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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the extant human resource development (HRD) definition research literature and theorizes a new definition of HRD.

The authors adopted keyword and content analyses to examine selected 32 HRD definitions in relation to different organizational and sociopolitical contexts base on theory development criteria and methodology for definition research.

From a theoretical perspective, the extant definitions were mostly empirical descriptions of HRD practice with conceptualization being absent. From a context perspective, the definitions were based on HRD phenomena indigenous to the western world, especially the USA and Western Europe. They can hardly explain HRD phenomena in a non-western context. The glaring gaps lead to theorizing a new definition by focusing on the hard core of HRD in defining and criterial attributes. The defining attribute of HRD is its host-system-dependence, and the criterial attributes are its shaping and skilling mechanisms.

This study unveils that HRD is a means to support the ends defined by the corresponding host system, and not an end in itself. This definition is applicable to different sociopolitical, cultural, and organizational contexts. It provides clear criteria and boundaries to gauge the relevance of HRD research and shows the unique identity of HRD, thus offering new directions to expand the landscape of HRD research.

The new definition can help human resources practitioners better understand the role and mechanism of HRD that the worldwide practitioners can resonate in various sociocultural and political contexts. Communicating the definition and goals of HRD will enhance internal clients’ understanding and appreciation of the value of HRD.

This study fills important research gaps in HRD definition research. It is the first HRD definition derived through a rigorous theory development process. The new definition connects the HRD research niche to the general human resource literature and lead to new HRD research.

The multidisciplinary research on the phenomena of voluntary career transition (VCT) and voluntary turnover (VTO) remains disparate. This integrative review examines literatures in these two areas in relation to research in the Chinese context. The purpose of this paper is to identify future research directions for Chinese indigenous research in this area.

This review adopted an integrative literature review approach.

The authors found that research on VCT and VTO in different disciplines has shared identical or similar constructs and produced complementary empirical findings. This suggests that combining the disparate research in VCT and VTO in the Western literature to address the large‐scale career phenomenon in China may produce unexpected research outcomes, particularly when integrating the research with Chinese‐specific contexts in socioeconomic, cultural, and organization dynamics.

Taking advantage of, and linking existing literature in, VCT and VTO while considering the Chinese context may generate new knowledge to understand the massive career phenomenon in China. The authors offer a number of specific research questions based on the review and analysis of the literatures.

This paper offers insights for organizations to develop strategies and policies in balancing talent management and employees career concerns.

The paper is the first in the literature proposing an integrated research strategy on VCT and VTO to study the same phenomenon in organizations, particularly in the Chinese context.

This paper seeks to address the recent challenges in the international human resource development (HRD) research and the related methodological strategy.

This inquiry is based on a survey of literatures and integrates various comparative research strategies adopted in other major social science disciplines.

Based on comparative strategies found in other disciplines, the authors propose a framework to advance comparative HRD research and theory development.

The proposed framework emphasizes methodological consistency in HRD research and improving the relevance and rigor in theory development. It also highlights the required qualities of comparative researchers.

This is an initial effort in analyzing the emerging comparative HRD literature for an alternative framework to advance methodological research on HRD theory building.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationships among job and career satisfactions, work commitment, and turnover intentions for the Post‐80 employees in China.

A total of 290 of China's Post‐80 employees from 19 knowledge‐intensive companies were surveyed. Structural equation modeling was used for data analysis.

The perceptions of selected Post‐80 employees on job and career satisfactions were negatively related to turnover intention, while job satisfaction was positively related to four types of work commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment, career commitment and job involvement. Career satisfaction was also positively related to three types of work commitment, affective commitment, normative commitment, and career commitment. However, the relationships of job and career satisfactions and turnover intention as mediated by continuance commitment and career commitment were inconclusive.

Combining the available literature on China's Post‐80 generation with the inconclusive results, the authors posit that the uniqueness of work attitudes held by this generation has not been captured in previous studies. Future research should focus on differentiating work attitudes between this cohort and its preceding generations, as well as its Western counterparts.

