Neo-pluralism as a theoretical framework for understanding HRM in sub-Saharan Africa

This paper discusses the 'social' nature of employment management problems in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). 'Applied' Western HRM is largely based on unitarist conceptions of organizational reality. Where conceptions suggest a 'stakeholder' perspective, they tend to follow orthodox formulations of pluralism. In that regard, notions of 'stakeholding' refer to the divergent internal organizational interests (mainly economic) of labour and management. In the SSA context, however, the broader social and moral issues of the wider community have a decisive influence on the employment relationship. And internal employment relations structures, such as trade unions, do not constitute the main representative channels for employee grievances. Consequently, established Western employment frames of reference do not represent suitable theoretical frameworks for analysing all the relevant social factors that influence the SSA employment relationship. This paper proposes a modified version of Ackers' (2002) 'neo-pluralist' theoretical framework as the basis for understanding and resolving some of issues involved in HRM in SSA. From this analysis, it proposes a model of HRM that attempts to institutionalize some elements of the 'African social system' into formal HRM policies and strategies.     

Employment relationships: ideology and HRM practice

HRM appears to both believe that unitarism already exists in employment relationships and, at the same time, sees itself as the means to achieving unitarism through the introduction of systems of ‘high commitment management’ (HCM) in the workplace. The primary goal of HCM is empirical unitarism, achieved by the implementation of a system of practices aimed at aligning the interests and objectives of managers and workers. Not surprisingly these taken-for-granted values and beliefs in HRM about employment relationships have stirred debate in the literature, with many suggesting this is a flawed view of organizational life (Hart, 1993; Keenoy, 1999). This study has attempted to verify empirically these assumptions from a managerial perspective by first identifying the current employment values and beliefs of managerial workers and management and second examining the extent to which these influence, or are influenced by, the adoption of high commitment practices in the workplace. It finds managers do consider employment relationships in general to be pluralist, however, when it comes to employment relationships in their own organizations managers' report these to be unitarist. A relationship is also found to exist between the use of HCM in the workplace and managerial values and beliefs, with increased usage of HCM being associated with unitary values and beliefs.     

新生代员工的人力资源管理策略

新生代员工是特殊时代背景下成长起来的一代人,当他们成为职场主力军时,管理的变革也相应来临。新生代员工有着独特的人力资源特点,针对这一群体的管理内容和方式应有所侧重,才能发挥员工的积极性、主动性、创造性。     

HRM in New Zealand biotechnology SMEs: emergence of employment systems through entrepreneurship

Biotechnology is an industry where human resources embody the knowledge and thereby the competitive strength of the firm. Strategic HRM models have established the importance of resource dependency and institutional perspectives in understanding small biotechnology firms. These models, however, have seldom included the impact of managerial agency, particularly with regard to the role of the founder-scientist. Using three exploratory case studies of biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs), we examine the role of founder-scientists in addressing the requirements of institutional legitimacy and scarce resources (human and capital) in their firms.     

Human capital enhancing HRM systems and frontline employees in Australian manufacturing SMEs

The current study seeks to answer a number of key questions concerning the strategic management of frontline employees (e.g. individuals who do not occupy an executive, managerial or supervisory role in functions such as production, maintenance, service and clerical functions) and their contributions towards the performance of small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms in Australia. This study adopts a human capital perspective to examine the employee and organisational performance of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Australia. We were also interested in seeking to examine the presence of the human resource management (HRM) function of SMEs in Australia and their contribution towards employee and firm performance. Findings from the partial least square analysis identified the antecedents and consequences of a human capital enhancing (HCE) approach for the strategic HRM of frontline employees in Australia's manufacturing industry. Strategic orientations of small- and medium-sized manufacturing firms mediate the contribution of the HRM function in adopting a set of HCE HRM systems. HCE HRM system was found to have a direct and indirect impact on manufacturing performance outcomes. Frontline employees' performance was found to mediate the impact of HCE HRM system on manufacturing performance outcomes. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed in relation to the management of frontline employees in enhancing perceived employee and manufacturing performance.     

