Key Human Resource Management Research Articles

Subsidiarity as secret of success: “Hidden Champion” SMEs and subsidiarity as winning HRM configuration in interdisciplinary case studies

PurposeThis paper contributes to the theory of the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and innovation at small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by conducting a conceptual analysis of the question why Germany boasts by far the highest number of “Hidden Champion” SMEs. This is done by case studies from the army and public financial management of aid disbursal in developing countries. Implications for HRM at SMEs are discussed.Design/methodology/approachConceptual analysis using case studies.FindingsContributing towards filling the gap concerning theoretical underpinnings of the link between HRM and innovation, we suggest that interdisciplinary work from relevant organisational case studies indicates that the concept of institutional design to provide motivational incentives may be relevant, especially concerning high performance systems with bundles of HRM practices. Specifically, the fundamental principle of subsidiarity is found to be important.Research limitations/implicationsThe research is broadly applicable to organisations of all kinds, as the diverse case studies indicate. We point towards tentative implications for the firms that account for the majority of the work force, namely SMEs, and among them the most successful ones, the so-called “Hidden Champions”.Practical implicationsHR managers can improve motivation, performance and innovation by decentralising decision-making as far as possible, while ensuring the overall organisational goals are well understood and shared, and resources are dedicated to train and educate staff. Additionally, the conception of rank-order competitions complements the institutional design.Social implicationsGreater productivity and material performance as well as greater job satisfaction via larger autonomy and decision-making power on the local level can be achieved by the application of subsidiarity as key HRM configuration. This can be employed at SMEs, as discussed, but also other organisations. Further, the principle of subsidiarity and the greater emphasis on staff training and education may help reduce inequality.Originality/valueOur paper contributes towards filling the gap in the literature on the link between HRM and innovation, by identifying the role of subsidiarity. We introduce an interdisciplinary perspective, with contributions from economics and psychology, among others. We also contribute to the history of HRM.

The Relationship between Human Resources Management and Non-financial Performance of Quoted Food and Beverages Companies in Nigeria: The Moderating Role of Organizational Culture

Due to unclear and unpredictable definition of organizational culture, business performance and human resources management practices in Nigeria, most food and beverages firms have no sustainable basis for creating and maintaining a competitive advantage, firm performance and development in the industry where they operate and are unable to achieve targeted performance. This makes it necessary for the HRM department to play a crucial role to manage their employees together with the welfare of the organization. The main purpose of the study is to investigate the relationship between human resources management (HRM) and non-financial performance (NFP) with moderating role of organizational culture. Hypothesis was developed considering five key HRM practices and NFP and subsequently testing based on data from 5 quoted selected food and beverages companies in Nigeria. The findings using hierarchical regression analysis revealed that human resources management and organizational culture have significant effect on non-financial performance (F = 854.526, p < 0.05). Organizational culture had no significant moderating effect on the relationship between human resource and non-financial performance in Nigeria (∆R 2 = 0.001; ∆F = 1.894; p >0.05). The study recommended that the management of Food and beverages companies in Nigeria should create a supportive culture in the organization as such will help the employees to put in their best towards enhancing firm performance.

New development: Competency assessment system and practice in government—the South Korean experience

ABSTRACT Many advanced countries have introduced competency assessment to define the necessary abilities for effective job performance—linking key human resource management and leadership development activities to ensure organizations have competent employees. Competency management is the subject of considerable attention worldwide, but the concept is not well researched. This article reviews the South Korean government’s competency assessment system and explains how it can be adapted to develop civil servants.

