Since the Industrial Revolution, there has been an evolution in the paradigms under which the industrial worker is perceived and dealt with. These paradigms can be briefly listed in the order of their evolutionary stage as: the food-gatherer, the economic man, the social man, the resourceful man, and the enterprising man. Each of them is a combination of two basic paradigms in different proportions, namely, the outsider paradigm and the partnership paradigm. Obviously, the paradigmatic perspectives of management about their workers will have a significant influence on how they treat their workers, which may become especially conspicuous during recessions and other kinds of hard times. It was in this context that we designed a study to understand the human resource strategies of companies during a period of recession. Data for this study was collected through the content analysis of 46 published cases, wherein we developed the ratings of two sets of variables, namely: the external and internal environments of the company and the strategic actions taken by the respective managements. A surprising finding of the study is that the correlations between the environmental factors and the strategy factors were small and non-significant; moreover, the correlations involving the external environment were smaller than those involving the internal environment. Hence, it may be inferred that strategic actions are influenced primarily by the paradigmatic perspectives of management rather than environmental factors. In order to identify the different types of paradigmatic perspectives, we have further carried out a cluster analysis to develop a taxonomy of paradigms. The results showed that there are five sub-paradigms, which are: (1) Pacifiers, constituting 35% of the sample; (2) Modifiers, constituting 22%; (3) Molders, constituting 17%; (4) Enhancers, constituting 15%; and (5) Exploiters, constituting 11%. The limitations of the study and the implications of the findings are discussed in the concluding part.

The current research note is written for personnel managers and MBA students, aiming to raise awareness of the importance of work-life balance in employee management policies. In the intersection of work and personal life, the work-life balance is the equilibrium between the two; more specifically, the work-life balance explains the relationship and interaction between an individual's job and their private life. In the research note, we first introduce the concept and characteristics of work-life balance through relevant literature. We then argue the significance of incorporating work-life balance into employee management practices, as the concept of work-life balance helps managers appreciate individual differences and develop more human-oriented awareness in management. We encourage managers to adopt transformational leadership in their management, in which the concept of work-life balance should be embedded in the design and implementation of employee management policies. By giving more autonomy to the employees through work-life balance policies and practices, employees are more likely to appreciate the work and make more contributions accordingly. Practitioner points are also recommended.

Orientation: Indeed, the 4th industrial revolution (4IR) has redefined the world of work. A new set of skills needs to be defined and made available to organisations. Human resource management practices now operate in a complex, interconnected, unpredictable, and evolving environment. The question that one needs to answer is: how can HR align its functions to meet the demands of the fourth IR? It is prudent that human resource functions evolve quickly and adapt to changing demands. Research purpose: This paper seeks to unpack the changes that have been brought about by the 4IR and suggest ways in which HR professionals in Lesotho can align with this inevitable era of digitalisation. Motivation for the study: Due to the dynamics and transformations that have been brought about by the 4IR, this study was motivated by the need to understand the effects of the 4IR in small economies on the HR function and offer lessons to embrace change. Research approach: The research was qualitative in nature, and data was collected purposefully from journal articles, newspapers, and book chapters. Content analysis was used for the data analysis. Research findings: The effects of the 4IR through digitalisation disruptions have been felt across all corporate functions, and HR is no exception. It has had a massive influence on both the economy and the labour force and impacted employee roles in terms of health, mobility, working hours, personal life, and general administration. HR leaders play a critical role in ensuring that businesses are able to successfully adopt and deploy new technologies. Contributions: The research unpacks the effects of 4IR and gives practical lessons for HR professionals in Lesotho.

Since the reform and opening up, China has continuously pushed forward the administrative system reform, adapted to the national conditions and the requirements of the times, and achieved fruitful results. Generally speaking, the successive administrative system reforms have focused on the government and the adjustment of the dynamic relationship between government-market-society. Due to the special characteristics of local foreign affairs departments in the administrative system, the successive reforms have provided less guidance to them, and related research is also relatively lacking. However, from a practical point of view, local foreign affairs offices have long followed the pace of administrative system reform and carried out a series of adjustments and optimizations. As an important element of administrative system reform, the functional transformation of local foreign affairs offices has been continuously promoted along with institutional reform. This research, which is mainly based on talks and supplemented by document comparisons, aims to study the development results and experiences of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shaanxi Province in the context of administrative system reform, and tries to provide a case study for the administrative system reform of local foreign affairs departments.

This study aimed to assess the influence of awareness and health habituation techniques, student management activities, the role of stakeholders, and the character of healthy living on health independence. The method used in this study is quantitative with descriptive test analysis techniques, partial t statistics and F test. This research was conducted in elementary schools in East Java Province, consisting of 92 elementary schools in 5 regions at East Java. Samples were taken using purposive techniques, and the number of samples was 348 people, consisting of principals, teachers and students. The results found that awareness and health habituation techniques have a significant influence on the character of healthy life of students, student management activities have a significant influence on the character of healthy life, the role of stakeholders has a significant influence on the character of healthy life, awareness and health habituation technique have a significant influence on health independence, student management activities have a significant influence on health independence, the role of stakeholders has a significant influence on health independence, the character of healthy living has a significant effect on health independence, and student management activities and the role of stakeholders have a significant effect on the character of healthy life, and have a significant impact on health independence.