The relationship between HRM practices and service behaviour in South African service organizations

This paper reports on findings from research conducted in South African service organizations that frontline employees' perceptions of HRM practices have a direct influence on their service behaviour. Specific HRM practices have more impact than others and this was attributed to the influence of external factors such as the socio-political situation and national culture and to internal factors linked to the way managers implemented the HRM practices in the organization. Organizational commitment was found to play a mediating role in the relationship between frontline employees' perceptions of HRM and their service behaviour.     

Using the Harvard HRM model to conceptualise the impact of changes to supervision upon HRM outcomes for different types of Australian public sector employees

Within the Australian context of a shortage of skilled professionals, this article uses the Harvard model of human resources management (HRM) to conceptualise how changes in stakeholder interests coupled with changes to situational factors affect public sector HRM policy choices that in turn affect HRM outcomes for different types of public sector employees. The findings obtained using path analysis suggest that the proposed model explained almost 50% for nurses and less than 14% for police officers. In the case of nurses, the strong significant relationship between HRM inputs and outputs may provide a further plausible explanation for one of the long-term consequences of new public management – namely, the inability to retain skilled employees (especially those in the health sector) across numerous OECD countries. The implication of these findings is that the present public sector HRM policy choice should be re-examined because of its impact on HRM outcomes. Moreover, public sector employees should not be regarded as one uniform group that responds alike to the same policy. Whilst the merits of pursuing a strong auditing focus may have benefited organisations financially, the benefits can only remain if public sector employees, including professionals, are prepared to work under those conditions. The inability to retain nurses in numerous countries, coupled with past studies that have identified (poor) management as a contributing factor, suggests that past HRM policy choices may have to be replaced by new HRM policy choices that focus on employees' perceptions of well-being. However, more studies using different types of professionals are required to confirm the generalisability of these findings.     

Market orientation,HRM importance and competency: determinants of strategic HRM in Chinese firms

This study examined three factors leading to a firm's adoption of strategic human resource management (SHRM): market orientation, HRM importance and HRM competency. Using a sample of firms from China, empirical results showed that the three factors are significantly related to a firm's adoption of SHRM. Given the transitional nature of the Chinese economy, the moderating effects of ownership types and firm size were also investigated. However, the moderating effects were not as strong as predicted. Managerial implications and directions for future research of SHRM in an emerging economy context are discussed.     

HRM professionals and their perceptions of HRM and firm performance in the Philippines

This paper reports the findings of a study conducted in the Philippines that examines the extent of adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) and industrial relations (IR) practices. Differences between locally owned and other organizations in these practices and their relationship to firm performance were also investigated. Questionnaire responses were obtained from managers and union representatives from 128 organizations located in the Philippines. The results indicated that there was, on average, a fairly high level of adoption of practices consistent with a strategic approach to human resource management (HRM), with foreign-owned firms tending to show a slightly higher level of adoption of such practices. A scale representing the adoption of a more conciliatory and union-friendly IR approach was found to be a significant predictor of perceived firm performance. Surprisingly, the level of strategic integration between HRM and business planning and most human capital-enhancing HR practices were not significant predictors of perceived firm performance. Research and practical implications in relation to the role of HRM in enhancing firm performance are discussed.     

HRM in the SME sector: valuable employees and coercive networks

Although the productivity and survival of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may be enhanced if they adopt human resource management (HRM) practices, there is a far greater degree of informality in employment practices in SMEs than in larger workplaces. The aim of this paper is to assess the extent to which a range of factors both internal and external to the workplace predict the extent to which HRM practices have been adopted in SMEs. Using data from the 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey, the analysis reveals that differences in workforce skill-mix, unionization and the customer base are important influences, with the first of these influences being particularly strong. As such, we suggest SMEs may lack the capability to develop HRM practices, but they are more likely to adopt such practices if they employ highly skilled employees and are networked to other organizations     

