An integrative review of the antecedents and consequences of lateral hiring
Abstract
Purpose
Although there is a burgeoning stream of research on lateral hiring (LH), lack of integration of the literature has obscured the past accomplishments and future directions remain unclear. The purpose of this paper is to review and synthesise the existing literature on LH in the spirit of further development of this field.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on an extensive review of the literature across multiple social science disciplines.
Findings
The study integrates the existing streams of research in such a way that human resources and personnel practitioners see the relevance of research and how they can mitigate the negative effects of LH. The study demonstrates how employers can acquire, develop and retain scarce human capital (HC) to help improve their competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of the review is that the search might have overlooked studies that employed specialised terminologies or keywords not used here.
Practical implications
The study outlines a number of implications for theory and human resource management.
Originality/value
This study advances research on LH by developing an integrated conceptual framework of how the attributes of the target employee, current employer and potential employer influence how LH is considered, instigated, responded to and accepted. The findings highlight the increasingly important role played by HC in developing sustainable competitive advantage.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The preliminary version of this paper was presented at the Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management Conference in 2013. The suggestions and comments of the participants have helped enormously in developing this paper.
Citation
Amankwah-Amoah, J. (2015), "An integrative review of the antecedents and consequences of lateral hiring", Journal of Management Development, Vol. 34 No. 7, pp. 754-772. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-01-2014-0007
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited