Call for abstracts

9th Biennial International Conference of the Dutch HRM Network

“ Recontextualizing HRM ”

12 & 13 November 2015

with keynote presentations from Wolfgang Mayrhofer and Veronica Hope Hailey

Organized by the Utrecht University School of Governance (USG), Utrecht University (UU)

in Utrecht, the Netherlands

on behalf of the Dutch HRM Network:

Prof. dr. Tanya Bondarouk, University of Twente, the Netherlands

Prof. dr. Paul Boselie, Utrecht University, the Netherlands, Chair Prof. dr. Dirk Buyens, Vlerick Business School, Belgium Prof. dr. Deanne Den Hartog, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Beate van der Heijden, Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Paul Jansen, VU University Amsterdam, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Eric Molleman, University of Groningen, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Jaap Paauwe, Tilburg University, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Luc Sels, KU Leuven, Belgium Prof. dr. Bram Steijn, Erasmus University Rotterdam, the Netherlands Prof. dr. Marc van Veldhoven, Tilburg University, the Netherlands

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Deadline for abstract proposals:

1st of May 2015 via www.hrm-network.nl

Dutch HRM Network Conference 2015: Recontextualizing HRM

The conference theme of the 2015 Dutch HRM Network at Utrecht University is ‘Recontextualizing HRM’. Recontextualizing means: To place or view (a work of literature or art, for example) in a new or unfamiliar context, especially in order to suggest a different interpretation. ‘Recontextualizing HRM’ refers to giving context a central position in our research and studying contemporary HRM challenges from completely new and different perspectives. The two keynote speeches of the conference (Professor Wolfgang Mayrhofer and Professor Veronica Hope-Hailey) and the workshops of the two-day event will be linked to this theme. Early HRM models emphasize the relevance of context for the shaping of employment relationships in organizations. In the Harvard approach (Beer et al., 1984), for example, context is determined by acknowledging multiple stakeholders, incorporating both external

and internal situational factors and defining organizational performance in terms of organizational effectiveness, employee well-being and societal well-being. In the 1990s context got far less attention than in the HRM approaches of the 1980s mainly because of the HRM and performance debate. Eight years after the start of the HRM and performance debate since Arthur’s (1994) publication Wright and Boswell (2002) argued that the HRM discipline could learn from OB research in particular with regard to the rigor of research focused on the individual employee level. They also argued that OB could learn from the ‘contextuality’ focus of the HRM discipline. The last decade the HRM discipline has strengthened its rigor in research, in particular with regard to theories, methods and research designs. But at the expense of what? Godard (2013), for example, warns for further ‘psychologization of employment relations’ at the expense of contextual approaches. Without rigor, however, there is no relevance. Context matters (Paauwe, 2004) and is

relevant at different levels such as the individual employee level, team level, unit level, organization level, industry or population level and country level. This calls for critical analytical approaches (Boxall et al., 2007) putting context at the table related to:

Best practices versus best-fit approaches in contemporary HRM research. Rhineland and European HRM approaches versus universalistic HRM models. Confronting different sectors and populations in HRM research; for example public

sector organizations versus private companies; for example high tech versus low tech firms.

How organizations interact with the population (sector) and individual organizations can influence a population (co-evolution).

HRM workforce differentiation towards employee groups within organizations and issues of fairness and social legitimacy.

HRM and ethics, both at the individual and organizational level. One-dimensional performance constructs versus multi-dimensional performance

construct in performance measurement, HR metrics and HR analytics. HRM research methodology: Context free versus context bounded HRM

methodologies. Simplicity/complexity versus quality in HRM research.

More HR rigor in research versus more HR relevance towards practitioners; also

linked to societal impact and valorization of academic HR research. Multi-level, multi-actor and/or multi-rater research. The extent to which context matters given the mediating roles of HRM variables in

contemporary HR value chain approaches. In this edition of the Dutch HRM Network Conference we invite participants to reflect on these, and related, questions. The conference covers the complete field of HRM research and abstract proposals from any subfield are considered (e.g. strategic HRM; HR practices; HRM outcomes; employer engagement; the employment relationship; talent management; leadership; workplace and job design; careers; employability; international, institutional, cultural and contextual issues in HRM; organizational behavior and HRM issues. The width of proposals received will determine the final list of conference subthemes.

