An empirical analysis of research paradigms within international human resource management: The need for more diversity

Abstract

The goal of this article is to provide a fine-grained analysis of international human resource management research that addresses the different perspectives applied in that research. We coded 203 peer-reviewed international human resource management articles published between 2011 and 2018 with content analytical methods guided by the compass of management research developed by Sieben, which is rooted in critical management research. We were particularly attentive to the various discursive orientations international human resource management scholars have adopted, including ideologically critical, poststructuralist, functionalist and interpretive perspectives. We further examined which methods, theoretical perspectives and topics were common within and across different perspectives. This analysis indicated that critical research intending to politicize and question existing structures and ways of organizing is still marginal. Along with the dominance of functionalist and interpretive studies, papers in our dataset commonly use a strategic human resource perspective, are predominantly interested in the human resource management–performance link and focus rather narrowly on multinational corporations and expatriates. Furthermore, while international human resource management scholars increasingly account for the contextual embeddedness of organizations through macro-level theories, they mainly apply institutional perspectives that view organizations as adapting to institutional constraints. We propose a more diverse and reflexive approach – inspired by ideologically critical and poststructuralist perspectives – that may help to overcome these blind spots. Such an approach might, for instance, look at types of organizations other than multinational corporations and individuals other than highly skilled expatriates and might explicitly bring multiple, external stakeholders into the picture. We conclude by suggesting that international human resource management research and practice would benefit from more research diversity which enables more holistic analyses of phenomena, more innovative research and resultant insights, and more space for meta-theoretical reflections.

Researching employee experiences and behavior in times of crisis: Theoretical and methodological considerations and implications for human resource management

“…As already noted in the introduction, our focus here is on quantitative empirical studies in the tradition of the positivist research paradigm, whereas we do not cover research methodologies employed in other paradigms (e.g. interpretivist, critical discourse) that are represented within the fields of HRM, organizational behavior, and industrial, work, and organizational psychology (see Bonache and Festing, 2020;Burrell and Morgan, 1979;Kornau et al, 2020;Primecz, 2020).…”

“…Second, we outline several methodological considerations and best practices for quantitative empirical studies on employee experiences and behavior in times of crisis. Consistent with most research in the fields of HRM and adjacent fields (Kornau et al, 2020;Primecz, 2020), our focus is on quantitative empirical studies within the positivist (or functionalist) research paradigm, which aims at explanation of the existing societal status quo and assumes an "objective world that can be represented by concepts and propositions" (Bonache and Festing, 2020: 101). In contrast, we do not cover qualitative methodology and research based on the interpretivist (or constructivist) research paradigm, which aims at understanding of the societal status quo and assumes that "we live in multiple, socially constructed views of social reality" (Bonache and Festing, 2020: 101).…”

Ears on the Street: Practitioner Opinions on What Competencies Sales Executives Need and How to Develop Them

“…Research is often one-sided (Kornau et al, 2020), since multiple perspectives are rarely surveyed, even though a more holistic picture would be generated by including multiple and also external parties. This shortcoming is apparent given the lack of empirical data in which HR professionals responsible for executive development (Rossett & Krumdieck, 1992; Wright & Grant, 1995) or freelance executive trainers (Guillemette, 2012) are included in the sample, even though they are experts with an objective perspective (Granado, 2019).…”

“…In order to close the research gap on executive development, reduce the lack of diversity in research approaches and perspectives (Kornau et al, 2020), and to identify commonalities in the common realities that are constructed it is necessary to gather more knowledge and understanding of competency development, design factors and implementation barriers involving multiple parties, and use of in-depth interviews. This reflects the fact that research methods used in past research have had little or no influence on the results, meaning that any respective findings from the current study will supplement existing knowledge in terms of depth and breadth.…”

Exploring the Relationship between High-Performance Work Systems, Employee Commitment, and Firm Performance (A Multi Mediation Model)

“…First, implementing HPWS not only generates high-performance levels (Kornau et al, 2020) but is also subject to creating stressors (Giannikis et al, 2019) that could negatively affect performance (Kloutsiniotis et al, 2021).The critical role played by different commitments (affective, normative, continuance, and occupational commitment) in this relationship to improve performance needs to be further investigated (Khan et al, 2021).Social exchange theory recommends that if employees are treated fairly in the organization, they will respond through positive behaviors (Aryee et al, 2002) because of which performance will enhance. In the social exchange process, high-performance work systems are essential input (Snape & Redman, 2010).…”