Social Network Analysis of Sustainable Human Resource Management from the Employee Training’s Perspective

Lu Zhang, Xiaochao Guo, Zhimei Lei and Ming K. Lim
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Lu Zhang: School of Economics and Management, Inner Mongolia University of Technology, Hohhot 010051, China
Xiaochao Guo: Baoshang Bank, Baotou 014030, China
Zhimei Lei: College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China
Ming K. Lim: College of Mechanical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400044, China

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 2, 1-20

Abstract: Employee training is not only important for the continuous growth of human resources but also guarantees sustainable human resource management in enterprises. It is very important to understand corporate behaviour related to employee training not only from the perspective of a single enterprise but also from that of multiple enterprises. The purpose of this study is to explore multiple enterprises’ employee training behaviours by conducting a content analysis of corporate social responsibility (sustainability) reports and a social network analysis. This study also seeks to find a way to achieve sustainable employee training by analysing the similarities in the different types of corporate training behaviours. Our analysis shows that, in 2017, 108 types of training activities were implemented by 53 enterprises; the key employee trainings (e.g., security training and skills training) and enterprises (e.g., bank of communication) are identified. The training behaviours of some of the enterprises are similar to some extent, and eight groups of firms that are very similar are identified. The results of this study show that social network analysis performs well for studying corporate employee training behaviours. Some suggestions to minimize the investment costs of training and to improve the sustainability of human resource management from the employee training perspective are provided.

Keywords: employee training; social network analysis; sustainability reports; sustainable human resource management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

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