Brian Harney

Exploring the ideological undercurrents of HRM: workplace values and beliefs in Ireland and New Zealand

Despite hints of more pluralist undercurrents, workplace values and beliefs have rarely been surfaced to inform our understanding of HRM. This paper examines management and employee workplace values and beliefs in the national contexts of Ireland and New Zealand. The findings indicate (a) a divergence of managerial beliefs at the level of society and at the level of their own workplace, (b) an overall pluralist orientation among employees. These findings highlight the importance of greater sensitivity to ideological orientation and more pluralist understandings of HRM.

University research scientists as knowledge workers: contract status and employment opportunities

University research scientists epitomise knowledge workers who are positioned to avail of the employment conditions associated with ‘boundaryless careers’. Yet while employment flexibility has been hailed as a positive feature of knowledge work, relatively little is known about the forms such flexibility may take or its impact. This article considers the factors shaping the employment conditions of 40 research scientists working in five university research centres in Ireland. The findings suggest that, for knowledge workers such as research scientists, contract employment can deny them access to many of the employment conditions and opportunities that govern their long-term success as researchers.

An Emergent Theory of HRM: A Theoretical and Empirical Exploration of Determinants of HRM among Irish Small to Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs)

Utilizing data drawn from 18 in-depth case studies the authors explore in detail the factors shaping employment in a diverse range of Irish small- and medium-sized enterprises. Existing theory in HRM is deemed inadequate in capturing the complexity of HRM in SMEs especially as it treats organizations as hermetically sealed entities. In an effort to animate the criticism directed at normative models of HRM the authors use a conceptual framework with an emergent, open systems theoretical proposition to examine the parameters, dynamics and determining factors of HRM at each of the case study companies. The results show that the notion of a normative HRM model was not coherent in terms of actual practices but rather reactive, and emergent HRM-related processes were often imposed to meet legislative requirements or to reinforce owner–manager legitimacy and control. The authors conclude that an appreciation of the interaction between structural factors both inside and outside the immediate work milieu is crucial if the heterogeneity of HRM in SMEs is to be adequately accommodated and understood.

Exploring the HRM-performance relationship: the role of creativity climate and strategy

Purpose. While an established stream of research evidence has demonstrated that Human Resource Management (HRM) is positively related to organisational performance, explanations of this relationship remain underdeveloped while performance has been considered in a narrow fashion. Exploring the relevant but often neglected impact of creativity climate, this paper examines key processes (mediation and moderation) linking high-performance human resource practices with a broad range of organisational performance measures. Design/methodology/approach The paper draws on a People Management Survey of 169 HR managers from top performing firms in the Republic of Ireland. Findings. The findings provide general support for the role of creativity climate as a key mediator in the HRM-performance relationship, while strategic orientation was found to play a significant role in moderating the impact between HRM and employee performance but not HPWS, HR performance and organisational performance. Practical implications. HPWS are found to directly impact a range of organisational performance outcomes. Creativity climate provides an understanding of the mechanisms through which such impact takes effect. Organisations should develop a clear and consistent general HR philosophy to realise HR and organisational performance, but also pay due attention to the key contingencies in terms of nature of employee desired behaviours. Originality/value. The paper offers a more intricate understanding of the key factors shaping both the operation and impact of the HRM-performance relationship. Purposeful consideration of multi-faceted dimensions of organisational outcomes enabled a more nuanced and considered explication of the impact of HPWS.

De-collectivism and managerial ideology: towards an understanding of trade union opposition

Employers have long preferred to manage without the incursion of a trade union in company affairs. Much of the extant literature views managerial opposition to unions in terms of discrete typologies of union suppression and/or substitution. In this paper we present a conceptual analysis that questions the efficacy of such approaches. Given the limitations identified, the paper argues that managerial ideology provides a deeper theoretical and historically grounded form of analysis to explain hostility towards collective forms of worker representation. The paper explores the antecedents of managerial ideology and the logic to how and why trade unions are opposed. It concludes that as ideology drives managerial decollectivising strategies, lessons can be learnt for future union organising.

