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We find a robust negative relationship between high investment HR systems (HIHRS) labor productivity in a sample of Canadian small firms, rebutting the view that HIHRS universally enhance firm performance. Furthermore, differentiation strategy magnifies this negative relationship, whereas capital intensity, firm age, and industry growth dynamism mitigate this relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent work made the distinction between how individuals think about their skills and the actual usefulness of such skills, thereby demarcating between perceived and objective firm-specific human capital (FSHC). This divergence has important theoretical implications, because many theories in the strategy literature rely on the notion that FSHC functions as an isolating mechanism. Because classical human capital theory side-stepped the divergence issue by assuming that workers are informed, rational actors, how workers' perceptions of FSHC emerges is under-researched. Therefore, we examine when and why workers perceive their human capital as firm-specific. As could be expected, our empirical results suggest that workers develop perceptions of FSHC after unsuccessful forays into the labor market and when regional unemployment rates are high. Surprisingly, we also find that workers' perceptions of the firm-specificity of their human capital are associated with financial precarity that are unrelated to their human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) scholars and practitioners have long recognized the importance of HRM as a source of competitive advantage (e.g., Boxall, 1998; Coff, 1997; Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994), demonstrating that systems of effective and interconnected HR practices enhance the abilities, motivation, and opportunities of employees to meaningfully contribute to value creation in their employing organizations (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, & Baer, 2012; Lepak, Liao, Chung, & Harden, 2006). This literature has traditionally focused on the link between HRM and organizational performance, with a frequent emphasis on the alignment of HR practices - or HR content - as a coherent system (i.e., horizontal alignment) that supports the requirements of an organization's environment (i.e., vertical alignment). It has been more recently that some SHRM scholars have begun to explicitly examine additional influences on the effectiveness of HRM, including HR process within the focal organization (e.g., Bowen & Ostroff, 2004), key organizational members (e.g., Jackson & Schuler, 2003) and changes in the external environment (e.g., Combs, Liu, Hall, & Ketchen, 2006). One key insight that has emerged from these research efforts has concerned the important role of managers - whether at the frontline, middle, or executive level, or at the organizational or functional level - in organizations' efforts to achieve competitive advantage through HRM. The purpose of the present symposium is to build on this insight by bringing together research that explicitly investigates the redefined and enhanced roles of managers in human resource management and, in so doing, furthers our understanding of how, when, and by whom HRM contributes to competitive advantage. Our symposium is comprised of papers examining a broad range of such topics, including the roles of the dynamics characterizing organizational environments, internal HR actors, and the interaction between HR systems and managers as they contribute to (or hinder) organizations' abilities to achieve a human resource-based competitive advantage. The benefits of such a symposium are two-fold. First, this symposium will allow for a richer discussion regarding the roles of managers and the contexts and mechanisms through which HRM creates and maintains the competitive advantage of organizations. Specifically, the papers in this session span research concerning the achievement of HR alignment via an agentic and process-based model (Kim), the value and benefits of HR functions and HR executives (Bentley, Han, & Choudhury; Chadwick & Jo), and the influence of HR systems and managers on employee creativity (Takeuchi, Lee, Kim, Jiang, & Liu). We aim to transcend the HR practice-oriented perspectives adopted in prior studies by highlighting the roles of managers in human resource management. Focusing on the "How" of HR Alignment: An Agentic and Process-based Model. Presenter: Joonyoung Kim; Cornell U. The Strategic Value of the Formal HR Function. Presenter: Clint Chadwick; U. of Kansas. Presenter: Jinhwan Jo; Wright State U. When and How Firms Benefit from Having an HR Executive: A Longitudinal Analysis. Presenter: Frederick Scott Bentley; Binghamton U.-State U. of New York. Presenter: Joo Hun Han; Rutgers U. Presenter: Anwesha Choudhury; Binghamton U.-State U. of New York. High-Investment HR Systems and Employee Creativity: A Multilevel, Integrative Perspective. Presenter: Riki Takeuchi; U. of Texas at Dallas. Presenter: Byron Y. Lee; China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Presenter: Kaifeng Jiang; Ohio State U. Presenter: Zhiqiang Liu; Huazhong U. of Science and Technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thus far, the empirical evidence about the role of employees in the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and employee and organizational outcomes, shows that it is the perceived human resource (HR) practices by employees rather than the implemented HR practices as rated by managers that have a more direct influence on employees' behavior and outcomes. Despite the importance given to employees as key recipients of HRM, we still have a limited understanding of what factors explain and influence employee perceptions of HRM and how they impact employee well-being and performance. Accordingly, the papers in this symposium aim to shed light on (a) the role of employees in influencing their own perceptions of HRM, (b) other factors that influence employee perceptions of HRM, and (c) the processes through which employee perceptions of HRM impact employee well-being (trade-offs) and team effectiveness. Impression Management: Can it Explain Variance in Employee Perceptions of HR practices? Presenter: Sargam Garg; California State U. Sacramento. In the Eye of the Beholder: Manager and Employee HR Perceptions, Employee Outcomes and HR salience. Presenter: Jeske Van Beurden; Tilburg U. Presenter: Karina Van De Voorde; Tilburg U. Presenter: Marc Van Veldhoven; Tilburg U. Presenter: Kaifeng Jiang; Ohio State U. Untangling HRM and Employee Wellbeing Trade-offs: Towards a Comprehensive Understanding. Presenter: Mengwei Li; U. of Kansas. Presenter: Clint Chadwick; U. of Kansas. Presenter: Brian Harney; Dublin City U. Collective Perceptions of HR Practices and the Implications for Team Wellbeing and Performance. Presenter: Kerstin Alfes; ESCP Business School. Presenter: Argyro Avgoustaki; ESCP Business School. Presenter: Nils Fürstenberg; ESCP Business School. Presenter: Adrian Ritz; U. of Bern. Presenter: Veronique Tran; ESCP Business School. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While a resource-based view (RBV) has been widely used as a theoretical framework to explain the role of HRM practices in enhancing firm performance, the HRM practices suggested by strategic HRM researchers do not truly satisfy the assumption of "valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN)", resulting in the failure to obtain Ricardian rents. Hence, we find mixed results regarding the effects of HRM practices on firm performance in current longitudinal studies. As an extension of RBV, the dynamic capabilities theory does not emphasize superior resources, per se, but instead this theory focuses on its capabilities of sensing, seizing, and reconfiguring resources. Accordingly, in this paper we propose the concept of HRM capabilities, which represents firm capabilities in terms of utilizing human resources to secure entrepreneurial rents. Specifically, we argue that HRM capabilities could lead to the change and transformation of generic and firm- specific human capital resources (HCRs), which will further mediate the relationship between HRM capabilities and long-term firm performance. In this way, we link strategic HRM literature with strategic human capital literature and explicate the paths through which HRM may influence long-term firm success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) scholars and practitioners have long recognized the importance of HRM as a source of competitive advantage (e.g., Boxall, 1998; Coff, 1997; Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994), demonstrating that systems of effective and interconnected HR practices enhance the abilities, motivation, and opportunities of employees to meaningfully contribute to value creation in their employing organizations (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, & Baer, 2012; Lepak, Liao, Chung, & Harden, 2006). This literature has traditionally focused on the link between HRM and organizational performance, with a frequent emphasis on the alignment of HR practices -- or HR content -- as a coherent system (e.g., horizontal alignment) that supports the requirements of an organization's environment (e.g., vertical alignment). More recently, some SHRM scholars have begun to explicitly examine additional factors that may influence the effectiveness of HRM, including HR processes within the focal organization (e.g., Bowen & Ostroff, 2004), key organizational members (e.g., Jackson & Schuler, 2003), and changes in the external environment (e.g., Combs, Liu, Hall, & Ketchen, 2006). One key insight which has emerged from these research efforts has concerned the importance of considerations beyond the use of effective HR practices in addressing the question of how to achieve competitive advantage through HRM. The purpose of the present symposium is to advance this insight by bringing together research that explicitly investigates factors beyond the use of effective HR practices that further our understanding of how and when HRM contributes to competitive advantage. Our symposium is comprised of papers examining a broad range of such factors, including the roles of the dynamics characterizing organizational environments, internal HR actors, and the activities of external competitors as they contribute to (or hinder) organizations' abilities to achieve a human resource-based competitive advantage in different ways. The benefits of such a symposium are two-fold. First, this symposium will allow for a richer discussion regarding the contexts and mechanisms through which HRM creates and maintains the competitive advantage of organizations. Specifically, the papers included here span research concerning the achievement of HR alignment via an agentic and process-based model (Kim & Kehoe), the value and benefits of HR functions and HR executives (Bentley & Choudhury; Chadwick & Jo), and the impact of peer companies on HR practice effectiveness and adoption (Jiang, Takeuchi, & Jia). We aim to transcend the HR practice-oriented perspectives adopted in prior studies. Second, the symposium will offer insights into how organizations might best achieve competitive advantage through HRM. The papers aim to investigate the theme "looking beyond the use of effective HR practices", articulating the considerations relevant to HRM optimization with which an organization must contend. Our goal is to provide a glimpse into some of the current research being conducted by SHRM scholars whose focus transcends the use of effective HR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper extends Raffie and Coff's (2016) pioneering study of perception bias in firm-specific human capital that can be influenced by organizational tenure, organizational commitment, and on-the-job training. Drawing on the signaling theory, we investigate the role of wage as another variable that can affect the perceptions of firm-specificity with a larger sample and a model better fitted to panel data. We also examine the interaction of organizational tenure and organizational commitment. The analyses of Korean full-time employees with random effects ordered probit models support the relationship between wage and perceived firm-specific human capital and the interaction of organizational tenure and organizational commitment but not the interaction of organizational tenure and wage. The results suggest that employees' wages can function as a signal of an employer in which employees' perceptions of the characteristics of human capital investments depend on their wages. Also, committed employees are more likely to invest in firm-specific human capital as their organizational tenure increases than are less committed ones." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose to revisit the ideas of vertical and horizontal fit in the SHRM literature with the goal of stepping back from the dominant HPWS paradigm and taking a fresh look at how we can best understand the ways in which HRM might support organizations in the quest for human capital-based competitive advantage. We draw on ideas from early SHRM scholarship, from more recent research in the area of strategic human capital, and from our observations of the changing competitive environments faced by today's organizations. Carrots, Sticks and Performance: Is It Commitment, or Is It Commitment Plus Control? Presenter: Patrick Wright; U. of South Carolina Searching for Competitive Advantage in the HRM/Firm Performance Relationship Presenter: Clint Chadwick; U. of Kansas Time for Realignment: The HR Ecosystem Presenter: Scott A Snell; U. of Virginia [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospitals are often tasked with improving patient care while simultaneously increasing operating-efficiency. While efficiency may be gained by maintaining higher patient volume per nurse (higher workload), high quality patient care requires low levels of nurse turnover. We proposed a moderated mediated model based on Job Demands-Resources (JDR) theory, and tested this model utilizing multiple sources of time-lagged data collected from a sample of 156 hospitals in the US. Our findings suggests that (a) nurse workload predicts nurse turnover, (b) nurse turnover predicts patient mortality, (c) nurse staffing buffers the workload-turnover relationship as a 1st stage moderator, and (d) quality care structure acts as a 2nd order moderator that mitigates the effects of turnover on mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This literature review takes stock of the research on human capital (HC) reporting and HC information use by investors in the capital market. The literature is viewed from the vantage point of the efficient market hypothesis: The objective is to understand what types of HC information, if any, investors (a) use and (b) would need for HC to be accurately reflected in firm valuations in the capital market, as well as causes of any discrepancies between (a) and (b). This objective is relevant to recent debates in the HRM field on HC reporting standards, both in the US and Europe. We find that, currently, HC information reporting and use by investors appear to be relatively limited compared to other categories of intangible strategic assets. However, the categories of HC information that have been covered by the research reflect investor information needs only poorly. Moreover, the extent of HC information reporting/use varies markedly across industry sectors. We develop a research agenda to systematically derive HC-related constructs relevant to investor information needs, valid, reliable, and feasible HC signals matching these constructs, adequate levels of standardization of HC reporting across HC signals, and insights into the causes of limited HC information use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Leadership development is receiving increasing attention from scholars and practitioners globally. In this study, utilizing a sample of 223 organizations in an emerging economy (India), we discovered positive relationships between two bundles of leadership development practices (i.e., differentiation and integration; Day, 2000) and two forms of organization-level intangible assets - human and social capital. Further, our