The Organizational Aspect of Human Resource Management as a Determinant of the Potential of Polish Hospitals to Manage Medical Professionals in Healthcare 4.0

Industry 4.0 solutions have penetrated the healthcare sector, thus creating challenges that healthcare entities should meet. For this, a proper relationship between human resource management (HRM) within healthcare entities and Healthcare 4.0 is needed. In addition, organizations mainly focus on HRM practices, yet organizational issues are overlooked. In this context, the aim of the article was to analyze and evaluate the involvement and roles of key HRM actors, such as line managers and human resource (HR) specialists (HR departments) within strategic healthcare entities, namely hospitals. It was also important to identify the potential of hospitals to meet the requirements of Healthcare 4.0. A study was performed on a group of 285 Polish hospitals. Five respondents were recruited from each hospital. The total population amounted to 1425 interviewees. Due to the complexity of the research, it was outsourced. The results of the analysis identified that hospitals largely engage line managers in medical personnel management. However, a lack of managerial competence may become a major barrier in coping with challenges created by Healthcare 4.0. Organizational solutions do not support the strategic role of HR specialists; their anchoring in the organizational structures limits the possibility to support the changes required for the transformation towards Healthcare 4.0.

Line Managers’ Performance of Strategic Human Resource Roles: Creating Value, Not Rhetoric

Line managers’ (LMs) role has been restructured in modern business as they are undertaking the responsibilities of key human resource management (HRM) functions. Although HRM roles of LMs have got wide recognition in academic research, factors influencing their performance of strategic HRM roles remained relatively under developed, especially in Bangladesh. Based on the perspective of Ability-Motivation-Opportunity (AMO) theory, we propose that LMs’ strategic HR roles performance are influenced by their ability, motivation, and opportunity. A survey with self-administered questionnaire was applied for collecting data from a sample of 170 participants drawn from LMs employed at private banking organizations in Bangladesh. The technique of partial least squares structural equation modelling was utilized for testing the study model. The findings highlighted that LMs’ ability and motivation significantly related to their performance of strategic HR roles while opportunity provided to LMs had non-significant relationship with their strategic HR roles. Despite the findings produced mixed support, this research has key implications for practitioners as well as academicians. The present research is believed to serve as a standard in comprehending the AMO factors influencing LMs’ execution of strategic HR roles which remains largely unexplored in the Bangladesh context.

Human Resources Management Practices and Affective Commitment among Financial Industry Employees in Malaysia

Market competition increased difficulty for organizations to hold premium quality workers. This research explores on the human resources management (HRM) practices and affective commitment (AC) among a sample of 384 financial industry employees in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia. The hypotheses were developed by considering the correlation between four key HRM practices (training, career advancement, performance evaluation and rewards) and AC. The findings indicates that the independent variables of career development, training and performance appraisal have a positive and significant relationship with AC, whereas rewards has no correlation with AC. The findings imply that in the Malaysian financial industry needs greater training programmes and effective performance evaluations to increase employees’ performance and commitment.

Human resource management challenges facing franchise businesses

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extend the current understanding of human resource management (HRM) challenges facing franchise businesses.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative investigation, including eight in-depth interviews and 66 semi-structured interviews with various franchise stakeholders as well as 42 participant observations, was conducted in North America to answer the research questions.FindingsSix major conclusions emerged from the conceptual and empirical work. The findings, for instance, reveal that human resources in franchise businesses lacks in motivation and skills, and franchisees’ distance from the ideal mix of autonomy and risk-aversion determines psychological and financial distress in the system.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest that when firms choose the franchising path as a means of leapfrogging resource constraints, they will experience new and more challenging HRM complications for several reasons. Therefore, decision-makers at both franchisor and franchisee firms need to address these new HRM challenges proactively by recognizing their possibility and emergence and by engaging in cooperative learning with one another.Originality/valueWhile HRM practices can “make or break” franchise systems, some important research questions still remain unanswered in this context. In an attempt to narrow this gap, and using a qualitative approach, this work identifies and classifies the key HRM challenges facing the franchise industry. Based on the finding, a conceptual model is proposed and discussed.

