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Despite the strategic importance of the approaches, most of the approaches consider “internal fit” or “external fit”, and do not consider the role of creative climate. The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between approaches to strategic human resource management (SHRM) and organisational performance through a creative climate.

This paper has divided into three parts. First, the paper explores the literatures on the constructs. Second, it examines the relationships between constructs dealt with in the literature. Third, the review identifies the gaps in the literature and describes future recommendations of research for this field.

This study can serve as a starting point for future research on the relationship between SHRM practices, creative climate and organisational performance in terms of financial, human resource and customer retention. Researchers and practitioners need to understand the relationship between the three constructs.

The paper helps managers need to design strategic HRM policies and practices that are aligned with creative climate and organisational performance. Furthermore, it helps scholars/researchers focus their research on the relationship between HRM approaches (universal and contingency approaches), organisational performance and examining the role of creative climate as a mediator to overcome its causal limitations.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

This conceptual paper concentrates on so-called universalistic and contingency approaches to strategic HR management, both of which were found to boost organizational performance. The universalistic approach applies general HR best practices, whereas a contingency approach is tailored to the company's own operational atmosphere. Finally, the study advocates that manifesting a creative climate yields a higher performing workplace.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of organizational commitment to employees (OCE) on organizational performance through two different approaches – a configurative approach and a universalistic approach. The theoretical model formulated in this paper integrates both propositions with the aim of analyzing which has the most relevant impact on organizational performance.

Structural equation models were applied to test these propositions by means of a survey of a random sample of 230 service firms.

It was found that the configurational hypothesis is more important than the universalist hypothesis.

The study only included information from one member of executive management staff. This study is an initial attempt in the strategic human resource management literature to examine the configurative perspective as a covariation pattern.

OCE by itself does not affect organizational performance. It is necessary to consider the context in which it is applied in order to understand the effect of OCE on performance. This explains why not all employers pursue an OCE model.

It is proved that “fit as covariation” can be adequate for studying the configurative theory. A complementary vision of the configurative and universalistic hypotheses was adopted, according to which these two hypotheses are not contradictory and could be tested simultaneously.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the validity and utility of two theoretical approaches to understanding the relationship between strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance and to examine the role of innovation in the relationship while avoiding circular arguments. The universalistic approach suggests that strategic orientations have independent and parallel effects on firms’ performance, and that innovation does not influence this relationship. The holistic approach proposes that strategic orientations in a complementary and interrelated view have both direct and indirect effects on firms’ performance through innovation.

A meta-analytic path analysis applying two-stage structural equation modeling (TSSEM) was conducted on data from 132 primary studies and 33,063 observations.

The holistic approach was demonstrated to be superior due to its more explanatory power in linking more complex relationships through simultaneous direct and indirect effects and its capacity for including the interrelatedness and complementarity of strategic orientations. It was found that innovation has a full mediating role in the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation (EO) and firm performance, and a partial mediating role in the relationship between market orientation (MO) and learning orientation (LO) and firm performance.

The study used observed variables instead of latent variables for meta-analytic path analysis, which may reduce some sources of endogeneity. However, causal inference is not possible due to the nature of meta-analysis. The scope of the final sample was limited by some studies not reporting the estimates of correlations between constructs.

Managers can improve an organization's chances of success in the marketplace by adopting a holistic view of strategic orientations focusing on customer satisfaction, learning from the external environment and pursuing new market opportunities. Furthermore, an organization can gain a competitive advantage through innovation by creating products and services that are different from what is currently available in the market. To be successful, an organization must not only create innovative products and services but also market them effectively to consumers.

This study is the first to meta-analytically assess the explanatory value of two theorized models linking strategic orientations, innovation and firm performance. It also clarifies the role of innovation in the relationship between strategic orientations and firm performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between strategic human resource management (SHRM) and performance in service sectors firms in India. Also, it has tried to explore whether the three main approaches in the area of SHRM – universalistic, contingency and configurational approaches hold true in an Indian setting.

Data were collected from 25 organizations, using two sets of questionnaires. Set 1 comprised measures of business strategy (n=98) and key informant approach was used to collect the data. Set 2 had measures of SHRM which consisted of two sections – human resource management (HRM) system orientation and HRM capabilities and organizational effectiveness (n=750). Performance was measured in terms of organizational effectiveness. Regression analysis was carried out at two levels: industry level and overall level.

Results indicated that there is positive relationship between SHRM and effectiveness, business strategy has an impact on the relationship between SHRM and effectiveness and universalistic theory of SHRM does not work in the Indian service sector.

The results of this study revealed that transport and IT‐enabled industries require more strategic HR capability while finance requires more technical HR capability. The SHRM policies need to be dynamic and contingent on the business strategy to attain maximum impact on effectiveness.

This study contributes to the sparse literature on the role of SHRM in the service sector industry where dependence on human resources is more critical as compared to other sectors.

According to the universalistic perspective, organizations from different sectors, across industries, and through different time periods should use a series of select human resource management practices (HRMP). The main purpose of this paper is to investigates whether there is any difference in the relationship between HRMPs and organizational performance across time (stable or not).

The data for this study are taken from two cross‐sectional surveys. The firms included in this research were selected from a sample of organizations from the public and private sectors based on firms that were included in Dun's Guide, Israel 1995/6 and 1999/2000, the Israeli Business Directory. In 1996, questionnaires were completed by 102 of the 230 designated companies. In 2000, using an identical sampling methodology and a similar questionnaire, the result was 104 useable responses of the 275 firms.

In general, results for both periods of time indicated that several HRMP contribute to enhanced organizational performance. Firms exhibited higher organizational performance when they treated their employees as assets and invested in their abilities, enhanced their power in the decision making process and used them as the main source for new employment.

