Agile for HR: Fine in practice, but will it work in theory?

HRM solutions: a framework for small business owners to manage industrial relations while facilitating labour unionisation mitigation

Purpose

Small business owners require objective solutions to deal with threats of labour unionisation. This study aims to centre on a novel exploration for improving the leadership acumen of small business owners to address labour unionisation. Specifically, small business owners need a theoretical framework that uses best practices from human resource management (HRM) and industrial relations to provide solutions.

Design/methodology/approach

The design, methodology and approach reflect post-modernist epistemological and ontological perspectives for conducting systematic literature reviews. A systematic literature review revealed the relationship between small business owners’ leadership, positive industrial relations and HRM policies and procedures. To identify relevant studies in the review, the utilisation of several databases (EBSCO Database, including PsycINFO and Psych studies; Web of Science) and a mix of ranked journals from entrepreneurship, human resources, leadership and organisational behaviour.

Findings

The findings and results in this paper reflect the purpose, methodology and literature analysis culminating in 162,132,000 peer-reviewed studies. A total of 142 peer-reviewed studies met criterion for review. For example, the purpose of this review focused on labour unionisation mitigation for small businesses and HRM solutions. In doing so, the methodology allowed for identification of a novel research topic (i.e. how small business owners mitigate labour unionisation) worthy of further investigation. The sparse findings on labour unionisation mitigation represent small business owners' reticence in creating HRM policies and procedures.

Originality/value

This study contributes research implications for theory and practice by offering small business owners a theoretical framework to address labour unionisation. The framework, centring on HRM solutions, is grounded in social exchange theory to address the novel topic of labour unionisation mitigation in small businesses. This study results suggest that HRM solutions for small business owners provide competitive advantages for employee job satisfaction through a holistic industrial relations approach. In future research, examining other issues discussed in this study can influence the understanding of the relationship between small business owners and industrial relations to increase employee job satisfaction.

Critical HR capabilities in agile organisations a cross-case analysis in swiss SMEs

The current agile management literature is missing insight about the challenges agile organisations face regarding human resource management (HRM/HR) – and how they may overcome them. Based on an exploratory case study design, we investigate the managerial challenges in seven pioneering companies, all of them medium-sized firms (SME) from the IT sector in Switzerland. The majority of the qualitative data gathered stems from interviews, that was coded along emerging themes. The results are divided into three sections: a proposed (1) typology for Business Agilists, (2) general challenges and (3) emergent agile HR capabilities. Following the proposition of agile HR as a distributed capability, we discuss several theoretical and practical implications. In essence, particular attention is to be placed on a cultural fit between employees and the agile working environment, which demands individuals to be highly self-reliant and autonomous. This entails the need for a flexible support structure to grow employees’ skills accordingly. The conclusion emphasises addressing the shared responsibility for HR work and the corresponding broad capability development of different role holders, resulting in the suggestion to replace the term HR with people management as a more inclusive bracket for integrative HR, culture and leadership work in agile organisations.

Navigations for Hospitality Human Resource Management Research: Observing the Keywords, Factors, Topics under the COVID-19 Pandemic

The hospitality industry is one of the most affected by the pandemic, and because of its human close interaction and labor-intensive characteristics, it has left Human Resource Management (HRM) puzzles with organizations’ stabilization and recovery. This study aimed to summarize current research on hospitality HRM research outcomes and trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Utilizing the PRISMA technique and NVivo software, 102 research articles were extracted and analyzed to highlight to overall achievement and movement of hospitality HRM research under the shadow of the COVID-19 crisis. Considering the main purpose of this study, which was to show the status and prospects, the findings indicated 309 free nodes and 26 secondary nodes based on grounded theory. 7 key themes clustered from the analysis and include “environmental factors”, “industrial factors”, “HRM practice”, “organization”, “employee”, “external outcomes”, and “methodology”. The results demonstrated the COVID-19 pandemic driven HRM transformation. In addition, it sheds light on how research responds to the shifting navigation of HRM within the hospitality context under the COVID-19 conditions.

Senior first, junior second

The seniority system exists in most companies, including in healthcare industries. Seniority often plays an essential role in the organizational success and career advance of employees. However, there are pros and cons in the application of the seniority system in all organizations, especially in the healthcare industry. This article prompts a discussion about seniority in nursing and provides some particular concerns and recommendations for consideration, and this begs the question, should senior be first and junior second?

Drivers of workforce agility: a dynamic capability perspective

Purpose

This paper aims to represent an exploration of drivers of workforce agility under the lens of dynamic capabilities to advance the existing workforce literature on agility and strategic human resource management.

Design/methodology/approach

In-depth qualitative interviews with senior information technology professionals, managers, directors and leadership were conducted. Data coding and analysis followed the Gioia methodology to develop a theoretical framework.

Findings

The theoretical paradigm of workforce agility is seeing revisions. In the past it was solely connected to resource-based view theory, current literature superficially speaks of the link with dynamic capability but lacks comprehensive and strategic understanding. The research brings in the evolutionary change by viewing workforce agility directly under the lens of dynamic capability theory and recognizes workforce agility as a high-level strategy. Based on the analysis of the qualitative interviews this study has developed a conceptual heuristic of workforce agility drivers, interlinked with dynamic capabilities micro-foundations – “sensing”, “seizing”, and “continual renewal”. This paper conceptualizes workforce agility as a response to high pressures for the dynamic capability of the company, which requires reconfiguration and redeployment of external and internal human resources and an inherent need to bring some stability to the internal resources of the company.

Originality/value

There is a growing body of literature linking organizational agility with dynamic capabilities, which overlooks workforce agility. This study is theory-based research on workforce agility, which guides practitioners in making human resource processes more agile.