Enabling the HR function of industrial SMEs through the strategic alignment of e-HRM: a configurational analysis

Abstract

There remains a knowledge gap and a theory-practice gap with regards to our understanding of the assimilation of e-HRM by SMEs. To fill these gaps, and from a capability-based view and a configurational perspective, we demonstrate that the firm’s e-HRM capabilities and high-performance work system (HPWS) capabilities enable its human resource (HR) function to the extent that these capabilities constitute strategically coherent configurations. Survey data obtained from 206 industrial SMEs were analysed with the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method to answer the research question, that is, to identify the specific combinations of HPWS and e-HRM capabilities that are associated to high levels of performance of the HR function. Five configurations were thus identified, i.e. five different combinations of HPWS and e-HRM capabilities that equally lead to effective HRM in SMEs, labelled as HR-IT Analyzers, HR-IT Non-Prospectors1 and 2, and HR-IT Non-Defenders1 and 2. We found that a configurational approach is theoretically well-suited to apprehend the complex interplay of HR and IT resources that underlies the strategic HR-IT alignment process, and to better understand industrial SMEs’ strategic choices in this regard. Our findings also provide further comprehension of the strategic capabilities required by SMEs to enable their digital transformation.