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HumanResourceDevelopmentInternational

Vol.

12,No.1,February2009,93103

PERSPECTIVESONTHEORY

Clarifyingtheboundariesofhumanresourcedevelopment

GregG.

Wang*andJudyY.Sun

TheUniversityofTexasat

Tyler,Texas,USA

Thisarticleclarifiestheboundariesofhumanresource

development(HRD)with


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respecttootherconceptsfrequentlyusedand

misusedinHRDliterature.Throughaproposition,asetofcriteriafor

humanresourcesispresented.Across-cultureliteraturecomparisonofthecriteriademonstrates

theconsistencyoftheconnotationintwocontrastingcultures.ThisstudyhasimportantimplicationsforHRDresearch,practiceandcontinuedtheorydevelopmenteffort.Itrelates

totheidentity


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anddistinctivenessofHRDdiscipline,aswell

asthedomainofHRDresearchandpractice.

Keywords:human

resources;humancapital;humandevelopment;HRDpolicystudies;NHRD

Afew

recenthumanresourcedevelopment(HRD)scholarlydiscussionshavepresentedtheideaofalteringtheestablishedboundariesofHRD(e.g.McLean2004;Paprock2006).Theproblems

andchallengesresulting


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inHRDboundarystretchingcanbeclarified

throughamorerigorousanalysisofthekeytermsofthediscipline

andtheirtheoreticalimplicationsforHRDtheoryandpractice.Forexample,anumber

ofrecentstudiesquestionedandanalysedthelegitimacyoftheideaofnationalHRDandsupportedtheconceptofHRDpolicystudies(e.g.Wang2008;

WangandSwanson


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2008a,b).

DefinitionofHRD

haslongbeendiscussed.Weinberger(1998)listed18differentHRDdefinitionsthat

haveinfluencedthefield.Moredefinitionshaveemergedsincethen.Historically,HRDscholars

tendedtofocusonthedevelopmentaspectofthedefinition,anddebatedonwhatactivitiesconstitutedthemeaningofdevelopment

(e.g.Lee2001;

Swanson2001).The


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discussionsapparentlyassumedthatthefirsttwo

words,humanandresources,wereagreedupon.CurrentHRDliteraturechallengesexisting

connotationsofhumanresourcesthesubjectandtargetpopulationofHRD.Any

discussionofthedisciplinewillnecessarilybeframedbythetermshuman,resourceanddevelopment,unlessthereisanagreementtochangingthename,scope

andtheboundary


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ofthedisciplineandestablishinganalternative

field.Giventheconformityofthethreeconcepts,human,resourceanddevelopment,

*Correspondingauthor.Email:[email protected]

ISSN1367-8868print/ISSN1469-8374online

.2009Taylor&FrancisDOI:10.1080/13678860802638875http://www.informaworld.com


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94G.G.WangandJ.Y.Sun

representingthediscipline,discussionoftheirseparateandcombinedsubject

domainsanddefinitionsshouldstartnecessarilyandlogicallywiththeunderstandingonwhat

thethreeconceptsconvey.Humanresourcedevelopment,asthetermsuggests,includesthecriticalcomponentsofhumanresourceanddevelopment.Thefirstcomponentisabout

who,orthe


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subjectandtargetpopulationofthefield

ofHRD;thesecondcomponentisaboutwhat,themeansandfunction

ofthefield.

Researchquestionandsignificance

Toclarify

theuniqueanddistinctivedomainofthedisciplineofHRD,thisstudyexploresandanalysesthecoresubjectareasthatareorarenotto

beembracedby


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HRD.Itistoaddressthefollowing

criticalquestion,WhodowedevelopthroughthedisciplineofHRD?

Giventheresearchquestion,wedonotseektodebateonthe

existingdefinitionsofHRD.Neitherwillweproposeanotherdefinition.Instead,weaddresshowHRDprofessionalsshouldunderstandandinterpretthetermofHRD,and

raisesomecritical


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issuesfortheHRDcommunities.Furthermore,we

hopetostimulatemorerigorousdefinitionaltheorybuildingresearchinHRDthrough

thisstudy.

