Showing papers in "Human Resource Management in 2015"
TL;DR: This heuristic is designed to help those in practice diagnose team-based problems by providing a clear focus on relevant aspects of teamwork and to offer areas for future research regarding both teamwork and its critical considerations.
Abstract: Teams are pervasive in today's world, and rightfully so as we need them. Drawing upon the existing extensive body of research surrounding the topic of teamwork, we delineate nine “critical considerations” that serve as a practical heuristic by which HR leaders can determine what is needed when they face situations involving teamwork. Our heuristic is not intended to be the definitive set of all considerations for teamwork, but instead consolidates key findings from a vast literature to provide an integrated understanding of the underpinnings of teamwork—specifically, what should be considered when selecting, developing, and maintaining teams. This heuristic is designed to help those in practice diagnose team-based problems by providing a clear focus on relevant aspects of teamwork. To this end, we first define teamwork and its related elements. Second, we offer a high-level conceptualization of and justification for the nine selected considerations underlying the heuristic, which is followed by a more in-depth synthesis of related literature as well as empirically-driven practical guidance. Third, we conclude with a discussion regarding how this heuristic may best be used from a practical standpoint, as well as offer areas for future research regarding both teamwork and its critical considerations
338 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine how the subject of human resource management (HRM) has developed and offer a normative review, based on that model and critique the assumption that the business of HRM is solely to improve returns to owners and shareholders.
Abstract: Thirty years on from the seminal works on human resource management (HRM) by Beer et al., we examine how the subject has developed. We offer a normative review, based on that model and critique the assumption that the business of HRM is solely to improve returns to owners and shareholders. We identify the importance of a wider view of stakeholders to practitioners and how academic studies on the periphery of HRM are beginning to adopt such a view. We argue that the HRM studies so far have given us much valuable learning but that the subject has now reached a point where we need to take a wider, more contextual, more multilayered approach founded on the long-term needs of all relevant stakeholders. The original Beer et al. model remains a valuable guide to the next 30 years of HRM.
210 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an organization-wide change effort comprising several reinforcing processes aimed at creating a climate for inclusion is needed to institutionalize workplace inclusion, where authentic leaders are posited to transmit social information about the importance of inclusion into the work environment through inclusive leader role modeling.
Abstract: The extant literature has largely overlooked the importance of a climate for inclusion as a response to the growing trend of workplace diversity. This conceptual article contends that an organization-wide change effort comprising several reinforcing processes aimed at creating a climate for inclusion is needed to institutionalize workplace inclusion. Drawing on social information processing theory, authentic leaders are posited to transmit social information about the importance of inclusion into the work environment through inclusive leader role modeling. Reward systems that remunerate inclusive conduct can foster the vicarious learning of inclusive conduct by followers. Large and diverse workgroups offer a plethora of opportunities for followers to learn how to behave in an inclusive manner. Authentic leaders and followers who share cooperative goals related to developing a climate for inclusion can prompt the vicarious learning of inclusive behaviors by followers, thereby facilitating goal attainment for both parties. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed
195 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine organizational and functional tenure as important antecedents of managers' ambidexterity and provide novel insights into the contextual conditions under which the ambidextrous behavior of managers contributes to individual performance.
Abstract: Scholars have suggested that we need a better understanding about the drivers and performance implications of managers’ ambidexterity. By building a human resource management perspective on managers’ ambidexterity, this article not only examines organizational and functional tenure as important antecedents, but also provides novel insights into the contextual conditions under which the ambidextrous behavior of managers contributes to individual performance. Based on survey research among managers of two large firms, our results indicate that while organizational tenure contributes to managers’ ambidextrous behavior, functional tenure actually limits such complex behavior. Our study also reveals how managers’ performance results from the interaction between their ambidextrous behavior and the uncertainty as well as the interdependence of their work context. Results indicate that managers’ ambidexterity contributes to individual performance in more uncertain and interdependent work contexts. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
166 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a model of the influence of leader inclusiveness on interprofessional team performance was developed and investigated, and it was found that leader inclusion enhances interprofessional teamwork through an increase in shared team identity and a reduction in perceived status differences.
