Kirsten Thommes

Triggers of HR outsourcing decisions – an empirical analysis of German firms

This paper takes an explanatory approach to the triggers of Human Resource (HR) outsourcing decisions and evaluates them empirically. Our data show that many German firms have never explicitly considered outsourcing of HR functions. Obviously, explicit outsourcing decisions do not come into being automatically but have to be triggered. We analyze theoretically and empirically which triggers are relevant. In our definition, HR outsourcing includes a broad range of internal HR functions and the respective, externally procured personnel services (e.g., temporary agency work, payroll accounting, interim management, outplacement services, HR consulting, placement services and others).

HR outsourcing and service quality: theoretical framework and empirical evidence

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to analyse the relationship between HR outsourcing and service quality by focusing on motivational and incentive aspects.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a game‐theoretic model of procurement decisions allowing for variable degrees of vertical integration and confronts the implications of its analysis with HR outsourcing data on a large sample of German firms.Findings – The paper presents evidence for HR service quality being generally higher when procured from an external instead of an in‐house provider. Furthermore, the relationship between HR outsourcing and service quality is considerably stronger if the provided services are complex and if the potential for monitoring an internal provider is low.Practical implications – The findings have immediate practical implications concerning the make‐or‐buy decision of HR services: the more complex the HR service under consideration and the lower the potential to monitor its in‐house provision, the more at...

Institutional structures of the flexible assignment of personnel between enterprises: An economic comparison of Temporary Agency Work, Interim Management and Consulting

Temporary Agency Work, Interim Management and Consulting are three versions of the flexible assignment of personnel between enterprises, which are ? with regard to their basic economic structure - more or less similar, but which are organised under thoroughly different contractual and legal regulations in Germany and in three more or less differentiated segments of the market. The paper aims at comparing these forms of flexible personnel assignment under empirical and institutional aspects from an economic perspective.

Outsourcing HR functions: Development of an explanatory approach to firms' (non-existent) demand for personnel services

This paper develops a comprehensive explanatory approach to the outsourcing of Human Resource (HR) functions and the resulting demand or non-demand for personnel services by companies (e.g., interim management, outplacement services, consulting in the field of HR management). Starting from the deficits of approaches that currently dominate the outsourcing debate (cost accounting approach, transaction cost approach, resource-based view of the firm), a modified and expanded framework to explain outsourcing HR management/functions is presented which includes other theoretical approaches as well. On the one hand, potential costs and benefits of outsourcing HR functions are systematically analysed, incorporating so far neglected aspects. On the other hand, triggers as well as situational and structural factors which potentially influence the outsourcing decision via the perceived alternatives or via the expectations that are formed concerning cost and benefits of outsourcing HR functions are also included in the analysis.

Clean up your network: how a strike changed the social networks of a working team

Purpose This paper aims to analyse the impact of an intra-team conflict on the social relations within a team. The team conflict was triggered by a strike action which separated the team in two groups, the strikers and the worker, who continued to work. After the strike was settled, all had to work again cooperatively. This paper analyses how the strike action affects work and private social networks among workers. Design/methodology/approach The authors combine a qualitative ethnographic approach with quantitative network data. Findings The authors find that the strike action led to a separation between the former group of strikers and non-strikers. While the subgroups become more cohesive and their social network density increased, the links between both groups diminished. Research limitations/implications This study reveals that strikes and the accompanying separation of the workforce can improve social relations within the team, if individuals behaved alike during the conflict. Practical implications For managers, the results raise questions concerning typical managerial behaviour during strikes, as managers frequently trigger separation by trying to convince some individuals to continue to work. Instead, groups may even improve their performance after a strike, if they were allowed to behave alike by all joining the strike or refraining. Originality/value This study is the first to analyse social relations after a conflict. The authors combine qualitative and quantitative data and show the evolution of a social network after a strike. Moreover, they separate private communication flows and work-related communication and show that both networks do not necessarily evolve equally after a conflict.

Peer influence on protest participation: Communication and trust between co-workers as inhibitors or facilitators of mobilization

In this article, we investigate how communication and trust networks between employees affect participation in a strike. We analyze whether the strength of network relations is related to congruence in strike behavior using social network data on 59 Dutch workers. We find that private communication networks and trust networks lead to similar strike behavior. This finding indicates that networks not only promote protest mobilization but are also vehicles for demobilization, albeit through different network relations.

Organizational Failure in the Aftermath of Radical Institutional Change

This paper focuses on the question of the extent to which the institutional founding environment affects organizational success after a radical institutional change. We analyse firms founded in the German Democratic Republic (GDR) that experienced the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1990 and focus on how the institutional environment of their founding period influences their failure rates. Results show that organizational failure rates vary after institutional change due to differences in institutional founding conditions. This variation is influenced by the degree of (dis)similarity between the imprinted past and the present institutional context. Discussing the time-varying effect of institutional founding conditions, we contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of imprinting and organizational failure in situations of institutional change.

Wer nutzt HR-Outsourcing? Zentrale Strukturvariablen und ihr Einfluss auf die Nachfrage nach Personaldienstleistungen **

Bis heute fehlen in der empirischen Forschung zum HR-Outsourcing umfangreiche verlässliche Daten hinsichtlich der Nutzung von Personaldienstleistungen durch Unternehmen. Anhand der Auswertungen unserer Befragung von 1021 Unternehmen untersuchen wir die Charakteristika der Nachfrager nach Personaldienstleistungen und versuchen, mit dem vorliegenden Beitrag die Wissenslücke zu schließen. Wir untersuchen den Zusammenhang zwischen Unternehmenscharakteristika wie Größe, Branche, Region, Tarifbindung und Existenz eines Betriebsrats und dem HR-Outsourcing. Unsere empirischen Analysen zeigen, dass Unternehmensgröße einen großen Einfluss auf die Nutzungswahrscheinlichkeit jeder einzelnen Personaldienstleistung und zudem auch einen positiven Einfluss auf die Anzahl der genutzten Personaldienstleistungen hat.

Shadows of the past

Following research on transition economies in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), and having been motivated by arguments pertaining to the business systems approach, the authors propose that the existence of a communist heritage decreases the likelihood that employees will be consulted during organizational change processes. Results based on 23,876 firms across 27 of the European Union (EU-27) countries support this proposition. Moreover, the likelihood of direct consultation decreases with the existence of formal employee representation and an increasing share of foreign ownership in firms located in CEE countries. The authors discuss these findings in the context of organizational democracy research and the recent literature on transition economies and contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of participative decision-making processes in organizations.

The after effects of strikes on team collaboration - experimental evidence

Although the emergence of industrial conflicts is well-analyzed, the long-term consequences of industrial conflicts for productivity are still unknown. This article reports the findings of an experimental study that was designed to test the long-term consequences of industrial conflicts for teams. In particular, we analyze how the team incentive structures and the team members’ behavior during the conflict affect productivity after the conflict. Our findings show when and under which conditions the updating of beliefs and punishment disturb team cooperation after an industrial conflict. In particular, we show the major impact of group composition with respect to the individual’s strike participation. While homogeneous teams can even improve their performance after a strike, heterogeneous groups suffer severely from the collective conflict.