Integration of collective bargaining and formal worker participation processes: Boon or barrier to worker rights?

Many employers are extending workplace rights by allowing for more employee voice in decision making. Numerous unionized organizations have established formal worker participation processes to help achieve this end and to improve organizational performance. Based largely on theory, such processes are normally designed to operate independently from the bargaining process. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation and bargaining processes, and the effect of this relationship on workplace satisfaction. A total of 712 Midwest union officials were surveyed, and the results indicate that the processes tend to become integrated in the workplace. Further, union officials' workplace satisfaction was greater where formal worker participation is institutionalized within the bargaining process.     

Understanding continuity in public sector HRM through neo‐institutional theory: why national collective bargaining has survived in English local government

Most HRM research over recent decades has concentrated on ‘change’, charting ever more fragmented, individualised and unitarist employment relationships. This is equally true of public sector HRM, where the emphasis has been on neo‐liberalism and marketisation. However, in many countries and sectors, collective, pluralist approaches to HRM and industrial relations have proved remarkably resilient. This article uses Neo‐Institutional theory to explain the ‘continuity’ of one such HRM system: national collective bargaining in English local government (1979–2007). We argue that this survives because it manages the political and managerial processes that link central government and central–local relations and acts as a conduit between institutional stakeholders to deliver services to the public. By understanding the ‘passive consensus’ that holds the collectivist HRM system together, we can anticipate the forces that might pull it apart.     

When territory matters: Employer associations and changing collective goods strategies

Recent research shows employer associations strategically responding to external challenges, from collective bargaining decentralisation, by altering their offerings of “selective” goods (to directly address threats to membership levels) and of “elective” goods (to revenues). Implicit is that traditional “collective goods” are irrelevant for achieving sustainability. That literature also suggests that territorial associations are more vulnerable than sectoral ones. In this qualitative, longitudinal comparative case study, we explore why and how two territorial associations, the largest each in Italy and Australia, have pursued sustainability by also innovatively enlarging their collective goods activities. This has involved shifting from bargaining leadership to promoting economic dynamism within their territories. Using metaorganisation theory and the resource‐based view, we explain how these associations realised their strategic advantages. Our evidence suggests that innovatively developing new collective goods may be another important way associations can improve their competitive positions.     

Managing diversity through human resource management: an international perspective and conceptual framework

This paper critically reviews the literature on managing diversity through human resource management (HRM). We discuss the major issues and objectives of managing diversity and examine the state of human resource diversity management practices in organizations. Our review shows that inequality and discrimination still widely exist and HRM has focused mainly on compliance with equal employment opportunity (EEO) and affirmative action (AA) legislation. Less attention has been paid to valuing, developing and making use of diversity. Our review reveals limited literature examining how diversity is managed in organizations through effective human resource management. We develop a framework that presents strategies for HR diversity management at the strategic, tactical and operational levels. Our review also discusses the implications for practice and further research.     

How do employment relationships enhance firm innovation? The role of human and social capital

Aiming to explore the effect of human resource management on innovation, this study examined how employment relationships (ER), human capital and social capital work together in influencing innovation in a sample of Spanish firms. We defined an indirect effects model in which both human and social capital mediate between ERs and innovation. We also expected that social capital would enhance human capital. Tests on a sample of 160 innovative Spanish firms confirmed that ERs are not directly associated with innovation. Nevertheless, there is an indirect effect of the mutual investment employment model on innovation through human and social capital. Finally, we observed a positive effect of social capital on human capital.     

A Response to the British Journal of Industrial Relations Symposium on the Human Rights Watch Report: A Minimum Program for Promoting Collective Bargaining Rights as a Human Right

The publication of Unfair Advantage, a report published by Human Rights Watch (HRW), documents and analyzes how employers routinely violate international human rights standards by depriving U.S. workers of their legal right to organize. In a recent symposium on Unfair Advantage published in the British Journal of Industrial Relations, 7 essays analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of the HRW report from a variety of ideological and theoretical perspectives. Although the scholars who wrote these essays raised a number of important issues concerning Unfair Advantage, they failed to provide any concrete or practical methodologies for using this report to promote the collective bargaining rights of U.S. workers in the early years of the twenty-first century. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to critique these symposium papers as well as to propose a minimum program, on the basis of Unfair Advantage, for advancing the collective bargaining rights of U.S. workers.     

Human Resource Management Journal: A look to the past,present, and future of the journal and HRM scholarship

This editorial lays out 30 years of history of Human Resource Management Journal (HRMJ), charting the journal's roots, reflecting on HRM scholarship today and guiding authors on potential contributions to the journal in the future. HRMJ has achieved high recognition and ranking internationally since its conception originally as a UK‐based journal. The journal's broad‐based approach to the study of the management of people at work, means it appeals to scholars from a multitude of disciplines, not least of all management, industrial relations, psychology and organisational behaviour. HRMJ is also highly rigorous in its review process, ensuring reliable, interesting and impactful articles that further our knowledge of theory and practice.     

