Abstract
Orientation: Central to understanding the contemporary state of the human resource management (HRM) field is knowledge of its history, and the underlying rationales as to why it has changed over time. This research attempts to identify one such important ‘rationale’.Research purpose: This article relates certain changes in HRM over time to the argument that there has been a shift from an industrial paradigm (on which many human resource [HR] systems, practices and theoretical frameworks are still based) to a knowledge paradigm (of knowledge work, in which employee knowledge and skills offer compound advantages that are not substitutable) which explains a great deal of the variance in changes of the field over time.Motivation for the study: It is argued that in order for the field to move forward, it may needto bring to the surface certain assumptions and differentiate between theoretical frameworkswhen dealing with knowledge work versus non-knowledge work.Research design, approach and method: This article offers a perspective of HR theory development over time. It is a conceptual/perspectives article and is not qualitative nor quantitative in nature. Further research will be able to test the ideas presented here.Practical/managerial implications: Managers and human resources managers need to differentiate between knowledge and non-knowledge work. The latter is associated with increased heterogeneity and complexity, and differences in power relationships, as knowledge work shifts power away from capital into the hands of skilled knowledge labour.
Highlights
At the heart of changes in the academic and practitioner fields of human resource management (HRM) are the influences of broader changes in the literature underlying HRM thought
This article contests that the global rates of return on capital have been found to exceed the rate of growth and outcome over certain periods of history (Piketty 2014:20), another effect has had a greater influence within the field of HRM over the past centuries, namely the shift in power relationships away from ‘capital’ and toward ‘knowledge’, as potential returns to knowledge have come to greatly exceed returns to capital in a globalised economy (Callaghan 2012:5), dramatically increasing the historical importance of HRM over time in relation to other organisational functions
Where many theories birthed in economics suggest that historical changes in HRM over time derive from capital-centric relationships, it is argued here that HRM theory itself offers core insights into wealth creation based on knowledge-centric relationships which are increasingly salient in the contemporary globalised knowledge economy; and which apply to individuals or firms, in that the human individual is inseparable from valuable endowments of tacit knowledge (Nonaka 1994:15; Polanyi 1973:16), a source of heterogeneous competitive advantage for firms in the ‘knowledge economy’ (Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD] 1996)
Summary
At the heart of changes in the academic and practitioner fields of human resource management (HRM) are the influences of broader changes in the literature underlying HRM thought. This article contests that the global rates of return on capital have been found to exceed the rate of growth and outcome over certain periods of history (Piketty 2014:20), another effect has had a greater influence within the field of HRM over the past centuries, namely the shift in power relationships away from ‘capital’ and toward ‘knowledge’, as potential returns to knowledge have come to greatly exceed returns to capital in a globalised economy (Callaghan 2012:5), dramatically increasing the historical importance of HRM over time in relation to other organisational functions. There are ways democracy can regain control over capitalism and ensures that the general interest takes precedence over private interests, while preserving economic openness and avoiding protectionist and nationalist reactions. (p. 1)
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