Exploring the Road Less Travelled in HRM-Performance Research

Abstract

A review of key contributions in HRM-performance research indicates methodological frailties and an explanatory void concerning why or how HRM performance impacts take effect. This paper considers whether such limitations are attributable to the very scientific perspective that has informed research. In this case prospective solutions will bgo beyond methodological fine-tuning to involve explorations of the ontological assumptions that underpin research. In advancing this argument, I propose that HRM research would benefit from embracing a critical realist perspective. Specifically, by focusing attention on generative causal mechanisms, critical realism offers the potential to provide theoretically informed, contextually sensitive, and explanatory accounts of HRM interventions. In following this road less travelled, HRM researchers might be better placed to consider emergent processes, divergent outcomes, and new organizational forms.