Establishing the potential for identifying Knowledge Transfer in Human Resource Recruitment and Selection practices: The perspective of academic staff at a university in the UAE

Human capital is the distinguishing resource that an organisation acquires, towards achieving long term effectiveness and high performance. Resource based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) recognises the role of human resource management practices in developing firm specific skills that can deliver sustained competitive advantage. The relevance of human capital and its contribution to performance has been the centre of many academic discussions and debates over the decades. This thesis argues that combining ‘Recruitment and Selection’(R&S) practices, with ‘Knowledge Transfer’(KT), at the early stages of hiring talented individuals is valuable and desirable. It has the potential to create systematic knowledge co-creation systems that combine the expertise of such individuals in producing and disseminating valuable knowledge. The study therefore aims to explore the recruitment and selection practices for their linkage with knowledge transfer at multiple levels within an organisation. The research framework for this study was developed on the basis of critical review of existing literature, identification of relevant gap(s) and recognition of the need for contribution in this field. The four levels within the organisation where R&S and KT can interact were identified as organisational, individual, cultural and technological. These were then incorporated into the research framework. The data for the study was collected from academic employees at a private university based in the United Arab Emirate (UAE). Data collection was done in two stages using the mixed methods approach- online survey followed by semi-structured interviews. The sample comprised 85 survey respondents and 18 interview participants, in a university of about 350 academics. The survey findings provided valuable pointers regarding the current state of R&S and KT practice as well as the possibility of combining those. The main findings of the interview stage converged on four main themes that the data was focused on. These were the existing strategies and practices in R&S, existing strategies and practices in talent management, perspectives on knowledge cocreation and the main areas of interaction between R&S and KT. The findings indicate that there is a tangible scope within the university context, to proactively include KT considerations in R&S practices, towards achieving success in the long-term. A framework for practice has accordingly been proposed to foster this combination effectively. The framework comprises enablers that may be created and barriers that may be minimised, at all of the four levels identified within the initial research framework. The outcome of this study provides valuable lessons and insights that maybe adopted by practitioners and decision makers at the current university and beyond, to review and improve their current practices. Even though the aim of the study is not to generalise, other institutions of higher education may benefit from the practitioner framework nonetheless. Equally, the study contributes to the existing body of knowledge on R&S and KT with respect to their interrelationship and linkages.