Proposed tracks

We welcome paper submissions on a range of topics relevant to bridging the gap between HR theory and practice, including, but not limited to:

1 Sustainable employment

2 International HRM

3 Psychological contract

4 HR, entrepreneurship & family business

5 Labour relations 

6 General HRM track

7 Interdisciplinary/practitioner track

 

Please indicate with your paper submission the track you propose it will fit best with, or if you are not sure, indicate “General HRM track”.

 

1 Sustainable employment

Sponsored by the Centre of Excellence for Sustainability, Kedge Business School
Sustainable employment and sustainable HRM are trending topics when we look at the literature. Although many people refer to sustainability of HRM and employment, there are many questions as to whet this entails, how it is different from mainstream HRM, and whether it is a real thing or a marketing trick to please customers and shareholders. This track therefore invites research contributions on sustainable HRM and employment topics. We provide some possible topics below.

Sustainability is often seen within the context of decent work, which is one of the UN sustainable development goals, aiming for economies that provide men and women with opportunities to obtain work that allows earning a decent income under conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity. HRM can contribute to achieving decent work, but decent work also asks fundamental questions about the role and nature of HRM. Various research perspectives inform the HRM and decent work agenda. For example, what is the instrumental value of promoting decent work in relation to business performance, or can decent work inform HRM practices to realise mutual gains for employees and employers? Furthermore, questions about the moral responsibility of the HRM function for decent work in supplying organisations, or the challenges of multinational organisations to foster decent work through HRM in diverse economic and political national contexts are interesting research avenues.

Another pilar of sustainability in HRM focuses on how organisations can create inclusive workplaces to include and provide equal opportunities to all (potential) workers in the labour market (e.g. precarious/non-standard workers, minorities, post-retirement workers, parents, people with a disability, refugees, flexible workers, etc.) in a world driven by ‘grand challenges’ such as migration, digital transformation, pandemics and financial crises. The focus here is on organisational policies, practices and interventions to accomplish sustained inclusive outcomes related to societal legitimacy, such as workforce participation, equality, decent work and fairness. We especially welcome papers that highlight how workers can be considered not as a commodity, but as an end in themselves. Therefore, investing in their sustainable employability is a focal point for employers, managers, and peers in the workplace as well as policymakers.

The notion of sustainable employment suggests that there is less depletion of resources to sustain employment over the long term. Employee health and wellbeing are therefore relevant indicators that allow for the assessment of the extent to which resource depletion is taking place. The effect of HRM has been shown to be beneficial for employee health-related well-being. However, other scholars have found some evidence that HRM can induce strain and compromise employees’ health and well-being. These results indicate that the effects of HRM on employees’ health may very well depend on the context. Employees’ individual positions, in terms of their experiences, orientations and behaviours, are likely to play a pivotal role in shaping their reaction to HRM and influence whether they have desirable or harmful consequences on pertinent health outcomes. To progress research on the impact of HR practices on health-related well-being, we need to better understand how employees react to HR practices and how their personal orientations and behaviours can shape these reactions. This track seeks papers that aim to understand the role of the employee experience in SHRM research by (1) investigating the influence of HR practices on employees’ health-related well-being, and (2) testing how employees’ personal orientations and behaviours shape their reactions to HR practices and what effect this has on their health well-being.

 

2 International HRM

Sponsored by the Centre of Excellence for International Business, Kedge Business School
The international human resource management (IHRM) field is about “understanding, researching, applying and revising all human resource activities in their internal and external contexts as they impact the processes of managing human resources in organizations throughout the global environment to enhance the experience of multiple stakeholders” (Schuler and Tarique, 2007:718). Despite such a clear statement in which internal and external (institutional and cultural) contexts are literally central, IHRM research has still not fully explored the opportunities that make context central to our contributions. In line with Cooke’s (2018) and Caligiuri et al.’s (2020) plea for greater attention to the context within HRM studies in general, this track seeks contributions that theorise and/or demonstrate empirically the fundamental importance of nuanced institutional and cultural contexts in IHRM.
This track welcome papers related to various topics, and not restrictive, investigating cross-cultural management and linguistic issues within international context collaboration, HRM practice comparison and analysis in home and host countries, headquarter-subsidiary relationships, global talent management, the challenges of multiple diversity, and inclusivity management.

