Knowledge that Transforms

Recent studies in the field of human resource management (HRM) have highlighted that current research is mostly performed and consumed by academics, and is driven by theoretical and disciplinary concerns rather than practical ones. This debate has invoked the need to produce more Mode 2 research in the HRM field, that is, research driven by practical problems that integrate collaborative efforts by academics and practitioners. Yet, guidelines on how academics and practitioners may implement Mode 2 research remain disjointed and incomplete. Our study provides a phase‐based collaborative‐based framework for the implementation of Mode 2 research in the HRM field, in ways that both academic rigor and practical relevance are achieved. Our framework is informed by a comprehensive review of previous Mode 2 research, within and outside the HRM field. The proposed framework details four macro‐phases: the codevelopment of research questions with practitioners; the design of collaborative spaces and mechanisms; the design and management of double‐loop iterative research processes; and finally the academic and practice legitimization of Mode 2 outcomes. Our framework has the objective to support HRM researchers and practitioners, as well as relevant institutions and gatekeepers in the design, implementation, education, and assessment of Mode 2 research.

Does embedding employees in their organizations turn them into active organizational members who are increasingly interested in improvement, or passive members who increasingly lose interest in improvement? Addressing this embeddedness dilemma, this study aims to examine why and when perceived organizational embeddedness relates to the psychological orientation toward improvement that in turn relates to such improvement‐oriented behavior as voice. First, based on the future time perspective, we posit that increasingly embedded employees anticipate that their futures will be intertwined with that of their organizations, thereby motivating them to demonstrate increased learning goal orientation, which in turn promotes voice behavior. Second, this mediating relationship is less likely to occur for those who experience stronger increases in preferences for wide task boundaries and preferences for job mobility. Such preferences create a short‐term future time perspective in an employment relationship that is not aligned with the long‐term future time perspective inherent in increased embeddedness. Longitudinal data collected from 267 Italian employees over an eight‐month period provide empirical support for the proposed moderated mediation relationships.

To identify a set of broad factors that reflect the constructs measured in three content models of employee turnover, we hypothesized 19 scales would reduce to five factors related to employee job‐search behavior and actual turnover decisions: one's affect toward the organization, work environment, instrumental attachment, extraorganizational ties, and sense of obligation. Using a sample of 888 staff members from a large university, the factor structure was confirmed. Multivariate regression results also indicated one's work environment, instrumental attachment, and sense of obligation were significantly and negatively related to both job search and turnover, with work environment and instrumental attachment exhibiting the strongest effects. Extraorganizational ties were only significantly and negatively related to job search. Interestingly, affect toward the organization was not significantly related to either job search or turnover. Path analyses indicated the effects of four of the factors on turnover were fully mediated by job search, with instrumental attachment the sole factor that was only partially mediated. Our model provides a foundation for future researchers to test the uniqueness of new predictors of turnover, as well as guidance to practitioners regarding where resources might be best utilized in curbing turnover.

This study examines how an HR department moderates the effects of high‐performance work systems (HPWSs) on perceived establishment performance. Using a representative sample of 125 small and medium‐sized establishments from the 2002 National Organizations Survey, our results indicate a positive interaction between HPWSs and the existence of an establishment HR department with respect to perceived establishment labor productivity. Implications for future strategic HRM research are discussed.

This article investigates the relationship between talent management (TM), absorptive capacity (AC), and firm performance. We build a theoretical framework and examine the mediating role of a firm's AC in TM–performance relationships in the contexts of China and Russia. We use a sample of 120 Chinese and Russian firms to provide empirical evidence of our hypotheses. Our results show for both Chinese and Russian firms, a well‐developed TM system positively influences a firm's ability to acquire, assimilate, and exploit knowledge as well as increase the overall level of a firm's AC. We also found support for the argument that TM has an indirect positive effect on firm performance through its AC; moreover, the effect is stronger for Chinese firms, specifically, within the link between AC and performance.

