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Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of human resource management (HRM) in mitigating negative effects of Lean management and Six Sigma (LM&SS) on employee well-being in health care. The authors subdivide well-being into three components: happiness, trust and health. Design/methodology/approach This is a cross-sectional, multisite survey study in internal service units of hospitals. Data analyzed using multivariate regression come from a sample of 1,886 survey respondents (42 units, N = 218 supervisors, N = 1,668 employees) in eight Dutch academic hospitals that have implemented LM&SS. Findings The present study findings show no or weak effects of LM&SS on the happiness and health component of employee well-being. In addition, the authors found a significant but weak direct positive effect (ß = 0.07) of the LM&SS bundle on the trusting relationships component of well-being. Therefore, moderating effects of HRM practices on the relationship between LM&SS and employee well-being seem less relevant because an existing relationship between LM&SS and employee well-being is a prerequisite for moderation (Hayes, 2009). There were unexpected side effects. Inspired by research that discusses direct effects of HRM on employee well-being, the authors tested this relationship and found that HRM has a direct positive effect on trust and happiness of employees in health care. For the health component of well-being, the present results show a weak negative effect of HRM. Practical implications This study results in a cautiously optimistic view about LM&SS in health care, provided that it is applied in a targeted manner (to improve the performance of their processes) and that HRM is strategically aligned with the goals of LM&SS to improve employees’ happiness and trusting relationships. Originality/value Unique features of the study are the focus on the consequences for employees’ well-being related to LM&SS in health care, the role of HRM in regard to this relationship and the participation of all eight Dutch academic hospitals in this research.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationship between the agile way of working and team performance and engagement. Furthermore, psychological safety climate was investigated as a mediator of this relationship. As organizations are increasingly adopting the agile way of working method beyond the information technology (IT) setting, the authors researched its effects in teams across a variety of functional domains.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data was collected from 97 agile teams working in various functional domains in a multinational bank. The data was analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsResults indicated that the agile way of working is directly and positively related to team engagement and performance. Moreover, psychological safety climate acted as a partial mediator of each of the respective outcomes.Originality/valueThis study illustrated that the agile way of working is beneficial for teams beyond the IT setting, as it is positively associated with psychological safety climate, engagement and performance across functional domains.

PurposeThis study examines the theoretical and empirical relationships between LM&SS, human resource management (HRM), climate for LM&SS and outcomes (employee well-being and performance) in hospitals. As part of this research, the authors examine the interplay between “hard” and “soft” practices for LM&SS and “soft” HR practices.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional, multisite survey study covering all internal service units at all eight Dutch university hospitals was conducted (42 units,N = 218 supervisors,N = 1,668 employees), and multivariate multilevel regression analyses were performed.FindingsA systems approach involving “soft” LM&SS practices that are specifically HR-related has a positive effect (βis 0.46) on a climate for LM&SS. A climate for LM&SS is not related to perceived performance or employee health. It is, however, positively related to employee happiness and trusting relationships (bothβs are 0.33). We did not find that a climate for LM&SS had a mediating effect.Research limitations/implicationsThis study shows that a balanced approach involving both “hard” and “soft” factors is crucial to achieving the desired breadth and depth of LM&SS adoption at the macro, meso, and micro levels. The authors found that a climate for LM&SS positively affects employee well-being in hospitals.Practical implicationsIn their attempt to create mutual gains for both their organization and their employees, hospitals that adopt LM&SS should foster a climate for LM&SS by embracing a balanced approach consisting of both “hard” and “soft” practices, thereby internalizing LM&SS at the macro, meso, and micro levels.Originality/valueThis is one of the first studies to examine in-depth the impact of “hard” and “soft” LM&SS on both employee well-being (subdivided into different components) and performance in healthcare, as well as the role of “soft” HRM in this relationship. Linking LM&SS, HRM and outcomes to a climate for LM&SS is relatively a new approach and has led to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms underpinning the internalization of LM&SS in healthcare.

The Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach has taken a central role in healthcare quality management, and many studies report positive effects of the method on performance of healthcare organizations. However, LSS in healthcare is also unbalanced because the human side of the method is undervalued. A more balanced application of LSS in healthcare includes an interrelated approach of both “soft” and “hard” LSS practices, broad perspective on employee well-being, “soft” HR approach related to LSS, and “soft” climate for LSS. This leads to a renewed perspective on LSS in healthcare that considers both people and performance and where the interplay between “hard” and “soft” factors is addressed.

