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The study investigates the mediating effect of HR flexibility in the relationship between capacity-enhancing HR practices and job performance in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operating in Egypt.

On the basis of the literature review, the results imply a quantitatively tested conceptual model. The model is empirically validated using the partial least squares method to structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) with survey data from 270 SME owners and managers in Egypt. The sample was selected using a quota sampling approach for small and medium-sized businesses and a proportionate stratification sampling method for the industry and region.

Findings for the sample revealed that capacity-enhancing HR practices affected job performance positively and significantly. The findings also revealed a direct, positive and significant impact of capacity-enhancing HR practices on HR flexibility and HR flexibility on job performance. Functional flexibility was identified as a significant mediator of the capacity-enhancing HR practices-job performance link, whereas behavioural and skill flexibility were not significant mediators for such a relationship.

The study's cross-sectional design is an evident weakness. All variables were self-reported; this may raise issues regarding method bias. Other limitations include the generalisability of the study's findings outside the setting in which it was conducted. The accuracy of the field study results would have been enhanced if they had not been limited exclusively to the geographical confines of Egypt.

The paper proposes many implications emphasising the role of HR flexibility in enhancing the performance of SMEs. The study developed a mediation model to understand how SMEs boost the performance of human resources by focusing on flexibility dimensions. Accordingly, companies may strategically employ flexible practices and provide an environment that encourages skill and behavioural development.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of innovative HR practices as an important mechanism through which strategic flexibility affects firm performance as well as the role of female leadership in this relationship.

Data were gathered from a sample of 113 firms in China. The authors collected information on organizational strategy, HR practices, CEO information, corporate social responsibility and other firm characteristics in terms of firm age, location, and financial performance. Conditional procedural analysis was conducted to test the model.

The authors found strong evidence in support of the mediation relationship in which organizations with a strong focus on strategic flexibility are more likely to adopt Innovative HR Practices. Furthermore, the authors found that the extent to which firms have adopted innovative HR practices has a strong effect on employee productivity. In addition, the authors found that female leadership enhances strategic flexibility-performance relationship.

Information on strategic flexibility, HR practices and firm performance was collected at the same time. Future studies based on panel data would be helpful to establish the causal relationships in the model.

The authors’ findings suggest that practitioners should put more emphasis on developing innovative HR practices, as they are required by strategic flexibility.

Firms pursuing strategic flexibility should feel more confident when appointing a female CEO, because the results show that female leadership may enhance the positive impact of strategic flexibility on firm performance.

This research study is the first empirical examination of the mediating influence of innovative HR practices on the relationship between strategic flexibility and firm performance. The study also shows that female leadership benefits an organization in implementing strategic flexibility. The results are of value to researchers, human resource management managers, employees, and executives who are seeking to develop practices that are flexible and innovative in order to stay competitive in dynamic environments.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the contribution of human resource (HR) commitment practices to firm performance through the adoption of workplace practices that require the organisational climate created by HR commitment practices.

The approach is a survey of 156 Spanish firms and statistical test of research hypotheses through structural equation modelling.

The results indicate that the extent that employees have access to HR commitment practices and HR social benefits is positively related to the intensity of telework adoption. Firm performance is positively associated to the intensity of telework adoption, functional flexibility and internal numerical flexibility, and negatively related to external numerical flexibility. HR commitment practices impact directly and indirectly on different measures of firm performance.

Cross‐sectional, survey‐based data that cannot infer causality. Longitudinal and qualitative designs are needed to get a better understanding of the relationships. A follow‐up study of employees perception of several variables analysed in this study (e.g. access to HR commitment practices and employee benefits) could reveal possible contradictions between what policies managers claim there exist, and what policies employees perceive to exist.

The adoption of HR commitment practices can facilitate the organisational change required by the adoption of telework.

The findings provide evidence that HR commitment practices are indirectly related to firm performance through their effects on the use of flexibility practices like telework that require organisational climates containing high levels of trust.

The purpose of this paper is to present a more refined and comprehensive explanation of the HR‐firm performance relationship. Based on the recent conceptual and empirical research that is grounded in attribution theory, the model posits that flexibility regarding firm's HR system is a key mediator in the focal relationship, and that environmental dynamism determines the extent to which flexibility may be required. Specifically, the model specifies that a firm's high commitment work system will have a direct influence on the flexibility of the HR system, as well as climate perceptions about commitment and performance. HR flexibility and climate will in turn influence employees' evaluative attributions regarding the effectiveness of the firm's HR system, which will in turn affect employee commitment and performance and ultimately, firm‐level performance outcomes. And finally, the model specifies that environmental dynamism will have a direct influence on HR flexibility and the resulting employee‐ and firm‐level outcomes. This explanation is designed to have broad utility in light of the adaptive requirements for firms that operate in rapidly changing and highly competitive conditions.

This is a conceptual paper.

The proposed model provides a more comprehensive explanation of the mechanisms by which a firm's high commitment work practices may influence firm performance, and as such, offers both a diagnostic and prescriptive basis for improving and enhancing the firm's competitive position.

