Oliver S. Crocco - Developing Human Resources in Southeast Asia: A Holistic Framework for the ASEAN Community

The Palgrave Macmillan Asian Business Series publishes theoretical and empirical studies that contribute forward-looking social perspectives on the study of management issues not just in Asia, but by implication elsewhere. The series specifically aims at the development of new frontiers in the scope, themes and methods of business and management studies in Asia, a region which is seen as key to studies of modern management, organization, strategies, human resources and technologies. The series invites practitioners, policy-makers and academic researchers to join us at the cutting edge of constructive perspectives on Asian management, seeking to contribute towards the development of civil societies in Asia and further a field.

Each submission is submitted for single blind peer review. For further information please see our website: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/your-career/early-career-researcher-hub/peer-review-process .

To submit a book proposal for inclusion in this series please email Liz Barlow at: liz.barlow@palgrave.com. Details of how to download a proposal form can be found here: https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book-authors/publishing-guidelines/submit-a-proposal .

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14420

no cover credit

This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG

The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Studying and writing about ecosystems is a tall task. In general, the process of writing a scholarly book involves parsing out positions and structuring an argument to guide the reader through a set of ideas. This is difficult to do when the phenomenon of interest is an ecosystem, which, by definition, makes sense only via its interconnections and interactions. Like a 5000-piece puzzle, the picture comes alive when the pieces are put together. This is why I believe an ecosystems perspective is so important in understanding Regional Human Resource Development (Regional HRD) because the dimensions shaping the content and processes of HRD in a region make the most sense when viewed together.

How did I come to this work? As an undergraduate, I studied abroad in Turkey and was required to read a variety of books on history, culture, religion, and language. My coursework culminated in a term paper on Islamic mosques, which I presented in the foyer of the Sleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul. We were also required to keep a detailed journal throughout the study abroad experience, which instilled in me the prudent habit of constant reflection and notetaking. This primed me for reflective and curiosity-driven work when I moved to Southeast Asia in 2009. Before beginning my work at Payap University in Chiang Mai, I reached out to a colleague at the university who connected me with a local editor at Silkworm Books who recommended I read David Wyatts definitive history Thailand: A Short History, the novel Four Reigns by longtime Thai diplomat Kukrit Pramoj, and Heartwood of the Bodhi Tree by Thai Buddhist philosopher Buddhadsa Bhikkhu. Like many other non-Thai people fortunate enough to make Thailand their home, I became consumed with Thai history, politics, language, and culture.

After my first two years in the Land of Smiles, I returned to the United States to study Human Development and Psychology at Harvard after which I promptly returned to Payap. As part of my work, I collaborated on a USAID-funded project with the International Rescue Committee to develop three organizational development certificate programs offered to community-based organizations (CBOs) in Myanmar and along the Thailand-Myanmar border. I traveled to dozens of those CBOs and experienced firsthand the power of HRD for individuals, organizations, and communities. Since I was living in Thailand during the frenzy leading up to the implementation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community in 2015, I began exploring the implications of ASEANs influence on HRD in the region. I also had the chance to travel to other countries in the region.

These experiences in Southeast Asia deepened my interest in HRD theory, research, and practice and led me to pursue doctoral work in Human and Organizational Learning at the George Washington University. There in Washington, DC, I wrote my first conference paper on HRD in ASEAN in 2016. My dissertation focused on learning, development, and organizational change in Myanmar, and I continued to write and reflect on HRD within the broader regional context. As a faculty member at Louisiana State University, I had the chance to present two additional papers on HRD at the regional level in Southeast Asia at conferences in Bangkok (2018) and Hanoi (2019). I also received a grant in 2019 that allowed me to spend time visiting organizations in the region and at the ASEAN headquarters in Jakarta. The input gained from those conferences and visits with Southeast Asian colleagues and friends proved invaluable to my thought process and mindset. Given the need for regional-level thinking about HRD in Southeast Asia, I took Beverly Clearys advice, If you dont see the book you want on the shelves, write it.