Although initially studies examining human resource management (HRM)–outcome relationships only used management-based ratings of HR practices, arguments have been advanced in favour of using employee-based ratings. To examine this, a systematic analysis of HRM–outcome studies published between 2000 and 2017 is performed, which shows that over time studies have indeed increasingly made use of employees as respondents to measures of human resource (HR) practices. An in-depth analysis of these measures of perceived HR practices revealed that various problems and issues can be identified when critically reviewing these measures. It is observed that considerable idiosyncrasy exists in measures of perceived HR practices, coupled with a lack of transparency in how these measures are often reported in existing studies. Also, a mixture of evaluative and descriptive items creates concerns about jingle fallacies in extant research and in turn about the validity of HRM–outcome results. Recommendations are provided to further advance the measurement and conceptualisation of this core construct.

In dit artikel geven we een overzicht van wat er bereikt is op gebied van HRM en Performance onderzoek. Dit doen we aan de hand van de volgende vragen: • Wat is er nu op dit terrein bereikt sinds de jaren tachtig? • Welke benaderingswijzen kunnen we onderscheiden? • De schaduwzijde van HRM en Performance • Wat zijn de belangrijkste modellen en auteurs in dit verband? • Hoe kunnen we daar in de praktijk ons voordeel mee doen? • Wat is de ontwikkeling van het vakgebied in de (nabije) toekomst? Voor de beantwoording ervan, starten we bij de klassieke benaderingen van HRM in de jaren tachtig, te weten de Harvard en Michigan benadering. In de jaren negentig zien we de opkomst van het empirisch onderzoek, eerst in de USA en daarna in het Verenigd Koninkrijk en vervolgens neemt het empirisch onderzoek in alsmaar geavanceerder vormen een hoge vlucht over de gehele wereld. De voornaamste bevindingen presenteren we in de vorm van de uitkomsten van review studies en meta-analyses. Op basis van een co-citatie analyse kunnen we ook de voornaamste onderzoekers in beeld brengen, inclusief hun netwerken. Met aanbevelingen voor de praktijk en het schetsen van een wenkend perspectief voor toekomstig HRM onderzoek sluiten we af.In this paper, we give an overview of what has been achieved in the domain of HRM and Performance research. Starting from the classic frameworks of Harvard and Michigan, we describe the development towards more empirical research, first in the USA, later in the UK and subsequently a spread across the globe of increasingly more sophisticated research in this area. Based on numerous papers, we are able to present the findings by means of review studies and meta-analyses. The paper also deals with some of the pitfalls in empirical research. Based on a co-citation analysis we are able to present an overview of the main authors in this knowledge domain. With some recommendations for practitioners as well as the future perspectives for HRM research we finalize this paper.

The diversity of practices observed in small enterprises demands a new evaluation of HRM with respect to its phenotypes and functions. By bringing HRM back to its functional requirements as represented by the need to control the human side of work as well as the differentiation and integration of tasks, we develop a configurational model of eight ideal types of HRM, that resonate in previous research as well as in emerging organization types in the networked economy. Based on varying positions along the hierarchy, formalities and input- or output-oriented dimensions of control, we discern craft employers, traditional owner-managers, and strategic-, knowledge-, and bleak house entrepreneurs from subcontracted work, alliances and partnerships. Because control serves as a bridge between agency and structure, the proposed classification offers an analytical starting point for detecting, describing, contrasting, comparing and contextualizing empirically observed HRM configurations in a broad diversity of small enterprises. The approach offers a mid-range theory, which allows for generalization across small enterprises without the risk of losing peculiar responses to enacting HRM.

Self‐management by older persons could be influenced by the level of trust found in triads of informal carers, formal care providers and care recipient, the older person. Little research has been done on care providers’ trust in older persons. This study aims to explore the level of trust that informal carers and home care nurses have in older persons, the extent of alignment in triads and the relationship between trust in older persons and self‐management. We conducted a cross‐sectional survey study in the Netherlands, sampling 133 older persons, 64 informal carers and 72 nurses, which resulted in 39 triads. Alignment level was analysed through Intraclass Correlation Coefficient 1 scores and absolute and mean difference scores. Correlation analysis and one‐way analysis of variance measured the relationship between trust and self‐management. The results show that triads contain both alignment and misalignment. Misalignment occurs mostly when informal carers and nurses have little trust in the older person while this person views their own behaviour towards their caregivers positively. Care providers’ trust levels relate significantly to their perception of the person's ability to self‐manage, but not to the person's self‐rated ability. This could be explained by care providers not communicating their intrinsic trust in the older person to them. Trust building could be enhanced by organising discussions of mutual expectations of trust and both formal and informal care providers could benefit from compassionate assessment training, to learn how to openly express their trust in the older person.

