An assessment of the drift in assumptions and values of human resource management scholarship: 1971-2011.

摘要

Organizations in the increasingly competitive global business environment are under pressure to improve the bottom line through the reformulation of human resource management (HRM) practices. Flexibility in employment relationships, job insecurity, stagnant wages, benefit cuts, union prevention strategies, and intensifying work characterize many contemporary enterprises. Against this background, this study seeks to examine developments in HRM scholarship since the 1970s. Specifically, it explores the question: what are the trends with regard to the priority accorded employment security, employee equity, voice, and ethics in the literature at the same time that practitioners more aggressively address economic performance and efficiency. The key is the relative frequencies of articles covering relevant topics.;I conduct an analysis of peer-reviewed articles in HRM through a review of abstracts from nine leading management journals, three of which are primarily HRM-focused. These journals serve as a window on the universe of HRM scholarship. I analyze over 5000 articles published in these journals between 1971 and 2011.;The findings indicate that issues of employment security, employee equity, voice, and ethics persist in the intellectual development and growth of the HRM discipline. There is no significant difference in the research interest in employment security, employee voice, and ethics over the period of review. However, the evidence is consistent with the hypotheses that (1) research interest in employee equity is declining and (2) research attention to performance is increasing.;I make a contribution to the literature that debates the focus and role of HRM scholarship. Using empirical evidence, I establish that HRM scholars continue to engage in a dialogue with practitioners and follow their lead in emphasizing firm performance, possibly at the expense of concern for employee equity.