Abstract proposals which explicitly or implicitly stimulate discussion around the central theme are especially welcome. Issues which could be referred to include, but are certainly not limited to the following conference subthemes (click on a subtheme for more information):

Theme 01: The Active Employee: antecedents, outcomes, and implications for HRM

Theme 02: The Contextualization of (Un)ethical Behavior

Theme 03: Contextualized HRM outcomes

Theme 04: Employer engagement: HRM and vulnerable labour-market groups

Theme 05: Graduate’s real-life test: Getting a job and starting a career

Theme 06: HRM Actors and Technology

Theme 07: HRM and Innovation

Theme 08: HRM and Leadership

Theme 09: HRM, well-being and performance: The role of work context

Theme 10: Implementing Organizational Change

Theme 11: International Human Resource Management

Theme 12: Learning, development and talent management

Theme 13: A Paradox Perspective On HRM Tensions

Theme 14: Recontextualizing work and management of care professionals

Theme 15: Sustainable Careers, Employability and Flexibility

Theme 16: The Teams, They Are a Changing: Recontextualizing contemporary work groups

Theme 17: Temporary and project-based employment of knowledge workers: Implications for individuals, their careers, and organizations

Theme 18: Work Engagement. Exploring differences within and across contexts

Theme 19: Working flexibly in flexible work spaces

Theme 20: Work-life research and HRM

Organisation and preliminary schedule

The conference has been designed as a two-day programme (12-13 November 2015), preceded by a one-day PhD student consortium (11 November). A detailed conference programme will be made available on the website: www.hrm-network.nl. Venue and travel The venue of the conference will be the Utrecht University School of Governance (USG), Utrecht University (UU). The USG studies public issues and public organizations in their interaction with the developments in politics and society. This may concern public organizations such as government institutions, but also private organizations with public duties such as hospitals, housing corporations and service companies. USG’s main focus is how these organizations deal with current social issues and give shape to their public responsibility. USG is part of the Faculty Law, Economics and Governance of Utrecht University. The USG is located in the centre of Utrecht, within walking distance from the train station and close to most hotels. There is direct train connection between Utrecht Central Station and Schiphol Airport (approximately 30 minutes).

Procedure for submitting abstracts Contributors are asked to submit an abstract of their proposed paper (with a maximum of 400 words, including references) before the 1st of May 2015 via the conference website: www.hrm-network.nl. Please follow the guidelines to ensure your abstract is reviewed:

Submissions instructions o Please indicate for each abstract your first and second subtheme of

preference. o No changes in the paper title, abstract and authorship can be made after the

abstract deadline. Format instructions

o Report the 2-digit submission ID number and full name of your first subtheme of preference as a header (upper right) on the first page of the uploaded abstract.

o Please indicate the title, authors and their affiliations on the first page of the uploaded abstract.

o The maximum length of the abstract is 400 words (including references; excluding title, information on the authors and their affiliations).

o Please save your document as a .pdf file o Please name your .pdf file as follows: “2-digit submission ID number of your

first subtheme of preference_First author_title of your abstract”. For

example: 01_Paauwe_ Recontextualizing HRM.pdf NOTE: Abstracts that do not follow these formatting instructions will NOT be reviewed. Contributors will be informed whether their abstract has been selected by the beginning of July 2015. Final papers must then be submitted by the 1st of October 2015, to compete for the best paper award. Detailed instructions regarding final submissions will be sent once proposals have been accepted.

Best paper and best dissertation award

To compete for the best paper award, a full paper must be submitted before the 1st of October 2015.

To compete for the best dissertation award the following criteria apply: The topic of the dissertation should be HRM or related to HRM; The dissertation should be defended between the 2nd of August 2013 and the

1st of August 2015; The dissertation should be defended at a Dutch or Flemish university; An electronic copy of the full dissertation should be sent by e-mail to

DutchHRMNetwork2015@uu.nl before 1st of October 2015. We look forward to receiving your contributions! If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us via

DutchHRMNetwork2015@uu.nl The organizing committee Prof. dr. Paul Boselie, Chair Corine Buers, MSc Maxime Dekkers Dr. Eva Knies Prof. dr. Peter Leisink Jasmijn Van Harten, MSc Contact Corine Buers Utrecht University

School of Governance Bijlhouwerstraat 6

3511 ZC Utrecht The Netherlands Tel +31 (0)30 253 46 36 Fax +31 (0)30 253 72 00 Website www.hrm-network.nl E-mail DutchHRMNetwork2015@uu.nl

===========================================================================Key Dates and Deadlines