Caligiuri, P., De Cieri, H., Minbaeva, D., Verbeke, A., & Zimmermann, A. (2020). International HRM insights for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for future research and practice. Journal of International Business Studies, 51, 697-713.
Cooke, F. L. (2018). Concepts, contexts, and mindsets: Putting human resource management research in perspectives. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(1), 1-13.
Schuler, R. S., & Tarique, I. (2007). International human resource management: A North American perspective, a thematic update and suggestions for future research. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18(5), 717-744.
Lee J.Y., Yahiaoui D, Lee K.P., Cooke F.L. (2022). Global talent management and multinational subsidiaries’ resilience in the Covid-19 crisis: Moderating roles of regional headquarters’ support and headquarters-subsidiary friction. Human Resource Management, 61(3), 355-372
Yahiaoui, D., Nakhle, S. F., & Farndale, E. (2021). Culture and performance appraisal in multinational enterprises: Implementing French headquarters' practices in Middle East and North Africa subsidiaries. Human Resource Management, 60(5), 771-785.

 

3 Psychological contract

Sponsored by BSI (Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University)
Changing circumstances necessitate flexible workplaces, where the employment relationship needs to adapt to it. Expectations and obligations in the employment relationship also change with a flexible workplace, which can result in unbalanced and unfulfilled psychological contracts. Counter-productive workplace behaviour, intention to leave the organisation and an impact on the employee’s well-being have been linked to such an employment relationship. In this track, we explore the role of HR in managing expectations and obligations within changing environments and flexible workplace relationships. Topics of this track can include, but are not limited to, managing changing psychological contracts, digitalised employment relations, clarity of expectations and obligations in the workplace, HRM and the psychological contract, as well as managing contract breach and violation experiences in the workplace.  

 

4 HR, entrepreneurship & family business

Sponsored by the Centre of Expertise in Entrepreneurship and Family Business, Kedge Business School
Worldwide, the lion share of work happens in small enterprises and family businesses. Gig work, globalisation, economic crises, and the popularity of the flexible firm as a business model have pushed large numbers of employees towards self-employment and small business entrepreneurship. In this changing landscape, new types of employment developed that corrode the boundaries between entrepreneur, employer and employee. At the same time, many family businesses are trying to prevail, transform, or expand out into the world. These companies are known for their non-standard ways of managing the workforce and many questions remain unanswered. We call for interdisciplinary empirical and conceptual research exploring HR within the specific context of family businesses as well as research exploring the overlay between the management of work and entrepreneurship, to improve our understanding of the meaning and contributions of HRM to societal, business and worker outcomes, both inside and outside the traditional understanding of an organisation. Topics can include, but are not limited to personal characteristics of entrepreneurs, their human and social capital strategies, and strategies of entrepreneurs to make a living, balance work and personal lives, or how HRM in organisations using the services of self-employed and small business can contribute to their success.

 

5 Labour relations 

Sponsored by Global Innovative Forefront Talent (GIFT)Research Niche, North-West University
For centuries, labour relations were practised with specific country-based social contracts and labour-related legislation regulating them. It was only a century ago that international conventions and recommendations were introduced through the establishment of the International Labour Organisation in 1919, formulating international standards and norms for fair labour relations. Countries continued to develop unique labour approaches, based on legislation, even with these international guidelines. Labour relations research and practice also remained mainly contextual and based on a country’s labour approach. Transnational labour relations significantly increased in the past decades, with a much more digitalised workplace, increases of cross-border gig-work, and labour migration, to name a few. With this track, labour relations research and practice in a working world without borders are investigated from an interdisciplinary approach. Paper submissions focusing on international labour legislation (including jurisprudence), labour markets, labour migration, gig-work, digitalised workplace and employment relations management from a relational perspective are welcome.

 

6 General HRM track

Sponsored by Tilburg University
The general HRM track welcomes papers on all HRM topics that are not covered by the specific focuses of other tracks. We look forward to receiving submissions that bridge the gap between HR theory and practice.

