Jeroen Gerard Meijerink

Exploring the central characteristics of HR shared services: evidence from a critical case study in the Netherlands

Human resource shared service centers (HR SSCs) are foreseen as improving HR service delivery for their end-users: employees, line managers and decentralized HR professionals. Although the concept expects the benefits of HR SSCs to come from centralizing knowledge and decentralizing the control exercised over an HR SSC, research into these two fundamental shared service characteristics is scarce. The purpose of this research is therefore to explore whether resource bundling, combined with business unit control over an HR SSC, is sufficient to improve HR service delivery to its end-users. Using concepts from intellectual capital and agency theory, we find that the combination of these two characteristics of shared services is not sufficient to improve HR service delivery. Rather, we suggest that (1) HR SSCs have to update the knowledge and skills of their staff; (2) end-users have to effectively maintain the codified knowledge centralized in the HR SSC; and (3) business units and the HR SSC need to collaborate in order for the benefits of an HR shared service to be realized.

Value creation through HR shared services: towards a conceptual framework

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to derive a measure for the performance of human resource shared service providers (HR SSPs) and then to develop a theoretical framework that conceptualises their performance. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper starts from the HR shared services argument and integrates this with the knowledge-based view of the firm and the concept of intellectual capital. Findings – We recommend measuring HR SSP performance as HR value, referring to the ratio between use value and exchange value, that together reflect both transactional and transformational HR value. We argue that transactional HR value directly flows from the organisational capital in HR SSPs, whereas human and social capitals enable them to leverage their organisational capital for HR value creation. We argue that the human capital of HR SSPs has a direct effect on transformational HR value creation, while their social and organisational capitals positively moderate this relationship. Originality/value – The suggested measure paves the way for operationalising and measuring the performance of HR shared services providers. This paper offers testable propositions for the relationships between intellectual capital and the performance of HR shared service providers. These contributions could assist future research to move beyond the descriptive nature that characterises the existing literature.

Platform thinking for services: the case of human resources

This paper tests the utility of platform thinking, a design principle that has so far been applied to product development yet under-researched in service settings, for improving the value of services. A key principle of platform thinking is to balance the reuse of service components with the heterogeneity in user needs. Tuning services to specific user needs is valuable, but differentiating services when user needs are homogeneous may decrease service quality and increase cost. Using data from 676 human resource management services, this study finds that the service value is highest when the service provision is matched with the commonality potential of the services. The results indicate that using the wrong delivery channel decreases the service value which eventually could decrease the service value for an organizations external customers. These empirical findings demonstrate the relevance of platform thinking for service design and challenges conventional design criteria used for optimizing service delivery.

Exploring and comparing HR shared services in subsidiaries of multinational corporations and indigenous organisations in the Netherlands: a strategic response analysis

Human resource shared service centres (HR SSCs) are said to make optimal use of information technologies. Especially for MNCs, utilising HR SSCs supported by information technology increases the pressure to standardise or localise the HR SSC operations within their subsidiaries. In this paper, we explore whether what we call the content of HR SSCs (i.e. their HR activities and governance structures) is different in MNC subsidiaries to that of indigenous organisations. In so doing, we build on neo-institutional theory and the strategic response concept for uncovering how HR SSCs respond to local institutional pressures to become different or similar. As such, we contribute to the standardisation-localisation debate by responding to the call for more research into the response mechanisms that explain why MNC subsidiaries and indigenous organisations are similar or different. Further, by exploring eighteen Dutch HR SSCs in terms of their activities and governance structures, we contribute to the HR shared services literature by empirically illuminating the key characteristics of shared services: the centralisation of activities and the decentralisation of control

Advancing multilevel thinking and methods in HRM research

Purpose – Despite the growing belief that multilevel research is necessary to advance human resource management (HRM) understanding, there remains a lack of multilevel thinking – the application of principles for multilevel theory building. The purpose of this paper is to propose a systematic approach for multilevel HRM research. Design/methodology/approach – The paper proposes an agenda for multilevel HRM research by addressing three obstacles (concerning questions, theories and methods) that impede advancement in this field. Findings – The paper provides an inclusive definition of multilevel HRM research that serves to advance its use, and maps out a multilevel HRM research landscape that captures the various aspects of this concept. The paper identifies unanswered multilevel questions within 16 research domains and develops a systematic approach to tackle these research questions by invoking three relevant theories and methodologies. Research limitations/implications – Some of the identified research q...