The management of professional employees: linking progressive HRM practices,cognitive orientations and organizational citizenship behavior

Abstract

The present research examines the relationships between progressive HRM practices and the organizational citizenship behaviors (OCB) of professional employees. Drawing on recent HRM literature, our research model includes a perceived organizational support (POS)-commitment mediation hypothesis. Taking into account previous studies on professional employees, a job satisfaction-commitment pathway is also integrated. We tested both mediational pathways as part of a single structural equation model using a sample of 329 professional employees. Our results show that the relationship between recognition and OCB is mediated by the POS-commitment pathway, while the relationships between fairness of rewards, skills development and OCB are mediated by the job satisfaction-commitment pathway. The specificities of the HRM of professional employees related to their multiple cognitive orientations are discussed.     

Menopause and the workplace: New directions in HRM research and HR practice

This paper offers two key arguments. The first is that HRM scholars and HR practitioners need to pay a good deal more attention to the bi‐directional relationship between menopause and the workplace—how menopausal symptoms can affect women's experience of work and how work can exacerbate a woman's symptoms. We outline the social responsibility, demographic, legal and business cases which explain the urgency of more research and more concerted practice in this area. Our second argument concerns the importance of future research and practice adopting an intersectional political economy approach, in order to better understand the considerable differences between how women going through menopause transition experience work. Here, we offer arguments ranging from the macro‐ through the meso‐ down to the micro‐level of these differences, in so doing setting an agenda for the work to come on this very significant issue.     

Strategy and HRM in nonprofit organizations: evidence from Canada

Unlike other sectors, human resources (HR) of nonprofit organizations cannot be replaced with investment in physical capital. Moreover, the importance of HR has been further heightened by changes in the operating environment of the sector. Using the Miles and Snow (1978 Miles, R.E. and Snow, C.C. 1978. Organizational Strategy, Structure, and Process, San Francisco, CA: McGraw-Hill.  [Google Scholar]) strategic typology, this paper explores strategic HRM in public service nonprofits by examining the importance attached to HRM based on their strategic types. The results of a survey of 79 nonprofits and 7 case studies suggest that strategic HRM was not evident in nonprofit organizations. Defenders, analysers, and prospectors were not different from reactors in the importance they attach to recruitment, compensation and labour relations. However, training was found to be more important among defender than prospector nonprofits. The lack of alignment between HRM and strategy highlights the need for nonprofits to find a way to address their HR capacity challenges and enhance effectiveness of strategy.     

HRM configurations in Korean venture firms: resource availability,institutional force and strategic choice perspectives

To examine various human resource management (HRM) configurations and their explanatory variables, we generated several hypotheses and tested them with data collected from Korean venture firms. For these purposes, we first suggested two ideal types of HRM configuration: a control-based human resource system (CBHRS) and a high-performing human resource system (HPHRS). Depending on contextual variables, firms are expected to make a choice between the two or among their variants. To generate hypotheses, we employed three theoretical perspectives: resource availability, institutional force, and strategic choice. To test the hypotheses, we collected data from 464 venture firms in Korea. From the data, we derived five different HRM configurations: Cost-minimizing type; Paternalistic type; Inducement type; Investment type; and Transitional type. Both the Cost-minimizing type and the Paternalistic type are classified as part of the CBHRS, the Inducement type and the Investment type are considered to be part of the HPHRS, and the Transitional type is taken to be mixed. We found that all three theoretical perspectives partly explained the selection of HRM configurations. Some related issues are raised and discussed in the final section.     

In the eyes of the beholder: the HRM capabilities of the HR function as perceived by managers and professionals

This study investigated factors influencing line managers' and professionals' perceptions of the HRM capabilities of the HR function. Using a sample of 913 managers and professionals in subsidiaries of 11 Nordic multinational corporations, we tested the extent to which features of the unit's HRM system, attitudes of the unit's general manager and characteristics of the HR manager helped explain the perceived HRM capabilities. The analysis revealed that perceived HRM practice visibility and HRM inducements (the link between individual performance and HRM‐related benefits) were strong predictors of individual perceptions of the HR function's HRM capabilities. The use of e‐HRM and the most senior manager's attitudes towards the unit's HRM practices were also significantly related to perceived HRM capabilities.     

