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Line managers are often responsible for implementing HR practices in organizations. Why do some line managers implement HR practices as intended while others do not? We draw on the concept of accountability focus to highlight that managers' HR implementation behavior is driven by what they feel accountable for, and we examine how accountability focus is shaped by characteristics of managers' role. We test our theoretical model across two field studies: a three‐wave survey with managers and a study with dyads of managers and employees. When managers experienced more autonomy in their HR role, they felt more accountable for outcomes and were less likely to implement HR practices, but this was mitigated when managers also felt competent in their HR responsibilities. More competent managers felt more accountable for processes and in turn were more likely to implement HR practices, which positively related to employees' discretionary effort. Our findings highlight boundaries to managerial autonomy, and theoretical insights about the motivational mechanisms, which drive HR implementation, with implications for employees. We contribute to theory on managerial accountability by elaborating the nomological net of accountability focus and, by developing a measurement scale through several pilot studies, provide opportunities for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on an in-depth analysis of a successful large-scale agile transformation, this article sheds light on the evolving role of line managers during the transformation. At the beginning of the transformation, line managers act like "missionaries" and leverage influencing mechanisms in their attempts to foster the adoption of agile values. At maturity, the role of line managers evolves into a role similar to "priests" where discipline mechanisms are enacted to maintain and sustain the newly adopted agile values. The social contracts and the organizational conditions that underpin such evolution have implications for selecting suitable line managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving beyond the extant HR implementation research that has often viewed the implementation decisions primarily as front‐line managers' (FLMs) prerogative, this article explores interactive processes involving three key actors: HR managers, senior managers, and FLMs. Drawing on a political lens, the authors find that the way in which FLMs enact HR practices depends on the relative power of the enforcing actors (i.e., HR managers) and the endorsing actors (i.e., senior managers). The study findings reveal that while the enforcers employ a range of influence tactics (e.g., legitimization, pressure, rational persuasion, and consultation) to facilitate strict HR enactment, the endorsers use counter‐influence tactics (e.g., legitimization, assertiveness, and inspirational appeal) in support of deviant HR implementation behaviors. Carefully navigating both sides' influence tactics in light of past involvement experiences, FLMs choose subsequent implementation behaviors accordingly. The paper makes a meaningful contribution to the HR devolution research by delving into relational power dynamics that develop over an early phase of HR implementation. The resulting theoretical framework provides novel insights into the reasons behind FLMs' divergent forms of implementation behaviors. It shows that the ongoing multi‐lateral interactions and political maneuverings involving HR‐related actors trigger distinct HR involvement patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the critical role of employees in shaping frontline managers' (FLMs) HR implementation. It goes beyond previous research, which recurrently attributes FLMs' implementation behavior to the facilitating conditions and FLMs' personal capabilities, overlooking or downplaying the potential impact of employees during the implementation process. In doing so, we characterize the construct of intra-team acceptance of espoused HR practices as a key force influencing FLMs' HR enactment. Hence, we hypothesize how intra-team acceptance of espoused HR practices is linked to FLMs' implementation behavior through FLMs' performance expectancy, effort expectancy, and social influence. In this narrative, we position team-level HPWS as a direct outcome of FLMs' implementation behavior. Therefore, we establish that team-level HPWS mediates the relationship between FLMs' implementation behavior and team performance, underscoring the importance of employees in the HRM variability debate. Conducting a time-lagged study and analyzing data collected from 23 South Korean firms, we found support for our theoretical claims. Our findings recognize employees as significant contributors to the implementation process and challenge the conventional wisdom in which employees are viewed as passive recipients of HR practices. We discuss theoretical and managerial implications and offer directions for future endeavors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study explores the impact of decentralized management on the sickness absence among healthcare professionals. Sickness absence is a reliable indicator of employees' wellbeing and it is linked to management quality. However, the influence of decentralized management on sickness absence has not been adequately studied. Methods: The research design combined a two-wave, web-survey of frontline managers in two Danish university hospitals with administrative data on sickness absence at the ward-level. The first and second wave included data from 163165 and 137 frontline managers linked to 121 wards and 108 wards. Data was analysed using an ordinal logistic regression model. Results: Wards where frontline managers had the highest level of decentralised decision authority compared to none showed lower odds of ward-level sickness absence (ORcrude: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05–0.87). A very high extent of cross-functional decision authority showed lower odds of sickness absence (ORcrude: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01–0.49). Overall, the results showed a clear data trend, although not all results were statistically significant. Conclusion: