Human resource management (HRM) has become for SMEs a critical factor of adaptation to an increasingly complex and uncertain business environment. Founded on open systems and contingency theory, the present study seeks to identify configurations of HR systems in manufacturing SMEs, and to...

This paper is concerned with examining the implications of inter-organisational relationships for human resource management (HRM). To date much of the literature on human resource management has been inwardly focussed on the organisation and its employees. Yet increasingly complex organisational...

It is often assumed that firms have freedom of choice over their HR policies and practices, however, the networks within which they operate suggest that the HR practices themselves may be influenced by clients, suppliers, partners and other collaborators. This paper aims to examine the...

A broad spectrum of theories from different disciplines is portrayed in contemporary HRM (as a discipline of business administration). Theories from psychology, sociology and economics correspond to the variety of problems addressed in HRM which are again situated at different levels of...

A political economy approach to explaining the existence of different human resource strategies is developed in this article – in short: a political personnel economy. The starting point is a critical analysis of the abstinence of politics and power and the resulting explanation deficiencies...

The aim of science is to develop true theories. From this it follows quite naturally that the Behavioural Approach is the only plausible approach in a Science of Human Resources Management. The Behavioural Approach derives its propositions from the best theories from the social and behavioural...

The theoretical idea of personnel economics is to apply simple economic principles to the field of human resources management. Personnel economics as a research field has grown rapidly since the first text book on “Personnel Economics” was published in 1998. The development is driven by new...

In November 2003 the Dutch HRM network held its third annual international conference at the University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. Its topic was “Innovating HRM?”, a multi facetted topic that can be elaborated in many ways, as the 10 different tracks of the conference testify. The...

In the article it is tried to substantiate further developments in human resource management with reference to the competency approach in work and organisational psychology. First the objectives of scientific and applied research in work and organisational psychology are lined out. Then the...