The transfer of organizational practices: a diachronic perspective from China

Extensive research has been undertaken on the transfer of organizational practices by multinational firms (e.g. Morgan, Kristensen and Whitley 2001; Ferner, Quintanilla, and Sánchez-Runde 2006 Ferner, A., Quintanilla, X. and Sánchez-Runde, C., eds. 2006. Multinationals, Institutions and the Construction of Transnational Practices, London: Palgrave.  [Google Scholar]). However, little investigation has assessed the role that time plays in this process. The commonplace theoretical assumption is that as their overseas subsidiaries become more embedded in the local environment they increasingly take on the practices that prevail locally (Rosenzweig and Nohria 1994; Farley, Hoenig and Yang 2004). There have, though, been few longitudinal studies that would allow the veracity of this assumption or its implications to be assessed; most studies provide one-off, synchronic ‘snapshots’ of organizations. Drawing upon research conducted at a UK-owned retail firm in China between 1999 and 2005, this paper provides a diachronic perspective that can trace emergent trends. Data are derived from mixed methods: 140 interviews with expatriate managers and local staff from all levels of the hierarchy, a three month period of ethnographic research and a total of 305 survey questionnaires. Comparison between findings from the more recent research and those based upon the earlier research suggests that time does play a role in affecting transplanted organizational practices. We report that in some respects the organizational practices of the firm in question increasingly took on more of the ‘colour’ of those that prevailed in the host environment. However, convergence with local practices was far from total, some practices bear increasing resemblance to the firm's parent country operation. We also caution that it is difficult to disentangle the isomorphic influence of the passage of time from factors such as the rapid withdrawal of expatriate managers from the operational level and the impact of the firm's rapid expansion across China. Moreover, we suggest that the local–global dichotomy, upon which much of the convergence–divergence debate rests, is perhaps increasingly problematic.     

Line managers and HRM: A managerial discretion perspective

Line managers play a central role in HRM practices, but research and theory on how their role is enacted remains underdeveloped. This paper presents a case study of a large U.K.‐based fashion retailer and uses managerial discretion theory to develop a novel understanding of line managers' contribution to the implementation of HRM practices. We describe three distinct ways in which line managers engage with HRM policies and procedures, and propose that line managers make an important contribution to the effective implementation of HRM systems through exerting their cognitive and political abilities to bring about decisions that are well suited to their local situations. Moreover, we find that HR specialists design and manage HRM policies and procedures to afford different levels of managerial discretion in different areas of HRM.     

企业文化与人力资源管理关系研究

企业文化影响着人力资源管理活动,对企业核心竞争力有着持久的影响。进行人力资源管理,要充分考虑企业文化对员工的作用。本文根据我国的国情,研究企业文化与人力资源管理之间的关系,研究企业文化如何作用于人力资源管理,以及人力资源如何对企业文化产生作用。通过深入的研究明晰企业文化与人力资源管理的相互影响途径、特征和规律,以求对实际人力资源管理工作有所启发。     

Linking employer branding orientation and firm performance: Testing a dual mediation route of recruitment efficiency and positive affective climate

Faced with competitive labor markets, firms increasingly use employer branding to build a qualified workforce and engage their employees. However, our understanding of the impact of employer branding orientation on firm performance and the theoretical firm-level mechanisms underlying this potential impact is very limited. To address this gap, we integrate brand marketing theory with human resource management (HRM) research to develop a model explicating how employer branding orientation is linked to firm performance through a dual route by enhancing both recruitment efficiency (i.e., external route: applicants) and positive affective climate (i.e., internal route: incumbent employees). The results of a multisource study (i.e., top management, human resource managers, employees) with 93 firms show employer branding orientation is positively related to firm performance through positive affective climate but not recruitment efficiency. Using a brand equity approach to HRM, our results advance the literature by demonstrating the generalizability of employer branding effects independent of concrete brand attributes and explaining the firm-level mediating mechanisms linking it to firm performance.     

The contextualization of human resource and quality management: a sensemaking perspective on everybody's involvement

The principal idea of this paper is that human resource management (HRM) and quality management (QM) ideas require contextualization when used to change organizations. Here, contextualization stands for the process that leads to a shared meaning, i.e. the majority of the co-workers in an organization understand and define a concept or change in terms that are shared and accepted. In the present paper, we study a strategic change project, based on HRM and QM ideas, conducted at the County Council of Värmland (CCV), the public healthcare authority in the County of Värmland in Sweden, where the focus was on everybody's involvement. Our interpretation of the project shows that a shared meaning of the concept of everybody's involvement was not reached in this particular case, i.e. contextualization did not occur. One important result of the study is that contextualization is a prerequisite for realizing HRM and QM thoughts. The paper also stresses how important it is that general and ‘non-contextualized’ HRM and QM ideas are adapted to local practices when used to direct organizational change.     

An industrial relations perspective on the high-performance paradigm

Recent studies have suggested that various human resource management (HRM) practices are associated with enhanced economic performance in organizations. This research has led to what we call the high-performance paradigm, a belief that firms can improve performance by adopting certain high-performance work practices (HPWP). We apply an industrial relations (IR) perspective to the high-performance paradigm to extend the insights of HRM studies. After identifying how the perspective typically adopted in IR research differs from that used by HRM researchers, we briefly review the literature on HPWPs, identify limitations in the existing research approach, and suggest issues and areas for future research. In general, we suggest that research on HPWPs has made a valuable contribution to the literature. We urge HRM researchers, however, to devote more attention to underlying conflicts at work, focus more explicitly on the implications of new forms of work for workers, and pay greater attention to the role that cultural forces, unions, and governments play in shaping the workplace.     

