Definition of Theory, Importance of Theory Building,

Requirements of a Sound Theory & Philosophy Metaphors

for HRD Theory and Practice
 Course Title:
Human Resource Development
Course code: 631
Program: MPHRM
Group: 02
Submitted To:
Dr. Md. Mosharraf Hossain
Department of Management
Submitted By:

Serial Name ID No Batch

No
1. Suraya Alam 24-06-18-056 6th
2. Marsia Tahirina 24-05-18-015 5th
3. Md. Zahidul Yusuf 24-05-18-048 5th
4. Lutful Haque 24-05-18-020 5th
5. Md. Abu Taher 24-06-18-060 6th
6. Md. Arif Ferdous 24-06-18-004 6th
7. Md. Abdul Malek 24-06-18-011 6th
8. Md. Mahabub Alam 24-04-18-056 4th
 Definition of Theory

 1. “Theory is particularly important to a discipline that is emerging and

growing” (Chalofsky, 1990; Ruona, 2000; Torraco, 2005).

Two definitions from HRD scholars:

 (i)“A theory simply explains what a phenomenon is and how it works”

(Torraco, 1997).

 (ii) “Theory building is the process or recurring cycle by which coherent

descriptions, explanations, and representations of observed or experienced
phenomena are generated, verified, and refined” (Lynham, 2000).
 Importance of Theory Building

The HRD profession continues to develop its core theories and to understand
that theory building is a scholarly process, not soap box oratory.

 HRD believe that it is not essential to the profession to have a theory or to

clearly specific its underlying theory (McLean, 1998).

 Theory is particularity important to a discipline that is emerging and

growing (Chalofsky, 1990). Sound theory is not pontificating or forcefully
marketing the latest fad. Rather, theory in a applied field such as HRD is
required to be both scholarly and successful in practice and can be the
basis of advances in practice. Rhetoric that negates theory, or the
promotion of the idea that theory is disconnected from practice, is an
artifact of no theoretical thinking.
 Requirements of a Sound Theory
Athoretical– no thorough scholarly or scientific basis for the ideas and
products being promoted.
 Critics of HRD accuse HRD products of being theoretical
 Patterson (1983) developed criteria for assessing a sound theory:
1. Importance
2. Preciseness and clarity
3. Parsimony and simplicity
4. Comprehensiveness
5. Operationally
6. Empirical validity or verifiability
7. Fruitfulness
 Philosophy and Theory Underlying HRD
 HRD is not a new practice. However, as an academic field it is relatively
young and continues to mature. Theory has an enormous challenge
and opportunity in the growing HRD profession. The concurrent
questions are questions of philosophy:
 What is a theory and what makes a good theory?
 A theory helps us understand what we are expecting. A GOOD THEORY
guides research, which guides practice, which in turn creates questions
for new research. 
 What is the role of theory in HRD?
 Philosophy and Theory Underlying HRD
 Core HRD Beliefs are:
1. Organizations are human-made entities that rely on human expertise
in order to establish and achieve their goals.
2. Human expertise developed and maximized through HRD processes
and should be done for the mutual long-term and/or short-term
benefits of the sponsoring organization and the individuals involved.
3. HRD professionals are advocates of individual/group, work process,
and organizational integrity.
 Philosophy and Theory Underlying HRD
 The underlying root philosophies and theories of HRD are rich and
varied. The philosophical framework for HRD consists of three key
components:
1. Ontology: how we see our world
2. Epistemology: how we think about our world
3. Axiology: how we should and actually act in research and practice
 HRD as Organizational problem solver

Usage of Systems Theory: 

a) Find definable characteristics to tweak to increase productivity
b) Focuses more on problem solving than problem finding
HRD as Organizational change agent/interventionist or helper

HRD help people and organizations change. Need to first figure out why people are acting the
way they are, and what could influence them to act differently
 Kurt Lewin – father of organizational change a gentry

(a) Behavior is a function of the field that exists at the time the behavior occurs (B = f (P, E)

(b) Behavior (B) is a function (f) of the interaction between a person (P) and his or her
psychological environment (E).

(c) Analysis begins with the situation as a whole from which we may differentiate parts

(d) The concrete person in a concrete situation can be represented mathematically (Hall and
Lindzey, 1970)
 HRD as Organizational change agent/interventionist or
helper
Force in the psychological field is the tendency toward movement in people or
groups.