Deadline for submitting abstracts: 1st of May 2015

Deadline for decision and selection of the accepted abstracts: beginning of July 2015 Deadline for submitting full papers: 1st of October 2015 Deadline for submitting dissertations: 1st of October 2015 Abstract submission system opens: Mid-March, 2015 Registration and payment system opens: to be announced Registration and payment deadline: to be announced ===========================================================================

Theme 01: The Active Employee: antecedents, outcomes, and implications for HRM

Convenors: Dorien Kooij (Tilburg University), Charissa Freese (Tilburg University), Deanne den Hartog (University of Amsterdam) and Uta Bindl (London School of Economics and Political Science)

In this era of increased uncertainty in organizational work environments and increased responsibility of individual employees to manage their own careers, employees must be more active at work and take initiative to change their jobs, roles, and tasks. However, until now, HR research has mainly focused on passive employee outcomes, such as commitment and satisfaction. In addition, models and theories in HR research tend to assume that HR practices influence worker attitudes and behaviours and not the other way around. Since active employee concepts, such as job crafting and I-deals, might influence actual HR practices in organizations, such as job design and opportunities for development, these active employee concepts have important implications for the HR models that are used in HR

research. In this track, we aim to recontextualize HRM from an active employee perspective and we want to discuss research on active employee concepts, and implications for the field of HRM.

What are important active employee concepts in this era? New concepts, such as job

crafting, I-deals, and career self-management, have been introduced, but research on these concepts is in its infancy.

What are antecedents of active employee concepts, and particularly how can organizations (e.g., through leadership or HRM) stimulate proactive behavior at work?

What are important outcomes of active employee concepts for individual employees

themselves, but also for their organization? And what about the downside of

engaging in proactive behaviour at work?

What types of proactive behaviours do employees engage in, and does this differ with individual characteristics, such as age, gender, motives etc.

What are the implications of active employee concepts for the field of HRM? Do we need HR practices when individual employees negotiate their own employment terms and craft their own job?

Theme 02: The Contextualization of (Un)ethical Behavior

Convenors: Jennifer Jordan (University of Groningen) and Gert Cornelissen (University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona)

Workers and employers alike are exposed to many examples of extreme ethical (e.g., IKEA Japan donating home products to over 15,000 homes in Japan following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami) and unethical (e.g., the Sanlu Group adulterating baby formula with the chemical melamine in China to make it appear to have higher protein content) incidents in the workplace. Many of these incidents either were affected by HR-related constructs (e.g., leadership, compensation) or affected HR-related outcomes (e.g., employee downsizing, sanctioning). In this conference theme, we will examine the various ways in which HR both affects and is affected by ethical or unethical behavior – paying particular attention to the context in which the ethical and unethical behavior take place, as well as how they affect the HR context once they occur.

In particular, we will focus on topics such as (albeit not limited to):

The contagion of unethical behavior in organizations.

Compensation systems, rewards, and (un)ethical behavior.

Employee responses and consequences following (un)ethical behavior.

The organizational environment and (un)ethical behavior.

Professionalization and (un)ethical behavior.

Theme 03: Contextualized HRM outcomes

Convenors: Jaap Paauwe (Tilburg University), David Guest (King’s College London) and Eva Knies (Utrecht University)

‘Recontextualizing HRM’ has important implications for the question what are relevant HRM outcomes and how can these outcomes be operationalized and measured? Following the Harvard approach, performance can be defined in terms of organizational effectiveness, employee well-being, and social legitimacy. This shows an essential element of contextualization through its recognition of multiple stakeholders. However, these performance dimensions are rather generic and do not capture the full nature of performance in different contexts. For example, organizational effectiveness means something different in the context of a bank, compared to a hospital or a school, and social legitimacy might mean different things in different countries. This points to the importance of contextualizing HRM outcomes. On the other hand, to be able to compare different

contexts, our understanding of HRM outcomes should not become too idiosyncratic. There is a delicate balance in contextualizing HRM outcomes.

The following topic areas highlight exemplary questions that will be addressed in the workshop:

What are relevant HRM outcomes in different contexts (sectors, countries, types of employees, …)?

How can these contextualized HRM outcomes be operationalized and measured?

What kind of theoretical perspectives (institutional theory, person-environment fit theory, etc.) can help HRM research in contextualizing HRM outcomes?

How can managers manage the potential tensions between various contextualized HRM outcomes?

How can we capture the contextualized nature of HRM outcomes, while maintaining

the comparability within and between contexts?

