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 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     

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 influence of strategic HRM and sector on perceived performance in health services organizations

In this study, we examine a variety of management characteristics of for-profit and not-for-profit organizations in the health services (HS) industry. Data collected from Australian senior executives are used to test the relationships between managerial constructs such as employee commitment, customer demandingness, strategic HRM orientation and the adoption of human capital-enhancing human resource (HR) practices and perceived overall performance. Data analysis conducted using the Partial Least Square Modeling show a statistically significant path from commitment to employees, customer demandingness and strategic HRM orientation to the adoption of human capital-enhancing HR practices (such as selective staffing, comprehensive training, and performance appraisal) to perceived organizational performance. The results also show that private sector health service organizations have a higher level of perceived performance.     

HRM practices and organizational commitment profiles

In this study, we examined how employee perceptions of development-oriented, stability-oriented, and reward-oriented human resource management (HRM) practices affected the likelihood of affective and continuance commitment profile membership. Our focus on profiles of combined commitment components is a departure from a literature dominated by studies of the separate forms of employee commitment. Drawing from self-determination theory (Deci and Ryan 2000) we described the nature of the psychological states believed to underlie the specific profiles under investigation, then tested a series of theoretical predictions concerning the link between HRM practices and the likelihood of profile membership. Predictor and criterion data for this study were collected from 317 respondents working in a variety of Canadian-based organizations. Our findings suggest ways that organizations can use HRM practices strategically to help shape the nature of overall employee commitment.     

The impact of narcoterrorism on HRM systems

This paper presents a study on the emergence of human resource management (HRM) systems in a narcoterrorism context based on a mixed-method approach. We conducted 40 interviews at 24 firms in Mexico to explore emerging HRM systems in narcoterrorism environments. The interviews were complemented with a quantitative content analysis of 204 news stories to explore the direct and indirect impacts of narcoterrorism on firms. Our analysis of firms’ responses with respect to HRM systems, which is supported by our quantitative analysis on the impacts of narcoterrorism, indicates that trust appears to shape HRM systems. We identified an adaptation strategy to design HRM systems based on a combination of strict employee’s screening and control an emphasis on humanistic practices such as soft-skills training and development, and a flexible work schedule, which appears to facilitate the development of trust in narcoterrorism environments. Identifying the similarities of objects and issues in the narcoterrorism context can help develop an understanding of this local phenomenon, with implications for the HRM and terrorism literatures on a global scale. Our findings highlight the importance of reinforcing values such as trust, openness, involvement and participation to develop a strong HRM system to adapt to narcoterrorism environments.     

The complementarity of IT and HRM capabilities for competitive performance: a configurational analysis of manufacturing and industrial service SMEs

ABSTRACT

Building on the resource-based view (RBV) perspective, we analyse the combined effects of two highly-valued organizational resources, namely information technology (IT) capabilities and human resource management (HRM) capabilities, on the competitive performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Three resource configurations are derived from data on 227 SMEs (121 from the manufacturing sector and 106 from the industrial services sector) through a cluster analysis. These resource configurations are labelled IT Capabilities-dominant Configuration (ITC), e-Business Capabilities-dominant Configuration (e-BC), and HRM Capabilities-dominant Configuration (HRC). This last configuration is the best-performing, followed by the e-BC, with the ITC as the worst-performing. The results also show that manufacturing and service firms are very unevenly distributed within HRC and ITC configurations, suggesting notable differences between the two sectors regarding their respective IT and non-IT capability-building. The fact that service SMEs are overwhelmingly represented (93%) in the worst-performing configuration and completely absent (0%) in the most effective configuration while displaying the strongest IT infrastructure capabilities confirms that the IT productivity paradox is aggravated in service SMEs and calls for further research on this issue.     

Shut the fridge door! HRM alignment,job redesign and energy performance

Anchored within the strategic HRM and alignment literature, and drawing on efficiency and legitimacy perspectives of organisational behaviour, we investigated a HRM intervention targeted at energy reduction goals in a large multinational retailer. The HRM intervention was focused on embedding the environmental and economic performance goals of the firm within the workplace through redesigning the job so that energy tasks were aligned with training and performance management systems, as well as organisational performance goals. Using a randomised control trial design, we tracked changes in energy behaviours and energy consumption in 769 retail stores (685 in the intervention condition, 84 in the control condition). The findings provide evidence that changing the alignment of HRM practices can influence both worker behaviour and organisational outcomes, including environmental outcomes. This work contributes to debates concerning the impact of HRM alignment on both the work and organisational performance context.     