Itisalmostimpossibletoaccuratelydefine,interpretand

understandamulti-wordconcept,suchashumanresourcedevelopment,withoutconsideringtheindividualwordscomprisingit.Logically,theconceptualdefinitionandtheinterpretationof

theindividualwords


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representingadisciplineshouldbeconsistentacross

culturesandbeabletocrossnationalborders.Thisistruenot

onlyforallnaturalsciences,butalsoforallsocialsciences,althoughthese

aresociallyconstructed.Ifpsychology,politicalscience,linguistics,economicsandmanagementscience,aswellasmanyothersocialsciencedisciplines,havetheiruniversallydefinedresearch

domainsacrossborders


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(e.g.Dogan1996;HarbinsonandMyers1959),

HRDasadisciplineshouldhavethesameeffect.Withaclear

understandingofthethreeiconicconcepts,human,resourceanddevelopment,thatsymbolizethe

discipline,itislikelytoreachclarityandconsensusofthedefinitioninthediscipline.Inpursuitoftheresearchquestion,thisstudyisfocused

onhumanresource.


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Theanalysisisextendedlogicallytoother

relatedconceptsthatareoftenusedinterchangeablywithit,suchashuman

capitalandotherrelatedconceptsanddomainsofresearch.

Humanresources:

thesubjectofHRD

Inthethree-wordconcept,weassumehumanhasnocontroversialinterpretations.Itreferstoanyhumanbeingwhois

ofanyage


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andgender,includinginfantsoradults,with

anycharacteristicsinhealthconditions,socialstatus,educationlevels,nationaloriginsand

culturalbackgrounds.

Afieldcombininghumananddevelopment,humandevelopment,has

beenestablishedpriortotheexistenceofHRD.Itisabroadlybasedfieldincorporatingpsychology,physiologyandsociologyamongothers,andcoveringsuchmatters

ashumangrowth,


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qualityandstandardofhumanlife,anti

HIV/AIDS,homelessissues,domesticviolence,drunk-drivingbehaviour,cleandrinkingwaterandmany

otherhumanlife-relatedareas(Thomas2001).However,humandevelopmentisnothowand

whatwesayweareengagedin,atleastfromtheagreeableframeworkofthefield,humanresourcedevelopment.Thekeyconceptdifferentiatinghumanand


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humanresources,therefore,istheresource(s)aspect.Itisvitaltounderstand

andinterprettheconnotationofresource(s).

Onlyonedefinitionofresource

hasbeenfoundinthemanagementliteraturethroughourliteraturesearch.GreenhausandPowelldefinesthataresourceisanassetthatmaybedrawn

onwhenneeded


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tosolveaproblemorcopewith

achallengingsituation(2006,80).Clearly,thisdefinitionstressesthefollowingfeatures

ofaresource:(1)availabilityandreadiness;(2)problem-solvingorchallengecoping;and

theendresultleadsto(3)value-adding.

Althoughnootherdefinitionofresourcewasfoundinrelatedscholarlyliterature,oursearchofdictionary

definitionsrevealedthat


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alldefinitionsofresourceindictionariesare

consistentwithGreenhausandPowellsdefinition(2006).Forexample,RandomHouseWebsters

UnabridgedDictionary(2001,1640)definesresourceas

asourceofsupply,

support,oraid,especiallyonethatcanbereadilydrawnuponwhenneeded.Inpluralform,resourcesrefertoacountrysmeansofproducingwealth.

Often,itrefers


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toanavailablemeansaffordedbythe

mindoronespersonalcapabilities.(Emphasisadded)

Itslastentry

refersresourcestocapabilityindealingwithasituationorinmeetingdifficulties.

Sevenotherauthoritativedictionaries,includingtwoChineseones,allcarryidenticalmeaningsofresource(s).Infact,theChinesedictionariesfurtherclassifyresourcesintorenewablesand

non-renewables.


