Locating HRM: Contingency perspectives on the distribution of HRM responsibilities

Abstract

Differently from other functional areas in the organisation, the HRM function has never been the exclusive prerogative of HR departments, but rather the combination of different actors, including HR professionals, alongside senior and middle managers as well as outsourced HRM service providers. To add to this complexity, in large multi-unit organizations, HRM decisions and responsibilities may also be distributed between headquarters and local units in different ways.

It is thus important to understand the different configurations in which HRM responsibilities are distributed in specific organisations and to identify what leads to different arrangements. This dissertation aims to contribute to this line of enquiry by exploring how HRM decisions are distributed within organisations, focusing on who makes these decisions and where they are made. Furthermore, drawing on structural contingency theory, this thesis examines the role of both the internal and external contexts of an organisation in shaping the configuration of how HRM is distributed, demonstrating that multiple taxonomies are feasible.

To carry out these explorations, the thesis comprises three studies. The first one conceptually and empirically differentiates between HRM decentralisation and devolution. We demonstrate that these two concepts are positively correlated and that their relationship is moderated by the HRM department’s power. The second article expands on this distinction and categorises organisations based on these two dimensions. Interestingly, we find a similar number of organisations across each quadrant, reinforcing our argument that organisations can exhibit various combinations of HRM decentralisation and devolution, and delve into how organisational level contextual factors are associated with each configuration. The third article explores the protagonism of the HRM department, line managers and external HRM providers over time, in relation to the external context, specifically the nation’s change in economic complexity. The empirical findings are derived from extensive multi-country samples from the Cranet database.

A diferencia de otras áreas funcionales de la organización, la función de gestión de recursos humanos (GRRHH) no es prerrogativa exclusiva de los departamentos de RRHH, sino más bien la combinación de diferentes actores, incluidos profesionales en RRHH, mandos intermedios y alta dirección, así como proveedores externos de servicios de gestión de RRHH. En grandes organizaciones con múltiples unidades, además, las decisiones y responsabilidades de GRRHH también pueden distribuirse diferentemente entre sede central y unidades más locales.

Así, es importante comprender las diferentes posibles configuraciones en la distribución de responsabilidades de GRRHH e identificar qué conduce a diferentes modelos. Esta tesis pretende contribuir a esta línea de investigación explorando cómo se distribuyen las decisiones de GRRHH, centrándose en quién toma estas decisiones y dónde se toman. Además, basándose en la teoría de contingencia estructural, se examina el papel de los contextos organizacionales internos y externos en la configuración de la GRRHH, demostrando la posibilidad de múltiples taxonomías.

Para esta exploración, la tesis desarrolla tres estudios. El primero distingue conceptual y empíricamente entre descentralización y devolución de la GRRHH. Se muestra que estos dos conceptos están positivamente correlacionados y que su relación está moderada por el poder del departamento de RRHH. El segundo ahonda en esta distinción y categoriza las organizaciones en función de ambas dimensiones, encontrando un número similar de organizaciones en cada cuadrante y profundizando en cómo algunos factores contextuales a nivel organizacional se relacionan con cada configuración. El tercer artículo explora el protagonismo del departamento de RRHH, los directivos de línea y los proveedores externos de GRRHH a lo largo del tiempo, en relación con el contexto externo, específicamente con el cambio en la complejidad económica nacional. Los hallazgos empíricos proceden de amplias muestras obtenidas de diversos países de la base de datos Cranet.

Differently from other functional areas in the organisation, the HRM function has never been the exclusive prerogative of HR departments, but rather the combination of different actors, including HR professionals, alongside senior and middle managers as well as outsourced HRM service providers. To add to this complexity, in large multi-unit organizations, HRM decisions and responsibilities may also be distributed between headquarters and local units in different ways.

It is thus important to understand the different configurations in which HRM responsibilities are distributed in specific organisations and to identify what leads to different arrangements. This dissertation aims to contribute to this line of enquiry by exploring how HRM decisions are distributed within organisations, focusing on who makes these decisions and where they are made. Furthermore, drawing on structural contingency theory, this thesis examines the role of both the internal and external contexts of an organisation in shaping the configuration of how HRM is distributed, demonstrating that multiple taxonomies are feasible.

To carry out these explorations, the thesis comprises three studies. The first one conceptually and empirically differentiates between HRM decentralisation and devolution. We demonstrate that these two concepts are positively correlated and that their relationship is moderated by the HRM department’s power. The second article expands on this distinction and categorises organisations based on these two dimensions. Interestingly, we find a similar number of organisations across each quadrant, reinforcing our argument that organisations can exhibit various combinations of HRM decentralisation and devolution, and delve into how organisational level contextual factors are associated with each configuration. The third article explores the protagonism of the HRM department, line managers and external HRM providers over time, in relation to the external context, specifically the nation’s change in economic complexity. The empirical findings are derived from extensive multi-country samples from the Cranet database.