Beyond shared savings : a multilevel analysis of the perceived value of HR shared services

Human Resource Shared Service Centers are introduced by organizations with the aim to create value for employees and managers. Although several studies uncovered the value potential of HR shared services (e.g. possibilities for reducing costs, improving HR service quality and increasing the strategic contribution of the HRM function), little research has been done that explains how the value of HR shared services is created. Low levels of perceived value may have undesirable consequences such as employee dissatisfaction, reduced levels of employee commitment, and poor service quality for external clients. Therefore, the research presented in this thesis intends to explain the value of HR shared services for their end-users, that is, employees and line managers. Specifically, this thesis (1) explores the most essential characteristics of HR shared service centers, such as provided HR services, control mechanisms, and provider–client interactions, which are considered to provide necessary conditions for value creation, and (2) tests the mechanisms through which both HR shared service centers and their end-users contribute to the creation of HR shared service value. This thesis claims that it is neither the provider nor the clients and end-users of HR shared services, but the interactions among them that explain the success of HR shared services. In particular, the quality of the (knowledge) resources brought to service delivery processes by both HR shared service centers and their end-users influence the perceived value of HR shared services for employees and line managers. This thesis will benefit practitioners and organizations that want to understand how the benefits of HR shared services can be realized. Academics and researchers will find a contribution towards understanding the how and why of the integrated character of HR shared service value creation.

HRM Implementation by Multiple HRM Actors : A Social Exchange Perspective

Abstract In this study, we understand HRM implementation as a social process that depends on the social exchange relationships between line managers and both HRM professionals and employees. As such, we offer a fresh approach to understanding HRM implementation by concentrating on the social exchange among HRM actors. We do so by investigating to what extent these exchange relationships influence HRM implementation, as reflected in employees’ perceptions of the presence of HRM practices and their affective commitment. We collected multilevel data from two sources (line managers and employees) and in two phases in a Dutch engineering firm, and obtained fully matched manager – employee information from 75 employees and 20 line managers. Our results show that employees perceive a larger number of HRM practices when they have a good relationship with their line managers and when their line managers are motivated to implement HRM practices. Line managers, in turn, reciprocate perceived support from the HRM department with greater motivation to implement these practices. We conclude that because HRM actors engage in social interactions, HRM practices will be implemented at the organizational level because employees perceive the presence of HRM practices and then reciprocate this with affective commitment.

How employees’ pro-activity translates high-commitment HRM systems into work engagement: the mediating role of job crafting

Abstract In this study, we examine whether the relationship between employees’ perceptions of human resource management (HRM) and work engagement is mediated by job crafting. Using conservation of resources (COR) theory, we propose that HR practices offer job resources which employees reinvest by displaying job crafting behaviours. Since job crafting involves the pro-active redesign of job characteristics by employees, this study advances the idea that employees are pro-active in their response to HRM and translate perceived HRM practice into attitudinal outcomes through displaying pro-active behaviour. In support of this idea, our results show that the relationship between perceived HRM and work engagement is fully mediated by the job crafting type ‘increasing job resources and challenging job demands’. The job crafting type ‘decreasing hindering job demands’ turned out to be insignificantly related to both employee perceptions of HRM and work engagement.

Toward a Marketing Perspective on How ‘Active Employees’ Create Valuable Human Resource Management Outcomes: The Role of HRM Consumption and Psychological Ownership

In the human resource management (HRM) literature, employees are increasingly conceptualized as active agents. Although existing studies show how HRM practices relate to employee agency (e.g. job crafting, pro-activity or career self-management), they limitedly focus on employee agency in HRM implementation, that is, how employees utilize provided HRM practices. This is important to know since HRM outcomes emerge from employees’ involvement in HRM. To this end, we bring service marketing insights to the HRM literature to present the new HRM consumption concept to propose that HRM outcomes depend on how employees integrate HRM practices with complementary resources. Furthermore, we propose that HRM consumption provides benefits for employees and their employers while it builds feelings of psychological ownership.

Why Sharing Is Synergy : The Role of Decentralized Control Mechanisms and Centralized HR Capabilities in Creating HR Shared Service Value.

Purpose HR shared service centers (SSCs) have been claimed to innovate human resource management service delivery by centralizing resources and decentralizing control and, in doing so, create value for other business units. In response, to explain the value of HR shared services for the business units served, the purpose of this paper is to test hypotheses on the joint influence of HR SSC operational and dynamic capabilities and of control mechanism usage by the business units. Design/methodology/approach A survey methodology was applied to collect data among business unit representatives from 91 business units in 19 Dutch organizations. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling in AMOS. Findings This study found that the use of formal control mechanisms (e.g. contracts, service-level agreements) relates negatively with HR shared service value, but that this relationship becomes positive once mediated by informal control mechanisms (e.g. trust and shared language) and operational HR capabilities. Furthermore, it shows that the dynamic capabilities of HR SSCs relate positively to HR shared service value for the business units, but only because of their effect on operational capabilities. Originality/value Whereas previous studies into HR SSCs have examined the two antecedents independently, this study shows how organizational control and capabilities interrelate in explaining the value of HR shared services.