Locating HRM: Contingency perspectives on the distribution of HRM responsibilities

Identifier:  TDX:4355

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/TDX4355

Authors:  Hassan Marrero, Nadima

Abstract:
Differently from other functional areas in the organisation, the HRM function has never been the exclusive prerogative of HR departments, but rather the combination of different actors, including HR professionals, alongside senior and middle managers as well as outsourced HRM service providers. To add to this complexity, in large multi-unit organizations, HRM decisions and responsibilities may also be distributed between headquarters and local units in different ways. It is thus important to understand the different configurations in which HRM responsibilities are distributed in specific organisations and to identify what leads to different arrangements. This dissertation aims to contribute to this line of enquiry by exploring how HRM decisions are distributed within organisations, focusing on who makes these decisions and where they are made. Furthermore, drawing on structural contingency theory, this thesis examines the role of both the internal and external contexts of an organisation in shaping the configuration of how HRM is distributed, demonstrating that multiple taxonomies are feasible. To carry out these explorations, the thesis comprises three studies. The first one conceptually and empirically differentiates between HRM decentralisation and devolution. We demonstrate that these two concepts are positively correlated and that their relationship is moderated by the HRM department’s power. The second article expands on this distinction and categorises organisations based on these two dimensions. Interestingly, we find a similar number of organisations across each quadrant, reinforcing our argument that organisations can exhibit various combinations of HRM decentralisation and devolution, and delve into how organisational level contextual factors are associated with each configuration. The third article explores the protagonism of the HRM department, line managers and external HRM providers over time, in relation to the external context, specifically the nation’s change in economic complexity. The empirical findings are derived from extensive multi-country samples from the Cranet database.