The analysis and discussion presented in this paper demonstrates the need for a broader perspective on the internal and external contingencies that influence the HR‐firm performance relationship. The proposed model addresses this need and offers a more detailed, flexibility‐based explanation of how HCWS affect individual and organizational performance outcomes. It is hoped that this expanded framework offers new insights that will help scholars and practitioners to consider the ways in which HR practices can be leveraged to promote committed, high‐performing employees that help organizations achieve sustained levels of superior performance.

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 measure the human resource (HR) flexibility and firm performances confirmatory model and to map the causal relation structures in the HR flexibility and firm performance dimensions using the DEMATEL method.

Data were collected from leading national and multinational information technology (IT) firms operating in the southern part of India. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to measure the confirmatory model, and the DEMATEL method was used to map the causal relation among the dimensions of HR flexibility and firm performance.

HR flexibility could exist across IT firms. Organisations are required to anticipate and respond promptly to changing conditions in such a way that both technical and stakeholders’ complexity are effectively managed.

The study was conducted at leading national and multinational IT firms operating in the southern part of India.

HR flexibility allows employees with a wide variety of work styles and lifestyles to be successful contributors, to advance and to lead in the parent firm. It brings out diversity and individuality, shared responsibility, wholeness, etc., among the employees. It applies to work schedules and career paths across the organisation. IT firms are advised to adopt an external focus, an organic and employee-oriented approach and long-term orientation.

Confirming the measurement model and mapping the causal relationship among the dimensions of HR flexibility and firm performance would be the novel contributions to the research in the areas of HR flexibility and firm performance with regard to IT firms. This paper contributes to the literature by theoretically and empirically investigating such relationships, thereby addressing the research gaps reviewed from literature.

The purpose of this paper is to further explore the relationship between several dimensions of human resource (HR) flexibility and firm performance by introducing two moderator effects: inter-organizational cooperation and environmental changes. There is need for such studies because the relationship between HR flexibility and firm performance remains ambiguous and inconclusive. Whereas some theoretical perspectives and empirical evidences suggest the need to develop and support full-time and permanent employees, others argue that flexible labour relations are beneficial to firm performance. One of the reasons that could explain the lack of conclusive evidences is the scarce use of moderator effects.

Research hypotheses are tested by structural equation analysis with data from a sample of 156 Spanish companies from different sectors.

The results confirm the positive influence of internal HR flexibility on firm performance whereas the influence of external flexibility depends of each dimension in relation to the level of knowledge involved. However, the main finding is that environmental changes and cooperation moderate positively the relationship between functional flexibility and financial performance, as well as between external high skilled expertise and performance (at total level and its subcategories) which focus the importance of flexibility in their contribution to accessing and deploying knowledge into the firm.

Main limitations are the small sample size, the use of cross-sectional data and a structured questionnaire. Longitudinal studies and larger samples should test the causal relationships suggested by the results of the paper. The assessment of flexibility at the enterprise level could also be extended in future studies at the network level since some firms may obtain functional and numerical flexibility through its relationships with other companies in networks. The study of the relationships between different combinations of flexible work and firm performance, considering different groups of employees, could follow from the recommendations of moderator effects found in this research.

Executives need to consider how the different units in the organizational structure interface with the contextual environmental, and they also need to understand the performance implications of different HR flexibility practices because their implications may change according to the exogenous business environment. The authors have found that the contribution of high skilled expertise from consulting/contracting firms is going to be more important than the contribution of short-term hires and temporary agency workers. Experts from outside not only bring knowledge of industry best practices into the firm that supports the innovative output, but they can also contribute to improve financial and relational performance. The results also suggest that external high skilled expertise may be more beneficial to the firm in highly changing environments than in more stable environments.

Two are the main contributions of the paper: first, it analyses the influence of a comprehensive group of HR flexible practices on three different dimensions of firm performance which helps to understand in greater detail the causal mechanisms that link HR flexibility and firm performance in comparison to other studies that are more focused on singular flexible practices and measures of firm performance; and second, the paper analyses the moderator effect of both environmental dynamism and inter-organizational cooperation, which advances the theoretical understanding of flexibility and firm performance by studying different scenarios of HR flexibilities with these two moderators. The results of the paper could help managers to take advantage of different combinations of flexibility dimensions according to contingent situations and in order to improve firm performance.

The ongoing improvement of hospitality services stems from innovative behavior among employees. This study aims to investigate how and when human resource (HR) flexibility promotes hospitality employees’ innovative work behavior.

The data were garnered from 438 employees and 67 managers from 19 hotels operating in Vietnam. Multilevel structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

The positive association was observed between HR flexibility and innovative work behavior. Harmonious passion functioned as a mediator for such a relationship. While promotion focus was found to positively interact with HR flexibility to predict employee harmonious passion, prevention focus demonstrated an attenuating effect on the association between HR flexibility and harmonious passion.