Organizations need to recognize the uniqueness of China's Post‐80 generation employees' work attitudes, and develop appropriate talent strategies to retain and motivate this cohort of employees in China.

The paper highlights China's Post‐80 generation employees and extends the turnover models by integrating the perspectives of job satisfaction, career satisfaction and work commitment. The paper identifies research gaps for future research on China's Post‐80 employees' work attitudes.

The purpose of this study is to promote Chinese indigenous research by examining a case in which adopting social capital (SC) scales developed in the Western context for Chinese samples can decontextualize inter-firm guanxi management in the Chinese context.

Adopting the existing Western scales to measure SC, we collected data from Chinese executives participating in executive master of business administration programs on buyer–supplier relationship. Using the same items and data source, we identified post hoc factors representing guanxi dimensions. Ordinary least squared regressions were used for both guanxi and SC dimensions to test the hypotheses.

Our analysis showed that Chinese natives responded to the Western SC items according to their understanding and mindsets rooted in guanxi. This was evidenced by the results from the post hoc-derived guanxi dimensions with the same data, which show better regression results for the hypotheses tested, although the construct validity was comparable. Adopting Western SC measurement scales deconceptualized the intricate Chinese context and inter-firm interactions.

It is inappropriate to borrow Western-developed scales for Chinese HRM research due to intricate differences in contexts. Doing so may run the risk of ignoring the Chinese context regarding the mechanisms and processes of complex human interactions, although it may produce superficial results consistent with the Western literature. Developing indigenous measurement scales should be considered not only as a preference but also as a requirement for Chinese management research.

We empirically compared the difference between Western-developed measurement scales and a Chinese indigenous construct, as well as their impact on relationship management in relation to indigenous Chinese management research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of feedback seeking (FBS) and impression management (IM) on candidates’ evaluative performance and final hiring decision in a recruiting assessment center (AC) by a multinational corporation (MNC) in China.

The authors adopted a mixed-methods design. The authors first surveyed 234 candidates and 12 recruiting managers as assessors in four Chinese cities in one year. The authors then collected 23 candidates’ qualitative data in the forms of online blogs, diaries or letters sharing their recruitment experiences from 2005 to 2014.

The quantitative results showed that both candidates’ FBS and IM behaviors were positively related to their evaluative performance, yet with no significant effects on hiring decision. However, the interaction of FBS and IM significantly reduced the likelihood of a positive evaluative performance and hiring decision. Qualitative findings showed that IM was adopted by the candidates, and encouraged by the firm in the initial period of AC. Implicit FBS behavior was also found in the qualitative data.

The results offer important practical implications. For applicants, success in job search depends on one’s overall ability and capacity, while proper FBS and initial IM may be helpful to get in the race. At the firm level, MNCs need to adopt innovative strategies to win the “war for talent” in campus recruiting to cope with the deficiency in the educational focus.

The authors adopted a mixed-methods approach to examining the dynamics of AC process in campus recruiting processes. This study is among the first examining the interactions of FBS and IM in the selection research.

This study aims to examine human resource development (HRD) research as represented by the citations to the publications in the four journals sponsored by the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) from 2005 to 2011.

The authors collected citation data from Google Scholar (GS) using Publish or Perish 3 (PoP3) and compared the four journals on the metrics of h, hc, g, e and other Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) commonly reported indexes.

Citation data during the seven-year period provided an overall picture on the status of HRD research and publications. It showed that while HRD journals have made impressive research impact by generating worldwide scholarly citations in multiple languages, additional effort in improving the quality and the impact of research and publications is needed.

This study offers new insights on a number of important issues related to HRD research assessment, research quality, journal impact and editorial performance.

This is an initial effort in the HRD literature that comprehensively analyzes and compares the four AHRD journals. It offers new insights on the assessment of HRD research and journal impact.