This paper examines the role of information technology (IT) directly on one central aspect of work in the twenty-first century, its impact on HRM itself. We use the long-established 'Harvard' model ...of HRM, offering a more contextualised view of HRM, a more expansive view of stakeholders, and a wider and more long-term approach to outcomes. Applying those principles to the literature on IT and HRM helps us clarify both the advantages and disadvantages to different stakeholders of the intersection between HRM and technology. We show that rapid technological developments offer a new, smart, digital context for HRM practices with the better quality HRM data and enabling a strong HRM ownership by all stakeholders. At the same time, we see a tension in HRM responsibilities between HRM professionals and organizational members who are not directly assigned HRM tasks but are the subject of them. On the basis of that analysis we offer suggestions for future research.
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) emerged as a dominant approach to human resource management (HRM) policy during the past 30 years. However, during the last decade, a new approach to HRM ...has evolved. This approach has been labelled sustainable human resource management (sustainable HRM). It is an approach that seeks to link HRM and sustainability. The term sustainability is fraught with semantic difficulties, as is conceptualising its relationship to HRM. Consequently, sustainable HRM is viewed in a variety of ways. This paper examines the major features of SHRM, some of the meanings given to sustainability and the relationship between sustainability and HRM. It then outlines the major characteristics of sustainable HRM. Although there are a diversity of views about sustainable HRM, this approach has a number of features which differentiate it from SHRM. It acknowledges organisational outcomes, which are broader than financial outcomes. All the writings emphasise the importance of human and social outcomes. In addition, it explicitly identifies the negative as well as the positive effects of HRM on a variety of stakeholders; it pays further attention to the processes associated with the implementation of HRM policies and acknowledges the tensions in reconciling competing organisational requirements. Such an approach takes an explicit moral position about the desired outcomes of organisational practices in the short term and the long term. Sustainable HRM can be understood in terms of a number of complimentary frameworks.
In this study, we understand HRM implementation as a social process that depends on the social exchange relationships between line managers and both HRM professionals and employees. As such, we offer ...a fresh approach to understanding HRM implementation by concentrating on the social exchange among HRM actors. We do so by investigating to what extent these exchange relationships influence HRM implementation, as reflected in employees' perceptions of the presence of HRM practices and their affective commitment. We collected multilevel data from two sources (line managers and employees) and in two phases in a Dutch engineering firm, and obtained fully matched manager - employee information from 75 employees and 20 line managers. Our results show that employees perceive a larger number of HRM practices when they have a good relationship with their line managers and when their line managers are motivated to implement HRM practices. Line managers, in turn, reciprocate perceived support from the HRM department with greater motivation to implement these practices. We conclude that because HRM actors engage in social interactions, HRM practices will be implemented at the organizational level because employees perceive the presence of HRM practices and then reciprocate this with affective commitment.
Signalling theory is presented as an approach to advance the study of human resource management (HRM) processes highlighting line managers as signallers of HR messages and employees as receivers. ...Signalling theory is also offered as a framework to integrate the two attributional approaches to HRM focusing on HRM strength and HR attributions. A study of employees in 83 bank branches confirms that strong HR signals, reflected in implementation of a coherent set of high‐commitment HR practices and consensus about their implementation have a positive association with the HR attributions and attitudes of employees as signal receivers. We found no link with branch performance. The study confirms the utility of signalling theory as a framework for advancing our understanding of HR processes.
The present paper analyses how top managers construct the meaning of sustainable human resource management (HRM) and its responsibility areas and how they identify and prioritize stakeholders in ...sustainable HRM. The empirical data were collected as part of the Finnish HR Barometer inquiry. A qualitative analysis reveals four dimensions of sustainable HRM: Justice and equality, transparent HR practices, profitability, and employee well-being. It also reveals four broader responsibility areas: Legal and ethical, managerial, social, and economic. Contrary to the prior green HRM literature, ecological responsibility was largely ignored. The study also reveals a wide range of stakeholders, specifically, owners, managers, employees, customers, and employee representatives, as well as their special roles and requirements for sustainable HRM. These findings contribute to the literature of sustainable HRM by illustrating the dimensions and broader responsibilities of sustainable HRM as seen by top managers. Their conceptions of sustainable HRM are largely neglected in the prior literature despite their crucial role in legitimating HRM and thus sustainable HRM in companies. These results also contribute to the theory of stakeholder salience (identification and prioritization of stakeholders) in the sustainable HRM context from the viewpoint of top managers.
One stated purpose of electronic human resource management (e-HRM) is to make the HRM function more strategic. The goal of this paper is to examine the research on e-HRM to provide evidence-based ...guidance to researchers and practitioners on the relationship between e-HRM and strategic HRM. We review 40 studies published from 1999 to 2011 using integrative synthesis as our evidence-based methodology. Results reveal that theoretical and empirical research in this area is still at an early stage. We find no empirical evidence showing that e-HRM predicts strategic outcomes. There is evidence suggesting that strategic HRM predicts e-HRM outcomes and that the relationship appears context dependent, however, research designs are not sufficient to establish causal direction. Our review highlights the need for more empirical studies on e-HRM and strategic HRM outcomes at a macro level.
Building upon the HR architecture model, we propose a framework that explains how – within an alliance project between two firms – HRM systems (composed of various HRM practices) shape ...inter-organizational knowledge transfer. Such projects may involve intergroup bias, i.e., employees may particularly favor and value members of their own firm, which may impede inter-organizational knowledge transfer. Given the intergroup dynamics, we argue that social identity is a key mediator underlying the relationship between HRM systems and knowledge transfer. We discuss how each firm's HRM system(s) independently and jointly affect employees' social identity, stressing the importance of an HRM fit within and between both companies. Finally, we propose a factor – shared other identities – that may moderate the HRM systems and social identity relationship and also shape social identity directly. Our model provides a nuanced view of how HRM systems can facilitate knowledge transfer by shaping employees' social identities in alliance projects.
•Proposed framework builds upon HR architecture literature by focusing on alliance partnerships.•HRM practices of core and alliance partner firms shape inter-organizational knowledge transfer between their employees.•Social identity is a key mediating mechanism underlying HRM practices and knowledge transfer relationship.•HRM fit within and between both companies is important for optimal knowledge transfer.
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