Chapter 1: introduction, SHRM in the 21st century
Multiple-stakeholder perspective = the strategy of a business has to be in
line with the strategy on an employee
1990s, the new economy:
- Shift from a manufacturing and production economy into a service sector
asset-based economy
- Opportunity for more flexible working arrangements
Organizational change = the changes in nowadays working life, which has an
impact on organizations and employees
Schnabel’s 5I’s:
1. Internationalization: bringing different cultures together
2. Individualization: personal goals are also important
3. Informalization: low power distance
4. Informatization: digitalization
5. Intensification: more competition
3 types of HRM:
1. Micro HRM = sub-field aimed at studying the shaping of the employment
relationship at the individual employee level
2. International HRM = studying the shaping of the employment relationship in an
international context with special attention for expatriats
3. Strategic HRM = studying the shaping of the employment relationship taking
into account internal and external organizational context in an attempt to gain
sustainable competitive advantage.
-> potential alignment of fit between the business strategy and HRM strategy
3 perspectives of SHRM
,1. multi-actor perspective -> interests of multiple stakeholders
2. broad societal view -> emphasis on different institutional contexts
3. multi-level perspective -> individual employee perspective and the strategic
organizational perspective
Paauwe (2004)
“human resources are more than just ‘resources’
Focus on exchange relationship (psychological contract)
Hard HRM & soft HRM (which focuses on human beings)
4 contract elements:
1. legal: determines rights and obligations
2. economic/transactional: salary and working hours
3. psychological: unwritten expectations
4. sociological: social relationship, like team commitment
Boxall and Purcell (2003)
“HRM is all about managing work and people, collectively and individually”
Focus on core employees AND peripheral / contingent employees
Anglo-Saxon model (USA) = hard HRM -> shareholder value
Rhineland model (Europe) = soft HRM -> multiple stakeholders
The balanced approach
- Organizational success can only be achieved when financial performance
and societal performance are above average in the particular population
- The goals of the individual employee, the organizational goals, and the
societal goals have to be in line with each other
,Chapter 2: SHRM and context + guest lecture
Leeuwendaal
Leeuwendaal is a consultancy firm focused on HR practices to make working and
collaborating more enjoyable, sustainable and successful.
- Organizations; performances rely on human input
- Lookout for talents and develop them into strengths
- The organization is based on three areas of expertise
o Developing: discover, develop and utilize talent and enhance
organizational and human performance
o Organizing: creating conditions for outstanding, sustainable
performance
o Reinforcing: having the right people (expertise), in the right place,
temporary or permanent
Best-fit school
The best-fit school: argues HRM is more effective when it is aligned with the
internal and external context (context-dependent) -> take the six component
model for example
Best-fit proposition: states that specific HR practices are not universally
applicable and successful when used, but can only be successful in case of a fit
between HRM and the context
- Context: represents the organization’s internal context (organization’s
history, administrative heritage, organization’s culture) and external
context (outside mechanisms that affect the organization)
Institutional mechanisms (Paauwe defines this as the SCL dimension,
social/cultural/legal):
- Coercive: stem from legislation and procedures
(legislation, policies, protocols or procedures)
- Normative: stem from values and professionalization of employees
(routines, habits, norms or professionalization of employees)
- Mimetic: stem from uncertainty or fashion
(imitation due to uncertainty or trends, influenced by social-cultural issues
Market mechanisms: stem from the markets in which an organization operates.
Includes the degree of competition between organizations, Paauwe defines this
as the PMT dimension (people, markets and technology)
, Best-practice school: argues it would be better for all firms to identify and
adopt the ‘best-practice’ in the way they manage people (one size fits all: a
universalistic perspective)
Pfeffer’s 7 best practices:
1. Selective recruitment and selection
2. Extensive training
3. Performance-related pay (PRP)
4. Teamworking
5. Information sharing and communication
6. Reduction of status differences
7. Employment security
Goals can be embedded into a strategy and can be defined as (1) narrow, aiming
exclusively at satisfying shareholder interests (Anglo-American) or as (2) broad,
consisting of organizational, societal and individual goals (Rhineland approach)
So, the environment (context) influences the strategy (purpose, mission, vision)
and the strategy influences HRM
Strategy = an organization’s intention to achieve certain goals through planned
alignment (fit) between the organization and its environment
- Consists of 4 parts: competitive, financial, operational and HR
There are 4 kinds of fit in the field of SHRM:
1. Strategic fit or vertical fit: the alignment between the business
strategy and the HR strategy -> strategic contingency approaches show
that certain contextual factors affect the shaping of an organization
2. Internal fit or horizontal fit: the alignment between individual HR
practices
= a coherent and consistent set of HR practices
Watch out for deadly combinations or Delery, the result of a misfit between
HR practices
3. Organizational fit: the alignment between HRM and the other
organizational systems and the configuration
4. Environmental fit or institutional fit : the alignment between the HR
strategy and the institutional environment of an organization
-> see the market mechanisms and institutional mechanisms