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This paper aims to investigate the moderating effects of contextual factors which are environmental uncertainty on the relationship between human resource (HR) exploitation and HR exploration with new product development (NPD) performance and the mediating role of cross-functional integration between them. The main question this study wants to answer is how a firm implements HR practices to gain better performance under different environment factors. This study is the first empirical research which testifies the influence of HR exploitation and HR exploration on NPD performance.

This study uses regression analysis to examine the moderating effect of environment uncertainty and structural equation modeling to test mediating effect of cross-functional integration.

The result shows that HR exploitation influences NPD performance to a higher degree when environmental uncertainty is low than high. And HR exploration plays a more important role when environmental uncertainty is high; HR exploitation influences internal integration significantly, and the effect of HR exploration on external integration is significant; and internal integration and external integration mediate the relationship between HR exploitation/exploration and NPD performance, respectively.

These findings not only contribute to the literature but also provide a view for organizations in making the right decision of exploitative or explorative practices under the giving environment factor which organization facing and achieving better performance.

When a firm implements certain HR practices, different employees attribute different motives and intentions to the firm with regard to those HR practices. Research on HR attributions has made progress toward understanding the relationship between HR practices and employee outcomes from a process perspective. However, this research is still fragmented and lacks a systematic typology of the different types of HR attributions and a compelling organizing research framework. Furthermore, a number of research gaps and opportunities have emerged regarding the nomological net of employee HR attributions. To address the gaps and capitalize on the opportunities, the authors propose an overarching theory-driven multi-level framework that guides the choice of the antecedents and outcomes of employee HR attributions and explains their relationships along with both mediating and moderating mechanisms. Drawing on signaling theory embedded in the proposed framework, the authors identify and categorize various antecedents of employee HR attributions to explain their relationships. The authors also use several additional theories such as social exchange and the job demands–resources model included in their review to identify and categorize various outcomes of employee HR attributions across levels of analysis (i.e., individual, collective [team/group/unit], organization) and explain their relationships. In addition, the proposed framework explains how individual-level employee HR attributions emerge at the collective level and influence collective processes and outcomes. The authors end their review by pinpointing future research needs and discussing related future research directions.

Building on our earlier model of the links between HR strategy, e-HR goals, architectures, and outcomes, we illustrate the relationship between some of these elements with data from three global organizations. In doing so, we aim to help academics and practitioners understand this increasingly important area of HR theory and practice.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a comprehensive framework that delineates how human resource (HR) practices are differentially configured for exploitative and explorative innovation as well as how the sets of HR practices support these two types of innovation.

Based on the structural ambidexterity approach and a bottom-up process in the multilevel theories, this research derives the need for the differential managerial structures for exploitation and exploration at the unit level. In addition, the Input–Process–Outcome model of team effectiveness and multilevel theories are employed to discuss the internal nature (e.g. resources, work styles) of exploiting and exploring units. Finally, building on strategic HR management literature, this research configures exploitation-targeted and exploration-targeted HR systems and delves into how these differentiated HR systems generate differential inputs of human capital resources and thereby foster exploitative and explorative innovation processes.

This research proposes several factors for exploitation and exploration, including: necessary inputs (i.e. commitment, narrowness, and cohesion for exploitation vs thoughtfulness, breadth, and openness for exploration), idiosyncratic innovation processes (i.e. convergent collective cognition vs divergent collective cognition), and differentiated HR systems comprised of different forms of unit staffing (homogeneity vs heterogeneity), performance appraisal, incentives, and training and development (short-term vs long-term orientation).

The proposed theoretical framework contributes to an improved understanding of the psychological foundation of organizational ambidexterity and systematizing how diverse HR practices work together to elicit exploitative and explorative innovation from employees.

The purpose of this paper is to examine and conceptualise the ways in which a balance can be achieved between optimising the efficiency and effectiveness of electronic human resource management (e-HRM) systems for human resource management (HRM) and enabling innovation to occur during the system implementation.

An interpretive case study of a UK local authority e-HRM system implementation is examined using the notion of ambidexterity as an analytical device. Ambidexterity relates to how an organisation develops the ability to operate efficiently in the now, while at the same time being able to adapt to environmental changes around and ahead of them in order to grow into the future.

As an intra-organisational capability, ambidexterity is found to derive from the simultaneous interplay and balancing of dual capabilities: exploitation and exploration. e-HRM exploitation concerned the capability to generate new knowledge with innovatory effects, created through the everyday practices performed by practitioners at all levels in the organisation. e-HRM exploration, rather than being a purposeful act, was found to be an accidental consequence of engaging in exploitation to maintain the status quo.

The notion of ambidexterity was originally constructed within strategic management and studies in the field have previously been confined to this area. This makes this study theoretically and empirically experimental, making it a challenging research endeavour. Another limitation is that the authors only sought views from the interviewees on how external forces might limit or facilitate their ambidexterity, as opposed to actually studying those forces themselves.

The authors suggest that those in organisations who are responsible for strategic HRM need to consider ways in which “intentional” opportunities for ambidexterity in e-HRM systems implementation can be identified and harnessed to ensure better balances between exploitation and exploration in such endeavours and to guard against innovation only occurring through chance.