While it is generally assumed that employees who feel well are also productive, research has shown that this is not always the case. Specifically, some employees seem to experience low well-being while performing, and vice versa. As employee well-being and performance are both required to achieve corporate sustainability, the purpose of this research was to identify energy-related well-being/job performance profiles among 5729 employees from the Dutch division of a large bank and identify their antecedents. Using latent profile analysis, we found five profiles: 1. low well-being/low performance, 2. low well-being/medium performance, 3. high well-being/medium performance, 4. high well-being/high performance, and 5. high well-being/top performance. Using multinomial regression, we found that more learning and development opportunities, more social support from colleagues, more autonomy, and less role-conflict were related to the high well-being profiles. Second, more role clarity, more performance feedback, more autonomy, and less work-pressure were related to the high- and top-performance profiles. Finally, communication and social support from the manager were found to be relatively weak antecedents of the different profiles. This study thus highlights that the job demands and resources of employees may affect their well-being and performance.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to raise awareness that despite many calls for attention to a firm’s context in considering consequences for human resource management (HRM) and performance, research progress to date has been limited at best, although promising signs of change are emerging. Moreover, what has been defined as “performance” is coming under increasing scrutiny, with a more holistic concept emerging that balances both a firm’s financial performance and employee well-being. The question remains whether this is a mutual gains or conflicting outcomes situation for the firm vis-á-vis the employee. Design/methodology/approach This paper presents a framework that facilitates a broader context-centric analysis of the HRM and performance relationship. In so doing, the authors posit that context should no longer merely be an obligatory control variable in a research design, but instead should be explicitly incorporated in both theory development and empirical model testing. Findings The Contextual SHRM Framework demonstrates how key organizational actors can balance competitive, heritage and institutional mechanisms to create an appropriate strategic HRM (SHRM) system capable of delivering organizational outcomes that balance financial and employee well-being outcomes, which in the long run impact societal well-being that, in turn, recreates the firm’s operating context. At the heart of the framework is an iterative process between context and the SHRM system, achieving an appropriate level of dynamic fit across the various components. Practical implications In addition to empirical research, the framework has to date been widely used in executive development training, serving as a force field analysis tool allowing simultaneous consideration of the external and internal elements of a firm’s context, key organizational actors and SHRM system outcomes. HR professionals applying the framework to their organization can add value by demonstrating the clear linkage between the business strategy, the HRM system and the firm’s operating context. Originality/value This paper is designed to encourage new directions in future research and practice. The Contextual SHRM Framework is presented as a novel tool to facilitate advancement of the HRM and performance field of study.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the key ingredients that people analytics teams require to contribute to organizational performance. As the information that is currently available is fragmented, it is difficult for organizations to understand what it takes to execute people analytics successfully.Design/methodology/approachTo identify the key ingredients, a narrative literature review was conducted using both traditional people analytics and broader business intelligence literature. The findings were summarized in the People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel.FindingsThe People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel identifies four categories of ingredients that a people analytics team requires to be effective. These are enabling resources, products, stakeholder management and governance structure. Under each category, multiple sub-themes are discussed, such as data and infrastructure; senior management support; and knowledge, skills, abilities and other characteristics (KSAOs) (enablers).Practical implicationsMany organizations are still trying to set up their people analytics teams, and many others are struggling to improve decision-making by using people analytics. For these companies, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the current literature and describes what it takes to contribute to organizational performance using people analytics.Originality/valueThis paper is designed to provide organizations and researchers with a comprehensive understanding of what it takes to execute people analytics successfully. By using the People Analytics Effectiveness Wheel as a guideline, scholars are now better equipped to research the processes that are required for the ingredients to be truly effective.

© 2019, © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. HR managers have different beliefs about the nature, value, and instrumentality of talent—referred to as ‘talent philosophies’. In line with cognitive psychology, we reason that talent philosophies are similar to mental models that influence how HR managers interpret and use talent management (TM) practices within their organizations. In this article, we explore the prevalence of four different talent philosophies (exclusive/stable; exclusive/developable; inclusive/stable; inclusive/developable) in a sample of 321 HR managers. We then explore how talent philosophies relate to organizational context (i.e. size, ownership form, multinational orientation) as well as to HR managers’ perceptions of their organization’s TM practices. Cluster analysis corroborated the presence of the four talent philosophies in our dataset. All four talent philosophies were represented almost equally often in the overall dataset. Organizational size was found to be related to talent philosophies, such that HR managers who worked in smaller organizations were more likely to hold an inclusive talent philosophy. We also found support for the relationship between talent philosophies and perceptions of the exclusiveness or inclusiveness of the organization’s definition of talent, and its degree of workforce differentiation. Contrary to expectations, results did not support a link between talent philosophies and perceived talent identification criteria. ispartof: International Journal of Human Resource Management vol:31 issue:4 pages:562-588 status: published