Theme 04: Employer engagement: HRM and vulnerable labour-market groups

Convenors: Rik van Berkel (Utrecht University), Mark Stuart (University of Leeds) and Nicolette van Gestel, (Tilburg University)

Analyzing HRM policies and practices in context focuses attention, among others, on the role of government (social) policies in shaping HRM policies and practices. One of the social policy objectives where employer involvement is particularly important concerns the promotion of the employability and labour-market participation of vulnerable groups, such as the unemployed, sick and disabled people, or older workers. Although many studies look at the social policies aimed at this objective, responses of employers and companies’ HR-policies have hardly been investigated. Shifting focus from a social policy to an HR-policy point of view, the core theme of this session is therefore employer engagement which we define for the purpose of this session as the active participation of employers in initiatives to promote the employability and labour-market participation of vulnerable labour-market

groups.

Core themes include:

Employers’ motivations to engage (or avoid engagement) in these initiatives;

Employer engagement and its ‘translation’ into HRM policies and practices;

Varieties of employer engagement and its institutional context;

Antecedents of employer engagement;

Employer engagement outcomes, e.g. in terms of promoting the labour-market

participation and employability of vulnerable labour-market groups?

Paper presenters are kindly invited to consider submitting their paper for the Human Resource Management Journal special issue on employer engagement. The call for papers

for this special issue will be published on http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-8583

Theme 05: Graduate’s real-life test: Getting a job and starting a career

Convenors: Jos Akkermans (VU Amsterdam), Maria Tims (VU Amsterdam), Svetlana N. Khapova (VU Amsterdam) and Paul G. W. Jansen (VU Amsterdam)

Fresh graduates, who thought that university education would score them a job, are getting increasingly disappointed about possibilities of the contemporary European labour market. Indeed, many organizations report low availability of entrance jobs and the overall EU youth unemployment rate in 2013 was 28%. To save costs, employers would like to see young but experienced candidates entering job vacancies. This requirement creates what Peter Cappelli (2012) labels as “a skills gap” in the contemporary recruitment practices. With this track we aim to contribute to a discussion on graduate’s employment and careers. We seek papers that would address one or more of the following questions:

What kind of competencies do graduates need to do to succeed in this changing

world of work?

Which factors can contribute to a successful school-to-work transition in the “new career”?

How can concepts like “job crafting”, “employability”, “calling” and other related

proactivity-based concepts help in preparing graduates for successful work and career trajectories?

What is the role of organizations in facilitating this process?

Theme 06: HRM Actors and Technology

Convenors: Tanya Bondarouk (University of Twente) and Mireia Valverde (Universitat Rovira i Virgili)

Rapid technological developments and intensive contextualization of the HRM function, have initiated the (re-)distribution of HRM responsibilities within and outside organizations. Whereas earlier Information Technologies (IT) automated payroll and were primarily directed towards HR departments, latest IT-enabled HRM with cloud-, mobile- and web-based applications involve various stakeholders in the HRM function like line and top managers, and employees. The traditional two-level HRM function based on HR department and middle managers, is being questioned for its (in)flexibility, rigidity, innovative incapacity, and inferior efficiency. Re-contextualization of the HRM function is propelling its transition to a multilevel web-of-delivery channels including HR central departments, HR Shared Services, de-centralized HR specialists and administrators, line managers, and employees.

This workshop invites scholars to discuss such questions as: What are impacts of IT on re-structuring of the HRM function? What are the changes in organizational relationships between different HR actors? What / who are the drivers of these changes? What is the role

of line and top management in a re-contextualized HRM? What are new effective structures of HR Shared Services?

Impact of Information Technologies on HRM

HRM in high tech and low tech organizations

Changes in HR roles and responsibilities with Information Technologies

Implementation of HRM by managers and employees

Effectiveness of HR Shared Services

Theme 07: HRM and Innovation

Convenors: Tanya Bondarouk (University of Twente) and Sara Bonesso (Ca’ Foscari University of Venice)

Innovation is widely acknowledged to be a powerful and prevalent discourse in modern workplaces that puts HRM systems in a new organizational context. In both private and public sector organizations, innovations at individual and firm levels are expected to contribute to organizational prosperity, growth, and long term survival. The most desirable employees are seen those who are innovative; the most important organizational activities are those dedicated to generating, capturing, institutionalizing and marketing innovations. Scholars have already reached a consensus that innovation does not exclusively reside in the R&D departments but it has become part of everyone’s job. Following this, HRM researchers have been examining the impact of Employee-Driven Innovations (EDI) and Innovative Work Behavior (IWB) on individual and firm performances, and the role of HR

practices in innovation. This workshop invites scholars to discuss such questions as: What employee competences and motivation are required to generate innovations; Which innovations in HRM practices can stimulate the expected innovative behavior of

employees; How effective these HRM innovations in daily practices; and Whether innovative work behaviors lead to improved organizational performance?