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Combiningscholarlyanddictionarydefinitions,resourcehas

thefollowingcharacteristics.First,itisrealistic,notpotential.Ithasto

bereadyandavailablewhenneeded,notpotentiallyavailable.Second,ithasthe

capabilityofbeingproductiveandaddingvaluetoaproductiveprocessoritcanbeusedasameansofcreatingwealthandrevenueto

satisfyahuman


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orsocietalneed.Third,theconnotationof

resourcesalreadyembeddedthecapacitiesorskillsinproblemsolving.

Therefore,humanresourcesshouldhaveanunambiguousconnotation:theyrefertothosehuman

beingswhoarenotpotentially,butwithaninitialproductivecapacityandcapability,realisticallyreadyandavailableforparticipatinginsociallyproductiveactivitiesthatcan

addvalueto


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well-beingsofasocietyinagiven

sociallyconstructeddomain.Theconceptofhumanresourcesdefinedhereexcludesthose

thatarenotavailabletobeproductive,cannotaddvalueorbeplaced

insociallyproductiveroles.

Criteriaofhumanresources:aproposition

Basedontheaboveanalysis,incorporatinglabourforceparticipationtheoryin

economics(Ehrenbergand


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Smith1994)andadultlearningparticipationtheory

(Merriam,Caffarella,andBaumgartner2006),wepresentthefollowingproposition:

Proposition:tobeconsideredaspartofhumanresources,apersonisto

bereadyandavailable,hasdesireandwillingness,withphysicaland/ormentalcapacityandcapability,andinitialminimumskillandability,andnotboundedby

institutionalandlegal


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restriction,toparticipateinsociallyproductiveactivities.

Thepropositiondefinesseveralcriticalcriteriathatareimportantto

framethedomainofhumanresources.


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Readinessandavailability

Humanresourcesaretoinclude

thosewhoarereadyandavailabletoparticipatein,paidorunpaid,socially

productiveandvalue-addedactivities.Thiscriterionnotonlyexcludesthoseenrolledinfulltimetraditionaleducationinstitutions,butalsorulesoutthosewhoarenot

upto(or


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beyond)asociallyproductiveage,althoughthey

mayhavegreatpotentialtobe,orintheprocessofbeing

developedinto,sociallyproductiveroles.Atthesametime,theunreadyandunavailable

onesmaybeintheprocessofhumancapitalinvestmentorpartofthelifelonglearningprocess,preparingforfutureproductivity,suchashighschool

ortraditionalfull


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timecollegestudents.Forsimplicity,weomit

thecasesofpart-timecollegestudentsforunnecessarylengthydiscussion.However,gauged

bythisandtheremainingcriteria,itisnotdifficulttodeterminewhether

aparticularpart-timerbelongstohumanresources.

Willingnessanddesireforproductiveactivities

Apersonmaybeavailableaspartof

humanresources,but


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dropoutof,workforceactivities,whencompared

tothegroupwhoreceivebequestsaveragingUS$7700(Holtz-Eakin,Joulfaian,andRosen

1994).Clearly,thosewhovoluntarilydropoutoftheworkforceforthisand

otherreasonsarenolongpartofhumanresourceseveniftheymeetallothercriteria.

Thiscriterionistobedifferentiatedfrom

willingnessto,and


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desirefor,performingspecifictaskswithinan

organization.Itisaperformanceissueifanemployeedoesnothave

willingnessanddesiretoperformcertaintasksbecausethatpersonisalreadypart

ofthehumanresourcesoftheorganization.HRDscholarsandpractitionershavehadaclearboundarytodealwithsuchworkplaceperformanceissues(seeSwanson

2007).


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Physicalandmentalcapacity

A

14-year-oldcannotbeconsideredphysicallyandmentallymaturetobesociallyproductive,

exceptforlimitedneighbourhoodbabysittingservices.Ageingrelatedretirementandotherphysicaland

mentalconditionscanalsolimitapersonsparticipationinsociallyproductiveactivities.Therefore,thosewholiveinnursinghomesafterretirementshouldnotbeconsidered

apartof


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humanresources.Althoughthepersonmaystill

havethedesireandwillingnesstowork,his/herphysicalconditionspreventthe

personfromdoingso.Suchphysicalandmentalrestrictionscanalsobecaused

byillnessandotherrelatedhealthreasonsregardlessofageingconditions.

