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The purpose of this paper is to attempt to investigate the relationship between human resource management (HRM) competency and firm performance. Drawn upon the resource-based view and alignment theory, HRM competency is expected to be related to the adoption of high performance work systems (HPWS) and the achievement of external fit in HRM, which in turn contribute to firm performance.

The data for this study were collected via a survey of in 157 Chinese enterprises located in the high technology development zone of three large cities. Two different respondents from each firm provided information about organizational characteristics, HRM policy and practices, and firm performance. Multiple regressions were used to test the hypotheses.

Results indicate that HRM competency has a significant and positive effect on firm performance. Such an effect is found to be mediated by the achievement of external fit, but not the adoption of HPWS.

Limitations of the study include cross-sectional data, perceptual measure of firm performance, omission of external variables, and restricted sample. This study highlights the importance of HRM competency in strategic HRM, and provides evidence about how this construct is linked to firm performance.

This is the first study that explores the effect of HRM competency on the adoption of HPWS and the achievement of external fit. It further reveals that the achievement of external fit mediates the relationship between HRM competency and firm performance, and hence contributes to the HRM literature.

The change in the environment of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) has accentuated the need for managers to understand the relationship between strategy, HRM and organizational effectiveness. The purpose of this paper is to examine contingencies that underlie strategy, HRM and the dimensions of fit and flexibility in the actual HRM practices implemented by two study organizations that have deployed HRM in strategic change.

The research used two case studies of NPOs who reported that they adopted HR practices as an integral component of their adaptive strategy to achieve a fit. Thus, the research adopted purposive sampling to determine the cases that are appropriate to examine the research questions.

The findings provide evidence of horizontal and vertical fit and flexibility‐focused HRM practices designed to provide strategic alternatives. The research raises questions about how well NPOs’ managers understand contingency drivers of strategy, HRM practices and the direction of HRM in NPOs. A number of factors contributed to promote fit, flexibility and HR practices. First, the emphasis on HRM as a critical priority in strategy by senior management. Second, factor that may have contributed to fit and flexibility dimension is the use of professional managers in the NPOs. The case organizations involved either internal or external consultants with HRM expertise in strategic planning process. Finally, organisational structure that facilitated communication channels within both organizations. Both organizations emphasized internal communications as a way of engaging employees.

The findings set the groundwork for major research which could extend findings from previous empirical research, that strategy of NPOs is aligned with the level of HR practices in some functions such as training and not aligned in others practices such as recruitment.

For nonprofit managers, this research reinforced the importance of senior management commitment and HR expertise to develop and implement HR practices that are aligned with current strategy and the need to develop employees’ skills to facilitate flexibility to adapt to change in the environment. It is imperative for the HR practices of NPOs not only to achieve horizontal and vertical fit, but also to build in flexibility the organization requires to develop, deploy and sustain employee skills and behaviour needed to cope with the competitive environment and to help with the achievement of organisational goals.

The important point of this research is that it extends our understanding of fit and flexibility in NPOs. It provides an example of how two NPOs adopted and emphasized SHRM as a critical component of their strategy.

This paper aims to go a step further in the analysis of double fit in the human resource management (HRM) strategy context, exploring how its effect on performance is influenced by employees’ perceptions about the HRM strategy. Traditionally, the literature has considered the need for a double fit (horizontal and vertical) in the design of HRM strategies. However, as recent critical reviews have argued, a deeper theoretical analysis seems to be needed to understand fully how they affect organisational performance, and why firms with similar levels of alignment have different human resource outcomes.

Based on the literature review, the paper proposes a new theoretical model combining two fields of the strategic HRM literature which had been traditionally disconnected: the double fit approach and the literature on employee satisfaction and involvement. The design of the HRM strategy is reviewed considering the classical distinction between universalistic, contingent, contextual and configurational perspectives.

The findings of this paper provide an alternative model to examine the double fit in the HRM strategy context.

Drawing on these approaches, the paper proposes the introduction of the “system strength” construct, which measures the perceived robustness of the HRM system, as a moderator of the effects of double fit on organisational performance.