Employee Turnover Intention in the Milieu of Human Resource Management Practices: Moderating role of work-life balance

This study has been carried out in the pursuit of exploring key human resource management (HRM) practices and work-life balance in the Indian hospitality industry in relation to its impact on frontline employee's turnover intention. A total of 271 responses were collected from frontline employees through questionnaire. Using partial least square (PLS) path modelling the hypotheses were tested. Results indicated that better perception of HRM practices has negative influence on frontline employee intention to quit. Work-life balance acts as a significant moderator in the relationship between certain HRM practices namely training, career growth opportunity and compensation and turnover intention.

Understanding managerial work in the modern Japanese firm: The influence of new organizational forms and changing human resource management practices

The aim of this study is to understand the nature of managerial work in Japan during an era of widespread corporate reform and changing human resource management (HRM) practices. To achieve this, a qualitative multi-method investigation was designed in which data were collected from company documents, ethnographic observations, and principally in-depth interviews with senior, middle and junior managers. These managers worked for five large Japanese corporations whose operations were based respectively in a range of industrial and commercial sectors. Silhouetted against widespread corporate restructuring and assessing managers’ personal rationalizations of key HRM concerns – vis-a-vis job security levels, payment systems, promotion/career systems, trades union activities and work-time expectations – the study found significant age, experience and gender-related differences in the experience of managerial work and working environments. Finally, in conceptual terms, the project adopts an approach in which Weickian sensemaking and business systems theory are deployed to frame evidence that reflects macro (institutional), meso (organizational) and micro (individual) levels of analysis.

Benefits of Age Management in Agribusiness

The labour market is differentiated by age and the individual’s position in it is determined by age. Effective use of all workers’ potential should therefore be a key human resource management strategy for all businesses regardless of the sector. One of the measures is taking into consideration the workers’ age in agribusiness, i. e. applying age management. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the application of age management and to identify and evaluate its benefits for farming enterprises. The data was obtained by quantitative research at selected agribusinesses in the Czech Republic (n = 259). The research has shown that 25.1 % of the respondents applies age management and its application is influenced by the company size and the number of 50 + employees. Of this 41.5 % of agribusinesses spend 2–5 % of their costs on applying age management. The research has also identified two factors (stabilization and quality of processes) categorizing the benefits resulting from age management. It can therefore be summarised that age management is an opportunity how to effectively utilize human potential of all ages and to maintain and improve company’s performance with respect to future demographic trends.

Managing Family and Career: Australian Women’s Labour Force Transitions after Maternity Leave

The increase in women’s return to paid work after maternity or parental leave in advanced societies has garnered much scholarly attention, particularly on women’s participation positively contributing to the labour market and economy. Moreover, the link between supporting employees with caregiving responsibilities, attracting, retaining and developing talent, and business competitiveness is now well-documented. However, women’s pregnancy, maternity or parental leave, and return to paid work remain key legal, policy and Human Resource Management challenges for many organisations. This dilemma between policy implementation and how organisations mishandle women’s return to work, is exemplified in the findings from the Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner’s 2013 National Review into discrimination related to pregnancy, parental leave and return to work. This article is concerned with two questions: How do women manage the combination and juggle of their paid work, caring and return to work? How are gendered inequities are sustained and reproduced in the return to work, despite access to the best available maternity or parental leave policy? This article addresses these questions by examining data from a completed longitudinal qualitative study on women’s return work in higher education and retail sectors in Australia in the 21st century. Drawing on women’s experiences across three interviews over two years, this article argues that access to the best available policy is not enough to manage multiple uncertainties at the return to work. Household, child care and workplace culture and practices are paramount and require a considered approach to support women’s return to work.

Identifying HRM Practices for Improving Information Security Performance

This article focuses on identifying key human resource management (HRM) practices necessary for improving information security performance from the perspective of IT professionals. The Importance-Performance Map Analysis (IPMA) via SmartPLS 3.0 was employed and 232 samples were collected from information technology (IT) professionals in 43 organizations. The analysis identified information security training, background checks and monitoring as very important HRM practices that could improve the performance of organizational information security. In particular, the study found training on mobile devices security and malware; background checks and monitoring of potential, current and former employees as of high importance but with low performance. Thus, these key areas need to be improved with top priority. Conversely, the study found accountability and employee relations as being overly emphasized by the organisations. The findings raised some useful implications and information for HR and IT leaders to consider in future information security strategy.

Determinants of building consistent human resources management systems

PurposeWhile previous human resources management (HRM) studies have focused on human resources (HR) practices to explain the strategic HRM-performance link, organizational communication is studied as a key HRM process and an alternative perspective explains the factors influencing communication implementation and subsequently internal HRM system consistency. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachHR decision makers’ human capital is examined as a determinant of communication implementation by applying the partial least squares approach to a sample of 120 Spanish HR managers.FindingsThe results confirm the relevance of HR decision makers’ cognitive skills, showing that communication of HRM strategy does not appear to require a particular cognitive approach but rather a balance of creative and rational skills. Additionally, the findings suggest that appropriate communication implementation improves the internal consistency of the HRM system by creating coherent HR messages about the implemented practices.Originality/valueThis study presents three main contributions: analyzing conditions that promote more appropriate communication implementation; providing a process perspective instead of the traditional content focus to explain HRM, and deepening the ways in which communication affects the internal consistency of the HRM system.

Human Resource Management in the Public Sector: An Investigation into the Iranian Ministries

The majority of human resource management (HRM) studies, to date, are devoted to the developed countries and there is still scarcity of research on the nuances of HRM in the developing countries. This paper looks deeper into and reviews the empirical nuances of HRM functions in the Iranian public sector. Using interviews in five Iranian ministries, key HRM features are extracted and explained in a thematic manner. To authenticate the findings, the complimentary secondary data and documents were also studied. Results indicated eleven common features for the HRM practices including: unstable and personalized structure, obsolete job descriptions, double-standard in employee recruitment, lack of systematic career management, general instead of specialized training programs, imbalance between pay and performance, misalignment between organizational strategy and HRM practices, pseudo-knowledge management, silo mentality in HR departments, nonconformity in HR systems and the challenge of non-competent employees. This study also demonstrates how HRM functions stem from and are influenced more generally by environmental characteristics and cultural values.

Facilitating Radical Front‐End Innovation Through Targeted HRM Practices: A Case Study of Pharmaceutical and Biotech Companies

This study extends the knowledge of the human resource management (HRM)–innovation relationship and examines how innovation‐facilitating bundles of HRM practices are applied to facilitate radical pharmaceutical front‐end innovation (FEI). The empirical investigation is an explorative case study of science‐driven FEI and HRM practices across one in‐depth case study and seven validation studies among international pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The findings provide a theoretical overview of key HRM practices in support of radical pharmaceutical FEI as well as an empirical mapping of how innovation‐facilitating bundles of HRM practices are applied to actively develop radical, science‐driven pharmaceutical FEI, including the identification of the key innovation challenges and opportunities involving innovation‐facilitating HRM practices in pharmaceutical FEI. The article contributes to the existing innovation literature in terms of identifying how radical FEI may be facilitated through the application of innovation‐facilitating bundles of HRM practices. The empirical contribution and managerial implications provide nine specific suggestions for how pharmaceutical management groups can better support radical pharmaceutical FEI through targeted HRM practices. The derived results of the study also underline inherent challenges of the pharmaceutical industry and regulations (FDA) that may not stimulate radical innovation, which cannot be resolved by HRM, but require the attention of policy makers. The value added lies in the specificity of the empirical, pharmaceutical context in which the issue of supporting radical, science‐driven FEI is investigated.

Human Resource Management and Radical Innovation. A Fuzzy-Set QCA of US Multinationals in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK

This paper explores, based on the varieties-of-capitalism approach, configurations of key human resource management practices that explain radical innovation in subsidiaries. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is conducted with data for 69 subsidiaries of US-based MNEs in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Contrary to the implications of the varieties-of-capitalism literature, combining numerical flexibility and employing a high share of academics does not necessarily achieve radical innovation. Various paths to radical innovation exist, and most of them involve functional flexibility. Overall, the findings emphasize the strategic discretion MNEs have, and accentuate that functional flexibility is a key HR practice to achieve radical innovation across differing varieties of capitalism countries.