There is a lack of detailed investigation of how organisations actually achieve ambidexterity, particularly in three under-researched areas: ambidexterity in the public sector, at human resourcing functional level and e-HRM systems implementation. Bundling these three areas into an integrated examination allows us to both identify how exploitation and exploration play out in the ambidextrous practices of an e-HRM project and also to identify the dimensions of ambidexterity in balancing e-HRM work.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how organizational factors such as cultural values, leadership and human resource (HR) practices influence knowledge exploration and exploitation practices and innovation via an empirical study.

From the knowledge‐based view of the firm, six hypotheses were established and statistically tested in a sample of 111 Spanish companies belonging to innovative industries. Survey methodology was used with the aim of gathering data regarding knowledge management (KM) practices and certain, related organizational aspects in firms.

This paper provides evidence of a moderating effect of knowledge‐centered culture, knowledge‐oriented leadership and knowledge‐centered HR practices in the relationship between knowledge exploration and exploitation practices and innovation outcomes of companies. In line with previous literature, it is suggested that although KM practices are important on their own for innovation purposes, when certain enablers – organizational factors to overcome human barriers to KM – are properly established, the innovation capacity of the firm can be more successfully exploited.

The research is limited to high rate innovation industries. Future studies will include other industries and a more diverse sample of firms.

The results of this study suggest that managers should place attention on knowledge exploration and exploitation practices along with several organizational enablers in order to achieve high levels of innovation results for the company.

This paper provides new empirical evidence on the relationships between KM, organizational elements such as culture, leadership, HR practices, and innovation in a large sample of firms. To date, the empirical research of these relations has been mainly limited to descriptive case studies and there is thus a lack of empirical evidence with large samples of firms.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how multinational enterprises (MNEs) manage human resources (HR) in explorative and exploitative alliances in smart city projects (SCPs).

In this paper, the authors adopt an explorative and qualitative approach based on multiple case studies thanks to the interviews with 21 smart city managers of MNEs who are deeply involved in SCPs.

The authors found that MNEs use many different partnerships and “temporal separation” in many cities all around the world in order to maximize the benefits of both exploration and exploitation. According to the aim of the project, MNEs implemented different HR practices intentionally targeted toward managing social relations among internal and external employees involved in SCPs.

The authors highlighted that MNEs tend to develop different ties among employees and external partners and to use different HR practices according to the nature and to the aim of the alliances. Thus, the development of human resource management systems becomes crucial in supporting organizational ambidexterity through alliances.

This paper gives useful insights in improving the effectiveness of MNEs in SCPs. Due to the business opportunities arising from the application of ICT and technological innovation to urban services, MNEs are becoming an important player in smart cities. Increasing the effectiveness of the SCPs leads faster to more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable cities.

The development of alliances has a key role in strengthening and complementing firms’ exploration and exploitation agendas in SCPs. Thus, this paper provides guidelines to MNEs in order to adapt HR practices and to rethink the role of HR within and across corporate boundaries in an emergent context of analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to ask why some organizations might be better than others at continuous innovation in the field of e‐enablement of human resource (e‐HR).

To answer this question, the notion of absorptive capacity (ACAP) is applied to explain some of the problems faced in moving from face‐to‐face HR to a technology‐mediated model.

Dynamic ACAP models are adapted to produce a more realistic, iterative framework in which realized capacities for e‐HR innovations contribute to, and constrain, potential capacities for further innovations.

The model is used to offer some research propositions for academics operating in this newly emerging field of human resource management (HRM).

Some theory‐driven advice are also offered for HR practitioners.

The specific contribution is to introduce the concept of ACAP to HRM scholars and practitioners interested in the field of e‐HR and Web 2.0 social media.

Organizational silos that build on the existing organizational structures are often considered to have negative effects in the form of focus on private narrow objectives and organizational fragmentation. To avoid such harmful outcomes, competence management is called for, and in this, the human resources (HR) function takes a key role. Among other things, it can provide basis for emergence and utilization of communities of practice (CoPs) that build on common interests and effectively cross organizational boundaries. These features of CoPs allow them to carry competences and ease knowledge transfer and to break down the harmful isolation. Quite paradoxically, the challenge is that CoPs can also form within silos, thereby strengthening isolation, and HR as a utility department can itself be particularly prone to the silo effects. Examination of boundaries and silos through an original study conducted in a Finnish energy sector company suggests that HR managers need competences outside their own expertise area and courage to augment their CoPs across the functional boundaries to break out of the HR silo and to assist other functions to do the same.

The study is based on qualitative research data gathered in four focus group interviews with HR personnel from an energy sector company in November 2012. Totally, 19 professionals were interviewed (five HR partners, five talent development and performance managers, five vice presidents of HR and four HR managers) in the four focus groups. The company’s HR personnel represented units from Finland, Sweden, Poland and Estonia.

Examination of boundaries and silos in the Finnish energy sector suggests that HR managers need competences outside their own field (e.g. knowledge of the business and offerings of the firm) and courage to augment their CoPs across the functional boundaries to break out of the HR silo and to assist other functions to do the same.

Research provided that CoPs can have different effects on silos. As they are capable of crossing organizational and functional boundaries, they may effectively mitigate adverse silo effects; however, if CoPs are formed within silos, they may strengthen isolation and fragmentation. In addition, utility departments and supporting functions are particularly prone to the risk of CoPs forming within silos. The HR function is one manifestation of this. Paradoxically, it also has the potential to enhance the other type of effects that CoPs can exert, as competence management can be used to foster intentional and self-organizing CoPs that counter silo effects.