The findings suggest that hospitality organizations can promote innovative work behavior among employees through building skill and behavioral flexibility, as well as flexibility in HR practices. Hospitality organizations should also realize the role of harmonious passion as a mechanism that can channel HR flexibility into innovative work behavior and the interactive effect of promotion focus and HR flexibility on fostering harmonious passion and, in turn, innovative work behavior.

This inquiry advances the strand of research on the HR management-innovative behavior linkage by offering insights into how and when HR flexibility promotes innovative work behavior among hotel employees.

There has been a long controversy in the literature on assessing the value of human capital – a long-sought but elusive and challenging task. The ability to quantify flexible human capital (FHC) has been a shortcoming in extant literature. We make a meaningful contribution by showing how real options (RO) methodology can be used to quantify FHC and we provide complementary case study evidence from Fortune 500 “best companies to work for” that the value of employee career development is higher in more volatile sectors in line with real options theory (ROT).

This article provides a prescriptive RO methodology for adopting a more flexible, staged SHRM organizational perspective suitable for uncertain environments, and explores its theoretical and empirical implications through the dual use of RO methodological modelling and multi-case study data involving ten Fortune 500 companies. The case study approach is aimed at creating managerially relevant knowledge. The relevance of our approach to managerial practice is shown through guidelines on how a company like Google might use the RO methodology to estimate the career development option value so as to inform its internal development program for employees to create and capture value.

Our focus is on the staging flexibility in HR as exemplified by the internal career development process. This process can be viewed as a multi-stage (compound) option involving various types of HC uncertainty, HC options, and HR practices. We model staging HR deployment via the option to promote staff employees to middle-level management, itself embedding the option to rise to the top management. To empirically validate our valuation approach, we present case study research that enables quantifying the option value of a career development program and allows assessing how much a mismatch exists in a sample of ten public U.S. companies.

The overall staging quantification idea is important as it offers guidance as to how to value HR as a sequential investment process under uncertain demand or skill conditions. The analysis is limited to the extent that staged career development might interact with other types of human capital (e.g. switch and learning) options and HR practices (e.g. training). Human resources may also interact with other organizational intangibles, such as brand equity. Our analysis also does not account for psychological considerations from the employees' perspective, such organizational commitment facilitating trust to enable reciprocal commitments, which remains a fruitful subject for future extensions.

ROT can provide useful guidance and tools for HR scholars and managers. By keeping tabs on HR-based flexibility value and focusing on the key input variables driving HR flexibility, HR managers can determine the flexibility value unleashed from staging the deployment of HC resources in the face of unanticipated demand and skills shifts.

This is the first paper that attempts to quantify the value of staged career development flexibility using the RO methodology. This article will be cited for its innovativeness in being the first to quantify the value of human capital's contribution to corporate value creation and provide objective evaluation in the context of organizational career-development programs. Besides providing useful insights to scholars, the article also demonstrates how the RO methodology can apply to actual companies and inform managerial practice offering guidelines of relevance to HR practitioners on how to quantify the value of staged HC development in an uncertain environment.

The study analyzes the relationship between human resources (HR) flexibility and absorptive capacity (AC) of knowledge in a sample of Spanish manufacturing firms. The purpose of the research is to analyze if firms with greater AC are more flexible than other firms and to assess the implications of different combinations of HR flexibility and AC for innovation.

The study sample consisted of 1,666 Spanish industrial firms in 2015 compiled from a large set of statements from the Survey of Business Strategies (SBS) questionnaire. The methodology includes a cluster analysis and a case study of selected firms. First, a k-means clustering analysis was carried out to explore how homogeneous are the SBS firms according to several HR flexibility and AC measures. The authors complement the clustering itself with some descriptive statistics for each cluster. Second, the statistical analysis is followed by a selection of case studies from industrial firms in different positions regarding innovation, AC, and HR flexibility. The information for the cases studies comes from secondary sources such as corporate governance reports and statements of managers and employees from company websites and public reports.

The empirical evidence indicates that some combinations of HR flexibility and AC are positively related to innovation outputs whereas others are not. Firms with greater AC, R&D effort and innovation outputs have less “bad” HR flexibility (external numerical flexibility from temporary employees and temporary help agencies) and more “good” HR flexibility (internal and external functional flexibility). On the contrary, firms with minimum or non-existent innovation and AC efforts have the highest levels of temporary employment and do not hire external R&D experts.

The limitations of the cross-sectional nature of the study make the authors cautious about any proposition that may suggest a causal relationship among the studied variables.

Managers should pay attention to the different implications of each HR flexibility dimension for innovation activities since innovative companies value more those HR flexibility dimensions that contribute to the dispersion of knowledge within the firm.

The authors propose a framework to analyze the combination of HR flexibility and AC most suitable to different types of firms. Based on the statistical analyses and the case studies, the authors propose some strategic implications useful for the management of human resources. The matrix's framework analyzes the firm's innovation strategies according to the interactions between AC and the mix of HR flexibility dimensions.