Human resource management and radical innovation: a fuzzy-set QCA of US multinationals in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK

This paper explores, based on the varieties-of-capitalism approach, configurations of key human resource management practices that explain radical innovation in subsidiaries. A fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis is conducted with data for 69 subsidiaries of US-based MNEs in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. Contrary to the implications of the varieties-of-capitalism literature, combining numerical flexibility and employing a high share of academics does not necessarily achieve radical innovation. Various paths to radical innovation exist, and most of them involve functional flexibility. Overall, the findings emphasize the strategic discretion MNEs have, and accentuate that functional flexibility is a key HR practice to achieve radical innovation across differing varieties of capitalism countries.

Role of Ethical Orientation of HRM in Establishing an Ethical Organizational Culture: A Literature Review and Implications

Growing unethical behavior of employees in business organizations and its negative impact on the organization, economy and the society has become a global concern over the past two decades. Hence Growing unethical behavior of employees in business organizations and its negative impact on the organization, making employees more ethical to create an ethical organizational context and its positive impact on the organization, economy and society have received growing scholarly attention in the business and organizational ethics literature. Creating and sustaining an Ethical Organizational Culture (EOC) is a crucial strategic goal for any business organization. Despite its significance in the present corporate environment, empirical investigations on EOC and the contribution of Human Resource Management (HRM) in creating and sustaining an EOC are limited. This paper reviews relevant theoretical and empirical findings of research work in literature from Business Ethics, HR, management, and organization studies fields, in the link EOC and HRM over the past three decades. The main objective of the study is to explore the role of Ethical Orientation of HRM (EOHRM) in making employees more ethical, in order to create and sustain an EOC. The paper discusses this role under four key HRM dimensions: Acquire, develop, retain and motivate ethical employees, in order to create an EOC. Working definitions for the main constructs in the study, EOHRM and EOC were developed by the authors. Systematic review method recommended by Tranfield et al. (2003) with an archival method, was used for reviewing of literature. This paper has a significant utility for future research.

HR leaders hold the key to effective diversity management

Purpose – Observes that diversity management (DM) is central to the human resource management (HRM) function in work organizations, and the past decade has seen employers seeking to establish more devolved management structures that place more emphasis on local-level managerial decision-making. Design/methodology/approach – Argues that an important component of this shift in many organizations has been the reconfiguration of the role of first-line managerial leader (FLML) to encompass a wider range of HRM responsibilities. Hence, diversity management and leadership in this regard are a key HRM role for leaders and managers. Findings – Highlights case-study evidence to illustrate how far the success or otherwise of such a process of change is explicable in terms of the role played by four inter-related sets of factors which are key elements linked to organizational learning and strategic fit. Practical implications – Advances the view that organizations that wish to enhance the HRM/DM role and performance of FLMLs need to adopt a holistic strategic approach which encompasses organizational learning and FLML strategies. Originality/value – Demonstrates that organizations that use an integrated framework to help with the close co-ordination of business and HRM activities are likely to perform better as they engage in effective learning.

HRM in foreign-owned agricultural and food processing companies in Serbia

This paper was aimed at analysing the degree to which foreign-owned agricultural and food processing companies in Serbia implement key human resource management (HRM) processes, determining whether these processes are performed in-house or outsourced, and identifying the variables which influence the decision on performing these processes within the company or outsourcing. The analysis of data collected through a survey conducted in 42 companies has confrmed the expectations that the surveyed companies mainly perform most of HRM activities The conclusion drawn from the study is that all examined HRM activities are mainly performed in-house, rather than outsourced, while the mode of performing key HRM processes mainly depends on the size of the company and the number of employees in HR department, implying that foreign-owned companies operating in agricultural and food processing sector in this transition country need to take these variables into consideration when deciding whether to perform crucial HRM activities by themselves or outsource.