In this paper we develop a new typology connecting strategic human resource management (SHRM) to different models of firm-level corporate governance. By asking questions concerning ownership and control issues in the corporate governance literature and drawing on institutional logics, we build a typological framework that identifies four firm-level archetypes of corporate governance systems. Two archetypes represent dominant logic types (shareholder value, communitarian stakeholder), while the other two represent hybrid organizations (enlightened shareholder value, employee-ownership). Using these archetypes, we theorize the implications of different governance structures for SHRM and the challenges they pose. We conclude by discussing a novel solution to many of these challenges based on the corporate sustainability literature, and, in so doing, provide new directions for SHRM research to tackle key challenges facing organizations and the management of people.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review empirical research on the relationship between organization-based social support and the success of international assignments (IAs). Design/methodology/approach Four search engines were used to obtain empirical studies relating organization-based social support to success criteria. Studies were compared based on type of theoretical foundation, criteria of success, source of social support and study design. Findings The reviewed studies draw on three theoretical paradigms – based on stress, social capital and relational exchange. The results demonstrate that expatriates receive social support from multiple organization-based sources and that these sources’ proximity to the expatriate influences the relationship between social support and success. Regarding geographical proximity, sources in the home and host countries fulfil different supportive functions and therefore stimulate different success criteria. Additionally, the success criteria stimulated by organizational support depend on the type of supportive practices offered. The impact of support from organizational members is further influenced by their hierarchical proximity to the expatriate, with supervisory support relating most strongly to success. In addition to proximity, characteristics of the expatriating employee and the assignment (e.g. expatriate motivation and assignment hardship) influence the value of social support. Finally, social support relates most strongly to expatriates’ satisfaction, commitment, and adjustment and these frequently mediate its effect on expatriates’ retention and performance. Research limitations/implications Although only organization-based sources were considered, this review demonstrates that a multidimensional perspective is warranted when examining the effects of social support during IAs. Practical implications This review provides insights into the ways organizations could and should assist (self-initiated) expatriates when aiming for specific outcomes. Originality/value This in-depth examination of social support in the work environment of expatriates combines several theoretical paradigms and investigates multiple criteria of success.

BackgroundHospitals are confronted with increasing safety demands from a diverse set of stakeholders, including governmental organisations, professional associations, health insurance companies, patient associations and the media. However, little is known about the effects of these institutional and competitive pressures on hospital safety management. Previous research has shown that organisations generally shape their safety management approach along the lines of control- or commitment-based management. Using a heuristic framework, based on the contextually-based human resource theory, we analysed how environmental pressures affect the safety management approach used by hospitals.MethodsA qualitative study was conducted into hospital care in the Netherlands. Five hospitals were selected for participation, based on organisational characteristics as well as variation in their reputation for patient safety. We interviewed hospital managers and staff with a central role in safety management. A total of 43 semi-structured interviews were conducted with 48 respondents. The heuristic framework was used as an initial model for analysing the data, though new codes emerged from the data as well.ResultsIn order to ensure safe care delivery, institutional and competitive stakeholders often impose detailed safety requirements, strong forces for compliance and growing demands for accountability. As a consequence, hospitals experience a decrease in the room to manoeuvre. Hence, organisations increasingly choose a control-based management approach to make sure that safety demands are met. In contrast, in case of more abstract safety demands and an organisational culture which favours patient safety, hospitals generally experience more leeway. This often results in a stronger focus on commitment-based management.ConclusionsInstitutional and competitive conditions as well as strategic choices that hospitals make have resulted in various combinations of control- and commitment-based safety management. A balanced approach is required. A strong focus on control-based management generates extrinsic motivation in employees but may, at the same time, undermine or even diminish intrinsic motivation to work on patient safety. Emphasising commitment-based management may, in contrast, strengthen intrinsic motivation but increases the risk of priorities being set elsewhere. Currently, external pressures frequently lead to the adoption of control-based management. A balanced approach requires a shift towards more trust-based safety demands.