ThiscriterionshouldnotbeconfusedwiththoseprotectedunderAmericanDisability

Act(ADA)or


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anyothernationsequivalentlaws.Anindividual

maybedisabledinaparticularwaythatpreventsthepersonto

performcertainproductivetasksinsomeareas.However,he/shemaystillhaveskills

andcapacitiesinadifferentarea.Thus,his/herphysicalandmentalconditionmaystillbesociallyproductiveandaddvaluetoasocietyfortasks

correspondingtothe


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conditions.Theseindividuals,ifmeetothercriteria,

arestillpartofhumanresourcesintheirowncontexts.


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Minimuminitialskillsandability

Individualsmusthaveaninitial

minimumskillsandabilitycorrespondingtotheleveloftaskstobeperformed

intheproductiveprocesstobequalifiedaspartofhumanresourcesatthatlevel.Ahighschoolfreshgraduatecannotbeconsideredapart

ofhumanresources


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inaseniormanagementteam,whereashe/she

maybequalifiedforbeingapartofhumanresourcesata

localStarbucksshoporotherworkplaceswithequivalentskillrequirements.However,theperson

canindeedbeengagedinhumancapitalinvestmentprocessesbyattendingcollegeandgraduateschool,oron-the-jobtraining,andacquiringadditionalmanagementskillsandexperience

tobecomepart


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ofhumanresourcesfortheseniormanagement

teaminthefuture.

Thesecriteriaanddomainsofhuman

resourcearerelativewithrespecttohistorical,technological,andsocioeconomiccontexts.Ahigh

schoolgraduatemaybeconsideredahumanresourceatahigherlevelhalfacenturyago,butonlyatalowerlevelcontemporarily.Similarly,the

sameeducationbackground


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maybeconsideredahigh-levelhumanresource

insomecountries,butmaynotbethecaseinothers.However,

inorganizationalreality,itisoftenunnecessarytospecifywhichgroupofemployees

belongstowhatcategoriesofhumanresources.Yet,itdoesnotimplythatthiscriterionisnotineffect.Forinstance,aseniorexecutiveand

amailroomclerk


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arebothconsideredhumanresourcesinan

organization,buttheirrolesandresponsibilities,aswellasrelatedcompetenciesrequired

toperformthejobs,clearlydefineandseparatethemintodifferenthumanresources

categoriesintheorganization.

Institutionalorlegalrestrictions

Humansocietiesarecomplexpoliticalandlegalsystems.Theboundariesofinstitutionsconfine

humansystemsin


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varyingways.Thus,institutionalrestrictionsshouldalso

beconsideredacriterionindefininghumanresources.Considerafamiliarcase,

anillegalimmigrantmaymeetallothercriteriadiscussedabove,buttheperson

isnotconsideredpartofhumanresourcesuntilhe/shereturnstohis/herownlegallyresidingcountryoruntilhe/shereceiveslegalstatusinthemigrating

regionorcountry.


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Thisrealitydemonstratesthatinstitutionalorlegal

restrictionconstitutesanimportantsystemboundaryandacriterionfordefininghuman

resources.

Insummary,theconnotationofhumanresourcesshouldbegauged

simultaneouslybyallthecriteriaintheproposition.IgnoringanyoneinHRDtheorybuildingandresearchmaymisleadthedomainandboundaryofHRD

discipline.


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Cross-cultureverification

Toconsiderthe

propositioninacross-culturesetting,weconductedaverificationstudyofthe

propositionbetweentwonationswithwell-documentedandsharplycontrastingcultures(Hofstede1993):China

andtheUnitedStates.First,thepropositionisanoutcomeofcross-cultureresearch.BothauthorshavecompletedcollegeandgraduateeducationinChinaandtrained

orarebeing


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trainedintheUSAforPhDsin

HRD.Particularly,thesecondauthorisundertakingfirstyearstudiesina

USprogrammewithminimuminfluencefromtheWesterncontext.Itisconfirmedthat

theconceptsincludedwithinandthemeaningofthepropositioncanbetranslatedword-by-wordbetweenEnglishandChinesewithoutambiguity.


