A Multilevel Investigation of Individual- and Unit-Level Human Capital Complementarities

Abstract

Human capital theory has recently expanded to include multilevel analysis by conceptualizing the unit-level human capital resource. At the same time, the value of complementary resources has been theorized to provide competitive advantages for firms. Thus, human capital at one level in the firm may impact the performance of human capital at another level in the firm if the resources are complementary. Through a multilevel analysis performed using hierarchical linear modeling of Major League Baseball data, we show that the relationship between individual human capital and individual performance is impacted by complementary functional and managerial unit-level human capital resources. As such, this paper contributes to the understanding of how complementary multilevel human capital resources relate to performance outcomes. Implications of our findings include support for the notion that more is not always better when it comes to high-quality human capital and that unit-level human capital plays an important role in performance of individual-level human capital.

The influence of internal HRM activity fit on the dynamics within the “black box”

“…These results illustrate the need for a complementary approach to human capital resources across levels of analysis in which the effectiveness of individual-level human capital resources on individual-level performance is affected by unit-level human capital resources. Additionally, various complementarities and emergent processes can exist that create positive (or negative) synergistic effects among individual-and unit-level phenomena within the "black box" that have beneficial (harmful) effects on individual-, unit-, and organization-level outcomes (e.g., Crocker & Eckardt, 2014). Thus, synergistic human capital resources as well as other synergetic individual-and unit-level phenomena related to motivation and opportunity (e.g., conflict and cohesion) could lead to an organization's sustainable competitive advantage (Fig.…”

Resource orchestration in the context of knowledge resources acquisition and divestment. The empirical evidence from the Italian “Serie A” football

“…Sports settings are particularly suited to management research (see Wolfe et al, 2005;Day, Gordon, & Fink, 2012) because they frequently allow for the observation of phenomena of particular interest from the viewpoint of the orchestration of knowledge resources, such as the fit between a given strategy and the available knowledge resources (Wright, Smart & McMahan, 1995;Sirmon, Hitt, & Ireland, 2008;DiMinin et al, 2015); individual and collective skills and tacit knowledge (Berman, Down, & Hill, 2002;Shamsie & Mannor, 2013); resource management and value creation (Holcomb et al, 2009); knowledge resource bundling (Sirmon et al, 2008); knowledge resource acquisition and release (Moliterno & Wiersema, 2007); interorganizational co-mobility of knowledge resources (Campbell et al, 2014); performance comparisons (Moliterno et al, 2014); and resource complementarity (Ethiraj & Garg, 2012;Crocker & Eckardt, 2014). Furthermore, although football teams may differ in terms of size, age and historical relevance (from a sporting viewpoint), they share a common market for resources (factors) and a general environment.…”

The effect of management changes on winning in professional sports: Analysis using a dynamic lag adjustment model

“…Another set of studies has tried to account for managerial influence that works across levels of management within sports firms. Crocker and Eckardt () use ERA data for MLB pitchers in the 2012 season and a hierarchical linear modeling approach and find significant complementarities between pitcher performance and indicators of managerial skill. In another application of hierarchical regression modeling using NFL and MLB season‐level data from 1970 to 2011, Goff () shows that both managers and GMs contribute to winning but that these contributions differ across sports and within sports over time.…”