The role of contextual factors in the link ‘HRM - innovation performance’

HRM impact on different stages of Innovation process (idea generating, championing, application)

Effects of HR practices on Innovative Work Behavior

Impact of individual innovation performance on organizational performance

New conceptual and empirical challenges for Employee-Driven Innovations

Theme 08: HRM and Leadership

Convenors: Hannes Leroy (Cornell University), Deanne N. Den Hartog (University of Amsterdam) and Jesse Segers (Antwerp Management School)

As leaders in their line management roles form important linking pins in translating HR policies on paper to what individual employees perceive, they have a key role in the HRM process. Yet the fields of HRM and leadership tend to take different approaches and focus on different questions. This track is loosely linked to a special issue on HRM and Leadership (if interested,see: http://absri.uva.nl/news--seminars/content/2015/04/call-for-papers-special-issue.html. We specifically invite scholars who link leadership research with HRM research. We are interested in the traditionally more micro-focused leadership research (such as the role of different leadership styles in HR relevant outcomes), but also in work that translates this focus on leadership different areas of HR-management or work that focuses on one or more areas of HRM (e.g. employee socialization) and links this back to leadership

approaches.

We welcome submissions that focus on, without being limited to, questions such as:

Leadership and recruitment/selection: What are the implications of specific leadership approaches for recruitment and selection? What are the best ways to assess specific leadership approaches?

Leadership and job design: How does leadership theory translate into how jobs are

designed in organizations, e.g., how does leadership affect job design or job crafting? HR-theory on leadership and training, development, and career management, e.g., how could leadership theories help employee development?

Leadership and performance management, e.g. what is the role of leadership in performance management and do certain approaches to leadership affect how

employees are incentivized? SHRM and Leadership, for example, might some leadership approaches (e.g., shared leadership) contradict, complement, aid, or replace the traditional role of HR?

Theme 09: HRM, well-being and performance: The role of work context

Convenors: Marc van Veldhoven (Tilburg University), Riccardo Peccei (King's College London) and Karina van de Voorde (Tilburg University)

In contextual approaches to HRM the emphasis is often on context factors at the level of organizations, branches of industry or society at large (Paauwe, 2004; Paauwe & Boselie, 2007). For the worker, however, it is the immediate work context that is often more salient in day-to-day work (Van Veldhoven & Peccei, 2015). HR and other managerial practices help to shape the immediate work context, and at the same time HR and managerial practices are also aimed at managing well-being and performance as it occurs in the specific work context at hand. In this track the focus is on well-being and performance in specific job groups and settings, and how HRM plays a role here. Examples of possible issues to address are:

How does HRM play a role in specific types of work settings, for example: dirty work,

sales jobs, service work, creative work, ex-pat assignments et cetera?

How does HRM influence job demands and job resources for workers in such specific work settings?

To what extent are HR practices themselves job-specific – i.e. tailored for specific job

groups; are they modified/adapted from general principles? or completely new/innovative?

How do such specific types of HRM impact employee well-being and performance?

To the extent that HR practices are job specific, what are the implications for the degree of internal differentiation and integration of HRM systems in organizations?

Theme 10: Implementing Organizational Change

Convenors: Ben Kuipers (Erasmus University Rotterdam), Malcolm Higgs (University of Southampton) Rune By (Staffordshire University) and Bram Steijn (Erasmus University Rotterdam)

Whilst change is endemic within today’s organizations empirical studies indicate that a significantly high proportion of changes fail to achieve their goals. Several authors addressed the changing content and context of both public and private organizations as a factor of importance to the consideration of change. Nevertheless, when reviewing the broader change management literature it seems evident that change, more and more, is a multi-level and multi-faceted phenomenon, requiring both scholars and practitioners to rethink and reshape change management. Organizational change creates an important context for HRM; HRM practices and policies, as well as the roles of HRM are changing because of it. At the same time HRM plays a vital role in the implementation of change processes. It is especially

the change of attitudes, behaviours and routines of people in organization that make organizational change take place.