Higher levels of decentralized management in wards were positively associated with lower risks of sickness absence in hospital wards. The study supports future research on how to empower decision autonomy at the frontline level of management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background This study explores the impact of decentralized management on the sickness absence among healthcare professionals. Sickness absence is a reliable indicator of employees’ wellbeing and it is linked to management quality. However, the influence of decentralized management on sickness absence has not been adequately studied. Methods The research design combined a two-wave, web-survey of frontline managers in two Danish university hospitals with administrative data on sickness absence at the ward-level. The first and second wave included data from 163165 and 137 frontline managers linked to 121 wards and 108 wards. Data was analysed using an ordinal logistic regression model. Results Wards where frontline managers had the highest level of decentralised decision authority compared to none showed lower odds of ward-level sickness absence (ORcrude: 0.20, 95% CI: 0.05–0.87). A very high extent of cross-functional decision authority showed lower odds of sickness absence (ORcrude: 0.08, 95% CI: 0.01–0.49). Overall, the results showed a clear data trend, although not all results were statistically significant. Conclusion Higher levels of decentralized management in wards were positively associated with lower risks of sickness absence in hospital wards. The study supports future research on how to empower decision autonomy at the frontline level of management.

Succeeding in a changing business world means being familiar with emerging business trends, including issues and challenges related to human resources (HR). The paper investigates HR issues and challenges addressed by HR professionals and line managers of businesses in the Czech Republic. The investigation aims to uncover which HR issues are faced most often and which HR challenges are expected in the coming years to identify existing and potential HR issues and challenges that businesses should deal with to meet their needs.

Healthcare employees are experiencing poor wellbeing at an increasing rate. The healthcare workforce is exposed to challenging tasks and a high work pace, a situation that worsened during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. In turn, exposure to these high demands contributes to poor health, increased turnover, reduced job satisfaction, reduced efficacy, and reduced patient satisfaction and safety. Therefore, it is imperative that we identify measures to mitigate this crisis. One piece of this puzzle is how to implement sustainable tools and processes to improve the work environment of healthcare organizations. In this paper, we present the study protocol for the outlining and piloting of a joint training for pairs of healthcare line managers and their associated health and safety representatives in a Swedish healthcare organization. The objective of the training is to aid and advance the implementation of interventions to improve the work environment at the unit level. Following recommendations in the literature, the training is based on a stepwise approach that considers the specific context and focuses on the involvement of employees in creating interventions based on their needs. A central component of the training is the development of the pairs' collaboration in prioritizing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the interventions. The training is based on an on-the-job train-the-trainer approach in which participants are progressively trained during four workshops in the steps of a participatory intervention process. Between these workshops, the pairs follow the same progressive steps together with their employees to develop and implement interventions at their unit. The pilot will involve four pairs (i.e., eight participants) representing different parts and functions of the organization and will be conducted over a period of three months. We will use a mixed method design to evaluate preconditions, the process, and proximal transfer and implementation outcome factors of the training. The overall aim of the pilot is to appraise its feasibility and be able to adjust the training before a potential scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite citizen calls for agile government, public service organizations often default to hierarchy and adopt dual structure organization designs combining agile and non-agile units. However, ensuring effective collaboration and avoiding accountability challenges at the interface of line and agile units remains a vexing issue. Although accountability is implicitly assumed in agile organizing, it is not readily manifested or experienced. Through this interpretive case study of a public service organization in the Nordics, we examine through the lens of felt accountability, the reaction and roles of line managers to emergent accountability challenges precipitated by parallel maintenance of agile and non-agile unit combinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are some professionals whose work is always prone to extremes; emergency service workers would fit in to this category. These extremes, however, have typically been short-term aspects of the role punctuated by long periods of normality. This article examines the experiences of line managers in an Australian police service facing pressures both internal and external to the organisation that make extreme working conditions the norm rather than the exception. We use data from forty-seven managers in The Police Service supported by illustrative diary study data to examine their experiences in times of significant change. Our results reveal extreme work resulting from human resource management system out of sync with changes in the expectations of society and media, technological advances in surveillance and social media access and use and an increase volume of 'extreme' weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patterns of devolution of human resource management responsibilities to line managers vary significantly, giving rise to