Abstract: While there is increasing pressure to work collaboratively in interprofessional teams, health professionals often continue to operate in uni-professional silos. Leader inclusiveness is directed toward encouraging and valuing the different viewpoints of diverse members within team interactions, and has significant potential to overcome barriers to interprofessional team performance. In order to better understand the influence of leader inclusiveness, we develop and investigate a model of its effect incorporating two mediated pathways. We predict that leader inclusiveness enhances interprofessional team performance through an increase in shared team identity and a reduction in perceived status differences, and we argue that the latter pathway is contingent on professional diversity. Data from 346 members of 75 teams support our model, with team identity and perceived status differences mediating a significant effect of leader inclusiveness on performance. In addition, we found support for the moderating role of professional diversity. The results reinforce the critical role of leader inclusiveness in diverse teams, particularly interprofessional teams, and suggest that social identity and perceived status differences are critical factors mediating its impact on performance
149 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a review of 41 empirical studies identifies distinct research streams that relate to the effects of employee characteristics, leader characteristics, organizational structure, culture, social relationships, and organizational environment on ambidexterity.
Abstract: Ambidexterity is a growing field of management research. However, the role of human resources (HR) and organizational factors needs further exploration because of the fragmented nature of prior work and the subsequent lack of a unifying framework. Our review of 41 empirical studies identifies distinct research streams that relate to the effects of employee characteristics, leader characteristics, organizational structure, culture, social relationships, and organizational environment on ambidexterity. We discuss the most important findings within each stream, which contributes to the HR and ambidexterity literature by addressing the current state of our knowledge. To move forward research in this area, we identify important, yet underexplored areas in each stream. This contributes to the literature by highlighting specific gaps in our current knowledge that represent new avenues for future research. We also identify important interrelationships between different streams that need further clarification. We summarize our findings into an integrative model that elucidates the role of HR and organizational factors in ambidexterity. This contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of ambidexterity from the HR and organizational perspectives. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
133 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study involving 30 companies with women directors in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ghana was conducted to investigate how the relationship between gender in the boardroom and corporate governance operates.
Abstract: Despite considerable progress that organizations have made during the past 20 years to increase the representation of women at board level, they still hold few board seats. Drawing on a qualitative study involving 30 companies with women directors in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Ghana, we investigate how the relationship between gender in the boardroom and corporate governance operates. The findings indicate that the presence of a minority of women on the board has an insignificant effect on board performance. Yet the chairperson's role is vital in leading the change for recruiting and evaluating candidates and their commitment to the board with diversity and governance in mind. Our study also sheds light on the multifaceted reasons why women directors appear to be resisting the discourse of gender quotas.
126 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors build on the argument that research on the link between HRM and performance benefits from investigating how HR practices are envisioned by managers and how they are perceived by employees (in terms of psychological climates), and focus on the effects of a strengths-based HR philosophy assuming that employee performance can be maximized through leveraging individual strengths.
Abstract: This article builds on the argument that research on the link between HRM and performance benefits from investigating how HR practices are envisioned by managers (in terms of underlying philosophies), and how they are perceived by employees (in terms of psychological climates). Our study focuses on the effects of a strengths-based HR philosophy assuming that employee performance can be maximized through leveraging individual strengths. This philosophy relates to a strengths-based psychological climate, that is, employee perceptions of the opportunities they get to identify, develop, and use their strengths. We hypothesized that a strengths-based psychological climate positively influences employees’ positive affect, which in turn enhances their in-role and extra-role performance. In our study, 442 respondents working in 39 departments of eight Dutch and Belgian organizations gave ratings on the strength-based psychological climate of their organization, and indicated their level of work-related positive affect, in-role performance, and extra-role performance. Results of multilevel hierarchical regression analyses supported our hypotheses by indicating that strengths-based psychological climate was positively linked to in-role and extra-role performance, and that this link was mediated by positive affect. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
117 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the relationship between experience in the CEO position of a different firm and the post-succession financial performance of the firm that they currently lead was investigated. And the results showed that experience is negatively related to firm performance.