We invite papers that help to provide insight into the complexity of change, considering different factors, actors, contexts and levels. We propose that submitted papers would be situated broadly in one or more of the following themes:

Change implementation and the impact of HRM in making change happen

Experiences and behaviours of various stakeholders in the process of implementing

change

Providing context to the implementation of change, by focus on multi-levels, multi-sectors, multi-actors and multi-facets

Applying different approaches to change implementation; planned versus emergent,

best practice versus best-fit, rational versus emotional, and simplicity versus complexity approaches

The variety of intended and unintended outcomes of change implementation

Theme 11: International Human Resource Management

Convenors: Dirk Buyens (Vlerick Business School Ghent University), Chris Brewster (University of Reading and Nijmegen University) and Wolfgang Mayrhofer (Wien University)

This track is aimed at International HRM policies and practices at firm level and the way in which they are shaped and designed in today’s multinational organizations. We are seeking papers and research designs that aim to understand how these practices have their impact on individual or organisational outcome factors, , both within and outside Europe. That could be comparative HRM research over different countries, taking into account the contextualized differences or similarities of the nations in which the practices are observed and investigated. It could also be proposals that contribute to the ‘divergence versus convergence’ discussion within the International HRM research domain.

Next to this, any high quality submission theoretical or empirical that deals with a strategic

HRM policy or practice that is being researched from an international angle will be welcomed. The focus of the track clearly being to get a better understanding of the ‘why’, the ‘how’ and the ‘consequences’ of HRM practices and policies in multinational enterprises (MNE’s) including their formal and informal approaches to HRM planning, employer branding, staffing, training and development, talent, performance and social relations management.

The following highlights represent example questions that will be addressed in this track:

What does comparative International research in HRM tell us today, and what are some major changes that happen in the corporate world?

How do HRM practices and policies change in international organizations?

Which differences in HRM practices and policies do we see over the globe, and

how can we understand those differences and their effects on human behaviour?

Do we see a convergence or divergence in IHRM practices and policies, and what

explains that evolution?

What are the evidence based findings in the field of IHRM within each of the subdomains of HRM?

Theme 12: Learning, development and talent management

Convenors: Rob Poell (UvT), Marianne van Woerkom (UvT), Nicky Dries (KUL), Eva Kyndt (KUL) and Luc Sels (KUL)

The organization context plays an important role in providing learning and development opportunities for employees and in approaches towards talent management (inclusive vs. exclusive). Many organizations spend a lot of money on training and development in order to upgrade employee competence and employability as well as to improve positive work-related attitudes. The most important source of learning however, is the work itself and the interactions with other people in the workplace. While managers often focus on mending the deficits/weaknesses of their employees, organizations using a strengths-based approach identify and value individual talents, developing them into applicable strengths and putting these strengths into practice. However, learning in organizations does not only take place on an individual basis but also on a collective basis. Knowledge and skills gathered by one

employee can be transferred to other team members. Organizational learning processes that lead to knowledge creation have become important for improving a firm's competitiveness. This workshop will accept high-quality submissions in these areas and on related topics in

the field of learning, development and talent management:

Training and development, coaching and mentoring, workplace learning

Talent management and development, strengths-based approaches

Team and organizational learning, knowledge management

Employability, competence and expertise development

Organization and career development

Theme 13: A Paradox Perspective On HRM Tensions

Convenors: Anne Keegan (Amsterdam Business School), Ina Ehnert (Louvain School of Management) and Julia Brandl (Universität Innsbruck)

In line with this year’s conference theme ‘Recontextualizing HRM’ which challenges scholars to study contemporary HRM from innovative and different perspectives, we invite papers that reinterpret tensions inherent in HRM from a paradox perspective (e.g., Smith and Lewis, 2011; Ehnert, 2009). Smith and Lewis (2011) define “paradox as contradictory yet interrelated elements that exist simultaneously and persist over time” (p. 382). Prior research has identified tensions facing HRM actors and organizations coping with potentially contradictory goals (Boselie et al., 2009; Francis and Keegan, 2006; Paauwe, 2004; Boxall and Purcell, 2011; Evans, 1999). However, many opportunities exist for further theorization of tensions and also what HRM actors can or should do to respond to them. We welcome papers that critically examine if a paradox perspective can shed light on questions including:

What different tensions do HRM actors experience in their daily practice and what are

their perceptions about the nature of these tensions? Are HRM tensions perceived differently in diverse institutional, social and cultural contexts?

What are the preferred strategies to deal with HRM tensions, which strategies fuel creativity and innovativeness in a sustainable way (virtuous cycles) and which strategies foster conflict, inertia and procrastination (vicious cycles)?