HRM Signals for the Capital Market

This conceptual study contributes to an emerging literature at the intersection of strategic HRM and finance, which is concerned with the undervaluation of future‐oriented HRM practices in the capital market and consequent disincentives for managers to invest in such HRM practices. More specifically, the study contributes to a search for signals of HRM investments that the capital market either attends to or should attend to. It focuses on potential signals of high‐performance work systems (HPWSs), constituting an HRM investment that has been at the center of research in strategic HRM. Based on signaling theory, a model is proposed of relationships among three signal characteristics (signal fit, signal erosion, and signal diffusion) and sustainable signal correlation. The model provides a basis for the exploration of alternative strategies for the establishment of an HRM signal tailored specifically to the needs of the capital market. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Receptivity of India's small and medium-sized enterprises to information system adoption

This study surveys the receptivity of India's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to the adoption of information systems (IS). Utilising a portion of Rogers' model of innovation diffusion as the framework, and treating IS as a form of new innovation, this study analyses factors affecting IS diffusion. A multiple regression analysis is carried out, with the five attributes of innovation highlighted by Rogers, to determine the attributes that affect the willingness to adopt. Out of the five factors affecting the adoption of IS by SMEs, only relative advantage, compatibility and trialability appear significant, with the overall regression explaining around 39% of willingness to adopt.     

HRM and organizational performance in northern and southern Europe

This article aims to extend understanding of the firm-level impact of strategic HR practices on organizational performance. Adopting a contingency approach, it develops a structural model that considers direct and indirect influences of market growth, business strategy formalization and HRM centrality and practices on organizational performance in Europe. The study uses a comparative approach, revealing differences between northern and southern Europe. Clear differences appeared between the two clusters in the HR policies and practices correlated with higher performance, thus indicating that the link between HRM and performance may be different in different geographies.     

The RBV theory foundation of strategic HRM: critical flaws,problems for research and practice,and an alternative economics paradigm

The resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm is a guiding paradigm for strategic HRM research. This article explores the RBV–strategic HRM intersection, identifies and critiques RBV weaknesses and problem areas, develops new implications for RBV–strategic HRM theory and empirical work, and develops an alternative economics‐based decision model for making HRM choices. The article focuses on four RBV–strategic HRM dimensions: HRM performance and the ‘no rules for riches’ proposition; alternative definitions of value and competitive advantage and implications for strategic HRM's dependent variable; neglect of marginal decision rules and consequent misprediction of optimal HRM adoption; and the impact on employee relations of RBV‐guided rent‐capture practices. Numerous implications for theory and practice are developed; also suggested is a new paradigm approach for strategic HRM theory.     

HRM System Strength and HRM Target Achievement—Toward a Broader Understanding of HRM Processes

For some time, HRM researchers have paid attention to the process dimensions of HRM systems, especially to the question of how HRM system strength impacts on HRM outcomes. However, contributions tend to be theoretical, and empirical analyses are still rare. This article contributes to the discussion on HRM system strength by empirically analyzing the links between HRM system strength and HRM target achievement. We differentiate between single components of strength and their partial effects on two HRM target groups: the targets focusing on employee attitudes and the targets focusing on availability and effectiveness of human resources. Findings from a German data set with more than 1,000 observations indicate that HRM system strength has a positive influence on average HRM target achievement. Expectations regarding the differentiated effects of single components of HRM system strength are only partially supported. Nevertheless, our analyses give reason to consider a broader conception of HRM system strength than what has been explored to date. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

HRM implementation by multiple HRM actors: a social exchange perspective

Abstract

In this study, we understand HRM implementation as a social process that depends on the social exchange relationships between line managers and both HRM professionals and employees. As such, we offer a fresh approach to understanding HRM implementation by concentrating on the social exchange among HRM actors. We do so by investigating to what extent these exchange relationships influence HRM implementation, as reflected in employees’ perceptions of the presence of HRM practices and their affective commitment. We collected multilevel data from two sources (line managers and employees) and in two phases in a Dutch engineering firm, and obtained fully matched manager – employee information from 75 employees and 20 line managers. Our results show that employees perceive a larger number of HRM practices when they have a good relationship with their line managers and when their line managers are motivated to implement HRM practices. Line managers, in turn, reciprocate perceived support from the HRM department with greater motivation to implement these practices. We conclude that because HRM actors engage in social interactions, HRM practices will be implemented at the organizational level because employees perceive the presence of HRM practices and then reciprocate this with affective commitment.     