(a) Many people are in many groups – overlapping situations

Chris Argyris – “intervention… entering into an ongoing system of relationship,
to come between or among persons, groups, or objects for the purpose of helping
them” (1970).

(b)The system exists independently of the intervener.

 HRD as Organizational designer
 “Diagnosing and selecting the structure and formal system of
communication, authority, and responsibility to achieve organizational goals”.
 Herb Simon’s administrative decision-making theory:

(a) “Individuals have a bounded rationality that leads to satisfaction in

decision making” (1965).
Elements that make up decision-making activity
 Programs – has basic parts:

(a) Stimuli – information evokes a program

(b) Inputs – facts and values
(c) Content – execution steps
(d) Outputs
 HRD as Organizational designer
 Un programmed activity: 
(a) Intelligence activity – searching the environment for conditions calling for a
decision.
(b) Design activity – inventing, developing, and analyzing a course of action.

(c) Choice activity – selecting a course of action from those available.

 Intelligence activity – differences between novices and experts
 Design activity – conceptual and aesthetic qualities 
(a) Parameters of situation

(b) Skill needed to design

(c) Components to be designed

(d) Outcome criteria

 HRD as Organizational empowered/meaning maker
“Seek to transform people and organizations in order to foster long-term health and
effectiveness”.
 Initial state
(a) False consciousness (FC) is interconnected with oppression
(b) FC is self-designed and oppression is self-imposed
(c) The power in the above lies in the fact that people do not realize their oppression
is self-imposed
 Final stage – free of FC
(a) Dissolve illusion of objectivity
(b) Become aware of own origin
(c) Bring to consciousness the unconscious determinants of their action (Geuss,
1981)
 HRD as Organizational empowered/meaning maker

 Critical theory generated – three parts

(a) Demonstration that change is possible
(b)Depiction of practical necessity of the change
(c) Assertion that movement or transformation comes about only if people
accept the theory as their “self-consciousness” (Geuss, 1981)
 HRD as Developer of human capital
“Productive capabilities of human beings that are acquired at some cost
and that command a price in the labor market because they are useful in
producing goods and services” (Parnes, 1986).
“Salaries are seen in supply-and-demand terms”.
HRD has to overcome the distortion in measuring economic “Human
capital theory provides a strong, bottom-line oriented justification for
HRD”.
 Critics point to the limits of capitalism
“People gain considerably more from training than simply an enhanced
economic value”.
 Organizational Empowered
 Organizational Empowered known also as Meaning Maker are someone
who seeks to transform people to be better and free themselves from self-
imposed thinking. In summary, it demonstrates that empowerment has
been shown to positively impact health, self-imposed, job satisfaction, and
organizational commitment and to decrease levels of stress and burnout.
 Through the use of organizational reflection, one can determine the
organizational readiness for empowerment or current success at
employee empowerment. In addition, many spin offs have been identified
to demonstrate the pros of moving to an empowered organization.
 Developer of Human Capital

 Influencer of workers’ productivity and form of capital are:

1. Skills
2. Abilities
3. Opportunities for higher salaries
4. Greater economic security
5. Increased employment prospects
 Human Resource Accounting

 Objective of Human Resource Accounting:

1. To ensure equal pay for equal work
2. To attend the organization’s long-term human resource need
3. To illustrate the justification for any training
4. To facilitate effective and efficient management within an
organization
5. To provide qualitative information on human resources
6. To evaluate the return on investment on human capital
 Extension of Human Resource Accounting

 Three elements mainly accountable for long-term thinking:

1. Changing demographics
2. Higher labor participation by women and
3. Recent technological changes
 Workplace Learning

Workplace learning and formal education now-a-days account for more

growth in economic output than employee health, capital, and the
composition of the workforce, population size, or resource adaptation.
According to Carnival, workplace learning, accounts for 85% of the
variance in life term learning.
 Training as a means of Social Control
 Training ensures the social control. The role of training as a means of social
control, using as:
1. Training cooling out people so that they will accept low-level jobs
2. Socialize newcomers into compatible to the organization’s norms and values.
 Alternative benefits of training:
1. Intrinsic satisfaction
2. Enhanced life skills
3. The increased capacity to function effectively as parents
4. The increased capacity to function effectively as citizens
The importance or significance of HRD can be explained as follows

1. HRD Develops Competent HR

2. HRD Creates Opportunity for Career Development
3. Employ Commitment
4. Job Satisfaction
5. Change Management
6. Opportunities for Training and Development
7. Performance Improvement