A Systematic Review of Human Resource Management Systems and Their Measurement

Abstract

In the strategic human resource (HR) management literature, over the past three decades, a shared consensus has developed that the focus should be on HR systems rather than individual HR practices because the effects of HR practices are likely to depend on the other practices within the system. Despite this agreement, the extent to which the fundamental assumption in the field of interactions and synergy in the system holds true is unclear. We present a systematic review of 495 empirical studies on 516 HR systems in which we analyze the development of HR systems research over time and identify important trends, explicitly linking conceptualization and measurement of the HR system. Our findings suggest that the increasingly broad conceptualization and measurement of HR systems and the lack of clarity on the HR systems construct at different levels have hampered research progress. Much of the research to date does not align with the fundamental assumption of synergies between HR practices in a system, the measures have problems and increasingly confound HR systems with related concepts and outcomes, and insufficient attention is paid to the HR system construct at different levels. Overall, we thus still know little about the “systems” element and how synergies and interactions in an HR system operate. We offer actionable suggestions on how to advance HR systems research towards conceptual clarity and construct refinement, focusing both on how to conceptualize, measure, and combine practices in systems and on studying such systems at different levels of analysis.

Friend or foe? The impact of high‐performance work practices on workplace bullying

“…Although there is no absolute agreement among either scholars or practitioners on what exactly the group comprises, there is typically widespread agreement that it at least includes sophisticated approaches to recruitment and selection, incentive‐based compensation systems, extensive employee involvement, rigorous performance appraisal processes, and both generic and company‐specific training (Chuang & Liao, ; Huselid, ; Messersmith et al, ). A central tenet is the idea of high‐performance work systems, where synergies arise from bundling practices together, giving rise to mutually reinforcing impacts (Boon, den Hertog, & Lepak, ; Huselid, ). Attention has typically been paid to HPWPs for their potential to raise performance (Appelbaum, Bailey, Berg, & Kalleberg, ; Huselid, ).…”

Dominant Factors for an Effective Selection System: An Australian Education Sector Perspective

“…The focus of using expert systems in HRM has been steadily increasing with time. This is further evidenced in the recent shift of discussions related to individual HR practices in employing HR systems to the whole process [22]. This is also evidenced in the review by Sackett and Lievens [23] on the possible platforms to consider for improving the selection process.…”

“…In response to the interview question "Do you have any recruitment management systems that you used or was it just emails and paper-based? ", most of the 74 participants responded negatively; participants 12,22,28,30,31,38, and 39 were some of the many who had commented that the process relied only on "email-and paper-based" methods. However, there were a few of the 17 organisations that seemed to have this worked out, which was appreciated by some hiring members, such as P11 who stated:…”

Achieving Organizational Innovation Through HR bundling: A Contingency and Contextual Perspective in the Oil Marketing Sector of Pakistan

“…The first gap is, in the last three decades, strategic human resource management's available literature has established the shared consensus that the focus should be on human resource bundles instead of the human resource management system because every bundle in the system influence the bundles of human resource management adopted in the organization. Many synergies between human resource bundles don't align to date, their interactions and their outcomes (Boon, Hartog, & Lepak, 2019). Therefore, the study will address the above interaction and outcomes of the human resource bundle in a specific context.…”