Professor Bruce Kaufman's look back at two seminal books published at the beginning of the strategic HRM field and examination of two recent books to trace the evolution of the field identifies some issues, but ones with which the field has dealt for a number of years. His choice of our book HRM and Performance provided the wrong target, and consequently his analysis seemed to miss the mark. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Background:Due to the growing prevalence of elderly patients with multi-morbidity living at home, there is an increasing need for primary care professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds to collaborate as primary care teams. However, it is unclear how primary care professionals conceptualize teams and what underlying factors influence their perception of being part of a team. Our research question is: What are primary care professionals' perceptions of teams and team membership among primary care disciplines and what factors influence their perceptions?Methods:We conducted a mixed-methods study in the Dutch primary care setting. First, a survey study of 152 professionals representing 12 primary care disciplines was conducted, focusing on their perceptions of which disciplines are part of the team and the degree of relational coordination between professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds. Subsequently, we conducted semi-structured interviews with 32 professionals representing 5 primary care disciplines to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying factors influencing their perceptions and the (mis)alignment between these perceptions.Results:Misalignments were found between perceptions regarding which disciplines are members of the team and the relational coordination between disciplines. For example, general practitioners were viewed as part of the team by helping assistants, (district) nurses, occupational therapists and geriatric specialized practice nurses, whereas the general practitioners themselves only considered geriatric specialized practice nurses to be part of their team. Professionals perceive multidisciplinary primary care teams as having multiple inner and outer layers. Three factors influence their perception of being part of a team and acting accordingly: a) knowing the people you work with, b) the necessity for knowledge exchange and c) sharing a holistic view of caregiving.Conclusion:Research and practice should take into account the misalignment between primary care professionals' perceptions of primary care teams, as our study notes variations in the conceptualization of primary care teams. To enhance teamwork between professionals from different disciplinary backgrounds, professionals acknowledge the importance of three underlying conditions: team familiarity, regular and structured knowledge exchange between all professionals involved in the care process and realizing and believing in the added value for patients of working as a team.Keywords: Mixed-methods; Primary care; Primary care professionals; Primary care teams; Relational coordination; Team fluidity; Teamwork

BackgroundSpeaking up is important for patient safety, but healthcare professionals often hesitate to voice their concerns. Direct supervisors have an important role in influencing speaking up. However, good insight into the relationship between managers’ behaviour and employees’ perceptions about whether speaking up is safe and worthwhile is still lacking.AimTo explore the relationships between control-based and commitment-based safety management, climate for safety, psychological safety and nurses’ willingness to speak up.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey study, resulting in a sample of 980 nurses and 93 nurse managers working in Dutch clinical hospital wards. To test our hypotheses, hierarchical regression analyses (at ward level) and multilevel regression analyses were conducted.ResultsSignificantly positive associations were found between nurses’ perceptions of control-based safety management and climate for safety (β=0.74; pConclusionResults provide initial support that nurses who perceive higher levels of commitment-based safety management feel safer to take interpersonal risks and are more willing to speak up about patient safety concerns. Furthermore, nurses’ perceptions of control-based safety management are found to be positively related to a climate for safety, although no association was found with speaking up. Both control-based and commitment-based management approaches seem to be relevant for managing patient safety, but when it comes to encouraging speaking up, a commitment-based safety management approach seems to be most valuable.

This paper seeks to extend the literature on how change occurs in organizational routines by examining the link between routines and schemata and showing the cognitive and motivational factors involved. Using an in-depth analysis of a Japanese multinational, we develop an account of how a newly-implemented centralized performance management routine is interpreted by managers at two subsidiaries. We show how different performances of subroutines emerge into a new ostensive pattern of a routine, and how the cognitive and motivational aspects of individual agency are manifested in this process and how they affect the espoused organizational schema.

While social support is recognized as an important factor for successful international assignment, there is, to date, no overview of the supportive agents during the expatriation process and their influence on different criteria of expatriate success. We culminate findings of 84 independent studies that examined the social support provided by community-, work-, and family-domain agents in relation to four criteria of expatriate success: adjustment, commitment, performance, and retention. We explore the role of social support proximity: the physical, cultural, or hierarchical distance between a supporting agent and the expatriate. Our meta-analysis demonstrates that the strength of the support-success relationship (ρ = .24 overall) depends on this supporting agent and the success criterion under study. We visualized the meta-analytical estimates of the different relationships between social support and success criteria using a force-directed graph, demonstrating that adjustment and performance criteria have similar relationships to social support, distinct from those of commitment or retention criteria. Implications for future research and practices that do or do not foster the success of expatriate assignments are discussed.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to offer a perspective on the future of the human resource management (HRM)-performance debate and its prospects for interaction with practice by evaluating the debate's intellectual structure. Design/methodology/approach – With co-citation analysis the paper examines the intellectual structure that informed the HRM-performance debate. The findings were presented to a group of academics, who have been influential in the development of the debate. In several rounds of a quasi-Delphi interaction they discussed the state of the art, future development of the debate, upcoming theoretical sources of inspiration and topics on which they (dis)agreed. Findings – The dominant knowledge domain is built upon resource-based view, social exchange theory, human capital theory, institutional theory and critical perspective. It became well established in the mid 1990s, when the strategic HRM domain merged with the high performance work systems domain, thus forming the conceptual backbone of the debate. More recently the debate has been informed by review studies, meta-analyses and critical reflections on the current methodological paradigms, which is aligned with the debate's life cycle stage. Originality/value – The paper highlights the theoretical foundations of the HRM-performance debate and gives valuable suggestions on how to take the field forward along with important implications for researchers and their relationship with the business community.