Abstract: We sample CEOs of the 2005?S&P 500 corporations to look at the relationship between experience in the CEO position of a different firm and the post-succession financial performance of the firm that they currently lead. We find that experience in the CEO position is negatively related to firm performance. CEOs who directly move to their current CEO position from the previous one and those with job-specific experience in the same or related industry or at the helm of a previous company similar in size to the current one are associated with significantly lower post-succession performance than those without prior CEO experience. The results contribute to the literatures on CEO succession, the performance effect of job-specific experience, and the transferability of human capital.
113 citations
TL;DR: The authors provided a 30th anniversary review of the two books and used them as a lens for examining how the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) has subsequently evolved and developed.
Abstract: Two pioneering books published in 1984 arguably launched the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM). The first is Strategic Human Resource Management by Fombrun, Tichy, and Devanna; the second is Managing Human Assets by Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Mills, and Walton. This article provides a 30th anniversary review of the two books, partly to honor their pioneering contributions but also to use them as a lens for examining how the field has subsequently evolved and developed. Two recently published SHRM books are used as a benchmark for this analysis. The review identifies areas of SHRM constancy and change, major theoretical and empirical innovations, and newly developed research questions and directions, largely in an American context. Diagrammatic models of SHRM are synthesized and compared from the four books; also, nine specific dimensions of evolution in the field are highlighted with discussion of advances and shortcomings
110 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the impact of motivation-enhancing human resource practices on the productivity, motivation, and performance of commercial bank employees to promote and attain contextual ambidexterity within the organization.
Abstract: Human resource management systems may serve as an antecedent that enables firms to develop a context for ambidexterity—an ability to pursue contradictory processes (exploitation versus exploration) within the same firm. The aim of this article is to examine the impact of motivation-enhancing HR practices on the productivity, motivation, and performance of commercial bank employees to promote and attain contextual ambidexterity within the organization. The theoretical model presented in this article shows how ex-ante incentives (incentives based on past performance) and ex-post incentives (incentives based on future performance) affect productivity, motivation, and performance of employees. The results are tested empirically by analyzing real quarterly data of commercial bank employees in Israel. The main results show that workers with relatively high abilities might take advantage of both ex-ante and ex-post incentives. In contrast, workers with relatively low ability are unable to take advantage of both incentive schemes. Our findings indicate that motivation-enhancing HR practices such as financial incentives significantly influence the productivity and performance of employees. Our study contributes to the ambidexterity literature by examining how motivation-enhancing human resource (HR) practices such as incentive schemes make employees feel the sense of stretch that is essential in building an ambidextrous organization
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the daily practices leaders enact to stimulate exploration and exploitation as well as to shift dynamically between them to (re)gain contextual ambidexterity.
Abstract: Sustainable success calls for contextually ambidextrous organizing. According to theory, this entails enabling simultaneous high levels of exploration and exploitation within a subsystem. The practices involved in enabling contextual ambidexterity form a major and relatively unexplored leadership challenge. Our main aim is to draw on a combination of ambidexterity and complexity theory insights to understand how contextual ambidexterity emerges in dynamic contexts. We contribute to the literature on the role of leadership in enabling contextual ambidexterity by exploring the daily practices leaders enact to stimulate exploration and exploitation as well as to shift dynamically between them to (re)gain contextual ambidexterity. We present the results of two qualitative studies exploring leadership in project-based organizations where the pressure for contextual ambidexterity is relevant. We show that in responding adaptively to environmental stimuli, leaders shift between practices to emphasize exploitation or exploration to (re)gain the needed high levels of both, and their enactments are bounded by the conditions of keeping exploration and exploitation simultaneously high. We discuss the implications of these findings for understanding contextual ambidexterity as a dynamic accomplishment that emerges in everyday interactions, the role of leaders in enabling contextual ambidexterity, and the need for HR managers to support leaders in enacting this dynamic form of leadership.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors link the idea of fit between practices to employee motivation for knowledge sharing by arguing that rewards may be ambiguous and difficult to interpret, but that such ambiguity may be reduced if rewards are combined with other aligned HRM practices, notably job design and work climate.