Trust and HRM in the new millennium

This paper introduces the topic of trust in the workplace. The rationale for the growth of interest in trust is explored, as are the implications for HRM policy makers and researchers. Here, we also outline the main thrust of the eight papers incorporated in this special edition. First, we explore the topic of HRM and trust, before moving to issues relating to trust and workplace change. Next we discuss team dynamics, manager–employee relationships and trust and, finally, the characteristics associated with trust and situational, dispositional and affectual factors.     

Limits to strategic HRM: the case of the Mauritian civil service

Taking as its starting point the impressive evidence for the strategic human resource management (SHRM) model's effect on organizational performance, and for the relationship between public staff management and economic growth, the paper offers the civil service of Mauritius as a case study of SHRM's relevance to developing countries. It finds that SHRM is not practised in Mauritius, nor is it feasible in the near future, because it is not widely known, because there is no strategic management framework, because staff management is highly centralized and because political will to make radical changes in staff management is lacking. The case study does not support claims that SHRM and its associated practices have a universal validity, or that public staff management is a ‘magic bullet’ that delivers economic growth. Improvements to staff management in Mauritius, and possibly other developing countries, will require a creative and piecemeal adaptation of Anglophone ‘good practice’ that respects political, economic and social realities.     

The politics of HRM: waiting for Godot in the Moroccan civil service

This study illustrates the fundamental importance of a political understanding in order to improve HRM in both public and private organizations. It complements studies that have found a statistical relationship between public staff management and economic growth by presenting a case study of Morocco, using the strategic human resource management (SHRM) model as a framework.

There are several reasons why HRM in the Moroccan civil service has stagnated, notably unfamiliarity with HRM models and the French administrative heritage. But the fundamental reason is Morocco's political system, where real power resides in the Palace, and where political actors are reluctant to take bold initiatives. Thus a focus on the management level is currently misplaced, and fundamental political action harnessing the authority of the Palace without disempowering other political actors is needed.

The study implies that a political analysis is sometimes a prerequisite for improving HRM in both public and private organizations.     

An exploration of the HRM values of Chinese managers working in Western multinational enterprises in China: implications for HR practice

This paper qualitatively explores the nature of human resource management (HRM) values of local Chinese managers working in Western-based multinational enterprises in China and also considers how these values are associated with preferences for HR practices. The study involves the use of repertory grid interviews with 36 local Chinese managers. The study shows that interviewees reflected a high level of assimilation and internalization of many Western HRM values. Interviewees also retained many traditional Chinese values, thus highlighting the role of institutional and cultural forces on HRM. However, among these local managers, there was clear decline in some traditional Chinese values, such as ‘harmony’ and ‘virtue’. A further interesting finding was the co-existence of paradoxical values of collectivism and individualism among the managers. Analyses of repertory grid data and interview comments also highlight that preferences for HR practices is associated with these underlying HRM values.     

Top management: the missing stakeholder in the HRM literature

Abstract

Despite the significant influence that top management exerts on different aspects of people management, it remains the missing stakeholder in the HRM literature. In this paper, we take stock of previous research, and conclude that it is scarce and lacks consolidation. On the basis of our findings, but also thinking in terms of what is still missing, we develop a conceptual framework that may guide further research, advocating for the need to consider co-evolutionary approaches in an attempt to integrate selection and adaptation perspectives, as well as multi-level and multi-actor factors. Future work should systematically address and distinguish top management characteristics from top management agency and link these more clearly to a diversity of HRM dimensions. By doing so, scholars will help to firmly incorporate the role of top management in the research agenda of HRM and pursue different avenues that can be scientifically sound as well as practically relevant.