This paper aims to discuss the association between human resource management and performance from a process perspective, differentiating intended and implemented vertical and horizontal fit. Although researchers have examined deeply the relationship between these constructs, extant literature demonstrates inconclusive results. Previous studies have stressed the strategic importance of vertical and horizontal fit from a prescriptive view. Nevertheless, a deeper understanding, focused on management processes, is needed.

This paper reviews and integrates two streams of strategic human resources management (SHRM) literature: the fit perspective, drawing on Martín-Alcázar et al.’s (2005) model, and the system strength approach, proposed by Bowen and Ostroff (2004).

The conceptual analysis developed in this paper concludes that HRM system strength mediates the effects of an aligned strategy on performance. In this sense, the paper argues that success in implementation of the HRM strategy depends on employees’ perceptions about the system of policies and practices through which it is carried out. Additionally, organizational communication is considered as the mechanism to create a shared HRM meaning to translate to employees.

Drawing on the theoretical discussions in the paper, the following implications for HRM practice are identified: the usefulness of the system strength construct as a tool to measure employees’ perceptions and anticipate potential problems at the implementation stage, the importance of organizational communication mechanisms, the relevance of formal and informal connections between HR managers and top executives and the need for specific training to promote HR managers’ communicational skills.

This study examines the relationship between HRM and organizational performance by presenting a new model that integrates HRM strategy formulation and implementation, proposes employee perceptions concerning HRM are mediators of HRM strategy and firm performance, highlights the role of organizational communication in creating and managing shared HR messages and introduces system strength as an instrument to assess vertical and horizontal fit during implementation.

External factors such as global competition and new technologies, require organizations to be innovative. Such organizational innovations also ask for innovative human resource management (HRM). However, in the current literature, it is not completely clear what innovative HRM means, as it is conceptualized in different ways. This study aims to provide clarity about innovative HRM by suggesting a new measurement scale; formulating hypotheses about some core determinants of innovative HRM; and investigating how innovative HRM relates to organizational innovation.

Using a sample of 719 Dutch organizations it was possible to investigate the properties of the inventory and examining several determinants of innovative HRM and how it relates to organizational innovation.

The innovative HRM scale is internally consistent and differs from other HRM indicators. It is explained by external developments, organizational size and stability of the organization. Finally, innovative HRM is a predictor of organizational innovation.

The measure that was developed in this paper is new to the literature. Innovative HRM has not been measured in a similar way to date. Besides that, the innovative HRM Survey is a novel data set.

Many HRM practices are never thoroughly implemented, or are implemented ineffectively. To better understand what line managers need to implement HRM practices effectively, the authors have developed and validated a psychometrically sound measurement instrument dealing with line managers' attributions for effective HRM implementation. Based on the theory of causal attributions, the authors distinguish between internal and external attributions that determine how line managers implement HRM practices on the work floor.

A multidimensional approach has been used, and, after collecting data from 471 line managers, thorough scale development guidelines and validation procedures have been applied for instrument development.

The instrument's psychometric qualities have been assessed by calculating the reliability and validity of line managers' internal attributions – including its composing dimensions of desire and competences – and their external attributions – including the dimensions of support, capacity and policy and procedures. In particular, both convergent and discriminant validity as well as intra-class correlations have been established. The newly developed measures are found to be of good quality. The scales appear to discriminate well between the distinguished groups and show a good variation within groups.

The developed measurement instrument helps HRM professionals to better understand line managers' attributions to effectively implement HRM practices and to provide them with support and training for effective HRM implementation.

Previous research has already identified weaknesses in HRM implementation, but lacked addressing the causes of this. The study presents antecedents for HRM implementation effectiveness, based on the causal attribution theory, and a psychometrically validated instrument to measure these antecedents.

This study extends extant literature by establishing an integrative framework connecting different forms of HRM attributions (internal HRM well-being attributions and exploiting attributions, and external Labor Law attributions) and a specific single meta-feature of HRM system strength (consistency) to employee well-being.

In total, 279 paired and valid responses from eight manufacturing firms located in three cities in China were analyzed in this two-wave study. PROCESS macro tool was used to examine the mediating role of thriving at work and the moderating role of HRM system consistency in the relationship between HRM attributions and thriving at work.