results suggest that organization-level human capital fully mediates the relationship between the differentiation bundle (consisting of practices aimed at increasing individual leaders' self-awareness and competence) and organizational performance, as measured by sales growth; and that social capital is marginally related to organizational innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This symposium proposal aims to reinvigorate the investigation of the role of formal HRM functions in strategic HRM (SHRM) research. The majority of recent SHRM research has investigated the influence of various sets of HRM practices on firm performance independent of the formal HRM function (e.g., HR departments and HRM personnel). In fact, some observers, have explicitly advocated setting aside the question of formal HRM's influence on firm performance, objecting to the assumption that formal HR functions are the best custodians of strategic HRM within firms (e.g., Chadwick and Dabu, 2009; Hammonds, 2005). Yet the substantial evidence of a relationship between HRM practices and firm performance raises the question of whether firms' formal HRM functions, which aim to purposely shape firms' sets of HR practices and their pools of human capital, meaningfully contribute to firm performance. This issue received some attention in early strategic HRM research, which produced an inconsistent but compelling set of mixed results, but the question has largely been set aside by SHRM researchers since then. The empirical findings in this symposium's papers demonstrate that "better management of human resources" is directly affected by firms' formal HRM, and, in turn, can significantly influence firm performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In pursuit of a deeper understanding of human capital and firm performance link, we examine an important and heretofore overlooked contingency, the financial crisis. Utilizing longitudinal data from 660 publicly traded firms in South Korea before, during, and after the Asian Financial Crisis, our study investigates how firms' stocks of human capital before the financial crisis and human capital investment decisions during the financial crisis affect their chances of survival and financial performance during and post-crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last two decades, human capital as a source of competitive advantage has been broadly discussed in the strategy literature. Much of this strategic human capital literature is focused around the concepts of firm specificity and isolating mechanisms and the theoretical logic thereof is concentrated accordingly on the upside potential of firms' human capital at the macro level of analysis. In this paper, we take a closer look and the microfoundational mechanisms that impact both the upside and downside potential for human capital related value creation and appropriation. Specifically, we develop a reciprocally interdependent process model that is rooted in the bargaining process that determines human capital pricing and the management process that facilitates human capital-related value creation. We thus contribute to the strategic human capital literature by offering the manager and strategy scholar a broadened theoretical lens for under-standing the dynamic processes by which firms accrue rents or losses from their human capital. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to resource-based theory (RBT), firms are able to achieve and sustain competitive advantage because of the unique strategic resources at their disposal. However, strategic resources do not appear by magic. Managers must often take an active part in their development. In order to be effective, managers at all levels of the firm must engage in resource management activities, and these efforts are synchronized and orchestrated by top management. Using a specific type of strategic resource, commitment-based human resource systems, we examine the effect of CEO resource orchestration in a multi-industry sample of 175 Korean firms. Our results demonstrate that CEO emphasis on strategic HRM is a significant antecedent to commitment-based HR systems. Furthermore, our results also suggest that CEO resource orchestration efforts have their primary effects on firm performance through commitment-based HR systems. This finding underscores the importance of middle managers in operationalizing top management's strategic emphasis, lending empirical support to a fundamental tenet of resource orchestration arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although a firm's innovation outcomes have been commonly attributed to its innovative capability, through a study of 102 automotive firms in China, we find that employees' collective motivation for new product development (NPD motivation) is more important than their NPD capability in determining a firm's innovation outcome. This finding suggests the need for simultaneous consideration of capability and motivation in studying the causal mechanisms of innovation performance. We further adopt a process approach to track down the antecedents of NPD motivation by integrating human resource management and strategic orientation research. Our results indicate that a firm's strategic orientation focusing on NPD affects its employees' collective NPD motivation through the mediation of its adoption of relevant HR practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]