the important question of what accounts for such variability in the assignment of these responsibilities. Building on theoretical insights from both contextual strategic human resource management and structural contingency theory, we conceptualise the combined role of both proximal and distal factors in the form of institutional, competitive, and heritage-based mechanisms in accounting for variations in devolution. Then, employing data from 5918 organisations across 35 countries, we test our ideas using multi-level modelling. We find that competitive and heritage mechanisms, as more proximal influences, offer explanatory power, while the more distal institutional factors included in our analysis do not reach significance. Our work underscores the importance of theorizing the role of multiple, co-occurring proximal and distal multi-level influences when seeking to unearth commonalities and differences in the uptake of devolution in different contexts. This study also complements the predominant managerialist view on the assignment of human resource management responsibilities to line managers commonplace in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour process approaches have extensively documented the impact of digitalisation and remote work on managerial control, though the role of managers has been less explored. This article fills that gap in the extant literature by examining how adopting remote work affects managerial compliance with corporate goals. Particularly, it shows that this development entails a process of de-institutionalisation and re-institutionalisation of the control regime operating over lower-level managers to act on behalf of companies. These processes are driven by corporate decisions but also by the managers' attempts to negotiate this regime. Overall, the article claims the need to study managers as agents rather than as a mere extension of the management function or passive subjects of corporate restructurings. The arguments are based on a study conducted in a multinational mining company operating in Chile, which adopted a research-in-action approach and included interviews, document reviews and a survey of line managers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The Multiple leadership studies have established a connection between transformational leadership behaviors and the achievement of individual, team, and corporate success. The correlation between transformative leadership and followers' task performance remains ambiguous across many contexts and levels of analysis. Multiple variables and methodologies can influence the correlation. This study examined the impact of transformational leadership on the task performance of banking professionals. The concept of Perceived Investment in Employee Development (PIED) was introduced as a potential mediator between transformational leadership and employee task performance. The suggested approach was evaluated using a representative sample of 449 individuals from six Palestinian banks. The model was tested using Partial Least Squares (PLS)-based structural equation Modelling (SEM). The SmartPLS analyses demonstrated a positive relationship between perceived transformational leadership and task performance. These data further validated the concept of mediation. Furthermore, this study examines the theoretical and practical consequences, constraints, and recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Devolving HR responsibilities to the line is a distinguishable feature in modern human resource management (HRM). Given its considerable influence on the modus operandi of adopted HRM systems, scholars have delved into barriers to and facilitating conditions of line managers' fulfilling their HR duties and its subsequent outcomes over the past several decades. To deepen our understanding of the current state of the HR devolution literature, we adopt an evolutionary approach that moves beyond a conventional theme‐centric review. Exploring the extant literature from a chronological stance offers a unique perspective since such an approach allows us to track and evaluate the development trajectory from its inception. Indeed, our evolutionary review reveals that critical observations on HR devolution practices documented by early studies (e.g., conflicts between line managers and HR professionals) have not been as articulated as they should be in recent endeavors (e.g., focus on line managers' competency and motivation). Through this review, we shed new light on the HR devolution literature and call for revisiting important yet unresolved issues that still resonate today. In addition, we contemplate the future of HR devolution practices amid a changing business landscape and suggest promising research avenues accordingly. By looking back at the road taken and paving the path forward, the current review will offer a guidepost benefiting both aspiring researchers and seasoned scholars in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Public Service in Nigeria is beset with poor service delivery concerns arising from poor performance of employees. This is against the backdrop of renewed intention of governments and public sector organisations globally to continuously enhance the performance and productivity of employees. This paper focuses on how effective the implementation of performance management can influence performance in the public service. The public service over the years has been entangled with issues of poor performance and low productivity of employees. Globally, performance management in the recent decades has been a valid tool for achieving improved output. It is a strategic and integrated human resource approach used by organisations to observe, assess and monitor progress against set targets and standards. The paper adopted the theory of Goal Setting as an explanatory framework. The methodology of the paper is qualitative with focus on descriptive analysis. The paper argues that the normal practice of evaluating performance in the MDAs through the Annual Performance Appraisal Report (APER) is weak and restricted in approach, and has not significantly impacted on effective performance and improved service delivery over the years. The paper recommends