Antecedents on human resource management practice change

• Main Author: Zhou, Xiang
• Other Authors: Jason D. Shaw
• Format: Thesis-Doctor of Philosophy
• Language: English
• Published: Nanyang Technological University 2021
• Subjects: Business::Management
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10356/153780
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Compared to the work on outcomes of human resource management (HRM) practices, less effort has been made on theorizing and examining the relationship between antecedents and HRM. To move the field forward, it is important to understand how HRM practices are shaped and influenced. In Chapter 1, I review research that has investigated the factors that influence HRM practices and evaluated the empirical evidence, though this is a small fragment of the HRM literature. HRM practices are categorized based on Tsui, Pearce, Porter, and Tripoli’s (1997) employee-organization relationships (EOR) framework into II (investment and inducement) and EE (expectation-enhancement) practices. To integrate this literature, I organize these influencing factors into external and internal segments. Chapter 1 paves the way for theoretical development and empirical investigation on the factors that influence HRM practices. Drawing upon attention-based view of the firm and EOR framework, I develop a theoretical model to examine why firms change their HRM practices in Chapter 2. Specifically, I predict that firms with an internally (externally) focused culture will react more strongly to internal (external) issues with HRM change. Flexibility (control) oriented culture will respond by adjusting their II (EE) HRM practices. Change in HRM practice further relates to firm performance. This thesis answers two important questions – why firms implement HRM change and why firms differ in what they change. Through two studies, I found some support for the proposed model. Specifically, in Study 1, clan culture was found to interact with prior firm performance to predict II usage, while market culture interacted with prior performance to predict EE usage. II usage was found to be positively related to firm performance, while EE usage had negative relationship with firm performance. In study 2, clan culture was found to be interacted with labor shortage to predict II usage.