A contingency approach to HRM and firm innovation: The role of national cultures

Abstract

Companies adopt various HRM practices to enhance employees' abilities, motivations, and opportunities to foster innovation. Are these practices universally effective or culturally contingent? In this study, we draw on the Ability‐Motivation‐Opportunity (AMO) model and examine the effectiveness of three representative practices using a dataset of 304 companies from 13 countries or regions. We find that HRM practices need to fit in a supplementary/complementary way with national cultures to facilitate firm innovation: 1. cross‐functional training (i.e., an ability‐enhancing practice) is more effective in collectivistic rather than individualistic cultures (supplementary fit); 2. financial rewards for innovation (i.e., a motivation‐enhancing practice) are more effective in masculine rather than feminine cultures (supplementary fit); and 3. employee participation (i.e., an opportunity‐enhancing practice) is more effective in high rather than low power distance cultures (complementary fit). By building on the notion of supplementary/complementary fit, these findings extend our knowledge of the AMO model in the context of HRM and innovation management with a cultural contingency perspective.

The impact of employees’ experience of high-performance work systems on innovative behavior in professional service firms

“…PSFs operate in a competitive business environment; therefore, employees’ IB is important to promote client satisfaction and achieve competitive advantage. Earlier research has documented the influence of HR practices on employee-related outcomes in various organizational contexts, such as manufacturing and high-technology firms ( Park et al, 2017 ; Bos-Nehles and Veenendaal, 2019 ; Yao et al, 2023 ). Furthermore, there is limited evidence regarding the outcomes of HPWS in PSFs within developing country contexts.…”

“…Thus, this study takes into account employees’ perspectives of human resource systems and the resultant impact on their behaviors. Furthermore, existing studies on HR practices and innovation have been widely conducted in manufacturing and high-technology companies in developed country contexts ( Park et al, 2017 ; Bos-Nehles and Veenendaal, 2019 ; Yao et al, 2023 ). Thus, to fill the research gap, this study uses empirical data from employees in PSFs in Pakistan, an emerging Asian country.…”

Employee engagement index: A graph‐theoretic matrix approach

“…Azam (2023) transformed traditional HR practices, which involve business collaborators and workers as champions and catalysts for change that must be integrated and synchronized with the fundamental HR tasks. In contrast, Yao et al (2022) defined employee participation as crucial for innovative firms.…”

How to survive social crises? An HR analytics data-driven approach to improve social sustainable operations’ effectiveness

“…All this makes the contingency theory one of the most suitable approaches for addressing HR management issues, as it helps to shed light on the variations in motivating, engaging and retaining employees based on their individual needs (McGrandle, 2017). For instance, some employees find satisfaction in non-monetary rewards such as meaningful work or a sense of self-worth, making financial incentives less influential in comparison to organizations where pay is the primary motivator (Yao et al. , 2022).…”