How are different HRM tensions interrelated and how do they unfold over time?

What are the antecedents and consequences of HRM tensions when viewed from the perspective of paradox theory?

What implications does a paradox perspective have for exchanges between HRM scholars and practitioners? How can practitioners benefit from academic HRM

research that is inspired by a paradox perspective?

Theme 14: Recontextualizing work and management of care professionals

Convenors: Eric Molleman (University of Groningen), Jasmijn van Harten (Utrecht University), Peter Leisink (Utrecht University) and Patrick Flood (Dublin City University)

The care sector stands out for a multitude of changes including government initiated reforms (e.g. introduction of market mechanisms); scrutiny of the quality of care; rules, regulations and incentive systems directing professional work; increased literacy of customers; ageing populations resulting in increasing complexity of care demand; innovation in medical technology. The consequences of these changes for care professionals are manifest in a variety of areas such as the organization of work, teams, leadership, HRM and ongoing professionalization. However, these changes presumably affect care professionals in diverse ways, for instance depending on the specific care sector or care profession. This workshop aims to examine how the multifarious changes permeate the management of care work and professionals, taking into account the differences between sectors and

professions.

Issues that can be explored by theoretical and empirical papers are among others:

complexity in health care demand and multidisciplinary collaboration

professional work, management of professionals, and dedicated HRM

the professionalization of care occupations and managers

managing hospital performance and effectiveness

error management in healthcare

Theme 15: Sustainable Careers, Employability and Flexibility

Convenors: Beatrice I.J.M. van der Heijden (Radboud University Nijmegen), Mandy E.G. van der Velde (Utrecht School of Governance) and Ans de Vos (University of Antwerp)

This track is aimed at (re)contextualizing the concept of (Sustainable) Careers. "Career" is defined as the sequence of work experiences that evolve over the individual’s life course (Greenhaus, Callanan, & Godschalk, 2010). Over the past decades, substantial evolutions have taken place in the world of work, calling for reconsidering the notion of contemporary careers, and leading to the introduction of the concept of ‘sustainable careers’. Van der Heijden and De Vos put careers in a historical perspective in order to better understand what has changed in both the time frame of careers, the social space in which careers take place, the agency with regard to careers, and the meaning of a career for the individual employee.

This track goes into the conceptualization of 'sustainable careers', using an integral

approach, in which both individual responsibility as well as (broader) contextual factors are taken into account. Following the Ability, Motivation, Opportunity model of performance (Appelbaum et al., 2000), we include both individual ability and willingness for individual career management and organizational opportunities for careers. For example, Van der Velde and Van den Berg (2005) found that work perceptions, such as organizational support and task formalization, are more related to willingness than to the ability to be flexible, whereas personality, such as need for growth and tendency for innovation are more related to willingness and ability to be flexible.

Next to the invitation to conceptualize on sustainable careers, employability and flexibility, we call for more research into the antecedents and outcomes of sustainable careers.

Theme 16: The Teams, They Are a Changing: Recontextualizing contemporary work groups

Convenors: Joost van de Brake (University of Groningen) and Peter Essens (TNO)

The nature of teamwork has been changing at an accelerating pace. Today's team are more global, digitalized and dynamic, providing an exciting new ground for both theory and practice. Consequently, HRM research has identified a number of research directions that move away from the traditional view of teams with well-defined memberships and clear boundaries (i.e., organizational, geographical). Some of these emerging research topics include, but are not limited to, the concepts of multiple team membership, distributed teams, interdisciplinary teams, and multi-team systems. We call for papers that focus on the challenges and complexities of contemporary teams, such as:

The antecedents (e.g., individual expertise, personality characteristics) and consequences

(e.g., performance outcomes, stress) of multiple team membership.

Communication and coordination in geographically distributed (or virtual) teams.

Information sharing and knowledge integration in interdisciplinary teams.

Cooperation and information exchange between teams (e.g., multi-team systems, boundary spanning activities etc.).

