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Social networks and social capital have emerged as concepts of great interest and potential to help understand and explain how social structures impact political, social and business practices at the collective and individual levels. The basic premise is: investment in social relations will yield expected returns. Existing research has largely focused on the West; our knowledge of how social capital plays out in the Middle East is limited. This paper explores the prevalent practice of ‘wasta’ through the social capital lens, namely bonding and bridging social capital, and investigate HR managers’ perceptions of wasta in employment selection in Jordan. Often use of wasta in employment selection is related to favouritism and nepotism and the many negative outcomes of not adhering to merit-based selection. However, through in-depth interview data a more nuanced and multifaceted view of wasta in employment selection is revealed and how these impact HR practice in the organisation.

The characteristics of the construction industry present an extremely challenging context for effective human resource management (HRM). The dynamic project-based nature of the industry results in extreme fluctuations in organisations’ workloads and requires teams to form, develop and disband relatively quickly. Thus, the importance of efficient management of employee resourcing activities cannot be understated. This paper reports on the findings of research which explored employee resourcing practices within large UK construction firms. The results suggest that managers currently attempt to carry out some strategic planning with regards to employee resourcing, but that this does not necessarily translate into effective operational practice which simultaneously takes account of organisational, project and individual employee needs. A new approach for more effective employee resourcing decision-making, based on encouraging the involvement of the employees in the deployment process, is put forward as a management tool which informs effective team formation and deployment. However, this will require the acceptance of both decision-support technology and of employee input into what is currently a tacit, management-oriented decision process.

This paper set out to address the gap in our knowledge on how social capital impacts the employee selection process in banks operating in Jordan. Bonding and bridging social capital are used to explore the prevalent practice of ‘wasta’ in Jordan. the preliminary analysis of 17 in-depth interviews highlights two uses of wasta in employee selection. Namely, the use of wasta as a guide for employers in the decision to hire and the use of wasta as a pressure mechanism by candidates to attain employment in specific organisations. Previous research often associates wasta with the negative outcomes of not adhering to merit-based selection such as reduced workforce diversity, lack of employee engagement, and the lost opportunity cost from hiring unqualified candidates based their social connections. However, the interviewees signpost some positive uses of wasta such as its ability to confirm information about the candidate and his/ her fit with organisation’s culture prior to employment.

Construction projects incorporate the input of a range of tradesmen and different sized firms, ranging from micro to large organisations. Working practices of micro construction firms are carried out in an informal manner while larger organisations tend to adopt more formal on-site management techniques. Many micro firms seek to develop long-term relationships with large principal contractors and a major strain on their relationships stem from the difference in safety management techniques they employ. Faced with a fundamental shift in their style of safety management, workers of micro construction firms must successfully negotiate this challenge. Against this background, records from the Health and Safety Executives show year on year reductions in accident and incident rates in the East Midlands, an indication that the safety practices on projects are being implemented more effectively. Some of this success has been attributed to the efforts of local safety groups, such as Nottinghamshire Occupational Safety and Health Association (NOSHA). As such, it is important that the interdependencies between large principal contractors and micro firms, and the role that safety groups such as NOSHA play in managing this relationship are better understood. This paper presents interviews conducted with some members of NOSHA. This is the first of two phases of empirical work. The roles that the members of the local safety group perform have been found to go beyond simply promoting safety awareness and safety knowledge on site. They have been found to help in conflict resolution among the various construction parties. Such practices help create a harmonious working environment and subsequently lead to long-term working relations.