Abstract: The strategic HRM literature suggests that HRM influences employees in combinations of practices that “fit” each other rather than as stand-alone practices; however, it pays little attention to the underlying individual-level mechanisms. In contrast, the HRM literature on knowledge sharing examines the influence of single practices on individual-level knowledge sharing, but fails to include the influence of combinations of practices. We link the idea of fit between practices to employee motivation for knowledge sharing by arguing that rewards may be ambiguous and difficult to interpret, but that such ambiguity may be reduced if rewards are combined with other aligned HRM practices, notably job design and work climate. Thus, fit is established through the ambiguity-reducing effect of combining specific HRM practices. Accordingly, we test for complementarities among rewards, job design, and work climate in the form of a three-way interaction among these variables with respect to their impact on knowledge-sharing motivation. Our analysis of 1,523 employees in five knowledge-intensive firms shows that employees who are exposed to knowledge-sharing rewards experience higher levels of autonomous motivation to share when they are simultaneously exposed to a noncontrolling job design and work climate that support knowledge sharing. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate the effectiveness of the CareerSkills program, a career development intervention based on career competencies and the JOBS methodology, which aims to stimulate career self-management and well-being of young employees.
Abstract: The aim of our study was to investigate the effectiveness of the CareerSKILLS program, a career development intervention based on career competencies and the JOBS methodology, which aims to stimulate career self-management and well-being of young employees. In a quasi-randomized control trial, the effects of the program were tested in a homogeneous sample of young employees with intermediate vocational education (Nintervention = 112, Nnon-intervention = 61) and in a heterogeneous sample of employees from a special reintegration program (Nintervention = 71, Nnon-intervention = 41). Our results support the effectiveness of the intervention: participants of the CareerSKILLS program, versus a control group, showed increases in six career competencies (reflection of motivation, reflection on qualities, networking, self-profiling, work exploration, and career control), self-efficacy, resilience against setbacks, career-related behaviors, perceived employability, and work engagement. These results provide empirical support for the effectiveness of the CareerSKILLS program. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the extensiveness of top managers' social networks inside and outside the firm, on an integrative basis, can offer the dual knowledge benefits conducive to ambidexterity.
Abstract: Organizational research suggests that ambidexterity is attainable if top managers cultivate collective behavioral routines that enable them to synthesize large amounts of information and decision alternatives, and manage conflict and ambiguity. However, the type of information and knowledge sources that enable top managers to meet the knowledge demands of ambidexterity remains poorly understood. Toward that end, we argue that the extensiveness of top managers’ social networks inside and outside the firm, on an integrative basis, can offer the dual knowledge benefits conducive to ambidexterity. Because ambidexterity entails the firm's departure from existing products, technologies, and practices, we further argue that the contribution of extensive networks to ambidexterity is conditional upon the collective volition of top managers to parlay extensive network opportunities into innovative pursuits. From a study of CEOs and top management teams in SMEs operating in technology-based industries, we find support for both a network extensiveness effect and the moderating role of a proactive commitment to innovation in shaping this effect. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: Li et al. as mentioned in this paper examined the mediating role of perceived insider status and the moderation role of vertical collectivism on the relationship between organizational inducements and employees' organizational citizenship behavior.
Abstract: The organizational inducement model proposed in this study seeks to examine the mediating role of perceived insider status (PIS) and the moderating role of vertical collectivism on the relationship between organizational inducements and employees’ organizational citizenship behavior (OCB). Among a sample of Chinese employees, the authors find that the organizational inducements of perceived supervisor support and participation led to higher levels of PIS, which in turn enhanced OCB. Furthermore, vertical collectivism moderated the relationship between PIS and OCB, such that their relationship grew stronger when collectivism was high. These findings have notable implications for theory and practice
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze and highlight the developments in the current scholarship on managing diversity and inclusion (D&I) and provide insights for future research, and argue for a consideration of inquiry in D&I from a neo-institutionalist perspective to encourage interdisciplinarity and align with broader social science research in human resource management (HRM) and development.