the adoption of effective guidelines where line managers would be assigned enhanced roles in the performance evaluation and management process. This can be achieved through the adoption of a national policy framework on Performance Management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is based on the assumption that human resource (HR) practices are implemented through interactions between a variety of actors involved in the process. Novel insights emerge from the analysis of how interactions between HR managers, line managers (LMs) and employees result in effective implementation of HR practices. Drawing on the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework, the aim of the study is twofold. First, we investigate the extent to which HR department initiatives—classified into HR ability-enhancing, HR motivation-enhancing and HR opportunity-enhancing—increase LMs' perceived ability, motivation and opportunity to perform in human resource management (HRM). Second, we analyse the role of LMs' AMO on the effective implementation of HR practices assessed in terms of employees' satisfaction with HR practices. We collected data from the HR manager, the line manager and between two and five employees (in total 302 employees) in each of the 100 Spanish companies in our sample. Our results reveal that HR motivation-enhancing initiatives increase LMs' motivation; and HR opportunity-enhancing initiatives improve LMs' perceived ability, motivation and opportunity, and indirectly the effectiveness of HRM implementation. We also found that LMs' opportunity is a crucial factor in improving the effectiveness of HR practice implementation. Implications for research and practices are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Drawing on human capital theory and sustainable career theory, this paper aims to explore the impact of undertaking an industrial placement on the "Great Eight" competencies as perceived by university students and line managers. Design/methodology/approach: 618 students and their line managers across three cohorts (pre-COVID-19) took part in a longitudinal quantitative study. Students completed a three-wave questionnaire at the placement's start, middle, and end. Line managers completed the questionnaire during waves two and three to offer 360-degree feedback. Descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVA were applied to the dataset. Findings: The impacts of undertaking a placement were highly variable for different competencies at the sub-scale level, although at the eight-scale level, the nuance was less pronounced. However, students self-perceived that all eight competencies increased between the start and end of the placement. Surprisingly, line managers perceived students' competencies to be higher than perceived by the students. Originality/value: The value of undertaking a placement is often poorly measured (e.g. satisfaction) rather than competency-based outcomes, which can lead to conclusions that are overly simplistic and difficult to use in practice. Theoretically, this study advances understanding of human capital theory and sustainable career theory by understanding the role placements can play in developing human capital and preparing university students for sustainable careers. Practically, the findings of this study can help to close the university–industry skills gap by informing curriculum and placement scheme design and supporting students to acquire personal resources and signal these to prospective employers as an antecedent to career sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identification is a key step in the organizational talent management process. Even though evaluating potential through an objective approach, integrating multiple methods, is recommended, many organizations rely upon line manager nominations as their main sources of identification. Given their central role, this study analyses the line managers’ attributes required to carry out an effective talent identification process. This qualitative study was drawn upon social cognition (social psychology framework) and talent identification literature with a sample of 20 managers, belonging to a multinational of Argentine origin, who described their experiences and requirements as talent spotters through semi-structured interviews. Results suggest that observation skills, listening and communication skills, cognitive skills, intuition, empathy, identification as part of the managerial role, low aversion to risk, vocation, predisposition to learn, resilience, and commitment are important attributes in the identification process. The present study provides a map of the talent spotter´s attributes that are necessary to assess employees´ potential.

A longitudinal study was conducted to determine the level and key determinants of job satisfaction among different categories of employees of a classical university on the example of University of Tyumen. A typology of university employees has been formed depending on the nature of job satisfaction: satisfied with (1) career growth and material component, (2) the meaning of work, fairness and comfort of work, (3) working conditions and equipment of the workplace. The highest overall job satisfaction is characteristic of employees who highly appreciated their satisfaction with the content of the work performed, fairness and comfort of work. Groups of factors that motivate employees to work effectively are identified: reliability and stability, career growth and social capital, managerial potential. The respondents who are most satisfied with their work are those who are motivated by career growth and building up social capital. This group is dominated by representatives of the university management and line managers. It was also found that job satisfaction is higher among those teachers and researchers who expect career changes related to territorial displacement. The results of the study can be useful to managers of university personnel services when developing a set of measures aimed at increasing job satisfaction among representatives of various professional groups, which will increase the prestige of work in the academic sector, retain talented employees and reduce staff turnover.