This article provides a theory-driven framework simultaneously linking Lean Management and Six Sigma (LM&SS), enabling HRM and strategic climate to outcomes in health care. This framework contributes toward our understanding of direct and indirect (moderating and mediating) effects related to LM&SS in the context of health care. We argue that enabling HRM is crucial in creating mutual gains. The general underlying idea is that LM&SS, combined with enabling HRM, foster employee well-being (happiness, health and trusting relationships) and improve organizational performance. The challenge is to go beyond the simple application of LM&SS and to develop a climate of continuous improvement. We suggest that in order to sustain continuous improvement, it is important that health-care organizations aim for a strategic climate, which focuses the shared perceptions of employees on quality, efficiency and innovation.

In this paper we develop a heuristic framework to identify how organizations survive in the dynamic environment caused by the economic crisis, by identifying organizational practices which are important determinants of organizational agility and determining in what way institutional mechanisms facilitate or hinder organizations in achieving organizational agility. Our paper starts with setting out the characteristics of a dynamic environment and the challenges organizations face in such an environment. Next, we discuss the concept of dynamic capabilities and develop this concept toward a heuristic framework for organizational agility. In this framework we focus our attention to three specific topics: the way in which an organization can scale its' workforce, maintain and extend its' knowledge base and is able to balance both control and autonomy through its' organizational infrastructure. We then turn our attention to the institutional context, which impacts the decisions of the adoption and implementatio...

We provide an ethical evaluation of the debate on managing diversity within teams and organizations between equality and business case scholars. Our core assertion is that equality and business case perspectives on diversity from an ethical reading appear stuck as they are based on two different moral perspectives that are difficult to reconcile with each other. More specifically, we point out how the arguments of equality scholars correspond with moral reasoning grounded in deontology, whereas the foundations of the business case perspective are crafted by utilitarian arguments. We show that the problems associated with each diversity perspective correspond with the traditional concerns with the two moral perspectives. To resolve this stalemate position, we argue that the equality versus business case debate needs to be approached from a third, less well-known moral perspective (i.e. virtue ethics). We posit that a focus on virtues can enhance equality by reducing prejudice and illustrate this by applying it to the HRM domains of recruitment and selection and of performance management. Subsequently, we argue that values are key to aligning virtues with each other and with corporate strategy, delineate our values and virtues perspective on diversity, and argue why and how it can enhance organizational performance.

Background: Team safety and team innovation are underexplored in the context of long-term care. Understanding the issues requires attention to how teams cope with error. Team managers could have an important role in developing a team's error orientation and managing team membership instabilities. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the impact of team member stability, team coaching, and a team's error orientation on team safety and innovation. Methodology: A cross-sectional survey method was employed within 2 long-term care organizations. Team members and team managers received a survey that measured safety and innovation. Team members assessed member stability, team coaching, and team error orientation (i.e., problem-solving and blaming approach). The final sample included 933 respondents from 152 teams. Findings: Stable teams and teams with managers who take on the role of coach are more likely to adopt a problem-solving approach and less likely to adopt a blaming approach toward errors. Both error orientations are related to team member ratings of safety and innovation, but only the blaming approach is (negatively) related to manager ratings of innovation. Differences between members' and managers' ratings of safety are greater in teams with relatively high scores for the blaming approach and relatively low scores for the problem-solving approach. Team coaching was found to be positively related to innovation, especially in unstable teams. Practical Implications: Long-term care organizations that wish to enhance team safety and innovation should encourage a problem-solving approach and discourage a blaming approach. Team managers can play a crucial role in this by coaching team members to see errors as sources of learning and improvement and ensuring that individuals will not be blamed for errors. Copyright

PurposeThis study aims to “bridge” two streams of HRM research: organisation level research on HRM and performance and individual level research on employee work perceptions and behavioural performance. This study seeks to analyse the value of organisation level HRM practices for individual level employees' assessment of the degree of violation of their psychological contracts. It also aims to examine the contribution of commitment HRM practices and traditional HRM practices in explaining perceptions of psychological contract violation.Design/methodology/approachBased on a sample of 49 organisations with 2,099 individual respondents, the paper analyses the relationship between organisation level HRM practices and individual level employees' assessment of the degree of violation of their psychological contracts, using multi‐level analysis.FindingsThe findings show a clear positive influence of a number of HRM practices. More use of HRM practices leads to lower levels of perceived psychological contract violation for individual employees, regardless of individual characteristics. Commitment HRM practices explain about half of the variance in psychological contract violation that is due to the total amount of HRM practices.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of the study is its cross‐sectional design and the measure of HRM practices, indicating more or less explicit attention for HRM in an organization, but not possible substitutable and synergetic effects between various HRM practices. Further research should therefore explore the effect of combinations of HRM practices. Findings however do indicate the relevance of organization level HRM for individual level perceptions of the employment relationship.Practical implicationsIt is in the interest of managers to have a clear knowledge of which organisational activities will elicit those attitudes and behaviours necessary to achieve organisational goals. These findings highlight the importance of HRM practices to contribute to employees' realistic assessment of the mutual demands of their employment relationship with their organization. The more HRM practices the better in terms of employees' psychological contract violation. Furthermore, the findings show the importance of commitment HRM practices, but also the remaining relevance of more traditional practices.Originality/valueThis study combines insights on organisation level HRM with insights on individual level psychological contracts. Although the necessity of using multi‐level analysis in these kinds of studies has been argued by various researchers, this study is one of the first to use this analytical technique, thus genuinely showing the impact of organizational level HRM practices on individual level HR outcomes (in this case the psychological contract).