While prior board of director studies have considered the role of director occupational expertise in areas such as law and finance on the strategic actions of the firm, little consideration has been given to understanding the value that human resource expertise on boards of directors, or board HR expertise , can provide. Drawing upon agency and resource dependence theories, this study investigates the relationship between board HR expertise and the extent to which firms engage in diversity management. Furthermore, the moderating role of two organizational context factors—capital intensity and firm age—are considered, as these can highlight the degree to which firms strategically depend upon human capital. With a sample of 423 U.S. firms listed on the S&P 500 from 2002 to 2006, the findings indicate that firms with board HR expertise have stronger diversity management in comparison to firms lacking board HR expertise. Moreover, the positive effects of board HR expertise on diversity management decreases when firms’ capital intensity or age rises. This highlights the value that HR practitioners can provide in serving on boards of directors, and suggests that the magnitude of board HR experts’ influence hinges upon the firm's level of strategic dependence on human capital.

The present study theoretically identifies the meaningful human resource management (HRM) practices that explain the emergence of two distinct dimensions of firm‐level knowledge management, namely, firm knowledge stock and flow, which are critical drivers of firm innovation. We also propose that these knowledge dimensions interact synergistically and that their effects on firm innovation are accentuated in firms with strong innovation strategy. The proposed theoretical framework was tested using multisource, large‐scale data collected from 203 manufacturing companies at three time points over a 5‐year period. Analysis confirmed that stock‐building and flow‐facilitating HRM practices increase firm‐level knowledge stock and flow, respectively. Firm knowledge flow (but not knowledge stock) exhibited a significant positive main effect on firm innovation. Firm knowledge stock was not related significantly to firm innovation, but it became a significant predictor of firm innovation when existing along a high level of firm knowledge flow, as well as in firms adopting innovation strategies. The present study provides significant insights for researchers and practitioners by offering comprehensive understanding of the nomological network of firm‐level knowledge management enhanced by effective HRM practices.

Building on Murphy's (2012) model of reverse mentoring, we examine the psychological processes that contribute to skill development in initiatives where knowledge is transferred from younger to older individuals. We employ a sample of younger mentors ( n = 457) and older learners ( n = 293) participating in a digital skills initiative to test parallel moderated mediation models. Our findings show extrinsic motivation plays a dominant role in the development of younger groups' mentoring skills, while older learners' digital skills development is primarily driven by intrinsic motivation. We also find positive affect and self‐efficacy can serve as personal resources in this context, but only for mentors. Taken together, our results suggest motivational processes in reverse mentoring unfold differently for the two groups involved in the exchange. Recommendations for human resource practice, including specific guidelines for developing intergenerational learning initiatives, are discussed.

Although the importance of positive, trusting, and cooperative relations between HR professionals and line managers has been well documented, little is known about how organizations can systematically nurture such relationships. This article specifies the “HR–line‐connecting HRM system,” which consists of a bundle of HRM practices designed to improve the relationship between HR and line managers. Drawing on the social capital perspective and HR strength theory, we propose that such HRM practices develop HR managers' social networks with line managers and facilitate the formation of a shared language between them, which should in turn result in low employee turnover. Our theory is generally supported by empirical analyses on data from Chinese high‐tech firms.

This article examines whether organizations can enhance employee well‐being by adopting human resource management (HRM) practices strategically targeted to improve skill development and deployment in a recessionary context. Employee skill utilization is proposed as the mediating mechanism between HRM practice and well‐being. The role of workplace skill composition is also examined as a boundary condition within which HRM differentially impacts employee outcomes. Using a nationally representative survey of UK workplaces (Workplace Employment Relations Survey 2011) and matched management and employee data, the analysis focused on organizations that had implemented some recessionary action following the 2008–2009 global financial and economic crisis. The findings show that human capital enhancing HRM and enriched job design positively influenced both job satisfaction and work‐related affective well‐being through increased employee skill utilization. Organizations with predominantly high‐skilled workforces were more likely to adopt these skills‐oriented HRM practices. Nevertheless, the effects of HRM on employee outcomes via skill utilization applied across organizations, regardless of workforce skill composition. The findings demonstrate employee skill utilization as a driver of HRM outcomes and the sustainability of “best practice” HRM arguments across all skill levels, even in the face of recession.