The aim of the article is to examine first-line managers’ experiences of their managerial role and gender in elderly care. Forty qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with first-line managers (35 women and five men) from four different organisations in Sweden. The findings suggest that the role of first-line managers was formed in everyday managerial work in two communities of practice: the care work community and the first-line manager community. The managers’ navigation between these two communities of practice created dual memberships. These memberships differed depending on micropolitical processes which arose in relation to their position, expectations and gender stereotypes. A female norm ruled within the first-line manager community, providing middle-aged women with elderly care experience with a greater legitimacy to control the community, while men were not so easily accepted. On the other hand, the male norm was more prominent in the care work community in line with managerial ideals and male managers received more credit as being more capable as managers. The study contributes by demonstrating that the managerial role and gender manifested themselves in different ways within these two communities of practice and provided different conditions, giving women and men different benefits or unequal conditions for performing leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reacting rapidly and adequately in the early stages of a crisis is crucial to effective crisis management. This study analyses the relationship between key first-line manager characteristics, early innovation adoption and crisis scenarios in the context of Danish eldercare during the early stages of the COVID-19 crisis. Our findings show that manager characteristics such as education level, eldercare job tenure and previous similar experience are important to early innovation adoption in crises. The study contributes to the crisis management literature by emphasizing the importance of first-line manager characteristics in effective crisis management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how human resource (HR) management can stimulate knowledge sharing among employees has received considerable attention recently. However, the extant research has focused predominantly on which HR practices are used and has paid little attention to how they are implemented. Building on both perspectives, we explore the nature of the gaps between intended and perceived HR practices and the effects of these gaps on knowledge‐sharing behaviours. Based on a survey of 198 respondents from a high‐tech company, we found that the gaps between intended and perceived HR practices (a) can be multidirectional, that is, both underestimation and overestimation of HR practices exist; (b) differ in their magnitude between line managers and employees; and (c) have varied effects on knowledge‐sharing behaviours—they can be positive, negative or have no impact, and these effects differ between line managers and employees. We discuss a range of conceptual, methodological and practice implications of these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the way in which first‐line managers in Belarusian chemical companies used environmental framings of the notion of homeland and linked these to Soviet‐legacy organisational practices in order to encourage members of staff to engage in proenvironmental behaviour at work. Participants presented three different framings of homeland: Rodina (the motherland), small Rodina (one's more immediate surroundings), and Katorga ("a country with forced labour") to show how a sense of environmental responsibility could (or could not) be linked to them. Different Soviet‐legacy motivational and mobilisation techniques could be used by front‐line managers to encourage and reward proenvironmental engagement in employees who were amenable to different framings of homeland. The paper contributes to the limited literature on patriotism as a conduit to environmental virtue and engagement, and to the equally scarce literature on proenvironmental attitudes and behaviours in post‐Soviet economies in transition. Through rich, qualitative descriptions of emotionally coloured framings of homeland as constitutive of environmental responsibility, we show how notions of patriotism linked to specific organisational practices provide front‐line managers with a language and motivational techniques to address employees' environmental engagement—or lack thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementing methodical co-creation as a new norm or social innovation in disability services takes more than regulatory policy steering or just delegating the change leadership mandate to first-line managers (FLMs). First, motivating and empowering FLMs requires sensemaking that is grounded in asset-based and sense-of-coherence approaches that both recognize and disturb their situated service narrative. Facilitated collective dialogues that are based on deep listening and salutogenic approach may help promote change towards the co-creative service culture. Second, pathological narratives that weaken FLMs' motivation and perceived abilities may be gradually transformed to instead empower them for change leadership. The authors analysed an ongoing service culture change in a strategically selected case. They illustrate how sensemaking can help to engender cultural change and, specifically, what sensemaking formats, approaches and strategies can have a transformative impact on first-line managers' narrative. The article contributes to the literature with insights on leadership through sensemaking and how public bodies can act as 'intelligent organizations' to enhance service co-creation. In addition, the authors show how an action researcher can complement a middle manager in change leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops grounded theory to understand how and when experts in lower-power peripheral roles can develop influential relationships with higher-power line managers in core functions to regularly elicit their cooperation. I use data from an ethnographic study of experts in peripheral roles—mental health professionals hired by the U.S. Army to provide rehabilitative services to active-duty soldiers suffering from conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)—and the line managers in core functions they depended on for their