HRM systems between control and commitment: occurrence,characteristics and effects on HRM outcomes and firm performance

In the literature, it is often assumed that traditional, control‐oriented HRM systems are increasingly being replaced by commitment‐based HRM systems because the latter generally result in higher firm performance. However, an HRM system's effectiveness may depend on an organisation's external and internal context, and neither control nor commitment HR systems are without disadvantages. Thus, the empirical validity of this claim is not clear ex ante. This paper analyses the empirical diffusion and determinants of control and commitment HRM systems in Germany as well as their impact on HRM outcomes and firm performance. The findings indicate that between the two extreme forms of high‐control and high‐commitment HRM systems, there are two hybrid forms (long‐term‐oriented control system and regulated commitment system) that combine elements of both ‘pure’ systems. Commitment HRM systems outperform the high‐control HRM system concerning many HRM outcomes and firm performance measures. However, in direct comparison, the high and the regulated commitment HRM systems do not show substantially different outcomes, indicating that there is no one best way.     

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.     

Strong HRM processes and line managers' effective HRM implementation: a balanced view

Exploring a unitarist and pluralist Human Resource Management (HRM) perspective, we propose a more nuanced view on Bowen and Ostroff's (2004) concept of strong HRM processes. More specifically, we investigate whether strong HRM processes contribute positively or negatively to line managers' effective HRM implementation. The results of a multi‐level model with data from 125 line managers and 899 employees of five organisations show a complex picture. In line with unitarist thinking, we find a positive indirect effect of strong HRM processes on HRM implementation effectiveness via line managers' ability. In accordance with pluralist thinking, we find a negative direct relationship between strong HRM processes and HRM implementation effectiveness. We discuss the tensions in HRM that might explain these ambiguous findings.     

The effects of HRM practices and antecedents on organizational commitment among university employees

This paper examines which factors affect organizational commitment among Dutch university employees in two faculties with different academic identities (separatist versus hegemonist, Stiles, 2004 Stiles, D. 2004. Narcissus Revisited: The Values of Management Academics and their Role in Business School Strategies in the UK and Canada. British Journal of Management, 15(2): 157–75. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The analyses of Web survey data reveal that in the separatist faculty decentralization, compensation, training/development, positional tenure and career mobility have significant effects. Age, organizational tenure, level of autonomy, working hours, social involvement and personal importance significantly affect the employees' organizational commitment in the hegemonist faculty. Participation, social interactions and job level are factors that are important in both faculties. The findings indicate that the set of factors affecting the organizational commitment of employees differs between the separatist and hegemonist faculties. The findings empirically support the argument that different configurations or ‘bundles’ of HRM practices (Delery and Doty, 1996 Delery, J.E. and Doty, D.H. 1996. Modes of Theorizing in Strategic Human Resource Management: Tests of Universalistic, Contingency, and Configurational Performance Predictions. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4): 802–35. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]; Guest, 1997 Guest, D.E. 1997. Human Resource Management and Performance: A Review and Research Agenda. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8(3): 263–76. [Taylor & Francis Online] , [Google Scholar]) are suited for organizations with different identities. Explanations for the observed relationships, implications and limitations of the study are discussed.     

Devolution or (de)centralization of HRM function in European organizations

This article deals with the condition and changes of the HRM function in various European states. These changes have shown a shift of HRM tasks from HRM departments to managers themselves, and are according to the literature, this shift is known as devolution or decentralization. Our attention is focused on important factors in this process (from organizational ones, such as HRM strategies and policies, to more environmental ones, such as the sector or the state). Analysis shows that the country (as an institutional environment) sets the limits or encourages development towards devolution. HRM policy within the individual institutional context is of only secondary importance. Results show that country is a factor that fosters divergent tendencies and HRM policy accelerates convergence in HRM practice.     

Bundles of HRM practices and performance: empirical evidence from a Latin American context

This article examines the extent to which the configuration of HRM practices in bundles and the interactions among them have a significant impact on manufacturing outcomes. Using a unique data set from a survey of a representative sample of the whole Uruguayan manufacturing industry, several hypotheses related to interactions between ability–motivation–opportunity bundles of HRM practices are tested. Analysis of 150 manufacturing plants partially highlights the existence of hierarchy between bundles, being the bundle of motivation‐enhancing HRM practices the most important to explain the enhanced manufacturing outcomes. Based on this bundle of practices, synergistic interactions with both ability and opportunity bundles of HRM practices were observed to explain different performance measures.