Thriving at work mediated the relationship between internal HRM exploiting attributions, external Labor Law attributions and employee well-being. On the other hand, internal HRM well-being attributions did not indirectly influence employee well-being through thriving at work. HRM system consistency moderates the association between internal HRM attributions (rather than external Labor Law attributions) and thriving at work.

This research is only concerned with a particular form of external attributions in one country. In fact, there is a wide range of other external HRM attributions (e.g. organizational intention to imitate their competitors in today’s global economy).

Managers should understand that managing the well-being of the workforce is an important part of HRM for responsible organizations and make efforts to improve employees’ affective-motivational states.

The authors offer insights into HRM attributions research by differentiating internal attributions from external Labor Law attributions based on their disparate implications for employee well-being.

The current study aims to investigate the temporal mechanisms in HRM systems by focusing on how HRM systems evolve over time and how such changes affect organizational innovation.

This paper draws on organizational entrainment theory to examine how pace of change in employee involvement programs (EIPs) influences innovation via data from an eight-year longitudinal survey collected by Statistics Canada. The final sample includes 15,679 workplace–year observations.

This research shows that the effects of HRM programs on performance are more than just the mean effect – the pace of change by which changes are implemented in HRM programs matters in the long run. The optimal level of change pace occurs when the EIPs are changing at a pace that entrains (or synchronizes) with organizational rhythm of strategic changes. Results suggest that change pace in EIPs has an inverted-U-shaped relationship with both pace and quality of innovation. The curvilinear effect is more pronounced for organizations with relatively lower mean level of EIPs.

First, this study captures only key measures of the EIPs and may not be generalizable to other dimensions of the HR systems. Second, the results of this paper should be interpreted at the HR program level or bundles of HR practices – the findings may not be generalizable to lower levels of analysis. Third, as a result of annual measurement, this study cannot capture short-lived minor dynamic HR misfits where workplaces quickly adjust to regain alignment. Fourth, to attain meaningful and consistent measures of strategic HR change, this study only includes surviving workplaces with at least five years of observations.

This paper provides insights to managers and business leaders on how to implement strategic changes in HRM systems effectively to attain sustained innovation outcomes in the long run. To achieve an optimal level of innovation, organizations need to consider not only what and how many EIPs should be used but also how to strategically change EIPs to meet dynamic internal and external changes.

The current research introduces organizational entrainment theory to explain and empirically test the conflicting predictions of the universalist and contingency perspectives on the effects of strategic changes in HRM.

Utilizing data drawn from 18 in-depth case studies the authors explore in detail the factors shaping employment in a diverse range of Irish small- and medium-sized enterprises. Existing theory in HRM is deemed inadequate in capturing the complexity of HRM in SMEs especially as it treats organizations as hermetically sealed entities. In an effort to animate the criticism directed at normative models of HRM the authors use a conceptual framework with an emergent, open systems theoretical proposition to examine the parameters, dynamics and determining factors of HRM at each of the case study companies. The results show that the notion of a normative HRM model was not coherent in terms of actual practices but rather reactive, and emergent HRM-related processes were often imposed to meet legislative requirements or to reinforce owner–manager legitimacy and control. The authors conclude that an appreciation of the interaction between structural factors both inside and outside the immediate work milieu is crucial if the heterogeneity of HRM in SMEs is to be adequately accommodated and understood.

Creativity and innovation have been buzzwords of managerial discourse over the last few decades as they contribute to the long-term survival and competitiveness of firms. Given the non-linear, causally ambiguous, and intangible nature of all innovation-related phenomena, management scholars have been trying to uncover factors that contribute to creativity and innovation from multiple lenses ranging from organizational behavior at the micro-level to strategic management at the macro-level. Along with important and insightful developments in these research streams that evolved independently from one another, human resource management (HRM) research – especially from a strategic perspective – has only recently started to contribute to a better understanding of both creativity and innovation. The goal of this chapter is to review the contributions of strategic HRM research to an improved understanding of creativity at the individual-level and innovation at the firm-level. In organizing this review, the authors rely on the open innovation funnel as a metaphor to review research on both HRM practices and HRM systems that contribute to creativity and innovation. In the last section, the authors focus on more recent developments in HRM research that focus on ambidexterity – as a way for HRM to simultaneously facilitate exploration and exploitation. This chapter concludes with a discussion of future research directions.