Synergy and Its Limits in Managing Information Technology Professionals

Abstract

W e examine the effects of human resource management (HRM) practices (e.g., career development, social support, compensation, and security) on information technology (IT) professionals' job search behavior. Job search is a relatively novel dependent variable in studies of voluntary withdrawal behavior in general and for IT professionals in particular. From a universalistic perspective, HRM practices individually and in combination exhibit independently additive effects on job search behavior. Our study contrasts this perspective with configurational theory, hypothesizing that proposed ideal-type configurations of HRM practices have synergistic effects on job search behavior. We contribute to the IT and broader HRM literature by theoretically explicating and empirically demonstrating with IT professionals the power of configurational theory to explain the relationship between HRM practices and job search behavior. Our empirical results show that two configurations of HRM practices-Human Capital Focused (HCF) and Task Focused (TF), which are high and low on all HRM practices, respectively-exhibit a synergistic relationship with the job search behavior of IT professionals. HCF has lower job search behavior than would be expected based on the independently additive effects of the HRM practices, whereas TF has correspondingly higher job search behavior. Our results also show that less than perfect horizontal fit detracts from the synergy of these extreme configurations. Just as importantly, several other nonextreme configurations of HRM practices exhibit independently additive effects for the HRM practices but not synergy, suggesting that synergy is limited to extreme configurations. We also discuss a number of implications for research and practice.

Interconnectivity of Big Data Sources: Exploring Synergistic Relationships among Data

“…Synergy has been conceptualized and used in a diverse range of IS research streams and at multiple levels of analysis. The range of IS literature concerning synergy reaches from the business value of IT assets [13,22], to IT value co-creation [23], to knowledge management [24] and human resource management [25], among others. Regarding the level of analysis, synergy has been explored, for example, at the interorganizational level [26].…”

Enablers and Mechanisms: Practices for Achieving Synergy with Business Analytics

“…Flanking mechanisms occur when one system creates conditions that enable another system to improve its effectiveness [29]. For example, when a system lacks the knowledge to perform a task, training can act as a flanking mechanism to enhance its effectiveness.…”

“…Organizational practices that underlie Reinforcement, Flanking and Compensation mechanisms, demonstrate how BA systems can complement other organizational systems in practice. Existing literature on these mechanisms [29,31] is theoretical and abstract and does not apply to the synergistic relationship between BA systems and other organizational systems. Our findings provide practical pathways for how BA can complement other organizational systems and realize potential synergies.…”

Editorial Notes

“…The management of IT professionals and their interactions with users is the subject of the papers Ferratt et al (2012) and Sun et al (2012). IT human capital can represent a major asset for some organizations and arguably, can be a source of competitive differentiation.…”

“…IT human capital can represent a major asset for some organizations and arguably, can be a source of competitive differentiation. Ferratt et al (2012) examine the relationship between different strategies utilized for managing IT professionals and job search behavior. Exploring a number of different configurations of IT HRM practices they present intriguing findings related to the synergistic effects of practices in some configurations and not others.…”