In this article, we analyse the principal antagonistic discourses on which managers in a large UK-based engineering company drew in their efforts to construct versions of their selves. Predicated on an understanding that subjectively construed discursive identities are available to individuals as in-progress narratives that are contingent and fragile, the research contribution we make is threefold. First, we argue that managers may draw on mutually antagonistic discursive resources in authoring conceptions of their selves. Second, we contend that rather than being relatively coherent or completely fluid and fragmented managers' identity narratives may incorporate contrasting positions or antagonisms. Third, we show that managers' identity work constituted a continuing quest to (re)-author their selves as moral beings. Antagonisms in managers' identities, we suggest, may appropriately be analysed as the complex and ambiguous effects of organizationally based disciplinary practices and individuals' discursive responses to them.

The prospects for devolving HR activities to the line are examined in this article. Evidence drawn from a wider study of HRM in practice suggests that, while line manager involvement is possible, their practices tend to be inconsistent in implementation and uneven in quality. A number of constraints on line management practice were identified. First, there is limited reinforcement of practice through institutional forces. Secondly, the short‐term nature of managerial activity means that a greater priority is placed on the achievement of the numbers rather than the achievement of numbers through people. Finally, downsizing and delayering place tremendous pressures on the time which line managers could allow for people matters generally. These findings challenge much of the rhetoric associated with the idea of giving HRM back to the line by arguing that the quality of line management practice may distort the overall impact of HR policies.

Two of the most widely adopted models of human resource management are the hard and soft versions. These are based on opposing views of human nature and managerial control strategies. The hard model is based on notions of tight strategic control, and an economic model of man according to Theory X, while the soft model is based on control through commitment and Theory Y. We argue that because these assumptions are so divergent, they cannot both properly be incorporated within a single model of human resource management.Eight in-depth case studies were carried out, involving questionnaires, interviews and focus groups in order to ®nd out whether organizations were practising either form of HRM. We found that no pure examples of either form existed. The paper concludes that the rhetoric adopted by the companies frequently embraces the tenets of the soft, commitment model, while the reality experienced by employees is more concerned with strategic control, similar to the hard model. This distinction between rhetoric and reality needs to be taken into account in conceptualizations of human resource management.

Using exchange theory, this study examines how perceptions of employee voice, the employee-line manager relationship, and trust in senior management are related to organizational commitment. It is hypothesized that the direct relationship between perceptions of opportunities for employee voice and organizational commitment is mediated by the longer-term effects of the perceived employee-line manager relationship and trust in senior management. Multiple regression analysis of a sample of 2,291 employees in organizations undergoing signifi cant change fi nds some support for this hypothesis, highlighting in particular the importance of trust in senior management as a partial mediator of the relationship between employee voice and organizational commitment.

Research into how HR contributes to organisational performance is plentiful yet plagued by challenges. Alongside the ‘black box’ issue between HRM and performance, the time‐lag effect and the range of performance indicators applied, the role of the HR department in this relationship is critical although often ignored. A longitudinal case study is presented here that focuses particularly on this issue, and shows a complex picture of improving HR department importance alongside high‐level financial performance, but declining employee commitment and morale. The article suggests that the tensions between the rhetoric of HRM strategy, the grim reality of the employee experience and a lack of focus on human capital meant the outstanding financial performance was not sustainable in the longer term. The inherent conflict in serving both management and employees in process‐and peopleorientated roles is highlighted.

in the Netherlands. She is a member of the Change Management Consortium Research team at Cass Business School, City University in the UK. Her specialist areas of interest include: international HRM; the power, professionalism and roles of the HR department; change management and HRM; and eHRM and new HR delivery mechanisms. Her work has been published in refereed academic journals and practitioner publications, as well as presented at international academic conferences.

HR directors are often exhorted to play a more ‘strategic’ role in their organisations. However, it is not necessarily clear what is meant by this, or whether it is possible for departments to change their role at a whim. In this article we examine the changing role of the HR function within two contrasting organisations – an NHS trust and a bank – over a period of seven years. Drawing on role‐set theory and concepts of negotiated order, we illustrate how HR functional roles are located within a complex and dynamic social setting, and present a model that seeks to map these interrelationships.

To date, boundary spanning has primarily been conceived of as an activity relating an organization to its environment, including other organizations with which it cooperates and competes. In contrast, this study focuses on the boundary spanning practices of individuals acting as change agents to implement boundary-shaking change initiatives across intra-organizational boundaries. These boundary-shaking individuals all work for blue-chip organizations in sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals, consultancy and automotive. The change initiatives are equally diverse, including post-merger integration, exploitation of across-business synergies and implementing more integrative structures. Through our examination of boundary-shakers we are able to extend what we know about internal change agency and change agent skills and practices. Our starting point is that organizations are comprised of networks of people with a degree of common interest. Our research shows our research subjects to be active movers and shakers in these networks, using their knowledge of the organizational political context and the motivations of others to create new networks (or new meanings within old networks), which then enables them to pursue their change objectives.