soldier-care recommendations to be followed—their soldiers' direct commanders. I analyze relational histories of 56 commander–provider dyads and detail a three-phase process model I refer to as "rapid relationality." Through the process of rapid relationality, mental health professionals capitalized on short windows of opportunity to quickly develop influential relationships with commanders, despite lacking formal authority over them, before a series of minor conflicts or a major conflict threatened their burgeoning influence. My analysis suggests it is not only what peripheral experts do that allows them to elicit cooperation from line managers but also when and how quickly they do it that matters. Speed and taking early action are important because experts cannot predict when conflict will occur and hence may have short initial windows of opportunity for establishing an influential relationship. I further find that some experts have fewer tactics available to them or must use more time-consuming and energy-intensive tactics than others to achieve the same relational influence based on their personal characteristics (e.g., gender). As a result, it may be harder for some experts to achieve relational influence before their window of opportunity closes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on frontline managers (FLM) who, until recently, have been neglected as key actors in the implementation of human resource management policies and subsequent employee performance outcomes. This research finds that FLMs are not a homogenous entity who act as robotic conformists, but rather evolve and become important agents shaping organisational performance outcomes and worker effort. The article extends social exchange theory to present a 'zone of reciprocity' that refines understanding of the causal chain between different FLM styles, HR policy and employee performance outcomes of organisational citizenship behaviour and commitment. The data are survey responses from 613 employees who all work and report to specific FLM in a single medical device multi‐divisional organisation. The article offers new theory development as well as implications for practitioners interested in FLM and the HR performance causal chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical evidence about whether and how managerial coaching relates to team performance continues to lag behind research conducted on individual employee outcomes. We address this question by drawing on social cognition theory and turning the spotlight on the moderating role of managers' learning goal orientation and the mediating role of team‐level architectural knowledge. We employ dual‐source data from 182 knowledge workers and their managers nested in 60 teams in knowledge‐based organisations. Our findings indicate that team‐level architectural knowledge mediates the relationship between managerial coaching skill and team performance when the managers' learning goal orientation is high rather than low. Our study contributes to the human resources literature by highlighting the importance of managers in devolved developmental interventions and offers practical implications for the informed workplace use of managerial coaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Purpose: Line managers’ HR role is considerably highlighted, and HR devolution is a definite future in organizational landscape. Accordingly, the principal objective of this study is to present a comprehensive framework of antecedents of strengthening line managers’ HR role and uncover its multi-level outcomes.Methodology: In line with the purpose of this study, all indicators, concepts, and categories of HR devolution were identified using the meta-synthesis qualitative research method. 113 manuscripts were identified by searching through authenticate scientific datasets sources. Finally, the data from 46 relevant research conducted in this field were selected and analyzed.Findings: Using seven-step model of Sandelowski and Barroso, the findings of 46 previous studies related to the objectives of the study were reviewed, aggregated, combined, and interpreted. A total number of 28 codes, five themes, and two dimensions were identified and validated through Kappa Cohen coefficient. The results indicate that precursors of HR devolution can be categorized into two main dimensions including organizational and psychological factors. Additionally, devolving HR to the line can affect outcome at three individuals, group, and organizational levels.Conclusion: Utilization of line managers’ HR role creates several competitive advantages in various levels of organization. Nonetheless, it should be noticed that an equal and concurrent attention to both organizational factors and line managers’ psychological elements is of utmost important. Moreover, the framework offered in this study which sheds light on different aspects of HR devolution, provides a basis for future studies

While previous research acknowledges the importance of line manager interpretations of information coming from the HR department for explaining various employee attitudes and behaviors, less is known about the antecedents of these interpretations, also known as HR attributions. This paper provides a qualitative examination of the interplay between three key antecedents of HR attributions, namely, line manager beliefs about the HR department, information from the HR department and context. Our analysis is based on 30 interviews with HR professionals and line managers in three units of one organization. Our findings suggest that differences in context have a strong impact on line manager beliefs about HR, influencing the way line managers see HR practices, processes and the role of the HR department, and consequently the way they interpret information coming from HR. Our analysis extends our understanding of the variability in line manager interpretations of HR information. Our results contribute to existing research on HRM strength and HR attributions by highlighting the importance of focusing not only on the consistency of the HR system, but also on individual line managers beliefs about HR, and the context in which HR processes take place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research has focused on employee emotion regulation as a stable dispositional tendency. Yet effective and healthy emotion regulation requires flexibly choosing between