Still in search of strategic human resource management? A review and suggestions for future research with China as an example

Abstract

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) has been an important strand of research in the HRM field for over three decades, and has attracted heated debates in recent years. One main critique of the state of SHRM research is its increasing detachment from HRM practice, in the pursuit of more theoretical rigor and methodological sophistication. Our review article has two main tasks. First, we review SHRM research published in two leading HRM journals—Human Resource Management and Human Resource Management Journal—in the light of the criticisms on SHRM research and use this as a backdrop of our second task. Second, we critically examine SHRM research conducted in the Chinese context by drawing on a systematic review on extant literature. In doing so, we draw on a wider range of HRM journals such as Human Resource Management Review, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, and so forth. We find that while the trend of psychologization in SHRM research is gathering pace, the range of theoretical perspectives mobilized to inform the studies is actually expanding. We call for SHRM research to be more contextualized and more practical phenomenon‐driven SHRM research. We indicate several avenues for future research, using China as an example.

Leveraging green HRM for firm performance: The joint effects of CEO environmental belief and external pollution severity and the mediating role of employee environmental commitment

“…The findings confirm the role of CEOs in the use of HRM practices in organizations, which has been demonstrated in strategic HRM research (e.g., Chadwick et al, 2015), but also emphasize the importance of external environment, which has been relatively overlooked in strategic HRM research (Jackson et al, 2014). As Cooke et al (2020) observe, the state of strategic HRM research is still in need of contextualization. By taking both internal and external factors into account, our research provides a more complete understanding of when green HRM is more or less likely to be used in an organization.…”

“…This nuanced understanding advances the contextualization of HRM research that is long needed in the field (c.f. Cooke, Xiao, & Chen, 2020) and hence constitutes our first contribution.…”

Human resources management and open innovation: the role of open innovation mindset

“…Traditionally, MNEs that are based in the Asia-Pacific region, and Asian MNEs that have offices in the United States have been seen to be less strategic in their people management (Cooke, Xiao and Chen 2020;Kim and Cooke 2018). For example, SHRM practices in Chinese MNEs need to go beyond adopting existing approaches that have evolved in Western cultures, and be able to respond to the external and internal environments in which it operates (Cooke et al 2020).…”

The Economic Effects of Direct and Indirect Employee Involvement: Evidence From Corporate Social Responsibility Reports of Chinese Listed Companies

“…Strategic human resource management, which emerged in the 1980s, is a series of planned and SHRM planning and management actions taken by enterprises to achieve strategic goals (Lee et al, 2020). Early SHRM theory mainly emphasized situational theory, as well as the matching and contradictions between human resource practice and various strategies.…”