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...

Reading through academic literature with a critical eye shows that the relation between human resources management (HRM) and the performance of the firm is a relatively unknown phenomenon. This relation is sometimes described as a "black box". Far from claiming to have closed the debate, this...