Theme 17: Temporary and project-based employment of knowledge workers: Implications

for individuals, their careers, and organizations

Convenors: Svetlana N. Khapova (VU Amsterdam), Maria Tims (VU Amsterdam), Jos Akkermans (VU Amsterdam) and Paul G. W. Jansen (VU Amsterdam)

The largest share of work in almost all European economies is currently based on service and knowledge-intensive work. This shift from manufacturing to a new way of producing the economic wealth has resulted in major shifts in how organizations are organized, how employees work and manage their careers. One of such shifts concerns a growing number of organizations that rely on temporary workers and agencies to supply them with knowledge workers. There is also a growing number of individuals who turn to entrepreneurship as a way to survive in this increasingly project-based relationships with organizations. With this track we want to address what temporary and project-based work means for individuals, their careers, and their employers. We seek papers that explicitly focus on the study of

temporary employment relationships. Example questions include:

How do temporary contracts and employment relationships affect how work gets

done and the quality of the work that gets done?

How do temporary contracts and employment relationships affect attitudes of temporary employees, regular employees, managers, and their collaboration?

How do temporary contracts and employment relationships influence employees’

proactive behaviors with regard to their work (e.g., work engagement, organizational commitment) and their career (e.g., career competencies, employability)?

How do temporary contracts and employment relationships affect employees’ identity and work roles?

Theme 18: Work Engagement. Exploring differences within and across contexts

Convenors: Kerstin Alfes (Tilburg University), Jonathan Booth (London School of Economics) and Amanda Shantz (IÉSEG School of Management) The majority of research on work engagement has been carried out in single organizations without comparing how engagement unfolds within and across different contexts. Hence, more research is needed that takes into account how micro (e.g., gender, age, ethnicity, occupational group), meso (e.g., teams, networks) and/or macro (e.g., industry, culture) level factors influence employees’ readiness and willingness to become engaged. For example, it is plausible that the drivers of engagement are different for certain types of professions (e.g., lawyers, doctors) compared to other occupational groups. On a meso level, the team composition is likely to influence an individual’s level of engagement. On a macro-level, engagement might mean something different for employees working in a stigmatized

or dirty work environment, as being engaged might make the taint of the job more salient. The drivers and outcomes of engagement will also across sectors, changing economic climates and national contexts. From a theoretical viewpoint, new theoretical insights, for example, from a sociological perspective, are needed to deepen our understanding of engagement and address dangers and limitations inherent in the current trend towards the ‘psychologisation of employment relations’ (Godard, 2013).

We therefore welcome conceptual or empirical papers, which address some of the following possible topic areas:

Development of new theoretical insights which anchor engagement within the

broader sociological and employment relations debates

Multi-method, qualitative or ethnographic studies which deepen our insights into the

contextual aspects of engagement

Studies which explore how micro, meso and/or macro level factors influence the

mechanisms behind engagement

Studies which compare and contrast engagement across different contexts

Theme 19: Working flexibly in flexible work spaces

Convenors: Katie Stephenson (VU Amsterdam), Svetlana N. Khapova (VU Amsterdam), Paul G. W. Jansen (VU Amsterdam), Jos Akkermans (VU Amsterdam) and Maria Tims (VU Amsterdam)

A growing number of organizations transfer traditional offices into shared and flexible work spaces. Some organizations do this to save operation costs. Other organizations see flexibility as an important drive of innovation. However little research exists that offer any insights on the implications of new flexible office designs on individual and team work processes. This track calls for papers that address issues related to the flexible work within the flexible office and work contexts. Specifically, we seek papers that would answer the questions:

What are the effects of flexible office arrangements on individual and team work

processes?

What are the effects of flexible office arrangements on the role of leaders and their leadership approaches and styles?

How do work processes, knowledge sharing, learning and innovation change when

individuals do not regularly work in an office?

What are the effects of flexible office arrangements on employees’ well-being and job attitudes?

Theme 20: Work-life research and HRM

Convenors: Laura den Dulk (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Mia Tammelin (University of Jyvaskyla)

Work-life policies that allow people to combine activities and responsibilities from various life domains (paid work, care, voluntary work) are increasingly part of HRM in organizations. A growing number of organizations offer flexible work arrangements, (extended) leaves and supportive care arrangements. However, differences between organizations within and between countries in level and nature of support remain substantial, and greater attention is needed in the HRM and work–life fields to discuss how variation in cross-national contexts and assumptions operating at the individual, organizational and national levels influence work–life policies, practices, processes, and outcomes for individuals, families, businesses, and society. This workshop in particular invites multi-level research examining cross-level interactions between country and organization-level indicators or between individual, team

and the organizational level.

Key issues and questions:

Work-life policies, employee wellbeing and organizational performance: The role of context;

The impact of the global recession on work-life support in organizations;

Workers at different stages of their life: How to best meet the needs of workers at different life stages?

Linking the work-family interface to the broader HRM system

Work-life policies: still a women’s issue?