This paper investigates the relationship between flexible human resource (HR) practices and innovativeness. Testing the research model in a sample of first-tier automotive suppliers indicates that internal flexibility practices are positively related to innovativeness. Regarding external flexibility, the association depends on the type of contingent employee: negative association for 'short-term hires' and positive association for 'consulting/contracting firms'. The relationships to innovativeness for practices associated with knowledge transfer are moderated by environmental dynamism, but the non-knowledge related practices are not. Firms in highly dynamic environments can benefit more from flexible HR practices than firms in less dynamic environments.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to analyse the contribution of human resource (HR) commitment practices to firm performance through the adoption of workplace practices that require the organisational climate created by HR commitment practices. Design/methodology/approach -The approach is a survey of 156 Spanish firms and statistical test of research hypotheses through structural equation modelling. Findings -The results indicate that the extent that employees have access to HR commitment practices and HR social benefits is positively related to the intensity of telework adoption. Firm performance is positively associated to the intensity of telework adoption, functional flexibility and internal numerical flexibility, and negatively related to external numerical flexibility. HR commitment practices impact directly and indirectly on different measures of firm performance. Research limitations/implications -Cross-sectional, survey-based data that cannot infer causality. Longitudinal and qualitative designs are needed to get a better understanding of the relationships. A follow-up study of employees perception of several variables analysed in this study (e.g. access to HR commitment practices and employee benefits) could reveal possible contradictions between what policies managers claim there exist, and what policies employees perceive to exist. Practical implications -The adoption of HR commitment practices can facilitate the organisational change required by the adoption of telework. Originality/value -The findings provide evidence that HR commitment practices are indirectly related to firm performance through their effects on the use of flexibility practices like telework that require organisational climates containing high levels of trust.

The results of a survey of 156 Spanish firms indicate that HR development practices are positively associated to the intensity of telework adoption and they moderate the relationship between telework and firm performance. The positive moderator effect of HR development practices indicates that their implementation is necessary not only to facilitate telework adoption but also to enhance the otherwise marginal contribution of telework at organisational level.

The paper investigates the moderator effect of inter-organizational cooperation in the relationship between workplace flexibility and innovation performance. This research question is important because innovation is dependent on the strategic integration of technological knowledge, requiring organizations to acquire new capabilities rapidly or to ensure the presence of knowledge that may be beyond existing internal capabilities. Inter-organizational cooperation constitutes a relevant mechanism for a firm to increase its knowledge base concerning new products and processes. High-cooperation firms may have more opportunities to take advantage of flexibility for innovation performance because it facilitates the access and dispersion of knowledge within the firm. We test the research hypotheses in a sample of manufacturing and service firms. The results contribute to the literature on flexibility and innovation because they demonstrate that inter-organizational cooperation moderates the relationship between flexibility and innovation performance. We discuss the implications of these results for future research and managerial practice.

PurposeTo develop a model that assess the feasibility to telework new product activities.Design/methodology/approachLiterature review of innovation and telework to find criteria relevant to use telework in new product development activities.FindingsThe first stage of the model assess the feasibility of telework in new product development activities according to four criteria: importance of teamwork, need of using equipment and laboratories, intensity of data processing, and frequency of meetings. The second stage assess the level of knowledge in each new product development activity. The model analyses the knowledge tasks according to four basic knowledge processes: generation, codification, storage and transfer. The third and final stage assess the distribution of productive work time of new product development employees to obtain groups of new product development activities suitable to be teleworked.Research limitations/implicationsFirstly, to enlarge the taxonomy of variables that define each one of the four basic knowledge management processes included in the model. Secondly, to test empirically with case studies and surveys the working time requirements of knowledge tasks. The number of knowledge tasks included in the analysis could also be enlarged in future studies.Practical implicationsThe framework provides an aid to research and managerial application of telework in new product development activities. The methodology developed in the paper may be useful for preliminary analysis of teleworking implementation projects. It may also help to the adoption of information and communication technologies for the company's new development processes.Originality/valueThe adoption of teleworking among knowledge processes arises the question whether teleworking may be used in the company's innovation activities. The methodology proposed in the paper wants to contribute to this topic by developing a framework adapted to the different activities in the new product development process.