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to analyze and highlight the developments in the current scholarship on managing diversity and inclusion (D&I) and provide insights for future research. While doing so, the article advances our understanding of “what matters” in this field, through the integration of different literature concerning the dimensions of D&I. It also provides a neo-institutionalist framework, which locates different themes in the D&I scholarship to assist in further development of the field. It argues for a consideration of inquiry in D&I from a neo-institutionalist perspective to encourage interdisciplinarity and align with broader social science research in human resource management (HRM) and development, highlighting the complexity involved in the theorizing of D&I management in organizations. Specifically, we argue for the need to engage with a variety of stakeholders concerned with the management of D&I, to enable cross-fertilization of theories and mixing methods for future research designs. The article also introduces the manuscripts included in this special issue and build on them as well to develop the future research agenda. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the effectiveness of the feedforward interview for improving the job performance of employees relative to a traditional performance appraisal interview in a business equipment firm and found that the feed-forward intervention increased performance relative to the performance appraisal.
Abstract: This study examines the effectiveness of the feedforward interview for improving the job performance of employees relative to a traditional performance appraisal interview in a business equipment firm. Managers (n?=?25) were randomly assigned to one of two conditions. Employees (n?=?70) who engaged in a feedforward interview with their manager were observed by an anonymous peer to perform significantly better on the job four months later than employees (n?=?75) who received the company's traditional performance appraisal interview. The finding that the feedforward intervention increased performance relative to the performance appraisal indicates that the effect is a relatively enduring one. The results suggest that the feedforward interview should prove useful for human resource managers who are searching for ways to increase the performance of their organization's human resources over and above the traditional performance appraisal
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the influence of TMT behavioral integration on ambidexterity and highlight the importance of environmental dynamism as a boundary condition on the effectiveness of top management team processes in promoting balance between exploratory and exploitative learning.
Abstract: This study seeks to advance previous research by linking top management team (TMT) processes to organizational ambidexterity, and highlights the importance of environmental dynamism as a boundary condition on the effectiveness of TMTs in promoting balance between exploratory and exploitative learning. The findings from multiple respondents (245 TMT members, including the CEO of the SBUs, and 883 employees) in 101 small-sized strategic business units (SBUs) with a defined product line indicate that TMT behavioral integration helps build ambidexterity, but that the influence of TMT behavioral integration on ambidexterity is stronger when the task environment is characterized by a high level of dynamism. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the conditions under which behaviorally integrated TMTs are able to pursue an ambidextrous orientation in relatively small-sized units
TL;DR: In this article, the authors view acquisition integration through the lens of contextual ambidexterity to improve acquisition outcomes in two ways: by providing an integrated solution to the economic and social tensions in acquisitions, and by enabling managers to effectively confront the competing needs of task and human integration.
Abstract: The results of research on mergers and acquisitions often point to a need to improve acquisition outcomes and lessen the organizational turmoil that can often follow integration efforts. We assert that viewing acquisition integration through the lens of contextual ambidexterity may improve acquisition outcomes in two ways: by providing an integrated solution to the economic and social tensions in acquisitions, and by enabling managers to effectively confront the competing needs of task and human integration. We also posit that by building on contextual ambidexterity, we can extend the possibilities for both research and practice regarding task and human integration in acquisitions. We also emphasize the role of an integration manager and integration mechanisms in enabling contextual ambidexterity for successful acquisition integration. Finally, we identify implications for research and practice.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors utilized sexual harassment, organizational climate, and engagement theories to articulate a process model of how perceived anti-sexual harassment practices and sexual harassment incidents relate to affective commitment and intentions to stay.
Abstract: The present study utilized sexual harassment, organizational climate, and engagement theories to articulate a process model of how perceived anti�sexual harassment practices and sexual harassment incidents relate to affective commitment and intentions to stay. The authors hypothesized that perceived anti�sexual harassment practices and sexual harassment incidents would relate to employee engagement, both directly and indirectly through psychological distress. Moreover, psychological distress and employee engagement were hypothesized to mediate the relationships of perceived anti�sexual harassment practices and sexual harassment incidents with affective commitment and intentions to stay. Study findings supported these hypotheses within two subsamples of female (N = 3,283 and 3,207) and male (N = 3,460 and 3,300) military personnel.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explored the role of time in the management of domiciliary care work for older adults in England and the consequences for the employment conditions of care staff, revealing widespread tendencies to use zero-hours contracts and limit paid hours to face-to-face contact time, leaving travel time and other workrelated activities unpaid.