different regulation strategies in response to various workplace situational demands. In this study, we investigate the between- and within-person emotion regulation differences of 83 frontline managers across 10 working days. Using affective events theory, we examine managers' use of three main emotion regulation strategies (cognitive reappraisal, suppression, expression) in response to the negative affect they experience while engaging in various tasks, and the consequences for their daily stress. The moderating effects of four emotional intelligence abilities are also examined. Our results demonstrate negative emotions associated with work tasks are regulated in ways that are determined by stable, situational, and personal factors. Practical implications for organizations are considered. JEL Classification: JEL code - D23 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research takes place in an airline company seeking to improve its prevention measures in order to cope with the increase in medical restrictions among ground staff. We took as our starting point the actual practices of the first-line managers in order to improve the prevention measures, using the ergonomic approach to the work activity. The notion of mediation is used here because it is effective in accounting for a work activity caught up in antagonisms that are in tension with one another and potentially conflicting (health and production goals; short and long-term; management and agents). The results show the complexity of this multifaceted mediation activity deployed within the framework of a production planning task (constraints, decision-making processes and arbitrations, multiple criteria), which appears crucial for the sustainable and comprehensive prevention of health-related risks for subordinate agents. This activity is based on individual and collective experience (health indicators constructed in a given situation and discussed during the planning task). It depends on the intensity of the first-line managers' work (number of events to be managed and large number of criteria to be taken into account in the decision-making processes) and on their room for maneuver (composition of the workforce, representation of health issues, decision-making power). This set of results shows that health is not a task ancillary to the activity of first-line managers but an object under permanent construction and located at the heart of management issues, at the service of performance. In this respect, the informal prevention practices deployed by first-line managers should be made visible and linked to the prevention practices of occupational health services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored first-line managers' leadership behavior profiles regarding their goals for utilizing the garden at residential care facilities for older people. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a convenience sample of first-line managers (n = 12) in Sweden. Data were analyzed using deductive content analysis theoretically guided by the Three-dimensional Leadership Model. The results showed that the main leadership behavior profiles were related to the dimensions structure, relation and change. The managers emphasized workplace regulations and goals. They allowed staff to make decisions and encouraged them to see problems and opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research takes place in an airline company seeking to improve its prevention measures in order to cope with the increase in medical restrictions among ground staff. We took as our starting point the actual practices of the first-line managers in order to improve the prevention measures, using the ergonomic approach to the work activity. The notion of mediation is used here because it is effective in accounting for a work activity caught up in antagonisms that are in tension with one another and potentially conflicting (health and production goals; short and long-term; management and agents). The results show the complexity of this multifaceted mediation activity deployed within the framework of a production planning task (constraints, decision-making processes and arbitrations, multiple criteria), which appears crucial for the sustainable and comprehensive prevention of health-related risks for subordinate agents. This activity is based on individual and collective experience (health indicators constructed in a given situation and discussed during the planning task). It depends on the intensity of the first-line managers’ work (number of events to be managed and large number of criteria to be taken into account in the decision-making processes) and on their room for maneuver (composition of the workforce, representation of health issues, decision-making power). This set of results shows that health is not a task ancillary to the activity of first-line managers but an object under permanent construction and located at the heart of management issues, at the service of performance. In this respect, the informal prevention practices deployed by first-line managers should be made visible and linked to the prevention practices of occupational health services.

While previous research acknowledges the importance of line manager interpretations of information coming from the HR department for explaining various employee attitudes and behaviors, less is known about the antecedents of these interpretations, also known as HR attributions. This paper provides a qualitative examination of the interplay between three key antecedents of HR attributions, namely, line manager beliefs about the HR department, information from the HR department and context. Our analysis is based on 30 interviews with HR professionals and line managers in three units of one organization. Our findings suggest that differences in context have a strong impact on line manager beliefs about HR, influencing the way line managers see HR practices, processes and the role of the HR department, and consequently the way they interpret information coming from HR. Our analysis extends our understanding of the variability in line manager interpretations of HR information. Our results contribute to existing research on HRM strength and HR attributions by highlighting the importance of focusing not only on the consistency of the HR system, but also on individual line managers beliefs about HR, and the context in which HR processes take place.