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Second,ourreviewofChinesescholarlyliteratureishighlyconsistent

withthepropositionpresented.Chinesescholarsestablishedafieldcalledhumantalentology(Ren

CaiXue)inlate1987(Liu1987)withadefinitionofhumantalentsimilartothepropositionpresented.Morerecently,XiaandZhou(2003)and

Yin(2005)also


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definedhumanresourcesalongthesamelines.

Humanresources,humantalentsandworkforceareusedfrequentlyandinterchangeablyin

theChineseliterature.WesummarizethetranslatedChinesedefinitionsofhumanresourcesbelow:

Humanresourcesarephysicalandtalentresourcesembeddedinindividuals,andareabletoaccomplishrequiredworktasksindependentlyandcontributetosocial

economicdevelopment.They


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arecomposedofacombinationofindividuals

cognition,personality,interests,motivation,attitude,ability,aswellasknowledgeandskills.

Theformationofsuchcapacitiesisdeterminedbytheoverallcharacteristicsandeffects

ofinnateability,educationprocess,andteamsandinstitutions,whichisthebaseforaccomplishingparticulartasksandactivities,thusdeterminingthequantity,qualityand

speedofthe


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accomplishments(Liu1987;XiaandZhou2003;

Yin2005).Somealsoextendsthedefinitionstospecificagegroupsaccording

toChineselegalrequirements,confirmingtheinstitutionalrestrictionacriterionforhumanresources

intheChinesecontext.

Further,thisstudyhasbeencompletedforoverayear.Duringthisperiod,wehavedistributedthemanuscriptto

agroupof


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selectedHRDscholarsandpractitionersbothin

andoutsideoftheUSforcritiquesandfeedback.Moreover,thestudy

wasusedasadebatetopicinHRDgraduateteachingwheremultipleinternational

studentsfromChina,RussiaandBulgariawereenrolled.WealsopresentedtheearlierversionsofthestudyattwodifferentinternationalHRDconferences.Allrelevant

feedback,critiquesand


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socio-culturalcontextrelatedissuesareincorporatedin

itscurrentpresentation.

Humanresourcesandrelatedconcepts:alifespan

view

Toexploretheresearchquestionfurther,itisnecessaryto

combinesomeHRD-relatedconceptsandfoundationaltheoriesfrequentlyfoundinHRDliteratureinasimplifiedlifespanview.Figure1presentsatypicallifespanwith

sectionallifestages


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forarepresentativehumanbeing.Thisview

coversmostHRD-relatedconceptsofteninterchangeablyusedandmisusedintheliterature,

suchashumandevelopment,humancapitalinvestment,psychologyandlifelonglearning.Italso

embracesotherfiniteandspecificstagesofhumanlife,suchasearlychildhood

Figure1.Alifespanview:whoshouldHRDdevelop?


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education,generaleducation(includingcollegeeducationforsimplicity),humanresourcedevelopmentor

workforcedevelopment,adultlearningandgerontology.

Thelongspan:humancapital

investment,humandevelopment,psychologyandlifelonglearning

LineAIinFigure1representstheentirelifespanofourrepresentativethatallfourconcepts

cover.Itshows


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humandevelopment,humancapitalinvestmentandpsychology

overlappingandcoveringtheentirelifespan.Thesametimeperiodalsocoverslifelong

learning.