There is a lack of consensus on the role of employee well-being in the human resource management–organizational performance relationship. This review examines which of the competing perspectives –‘mutual gains’ or ‘conflicting outcomes’– is more appropriate for describing this role of employee well-being. In addition, this review examines whether study attributes such as the measurement of key variables, the level of analysis and the study design affect a study's outcomes. The review covers 36 quantitative studies published from 1995 to May 2010. Employee well-being is described here using three dimensions: happiness, health and relationship. The main findings are that employee well-being in terms of happiness and relationship is congruent with organizational performance (mutual gains perspective), but that health-related well-being appears to function as a conflicting outcome. Directions for future research and theoretical development are suggested.

While interest in performance management has increased considerably in recent years, research has revealed inconsistent results about its effectiveness. Inconsistencies may be related to insufficient understanding of the factors likely to enhance the effectiveness of performance management systems. The current study seeks to address this issue by investigating performance management systems in 16 world-leading firms. We use signalling theory [e.g. Spence (1973), Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87, 355–374; Murray (1991), Journal of Marketing, 55, 10–25] to propose that to the extent that firms promote certain facilitating practices, employees infer that management is concerned with performance management issues, and this may have a trickle-down effect with regard to the effectiveness of the firm's performance management system. Our framework proposes four performance management system facilitators, which include (1) taking a broad view of performance management that includes both strategic and tactical el...

This study examined how employees perceive intended strategic goals and HRM at the ward level, and if these perceptions generate the desired effects. The qualitative part of the research reveals that the hospital pursues two strategic goals (i.e. quality and safety). Analysis of the questionnaire data (N = 576 respondents; 59 wards) shows that both climate dimensions could be distinguished. Results showed that the perceived HR system does have a significant influence on both climate dimensions, suggesting that the overall message of the HR system is important for creating strategic climates. Furthermore, the climate for quality partially mediated the relationship between the perceived HR system and commitment.

Social support is recognized as an important factor for successful international assignment. However, to date, there is no overview of the agents of social support during the expatriation process a...

We examined to what extent the voluntary turnover of graduate recruits is affected by their tenure and by the performance evaluations, leadership potential assessments, and short-term international...

Contains fulltext : 90565.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) This article presents a two-wave cross-lagged study (average interval of two years) on time precedence in the relationship between organizational climate and organizational performance in 171 branches of a financial services organization in the Netherlands. It is argued that four HR-induced organizational climate dimensions influence organizational performance. Additionally, it was also hypothesized that high organizational performance influences the four organizational climate dimensions through investments in HR practices and through signalling effects. Finally, it was reasoned that possibly both processes are present simultaneously. Results of testing a series of competing models in AMOS showed that organizational climate at time point 1 influenced organizational performance at time point 2 rather than the reverse, or both processes being present simultaneously.

Considerable attention has focused on how multinational corporations (MNCs) deal with the simultaneous pressures of globalization and localization when it comes to human resource management (HRM). HR function activities in this process, however, have received less focus. The study presented here identifies configurations of the corporate HR function based on international HRM (IHRM) structures, exploring how issues of interdependency shape corporate HR roles. The study is based on 248 interviews in 16 MNCs based in 19 countries. The findings are applied to develop a contextually based framework outlining the main corporate HR function configurations in MNCs, including new insights into methods of IHRM practice design. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Global firms often struggle to replicate practices among their culturally and geographically dispersed subsidiaries. Part of the reason for this is that certain practices, including human resource management (HRM) practices, are complex and context specific. In this study, we develop a framework to help identify how firms might overcome challenges of practice replication through alignment of information systems, application processes, and people. We find that managerial alignment of formal processes and systems, along with informal alignment of people (shared objectives), improve the capability of a multinational corporation (MNC) to replicate human resource practices across subsidiaries. We also discuss managerial implications.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the human resource management (HRM) literature that builds up to our current concern with dualities, paradoxes, ambiguities, and balance issues; and to introduce the six papers in this special issue on managing the dualities in HRM.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a literature review taking a historical look at the development of the HR field up to the present awareness of the complexity of the concept and practice of HRM.FindingsAlmost 30 years on, is being found now increasing evidence of the dualities, paradoxes, and ambiguities entailed in HRM.Research limitations/implicationsThe literature review starts with the personnel management (PM)‐HRM and industrial relations‐HRM debates in the 1980s. Earlier work on traditional PM is not debated in this paper.Practical implicationsAfter reading this general review practitioners might gain more insights in the potential tensions, ambiguities, and conflicts of interest that are characteristic for the field of HRM in practice.Originality/valueFirst, this paper highlights the interest of the pluralist perspective in contrast to the dominating unitarist approaches in contemporary human resource studies. Second, this overview presents methodological challenges for example, with regard to multi‐level and multi‐actor research. Finally, the paper presents alternative theories for future research including new institutionalism, strategic balance theory, and health psychology theories.