Despite the number of studies confirming a high degree of unpredictability in managerial work, little is still known about how managers' workplace learning happens within organisations in such circumstances. This paper therefore aims to contribute knowledge about managers' learning in managerial practice when work is unpredictable, by investigating how first-line managers deal with unforeseen situations and how they learn in such circumstances in everyday work. Data was collected via qualitative interviews with 40 first-line managers in Swedish elderly care. By using a theoretical framework based on practice and workplace learning theories, the paper analyses how managers address unpredictability in work through three embedded practices: maintaining, modifying and inventing. The paper goes beyond research on leadership training and leadership development by contributing knowledge about the everyday learning of first-line managers when their work is unpredictable. The unpredictable managerial work does not always create chaos; instead, there are very orderly ways of learning from dealing with unforeseen situations. The unforeseen is not as unpredictable as it might seem in managerial work. On the other hand, that which is not yet known calls for an inventing practice, which results in managers learning to take new paths that can create new practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background & Purpose: The role of line managers is vital and undeniable in realization of the linkage between HRM practices and performance. The specifications of that role have not received sufficient scrutinization in previous local studies. In this study, for the first time, by applying a new theoretical model and a new method, in National Oil and Natural Gas Company, we tried to deeply investigate the role of line managers in HRM black box, identify their challenges in fulfilling their practical roles, and prioritize the importance of each challengeMethodology: Regarding the method, current study composed of two separated phases. First, by applying a meta-synthesis approach, known as ''mixed research synthesis'', and by methodological scrutinization of 243 credible articles, we came up with a thorough description of line managers’ status in HRM black box and investigated their functional/practical challenges. Second, by using AHP method, the identified challenges in the first step were prioritized.Findings: The phase of identification line managers’ practical challenges, led to explanation of many factors which then were categorized into five general challenges. In the factor prioritization phase, "CEO & HR managers support" was determined as the most important challenges, followed by "Knowledge, skill & ability", "commitment to people management". Finally, both factors of "role ambiguity & inconsistent priorities" and "load of work" together were rated as the less important challenges.Conclusion: When line managers fail in their effective roles in relation to HRM-related duties, the probability of failure in all HRP efforts and subsequently wasting organizational resources will be high. Accordingly, it is essential for CEOs and decision makers to consider line managers’ functional challenges and particularly focus on solutions to overcome them. At the end, in addition to discussion of the findings, future research directions are provided.

Orientation: Human capital development (HCD) initiatives are crucial in the education sector to improve the delivery of quality education. At the centre of quality teaching and learning are educators and lecturers who are competent and well-equipped to adapt to the changing environment. Research purpose: To explore whether HCD was the key responsibility of line managers in the South African (SA) education sector. Motivation of the study: Line managers are expected to continuously develop the competencies of educators and lecturers by implementing HCD interventions. There is limited empirical evidence that explored HCD responsibilities performed by line managers in the SA education sector. Research approach/design and method: This study adopted a qualitative research method underpinned by the interpretivist paradigm. Semistructured interviews were conducted with n = 12 purposively selected participants. The data collected were analysed using thematic analysis. Main findings: The findings of this article indicated that line managers are responsible for identifying training gaps, implementing HCD interventions and monitoring performance. The study also found that support from key stakeholders is imperative for line managers to effectively implement HCD activities. Furthermore, the study revealed that line managers do not utilise evaluation models to determine the effectiveness of HCD interventions. Practical/managerial implications: The study proposed reciprocal support for HCD stakeholders’ model that can assist policymakers, line managers and HCD professionals within the education sector. The model provides for the division and allocation of HCD tasks. Contributions/value-add: This study contributes to the body of knowledge in HCD within the SA education sector. In the practical context, this article proposed a reciprocal support for HCD stakeholders’ model to improve the effectiveness of HCD initiatives implemented by line managers.