Humancapitalinvestmentisthemostfrequentlymisusedconcept

inHRDliterature.Fromthebeginning,economicresearchonhumancapitaliscomprehensive,encompassingallaspectsofinvestmentactivitiesacrosstheentirelifespanofhuman

beings.Itincludes


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notonlyformalschooling,fromearlychildhood

(BeckerandLewis1973)tocollege(Becker1960)andjob-relatedtraining(Mincer

1962),butalsomigration(Greenwood1975),healthcare(Klarman1963)andsocialwelfare-

relatedrealms(Gordon1963).Studiesonhumancapitalalsoexpandedtofertility(BarroandBecker1989),longevity(EhrlichandLui1991;Kalemli-Ozcan2003)andmortality

(Kalemli-Ozcan2002,2003).


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Indeed,humancapitaltheory,asmanifestedby

thename,studiestheinvestmentovertheentirehumanlife(Cervellatiand

Sunde2005).AsdemonstratedinFigure1,HRDonlycoversonemajorsectional

lifespanofthelifelonghumancapitalinvestmentactivities.Therefore,HRDisnotequivalenttohumancapitalinvestmentingeneralterm,andneitherdoesHRDcover

thesamespan


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aslifelonglearning.Instead,HRDisa

specialformofhumancapitalinvestmentandpartofalifelong

learning,withinahumanbeingsproductivelife.Theresearchandapplicationofhuman

capitaltheoryinHRDmustidentifytheapplicablerangeandappropriatelifespanforhumancapitalstudies.

Atorganizationallevel,itisaccurateand

appropriatetoequate


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humanresourcetohumancapitalbecauseadding

valuetotheorganizationisthefirstreasonforanorganizationto

investinemployeesintheformsofcompensation/benefit,trainingandotheractivities.This

isconsistentwiththepropositionthatanynewhireinorganizationshasaninitialproductivity.Ontheotherhand,thepurposeoffurtherinvestmentin

theemployees,the


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humancapitaloftheorganizations,isto

enhancetheircurrentandfutureproductivityfortheorganizations.Itisalmost

certainthatnotmanyorganizationswouldbeinterestedinhumancapitalinvestmentin

suchawaythattheyrecruitahighschoolfreshgraduateandinvestinthepersonuntilhe/shebecomesaseniorexecutive.

Atnationallevel,


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thepicturemayappeartobevague

andconfusingtosome.Thecollectiveconceptofhumanbeingsata

nationallevelisoftenreferredtoaspopulation.However,accordingtotheproposition,

populationshouldnotequatetohumanresources.Yet,theconceptofhumanandpopulationinanationalcontextmaybeconsideredhumancapitalofthe

nation,becausethe


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youngerpopulationmayhavethepotentialto

besociallyproductivegivensufficienttimeandotherinvestments.Inotherwords,

notallthoseinanationspopulationcanbeproductiveoraddvalue

tothenationaleconomyatagiventime.Onlythoseactivelyinvolvedintheworkforcecandoso.

Similartohumancapitalresearch

ineconomics,human


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developmentalsocoverstheentirelifespanof

humanbeings.AspointedoutbyPaprock,itincludesallaspectsoflifeexpectancy,

attainmentofeducation,andadjustedrealincome(2006,


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1213).However,whetherHRDmustbeexpandedtoinvolveall

threecomponents(2006,13)ofhumandevelopmentisquestionableintermsoffield

identityandtheorybuildingrequirementsasdefinedintheproposition.Itisalsouptotheacceptanceofthescholarsandpractitionersinthetwo

differentdisciplines.


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Lifelonglearningisanambiguousterm

usedfrequentlyinHRDandadultlearningliteratures(Jarvis2004).Itrefers

toalearningprocessthroughoutoneslifespanandoverlapswiththesamespan

ashumancapitalinvestmentandhumandevelopment.Itmaybeconsideredaconsciouseffortinself-humancapitalinvestment(Jarvis,2004).However,whenreferringtothe

conceptoflifelong


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learninginorganizationalsettings,itindeedrefers

toorganizationallifelonglearning.Mostorganizationswouldnotbeinterestedinan

individualslearning

beyondtheemploymentduration.Attheindividuallevel,lifelonglearningis

consistentwiththeothertwoconceptsinthelifespan,humandevelopment(HD)andhumancapitalinvestment.Toavoidconfusion,itismoreappropriatetorefer

toorganizationbased


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individuallearningasworkplacelearning,insteadof

lifelonglearning.