From the theoretical perspective we suggest that researchers and HR managers have to take into account the culture context in each country when they try to export successful HRMP from one country to another. A major practical contribution of this research is that it demonstrates the importance of training and employee participation vis‐à‐vis organizational performance.

This paper aims to highlight the challenges and opportunities of sustainable global value chain governance, it demonstrates strong theoretical deficits in this field and offers new pragmatist conceptual perspectives.

The empirical analysis is based on document analyses, 47 expert interviews and on field observations in Ghana, Africa.

Based on an in-depth analysis of a US firm operating a fair trade value chain in an intercultural environment, the authors show that universalistic value chain-oriented governance instruments often fail because of strong institutional and cultural distances. Against the prevailing strategies of top-down management, the authors suggest a more bottom-up, pragmatist and collaboration-based approach to sustainable global value chain governance.

The results of an in-depth case study are not generalizable. Instead, they provide holistic insights into a so-far insufficiently examined field and an empirical fundament for further research on sustainable governance in global value chains. In particular, research on pragmatist, collaborative, dialogue based, bottom-up approaches of sustainable value chain governance will be of great value to further theoretical development of this field.

This study is relevant to researchers and practitioners in the field of sustainable value chain governance. It reveals several misunderstandings about the effectiveness and impacts of sustainable governance in less developed countries and thus builds a foundation for better and more effective problem-solving approaches in international sustainable management activities.

Nontransparent supplier networks and (illegal) sub-contracting, as well as the strong influences of institutional, cultural and sub-cultural factors, make responsible value chain management a challenging task for any firm with international value creation activities. This leaves workers in local factories vulnerable to infringements of their fundamental human rights and the environment unprotected against long-lasting damages. Addressing these challenges and developing new solutions, therefore, can have strong impacts on the lives of workers in international supply chains.

The authors contribute, first, a differentiated empirical description and analysis of a sustainable value chain approach in a less developed country in Africa. Second, using an example of the field study, the authors highlight limitations of value chain-related governance theory based on a field study by illustrating the challenges and barriers and a lack of existing concepts concerning effective sustainable governance in global value chains. Third, the authors show different managerial responses to these cultural and institutional challenges between universalism and relativism, and, fourth, the authors suggest a more collaborative, bottom-up and pragmatist approach to sustainable value chain governance.

In literature, it is recognized that there is no universal set of critical success factors (CSFs) applicable to all projects. The goal of this research is to validate a theoretical model which considers that CSFs’ influence on project success (PS) is configurational, that CSFs combine to influence PS.

The authors proposed a theoretical framework which operationalizes CSFs considering contingency and institutional theories' terms, as external contingencies, organizational resources and project strategies, which influence PS. The framework is validated through a qualitative approach on 18 social projects implemented by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). Based on the conducted semistructured interviews with NGO managers or project managers, 91 instances when CSFs combine to influence PS were identified.

The dominant path reveals the combination of CSFs in terms of strategies adopted to face contingencies (70 instances), another as resources which moderate managers' strategies (14 instances), and in seven instances positive contingencies and resources combine and influence the PS. The results reveal that CSFs combine in reactive and dynamic ways to influence PS.

The research contributes to the vast literature on projects' success by adopting a different perspective. Configurational theory explains project management and projects' complexity better than the traditional approaches, which have a rather correlational perspective.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize and empirically test the impact of strategic human resource management (HRM) practices on learning outcomes and also to examine whether this relationship is contingent on knowledge strategy in a sample of knowledge-intensive firms like software companies in India.

Data were collected through a questionnaire, and the software companies were chosen based on the listing in the NASSCOM annual report. A total of 32 companies participated in this research study, and the survey was conducted in two phases.

The universalistic approach revealed that organizational learning outcomes can be enhanced by focusing on specific individual HRM practices. Also, the fit between HRM practices and knowledge strategy revealed that the interaction effect between individual and knowledge strategy have had an increased impact on the learning outcomes.

HRM practices can be aligned to the targeted knowledge strategy of the organization and maximize specific organizational learning outcome to achieve sustained competitive advantage. Knowledge-intensive firms can measure their knowledge strategy and gauge whether it is complemented with HRM practices for better tangible and intangible outcomes.

The proposed model can benefit the firms to analyse the extent of contribution of HRM practices towards the organizational learning process. It also helps to understand how an organization can be productive by focusing on specific learning outcomes and establishing a tighter link between the select individual HRM practices and the defined knowledge strategy.

The present study aims at a deeper understanding of the performance outcomes of the alignment between the e‐business capabilities of manufacturing small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) and their business strategy in terms of Miles and Snow's recognised strategic typology that includes prospectors, analyzers, and defenders.

From a contingency theory perspective, a survey of 107 Canadian manufacturers was used to collect data that were analyzed through correlation analysis.

Results indicate that the ideal e‐business profiles vary in the relation to the firms' strategic orientation, whether it is of the defender, analyzer or prospector type. E‐business alignment has positive performance outcomes for manufacturing SMEs in terms of growth, productivity and financial performance.

The nature of the sample impose care in generalizing the results of the study. These results also allow us to emphasise the nature rather than the investment value of the SMEs' information technology investment, given that certain forms of e‐business would be more appropriate for certain firms, depending upon their strategic orientation.

For SME owner‐managers that require greater manufacturing flexibility, increased systems integration, products and services of better quality, and higher levels of product and process innovation, the results of this study allow us to prone an examination of their firm's level of e‐business assimilation, this being done in conjunction with their strategic intent.

This is one of the first studies to have used a rigorous conceptualisation and measure of alignment to confirm the theoretical validity and empirical usefulness of this notion and of the strategic contingency approach for research on e‐business, and to compare this approach with the universalistic approach founded upon “best practices”.