Joo Hun Han, assistant professor of human resource management at Rutgers University, claimed the MK-AKMS Young Scholar Award for his research on the interactions between leadership and human resource practices.

The award ceremony took place Sunday (local time) in Boston, U.S. Now in its second year, the MK-AKMS Young Scholar Award was founded by Korea’s largest business media Maekyung Media Group and the Association of Korean Management Scholars (AKMS), a research organization consisted of Korean business and management scholars at home and abroad.

Han gained recognition for his nuanced examination on how vertical and horizontal fit in strategic human resource management can be aligned to optimize the benefits of a high-performance work system.

Seven of his papers were published in globally prominent academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management.

Han’s area of focus is strategic human resource management. The importance of strategic HR management has grown in recent years, but Han has been wary of the impact the recent global economic slowdown has had on people management practices, with many organizations freezing or reducing their HR budgets.

“In recessionary periods, companies are tempted to cut back on human capital,” Han said in an interview with Maeil Business Newspaper. “But companies that slash HR are unlikely to maintain sustainable growth in the long term,” he added.

This does not mean that investment in HR always leads to high performance, he cautioned. But companies that make such investments are “well defended” in times of crises. He cited the Chinese telecom giant Huawei and how, despite the onslaught of U.S. sanctions, it continues to invest heavily on HR and talent management.

The award ceremony was followed by the AKMS scholarship presentations to doctoral students from Samsung Economic Research Institute, POSCO Research Institute and Amorepacific.

By Han Ye-kyung and Kim Hyo-jin

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