Unravelling the foci of employee commitment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to extend understanding regarding the basis and foci of employee commitment. It does so by exploring the direction towards employee centric rather than an assumed organisation basis of commitment. Design/methodology/approach Survey data of over 300 employees from a variety of organisations in the Republic of Ireland were collected. Data focussed on worker orientations and their foci of commitment. Findings The findings confirm a more pluralistic and mixed basis to the antecedents of worker commitment, as opposed to an assumed human resource management unitarist ideology often promoted by organisational managers. At the level of individual workers, a dominant focus for commitment relates to career development and the milieu of an immediate workgroup. Practical implications There are three implications. First, mutual gains possibilities are not straightforward and there are practical pitfalls that employee interests may get squeezed should managerial and customer interests take precedence. Second, there remain competing elements between job security, flexibility and autonomy which can impact performance. Finally, line managers are key conduits shaping commitment and especially psychological contract outcomes. Originality/value This paper unpacks the relationship between ideological orientation and an individual’s foci of commitment. The research found that traditional orientations and foci of commitment are deficient and that simplified individualistic interpretations of the employment relationship are complex and require more critical scrutiny.

The Role of the Line Manager in HRM-Performance Research

This chapter will review the evolution of research examining the HRM-Performance relationship. In particular it will focus on the gradual incorporation of the line manager as a critical agent in this relationship. The chapter then presents a conceptual schema which facilitates in better delineating the role and impact of line manager interventions along various units of analysis. The chapter concludes with implications for practice and future research trajectories.

Balancing tensions: Buffering the impact of organisational restructuring and downsizing on employee well-being

This study examines the impact of employee experiences of restructuring and downsizing on well-being. The job demands-resources model was used to develop hypotheses related to job demands in the form of work intensity and job resources in the form of consultation. The job demands-resources model allows for direct incorporation of employee perceptions and does not assume a singular, predetermined consequence of HRM practices. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling on a nationally representative sample of over 5,110 employees from the Republic of Ireland in 2009. The findings indicate that work intensity serves as a conduit through which experiences of restructuring and downsizing negatively impact employee well-being. Notably, consultation served as a buffer, diminishing the extent of this negative experience. The findings illuminate the complex pathways that shape how restructuring and downsizing are perceived by employees and the consequences for well-being. We discuss the theoretical and managerial implications of these findings.

HRM and SMEs: Contextualizing Significance, Neglect and Meaning in an International Context

While it is increasingly acknowledged that HRM is critical to international competitive success, debate has rarely extended to encompass small–medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This chapter presents economic, ideological and practical arguments for examining SMEs, while also exploring reasons for their relative neglect in HRM research to date. The second section of the chapter provides an overview of the various and contested definitions of both HRM and SMEs. In so doing, it highlights the merits of broader, culturally sensitive, all-encompassing definitions in the form of analytical HRM and smaller firms. Overall, it is clear from the chapter that the international footprint of SMEs is significant, growing and deserving of greater recognition and research focus. Better understanding the significance, neglect and meaning of HRM in SMEs may facilitate with this task.

Perceptions of HRM system strength and affective commitment: the role of human relations and internal process climate

Abstract Traditional HRM research has predominantly focused on both the content and/or bundling of HR practices, typically reported by managerial respondents. This paper extends knowledge by examining the diffusion of HR processes as an indication of HRM system strength using employee data. Specifically, we examine the impact of the distinctiveness, consistency and consensus generated by the HRM system and its impact on employee affective commitment and the potential mediating role of human relations climate and moderating role of internal process climate in this relationship. The results from a sample of 585 employees across a diverse range of organisations in Malaysia lend support to the key hypotheses. These findings are significant in supporting the value of a process perspective and the application of HR practices. They also offer important insights from the under-researched and non-western context of Malaysia.