We adopt the social network perspective to develop a conceptual model and examine the relationship among human resource (HR) practices, interpersonal relations, and intrafirm knowledge transfer in knowledge-intensive firms. Our results indicate that work design, along with training and development HR practices, can shape the structural relation. At the same time, both also exhibit potential for shaping affective and cognitive relations within a firm's social network. While the effects of work design along with training and development HR practices on intrafirm knowledge transfer are primarily mediated by interpersonal relations, we found some evidence for arguing that incentives and motivation HR practices directly affect intrafirm knowledge transfer.

PurposeResearch in strategic human resource management (HRM) has focused mainly on the effects of HRM practices or systems on organizational effectiveness. However, institutional theory argues that besides being financially successful, organizations also need legitimacy to survive. Owing to the tension between competitive and institutional pressures, organizations balance between the degree of conformity and the degree of differentiation from competitors regarding HRM. The purpose of this paper is to address how institutional pressures help shape HRM.Design/methodology/approachUsing the concepts of leeway, human agency and strategic choice, differences in three types of institutional fit are highlighted: innovative, conformist and deviant. A comparative case study approach is used in order to illustrate the framework, using document analysis and 43 interviews in three organizations in The Netherlands.FindingsThis paper shows how balancing competitive and institutional pressures in organizations affects HRM. The cases illustrate the proposed theoretical framework, showing leeway, human agency, strategic choice and the nature of institutional fit. The organizations each illustrate a type of institutional fit. Moreover, not the institutional context itself, but the organization's response seems to make a difference for the nature of institutional fit.Originality/valueWhile previous studies focus on the effects of HRM on organizational effectiveness, this paper examines how the balance between competitive and institutional pressures affects HRM and aims to show that institutional fit can contribute to strategic HRM by providing insight in this more balanced goal setting of organizations.

This study aimed at explaining why multinational companies have difficulty retaining their repatriates as well as how multinational companies can improve in- and expatriate performance. In the study 100 in- and expatriates of a multinational company operating in the food and personal care industry reported the career support they experienced, their perceived career prospects within and outside the home organization, their intentions to leave, and their performance. As predicted, it was found that perceived career support negatively related to intentions to leave. Additionally, it was found that perceived career support positively related to perceived career prospects within the home organization and expatriate performance. Interestingly, no relationship was found between perceived career prospects outside the home organization and intentions to leave. Implications and directions for future research and HR practices in multinational companies are discussed.

Twenty years ago Guest (1987) published his normative framework describing the essence of HRM. He presented HRM as a new approach to personnel management, emphasizing its strategic contribution, its closer alignment to business, the involvement of line management, and focusing on HRM outcomes like commitment, flexibility and quality. The achievement of these human resource outcomes was, in turn, expected to contribute to a range of positive organizational outcomes, including high job performance, low turnover, low absence and high cost-effectiveness through the full utilization of employees, now relabelled as human resources. Put this way, it is not difficult to understand the wide appeal that the notion of HRM had (and still has) to academics and practitioners alike. It led to the renaming of chairs/departments within universities and to changed job titles in the business community. The attractiveness of the concept of HRM increased considerably when Huselid, in 1995, published a ground-breaking paper in the Academy of Management Journal in which he demonstrated a correlation between the degree of sophistication of HR-systems and the market value per employee among a range of publicly quoted companies in the USA. The paper generated admiration, criticism and an abundance of 'me too' research, trying to replicate the proclaimed relationship between HRM and Performance (Delery and Doty, 1996; Guthrie, 2001; Koch and McGrath, 1996; Wright et al., 2003). Since then many academics on both sides of the Atlantic have become active in this field, with a special focus on the relationship between HRM and Performance. Within this rapidly expanding field of study, the HRM–Performance relationship has been approached from a variety of perspectives rooted in organizational behaviour, sociology, economics, industrial relations and organizational psychology, with a particular emphasis placed on the impact of various combinations of human resource practices on a range of performance outcomes at the individual and organizational level of analysis.