Abstract
The significance and imprint of SMEs as dominant employers is not proportionally reflected in people management scholarship. In an effort to map out the prospects for greater understanding, this paper critically evaluates the prevailing understanding in HRM. First, a case is made for definitional clarity to avoid aggregate interpretations of SMEs and ill-defined applications of HRM. The paper then explores four key theoretical frames of reference, namely universalism, best fit, cultural and ecological theories, highlighting their merits and limitations as applied in the SME context. This assessment results in a call for more holistic, integrative and context sensitive theory and research to understand the dynamics of talent management in an SME context. This provides a pathway to better capture, and inform, the realities of practice in this area.
Highlights
F inding, managing and retaining talent is a perennial challenge for organisations (PwC, 2019)
SMEs face something of a paradox when it comes to talent management; the liability of smallness means that SMEs are especially reliant on the productivity and engagement of employees, but SMEs are less likely to have sophisticated practices or dedicated talent managers for these tasks
In their study of low-value added firms (LVAs), Edwards and Ram (2006) note that many of the factors stressed by the resourcebased view (RBV) have ‘limited applicability’ and so move to explore how sets of resources are deployed to maintain the survival of the business rather than to leverage advantage
Summary
Zupan, & Stalker, 2019; Wapshott & Mallett, 2016). Of particular significance is a lack of critical reflection on the key assumptions underpinning dominant HR research and how they may (or may not) translate to an SME context. In so doing, it makes a number of contributions. Harney & Alkhalaf, 2021; Lai, Saridakis, Blackburn, & Johnston, 2016) by making a case for studies to avoid aggregate interpretations of SMEs and simplistic, ill-defined applications of HR It responds to calls for a critical evaluation of dominant HRM theory as applied to the SME context (Barrett & Mayson, 2008). The paper leverages this review to map a pathway for further research and understanding, including via a more holistic, integrative and context sensitive approaches This aligns with calls to better accommodate context in HRM (Cooke, 2018; Lee, 2020) and offers a pathway through the barren choice between universal support for the applicability of HRM (cf denaturing) or declaring it is irrelevance (cf specificity) to the SME context (Curran, 2006)
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