41 (2.76)Supported H5: JS  TI OC  TI (-4.56) (0.98) Supported Not Supported H6: OC  TI (-1.00)Not Supported t-value is in parentheses.

Implications on HRD Theory Organizational learning culture has a significant relationship to R&D professionals’ job behaviors. Broadening the research field in HRD across different organizational settings in Asian cultures. Providing further insights about organizational learning culture on performance.

Implications on HRD Practice Playing a significant role by engaging R&D management in building a successful learning environment. The unique characteristics of R&D professionals are also factors to have an impact on the relationship among the variables. Assessing the dimensions of learning organizations.

Limitations and Directions of Future Research Research method Generalizability Common method variance Survey errors of the instrument Antecedents of organizational learning culture

Conclusions Generating important themes in the fields of HRD. Providing guidelines to understand the impact of learning organization. Facilitating the development of learning culture in organizations.