Role of Environment in HR Interventions for Organizational Turnaround: The Case of Private Banks in Pakistan

Abstract

Research on HR intervention for organizational turnaround has largely been focused on the impact of good management practices to improve organizational performance (e.g. vision, mission, training and development of HR, and performance management etc.). This paper applies a new model of HR intervention which suggests that for organizational turnaround, HR managers need to focus on a) shifts in external environment variables that are beyond the control of organization, b) Organizational inertia, and c) Good Management Practices. This paper applies this model to the private banks operating in Pakistan and finds that organizational turnaround is influenced by changes in external environmental variables, by changes in organizational inertia, and by good management practices. The paper also develops new hypotheses about the impact of various turnaround strategies in the same model.