Theshortlifespans:asectionalanalysis

Ifweaccepttheaboveanalysis,therestoftheconceptsinthe

sectionallifespansinFigure1willbeeasiertounderstand.Earlierchildhoodeducationcoverstheagespanbetween0and6asrepresentedbysection

ABinFigure


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1.Itisasectionallifespanunder

allfourconcepts,i.e.HCI,HD,psychologyandlifelonglearning.Itis

notinthedomainofHRDdefinedbytheproposition.Similarly,generaleducation

includesprimaryandsecondaryeducationandtraditionalcollegestudents.ItisafinitelifespanundertheconceptsofHCI,HDandlifelonglearningasrepresented

bysectionBF.


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Individualswithinthisparticularlifespangenerallydo

notmeetallthehumanresourcescriteria.Therefore,theyarenotin

thedomainandsubjectofHRD.However,itmaybecontroversialasto

whetherincludecollegestudentsashumanresources.Foranalyticalsimplicity,itisassumedthattheydonotmeetthereadinessandavailabilitycriterion.Indeed,an

averagecollegestudent


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isinvestingthetimeandfinancialresources

tobereadyandavailableforanupcomingsociallyproductivelife.

OnlythoseinthelifespanrepresentedbysectionDGareinthe

domainofHRDresearchandpractice.Inotherwords,HRDistodevelopthosehumanbeingswhohavecompletedcertainlevelsofhumancapitalinvestment

(readyandavailable)


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andareactivelyinvolvedintheworkforce

activities(willingandhavedesire)withminimuminitialskillsandcapability,and

withoutinstitutionalrestrictionsforsociallyproductiveactivities.Apparently,thesectionallifespanforthe

domainofHRDissignificantlylongoveranindividualslifespan.ThissometimesdisguisesthefactthatHRDisnottocovertheentirehumanlifespan.

Additionally,thelifespan


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coveredbyHRDisoverlappingwiththe

conceptofworkplacelearning.However,thecontent,activities,andconsequencesofthe

twomaybedifferentbecauseworkplacelearning,ifnotperformancefocused,maybe

informationalandforthepurposeofenrichment.ItmaynotalwaysresultinimprovedperformanceasdiscussedbySwanson(2001).

Afterretirementand

beforetheend


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ofthelife,ourrepresentativeisthe

subjectofgerontology,adisciplineexploringageingandrelatedhumanbehavioursand

activitiesundertheumbrellaofhumandevelopment.Sincemosthumanbeingsinthis

lifestagearenolongeractiveinsociallyproductiveactivities,theyshouldnotbe


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HumanResourceDevelopmentInternational101

inthedomainofHRDresearchandpractice.Adulteducation,on

theotherhand,coversthecombinedlifespansofHRDandgerontologyandconcerns

abouttheentireadultlifelonglearningasrepresentedbysectionEI(Mackeracher2006;Merriam,Caffarella,andBaumgartner2006).Thislifespanvieweffectivelyclarifiesthetarget

populationanddomain


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ofresearchforadulteducationandHRD.

InFigure1,theremaybesomeshortoverlappingperiod

betweenanytwoadjacentsectionallifespansasrepresentedbyDFandHG.This

istoindicatesomevariationsinindividualslifespans.Forexample,DFrepresentsacasethatanindividualmayalreadybeengagedinfull-timesociallyproductive

activitiesbeforegraduating


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fromaneducationprogramme.HGsuggeststhat

apersonisretiredatanolderagethanaverageindividualsat

thesametimeheorsheentersintothedomainofgerontologyresearch

andpractice.However,thesevariationsshouldnotaffectourgeneralanalysisofthelifespanscoveredbythedifferentfieldsanddisciplines.