Abstract: Drawing on a multilevel study of commissioning, employers, and care staff, this
article explores the role of time in the management of domiciliary care work for
older adults in England and the consequences for the employment conditions of
care staff. An index of fragmented time practices among 52 independent-sector
domiciliary care providers reveals widespread tendencies to use zero-hours contracts
and limit paid hours to face-to-face contact time, leaving travel time and
other work-related activities unpaid. Care staff interviews reveal how fragmented
time creates insecurities and demands high work engagement. Time management
practices are shown to derive directly from strict time-based local authority
commissioning. Subcontractors, both independent small fi rms and those
belonging to national chains, can at best adopt human resource (HR) policies that
are partial routes to failure, as evident in widespread recruitment and retention
problems. Informal HR practices to accommodate working-time preferences help
to retain individual staff, but adjustments are often marginal, adversely affect
other staff and fail to expand the recruitment pool for social care. Labor shortages
are likely to persist as long as workers are required to adapt to a regime of
fragmented time and to work more hours than are paid, even at pay rates close
to the national minimum wage.
TL;DR: The changing landscape of the health care and aged care systems and key challenges for the human resource management (HRM) field are examined and an interdisciplinary, multilevel, and multistakeholder approach is identified.
Abstract: Given the universal pressures within the health and elderly care sectors for cost reduction and the need for high-quality care, the effective management of the workforce in care organizations is of critical importance. In this article, we examine the changing landscape of the health care and aged care systems and identify key challenges for the human resource management (HRM) field. We assess existing research evidence on the role of HRM and high-performance work systems in the health care sector. We also outline a number of research areas as fruitful avenues for future studies, drawing particular attention to aged care as an underresearched subsector, and immigrants as an important group of research targets. The key message of our article is that future research on HRM in the care sector has much to gain by adopting an interdisciplinary, multilevel, and multistakeholder approach. More cross-sectoral and cross-country comparative studies of HRM in health care and other care work are also needed to shed light on how policy orientations, institutional arrangements, social norms, and cultural traditions influence care regimes across different societies, and to encourage the sharing of learning across societies
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the influence of prevailing tensions and competing agendas characteristic of a professionalized, public-sector context upon knowledge exploitation and exploration at the middle levels of the organization and investigate how these tensions are experienced and reconciled at the individual level.
Abstract: his article focuses on knowledge management in UK hospitals as an area in which organizational ambidexterity (OA) is a necessary condition. In contrast to much of the literature on OA that looks at senior managers, we focus on the role of “hybrid” middle managers, professional workers who hold managerial responsibilities, in ensuring that the quality of care delivered is at an optimum “safe” level for patients. We examine the influence of prevailing tensions and competing agendas characteristic of a professionalized, public-sector context upon knowledge exploitation and exploration at the middle levels of the organization. Our study investigates how these tensions are experienced and reconciled at the individual level. We examine the contextual and personal circumstances that enable hybrid middle managers to forge workable compromises between exploration and exploitation to facilitate OA. We find that this process is contingent on professional legitimacy, social capital, and a holistic professional orientation. This has wider implications for human resource practice to support the discretion and motivation of hybrid middle managers to facilitate OA for enduring performance and advancement of best practice
TL;DR: Wiley Periodicals, Inc. as discussed by the authors, 2014, Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com), published online in Wiley online library (Wileyonline.com).
Abstract: © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com).
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors extend understanding of the interaction between human resource practices and the brokering of knowledge by hybrid middle managers by drawing upon the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework.
Abstract: Drawing upon the ability-motivation-opportunity (AMO) framework, our study extends understanding of the interaction between human resource (HR) practices and the brokering of knowledge by hybrid middle managers. Examining health care delivered to older people in a hospital setting, our study highlights that hybrid nurse middle managers broker knowledge downward through professional hierarchy to their peer group, but find it difficult to broker knowledge upward. Meanwhile, because they lack legitimacy with doctors, they lack the opportunity to broker knowledge interprofessionally. Hybrid medical middle managers are potentially more able to broker knowledge within their peer group. However, some of lower status intraprofessionally, like nurses, may lack legitimacy and opportunity to do so. Meanwhile, higher-status medical middle managers may lack motivation to engage in knowledge brokering with peers outside their specialism. We suggest that inter- and intraprofessional power and status has important implications for HR practices to support knowledge brokering by hybrid middle managers. Should HR practices fail to support ability, motivation, and opportunity for knowledge brokering across and within professions, then a “broken” rather than “broker” chain may result.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors developed a cross-level model examining the effects of intellectual capital facets (i.e., human, social, and organizational capital) on unit ambidexterity.