A cross‐cultural examination of the relationships among human resource management practices and organisational commitment: an institutional collectivism perspective

Previous research has shown that human resource management (HRM) practices vary across cultures. However, little research has empirically compared the effects of various HRM practices on firm‐level or individual‐level outcome variables across cultures. Drawing upon psychological contract theory and the literature on cultural values, the present study examined the effects of three organisational‐level HRM practices on individual organisational commitment in a survey of 2424 individuals in 120 organisations located in four countries and three industries. Based upon the GLOBE study, we classified the four countries into two groups – high versus low institutional collectivism. The results of our hierarchical linear modelling (HLM) analyses found significant differences in the effects of organisational‐level HRM on individual organisational commitment across cultures for two of the three HRM practices included in our model: training and teamwork. We also found partial support for differences across cultures for the effects of the third HRM practice: employee involvement in decision making. Overall, our results support the utility of theoretical and empirical models that address multiple levels of analyses to better understand the mechanisms through which the HRM‐performance link takes place across national cultures.     

A global perspective on diversity and inclusion in work organisations

This Academy of Management, Human Resources Division, Ambassadors' Programme special issue presents a collection of empirical papers examining workplace diversity and inclusion in a global context. We introduce this topic raising three overarching challenges: to develop more context-specific definitions of diversity and inclusion; to include dimensions pertinent to a global context in the definition of diversity and inclusion; and to consider the impact of diversity and inclusion practices on performance outcomes across countries as well as within multinational corporations. We explore these challenges through three diversity and inclusion lenses – gender, age and nationality – exploring global perspectives at the national, organisational and team levels of analysis. In conclusion, we present an agenda for future research.     

Moving toward stakeholder-based HRM: a perspective of Italian HR managers

HR practices that look beyond focusing mainly on shareholders' interests to include a wider group of stakeholders are likely to result in a more effective HR system. This work examines Italian HR managers' perspectives of stakeholders and their perceived salience, based on data collected from 30 HR managers from the highest capitalization companies in the Milan Stock Exchange. The Mitchell, Agle and Wood model of stakeholder salience is applied to classify the stakeholders of the HR system into four clusters: definitive, dependent, discretionary and non-stakeholders. The results are discussed with reference to the body of knowledge on strategic HRM, putting forward specific managerial implications and proposing avenues for further research.     

企业人力资源管理外包的研究

随着全球经济一体化及信息技术的飞速发展,越来越多的企业将自己不擅长的业务外包,从而在激烈的市场竞争中取得优势地位。目前,大多数人力资源管理部门正在通过业务外包来达到提高效率、增强企业核心竞争力的目的。本文从外包的定义出发,探讨了人力资源管理外包的概念、内容,并比较了国内外企业人力资源外包的方式,分析了人力资源管理外包的优势和作用．从五个方面详细探讨了人力资源管理外包的过程和步骤。     

企业人力资源管理中的员工激励研究——以某公司设计团队为例

本文把人力资源管理中的激励理论应用于设计团队的制度建设中来,将物质激励与精神激励相结合,提出了组合式激励的改进方案。     

The human resource management issues during an acquisition: the target firm's top management team and key managers

When a company is acquired, the amount of money paid for the company is normally some multiple of earnings. The assumption is that the purchase price is higher than the tangible assets of the company. Therefore, the acquirer believes that there is value in the company beyond the balance sheet of the company. Frequently, some percentage of the ‘premium’ paid by the acquiring company is for the top management team and/or key managers. This paper examines the role of the top management team and their retention on the post acquisition performance of the company.     

The Employee Engagement Scale: Initial Evidence for Construct Validity and Implications for Theory and Practice

Interest in the employee engagement construct has gained increasing attention in recent years. Measurement tools focused on nuanced areas of engagement (i.e., job engagement and organizational engagement) have been offered; however, no measure of employee engagement has been advanced despite persistent calls in the research. We present the development, method, and results of a three‐dimensional employee engagement measurement tool developed for use in the human resource and management fields of study. Across four independent studies, the employee engagement scale (EES) was found to consist of three subfactors (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral) and a higher‐order factor (employee engagement). Across a series of four studies, we explored the factor structure and reliability of the EES (Study 1), then refined the scale, confirmed the factor structure, and examined reliability and both convergent and nomological validity evidence (Study 2). Next (Study 3), we completed a final reduction in scale items and examined additional evidence of reliability and nomological validity as well as evidence of discriminant validity. Finally (Study 4), we tested for evidence of incremental validity. In the implications for theory and practice section, we discuss the importance of an employee engagement measure aligned alongside an agreed‐upon definition and framework. Limitations and future directions for research—such as the need for further psychometric testing and exploring issues of measurement invariance—are discussed. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.