Conclusionand

implicationsforHRD


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theorybuildingresearch

Ourstudy

onthecriteriaofhumanresourcesandtheirrelationshipswithotherrelated

conceptsfoundintheHRDliteratureleadstotheanswertotheresearch

question:HRDisnottodevelopallhumanbeings,buttodevelopthosewhomeetallthecriteriasimultaneously.ThisconclusionchallengessomecurrentHRD

literatureandoffers


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thefollowingimplicationsforfutureHRDresearch

andtheorybuilding.

First,thepurposeofadefinition,especially

definitionsforadiscipline,istoestablishtheidentityandtheboundaryof

thefield,distinguishitfromotherrelatedfieldsandconfinetheresearchareaswithinafinitedomain.Fromaresearchperspective,thishelpsscholarsfocus

theresearchtarget


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onamanageablerealmandbuildrelevant

theory.Fromapracticeperspective,thishelppolicymakersandpractitionersto

developtargetedpoliciesandactivities.Thus,definitionsservethepurposeofunifyingscholars

andpractitionersunderoneumbrellaforexploring,investigatingandexchangingemergingissues,aswellascreatingnewknowledgeforthesubjectareaswithcommoninterest

andunderstanding.


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Second,theclarificationofhumanresource

appearstobemorecriticalthandevelopmentatpresenttimeinHRD

researchbecauseoftheconfusionintheliterature.Ifscholarsandpractitionerscan

agreeonthepropositionandthecriteria,thedebateanddevelopmentofHRDdefinitionwillatleastbefocusedwithinthedomainofhumanresources.

Infact,the


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termofdevelopmentcarriesdifferentconnotationsin

differentdisciplines.Forinstance,inthefieldofhumandevelopment,developmentis

definedas

aprocessofcompetencyattainmentandofself-differentiationin

thesenseofprogressivelydistinguishingoneselffromtheenvironmentandfromotherpeopleinordertocreateauniqueselfidentity.(Thomas2001,184)

Withoutreaching


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anagreementontheboundariesofhuman

resources,wemayneverbeabletoreachanagreeabledefinitionon

thedevelopmentcomponent.

Third,theanalysishasparticularimplicationstoHRD

nationalpolicystudies.ExistingstudiesonHRDnationalpoliciesmostlyequatededucationwithHRD(e.g.MorrisandSweeting1997).Althoughthetwotypesofpolicies

arerelated,they


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havedifferentfoci.Thelifespananalysisdemonstrated

thatHRDcoversalargerportionofindividuallivesthangeneraleducation

does,suggestingthatnationaleducation


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policiesonlyaffectthosecurrently,andpotentiallytobe,enrolled

intheformaleducationalsystem.HRDpolicy,ontheotherhand,addressesthe

overallworkforcequalityandperformance.ThedifferencesbetweennationalHRDpolicyandeducationalpolicyisthattheformerfocusesonthequalityofskilllevel

forexistingnational


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workforceforimmediate,short-termandlong-termeconomic

growth,whilethelatterdealswithalong-termeffect.Theroleof

HRDnationalpoliciesistoprovidesupport,motivationandopportunitiesfororganizationto

energizeanddeveloptheirtalentsbymobilizingresourcesandprovidingneededsocio-politicalenvironmentforsuchactivities(WangandSwanson2008a,b).Clarifyingtheboundariesof

HRDallowsHRD


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scholarstoconductanalysisonHRD-focusednational

policiesandproposerightpolicyrecommendationstopolicy-makersatnationallevel.

Lastly,butnottheleast,theanalysis,throughthepropositionandthe

lifespananalysis,supportsthecurrentlyacceptedpropositionthateconomics,psychologyandsystemtheoryconstitutefoundationsofHRD.Thefindingsleadtoquestioningthepropositionthat

adultlearningtheory


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shouldalsobeconsideredafoundationof

HRD(Yang2004).Asanapplicationofpsychologicaltheories,adultlearningtheory

shouldbelogicallyconsideredpartofthepsychologicalfoundation(Weinberger1998).Accordingto

thelifespanview,itappearsredundanttoseparateadultlearningtheoryfrompsychologyasadifferenttheoreticalfoundationofHRD.

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