Abstract: This study develops a cross-level model examining the effects of intellectual capital facets (i.e., human, social, and organizational capital) on unit ambidexterity. Further, it proposes that organizational-level high-performance human resource (HPHR) practices significantly shape these effects as well as the unit ambidexterity–unit performance relationship. Hierarchical linear modeling on multisource and lagged data from a sample of 148 business units from 58 US Fortune 500 firms shows that unit human and social capital positively contributes to unit ambidexterity, unit organizational capital has a negative relationship with unit ambidexterity, and organizational HPHR practices amplify the former and mitigate the latter of these unit-level effects. The findings also reveal that the relationship between ambidexterity and unit performance becomes stronger in organizational contexts of heightened HPHR practices. This multilevel approach increases understanding of how units achieve ambidexterity and attain related performance gains. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: This paper developed a model that explores the identity and efficacy uncertainties that women experience during resocialization, drawing attention to the influence organizational context has on the degree of uncertainty women experience and to the adjustment tactics women engage to manage their identities and efficacy uncertainty.
Abstract: The work reentry period following the birth of a first child is a time of uncertainty for a professional woman. During reentry, a new mother is often questioning who she is and how effective she can be as a mother and working professional. In this study, we conceptualize reentry as a period of resocialization as we explore the first-time mother's changing self-concept during this time. Specifically, we develop a model that explores the identity and efficacy uncertainties that women experience during resocialization. This model draws attention to the influence organizational context has on the degree of uncertainty women experience and to the adjustment tactics women engage to manage their identity and efficacy uncertainty. We discuss the implications these findings have for both socialization research and work-life theory and practice. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
TL;DR: This paper explored the antecedents to these policies to understand why some organizations seek to be at the forefront of this trend while others do only the minimum to embrace this element of diversity.
Abstract: Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals remains a persistent problem not addressed by federal and most state equal employment opportunity laws in the United States. Despite this lack of regulation, a growing number of organizations are voluntarily adding sexual orientation and gender identity to their nondiscrimination statements, providing domestic partner benefits, sponsoring affinity groups, and establishing other “LGBT-friendly” policies. This article incorporates institutional theory and organizational demography to explore the antecedents to these policies to understand why some organizations seek to be at the forefront of this trend while others do only the minimum to embrace this element of diversity. The analysis of a sample of Fortune 1000 firms reveals that state law dealing with gay rights in non-employment-related areas for the state where each company is headquartered, the number of women serving on each firm's board of directors, and whether other companies in the same industry have adopted progressive policies are all related to company policy toward its LGBT employees. Sexual orientation of employees by industry does not seem to influence company policy
TL;DR: In this article, gender-specific preferences in one important human resource management (HRM) practice, namely, global performance management (GPM), were investigated in five countries belonging to various cultural clusters: China, France, Germany, South Africa, and United States.
Abstract: This study investigates gender-specific preferences in one important human resource management (HRM) practice�namely, global performance management (GPM). GPM has major consequences for the career advancement of women and can therefore also represent a barrier if it is rooted in traditional male corporate cultures. As prior research suggests that the underrepresentation of women in top management positions is a worldwide phenomenon with only minor national variations, empirical data were collected in five countries belonging to various cultural clusters: China, France, Germany, South Africa, and the United States. For all countries, the results show that preferences vary significantly between male and female managers for crucial parts of the GPM system (actors� roles, evaluation methods, feedback procedures, and GPM purposes). This study confirms that the preferences of female managers do not match more male-oriented GPM practices, indicating that female managers are less satisfied with existing GPM procedures. It was particularly surprising to find that these gender differences do not vary according to cultural background, but rather display the same pattern in all investigated countries. These findings not only have the potential to explain the often-limited career advancement of women, but also have major implications for multinational companies aiming to retain talented women