- 43 views
- 48 downloads
Revisiting Strategy in Strategic Human Resources Management: Theorizing, Identifying, and Analyzing HR Systems Parallelly Aligned with Organization Systems
-
- Author / Creator
- Song, Myungjune
-
In the field of strategic human resources management (SHRM), there has been a vision of human resources (HR) systems that can contribute to firms’ superior competitive advantage. Within these HR systems, HR practices are vertically paralleled with strategic imperatives, propelling an organization towards its goals, while also being horizontally aligned with one another to achieve synergistic effects. However, many HR studies adopt a best-practice approach that deviates from organizational strategy, leading to a “missing strategy” problem in strategic HRM. To bridge this gap, this three-study dissertation embarked on a thorough exploration.
Study 1 put forth a parallel architecture, advocating for an alignment between HR and organization systems. It unveiled three primary HR principles: commitment HR for long-term innovation, performance HR for short-term productivity, and hybrid HR for balance between long-term breakthrough and short-term performance. This study delved deeper into the distinct value operations of entities, highlighting two pivotal organization policies: value creation, which maximizes the value of human capital, and value capture, which minimizes the cost of human capital. This resulted in six distinct HR systems, which are vertically aligned with organizational strategies and horizontally with the ability-motivation-opportunity framework.
Transitioning from the theoretical landscape, Study 2 delved into empirical investigation, revealing real-world applications of theorized HR systems in Study 1. Addressing critiques around the lack of foundational grounding in many HR studies, this study employed a model-based approach using latent profile analysis (LPA). Analyzing data from a South Korean panel study, the LPA results suggested six HR systems, mostly supporting hypothesized HR patterns.
Study 3 probed deeper, investigating the patterns for organizational inclinations towards specific HR systems and the subsequent competitive advantage these choices offer. Findings revealed a pronounced preference for the hybrid capture HR system across firms of various sizes and strategies. This preference illustrates a general organizational aspiration to balance exploration and exploitation. Furthermore, the study examined how HR systems paralleled with organization systems impact company performance over varying durations. The results demonstrated that while HR systems vary significantly across organizations, their strategic alignment doesn't necessarily promise higher firm performances. Instead, specific contexts and HR system combinations seem more poised to drive superior organizational outcomes. Overall contributions to the SHRM literature and future research directions based on limitations are discussed in the final chapter. -
- Graduation date
- Spring 2024
-
- Type of Item
- Thesis
-
- Degree
- Doctor of Philosophy
-
- License
- This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.