THE IMPACT OF EFFECTIVE HUMAN CAPITAL MANAGEMENT ON THE INNOVATIVE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTERPRISES
Keywords:
human capital, human capital management, innovation, enterprise development, knowledge management, strategic HRM, Uzbekistan.Abstract
This article examines how effective human capital management (HCM) influences the innovative development of enterprises. The study applies a structured analytical review of international and Uzbek research and supplements it with secondary indicators from the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index (GII) for Uzbekistan. The analysis focuses on five HCM mechanisms: talent acquisition and allocation, continuous learning and reskilling, motivation and performance management, knowledge sharing and collaboration, and retention of firm-specific expertise. The results show that human capital contributes to innovation not simply through the stock of education and skills, but through managerial systems that convert knowledge into research and development activity, idea generation, experimentation, process improvement and commercialized innovation. Recent empirical studies confirm that the composition and quality of human capital are positively associated with substantive and strategic innovation, while mismatch between skills and tasks weakens innovation performance. Evidence from Uzbekistan indicates a notable improvement in overall GII ranking from 93rd in 2020 to 79th in 2025, while a persistent gap remains between innovation inputs and outputs. This gap highlights the importance of enterprise-level mechanisms that transform available human capital into measurable innovation results. The article proposes an integrated HCM–innovation transmission framework and identifies practical priorities for enterprises: competence-based recruitment, digital skills development, cross-functional knowledge exchange, innovation-linked incentives, and retention of critical talent.
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