27.06.2013 Views

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

Proceedings of the 8th International Conference on Intellectual ...

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

Eric K<strong>on</strong>g<br />

organisati<strong>on</strong> as individuals take <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir talent, skills and tacit knowledge with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m when <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y leave <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

organisati<strong>on</strong> (K<strong>on</strong>g and Thoms<strong>on</strong>, 2009).<br />

Theoretically, new employees, after a vigilant recruitment process, should replace <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> employees who<br />

departed from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> organisati<strong>on</strong> and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> level <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> HC should remain <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> same. However, a full<br />

exploitati<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> HC that embodied in new employees may seem to be difficult, if not impossible<br />

(K<strong>on</strong>g and Thoms<strong>on</strong>, 2009). This is because when an organisati<strong>on</strong> acquires human resources in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

external job market, it must undergo a period <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> dynamic adjustment costs before <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> best uses <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

human resources can be discovered and tailored to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> needs <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> new envir<strong>on</strong>ment (Hatch and<br />

Dyer, 2004). Besides, new employees’ prior industry experience may also affect <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir performance in<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> organisati<strong>on</strong>, preventing <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>m to unlearn and re-learn knowledge in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> new envir<strong>on</strong>ment (Hatch<br />

and Dyer, 2004). Thus HC is volatile in nature. Human resource managers should not <strong>on</strong>ly pay<br />

attenti<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong> recruitment and selecti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> human resources, but also <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> development and deployment<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> HC as recruitment and selecti<strong>on</strong> al<strong>on</strong>e are not sufficient to ensure competitive advantage (K<strong>on</strong>g<br />

and Thoms<strong>on</strong>, 2009). Human resource managers must ensure that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y recruit, develop and retain<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> best and brightest employees as a means <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> deploying HC and achieving competitive advantage<br />

in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir organisati<strong>on</strong>s (K<strong>on</strong>g, 2008).<br />

HC helps organisati<strong>on</strong>s to effectively resp<strong>on</strong>d to envir<strong>on</strong>mental changes by sensing <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> need for<br />

changes, developing strategies to meet <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> changes and efficiently implementing <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> strategies for<br />

complex and dynamic envir<strong>on</strong>ments (K<strong>on</strong>g and Ramia, 2010). This is because HC is <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> collective<br />

knowledge and learning capabilities <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an organisati<strong>on</strong>, which can be used to extract <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> best<br />

soluti<strong>on</strong>s from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> knowledge <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> its individuals for value creati<strong>on</strong> (B<strong>on</strong>tis et al., 2000). Accordingly, HC<br />

can be a source <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> organisati<strong>on</strong>al innovati<strong>on</strong> and strategic renewal (K<strong>on</strong>g and Ramia, 2010). HC must<br />

be developed strategically if <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> growth and competitiveness <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a firm is to be sustainable. One way <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

developing HC in organisati<strong>on</strong>s may be through neuro-linguistic programming (NLP).<br />

2.2 Neurolinguistic programming (NLP)<br />

Neurolinguistic programming (NLP) emerged in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> 1970s from <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> University <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> California, USA.<br />

Richard Bandler and John Grinder, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> original developers <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> NLP, were involved in ma<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>matics and<br />

linguistics (Carter, 2001). Much <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> what Bandler and Grinder (1979) identified and developed was<br />

based <strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> work <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> well-known linguistics experts and since <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> term ‘neuro-linguistic’ has<br />

been widely used (Yemm, 2006). As described by Linder-Pelz and Hall (2007), ‘[t]he ‘neuro’ refers to<br />

<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> way humans experience <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> world through <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir senses and translate sensory experiences into<br />

thought processes, both c<strong>on</strong>scious and unc<strong>on</strong>scious, which in turn activate <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> neurological system;<br />

‘linguistic’ refers to <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> way we use language to make sense <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> world, capture and c<strong>on</strong>ceptualise<br />

experience and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n communicate that experience to o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rs; and ‘programming’ addresses <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> way<br />

people code (mentally represent) <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir experience and adopt regular and systematic patterns <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />

resp<strong>on</strong>se’. Thus, <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> title, NLP, broadly denotes <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> view that a pers<strong>on</strong> is a whole mind-body system<br />

with patterned c<strong>on</strong>necti<strong>on</strong>s between internal experience (neuro), language (linguistic), and behaviour<br />

(programming) (Tosey et al., 2005).<br />

NLP began as a means <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> studying how people process informati<strong>on</strong>, c<strong>on</strong>struct meaning schemas,<br />

and perform skills to achieve results (Tosey and Mathis<strong>on</strong>, 2008). Bandler and Grinder (1979) wanted<br />

to study people who were excellent, identify <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> specific elements that <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se people could do to<br />

achieve excellence, and <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>n teach or impart <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>se elements to o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rs in order to improve <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir<br />

performance. As described by Dilts (1998, p.30), ‘[t]he objective <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> NLP modelling process is not<br />

to end up with <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> <strong>on</strong>e ‘right’ or ‘true’ descripti<strong>on</strong> <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a particular pers<strong>on</strong>’s thinking process, but ra<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r to<br />

make an instrumental map that allows us to apply <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> strategies that we have modelled in some<br />

useful way’. Thus, NLP aims to replica what works and allows o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rs to find evidence within its<br />

practices <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> an eclectic approach that draws from (am<strong>on</strong>g o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r things) cognitive-behavioural<br />

approaches, gestalt <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rapy, hypno<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rapy, family <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rapy, and brief <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rapy (Tosey and Mathis<strong>on</strong>,<br />

2008). The principle <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> NLP is to make human capabilities available for o<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>rs to learn (Tosey and<br />

Mathis<strong>on</strong>, 2010). In short, NLP is ‘a set <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> guiding principles, attitudes and techniques that enable<br />

[individuals] to change behaviour patterns as [<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y] wish’ (Yemm, 2006, p.13).<br />

The NLP approach is interested in how people c<strong>on</strong>struct <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>ir experiences through cognitive<br />

processes, ra<str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>r than in seeking causal explanati<strong>on</strong>s in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> past for why <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y experience <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> world<br />

as <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g>y do, or in <str<strong>on</strong>g>the</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>tents <str<strong>on</strong>g>of</str<strong>on</strong>g> a particular experience (Tosey and Mathis<strong>on</strong>, 2008). Linder-Pelz and<br />

321

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!