Some examples of themes of submissions that would be of special interest to us are: HRM and the digitisation of work, the use of data and analytics in HRM, the evolving understandings of (global) talent management, learning, development, and the strength-based approach in HRM, the gig economy and HRM, HRM and agility, and health and wellbeing at work during a pandemic: what is the role of HRM?

These themes are elaborated below.

HRM and the digitisation of work: Organisations increasingly rely on technology. Recent advancements such as big data, algorithms, robots and wearables suggest this is likely to intensify in the near future. Such evolutions have significant implications for work and employment and have already triggered several research endeavours. Empirical, methodological and conceptual research is needed that extends our understanding of how the ongoing digitisation of work affects the HRM function, HRM activities, as well as the delivery, purpose and experience of HRM. To that end, we would welcome topics such as how virtual work affects employees’ perceptions and attributions of HRM. Which (systems or bundles) HR practices see their importance grow as a result of technological developments? How do employees respond to feedback processes and task allocations that are based on algorithms or artificial intelligence? Or how can line managers engage in HRM implementation and ensure alignment when face-to-face contact is limited?

Data and analytics: One of the biggest trends in the field of HRM within the last few years is to use data and analytics. This practice, also called people analytics, refers to the “use of descriptive, visual, and statistical analyses of data related to HR processes, human capital, organizational performance, and external economic benchmarks to establish business impact and enable data-driven decision-making”. Despite its popularity, organisations have been struggling to conduct HR analytics successfully and the theoretical and empirical underpinning for conducting people analytics has been lacking. Submissions could focus on how people analytics may add value to the HRM function through a theoretical and empirical lens. In addition to this, we would also welcome submissions that explore the shadow side of people analytics (e.g. from an ethical view) and the power balance shifts that people analytics may cause within HR and the wider organisation.

Evolving understandings of (global) talent management: The (global) talent management literature has been growing in a somewhat haphazard fashion given its base in a wide range of academic and applied perspectives that have been published across a variety of outlets. The result is a somewhat fragmented yet appealing body of knowledge. A lack of a stable theoretical foundation results in a definitional challenge and underlying conceptual ambiguity. However, HRM needs to stay focused not only on developing strong theoretical arguments, but also on staying connected to dynamic practice. There is a need for swift adaptation to the operating environment, encouraging a focus on (global) talent management as a dynamic capability. We would welcome submissions that move our theorising forward while addressing (global) talent management challenges faced by a broad range of organisations facing dynamic environments.

Learning, development, and the strength-based approach: The development and resilience of a society’s workforce depend in large part on the investments made by organisations in individual, team and organisation development. We welcome submissions on a range of topics related to learning and development in organisations. Firstly, on the transfer of training to sustained workplace performance, but also on (informal) forms of workplace learning in which the work itself and the interactions with other people in the workplace are seen as the most important sources of learning. Secondly, on the role that leaders play in stimulating employee development, many leaders tend to focus on the deficits of their employees, aiming at overcoming individual weaknesses. In contrast, leaders with a strengths-based approach target the achievement of exceptional individual and organisational outcomes through a process of identifying and nurturing employee talents. Thirdly, submissions that focus on collective learning processes that place at the level of the team or the whole organisation. Since team members can interact with one another, knowledge and skills gathered by one team member can be transferred to other team members. Furthermore, organisational learning processes that lead to knowledge creation are important for improving a firm’s resilience, competitiveness and sustainability. Changes in the environment urge organisations to become resilient to ensure business survival and to re-evaluate and change the current learning and development practices.

The gig economy refers to an economic system that connects platform organisations with clients and on-demand workers. Not only does this system challenge many things we take for granted in employment relationships, it also shifts the role of HRM towards managing platform exchanges. This has significant implications for our conceptualisation of HRM, which HRM activities are successful and how they should be delivered. To broaden our understanding of HRM in the gig economy, submissions could address topics such as how gig work influences HR practices such as recruitment, performance management, and compensation and benefits, the characteristics and experiences of different types of gig workers, and how HRM can ensure sustainable employment and decent work in the gig economy.

Agility can be seen as a dynamic competence on the organisational level, and as a way of working on the team- and individual level that enables organisations and teams to cope with uncertain and highly dynamic environments while also promoting outcomes such as innovation. Although the concept of agility or agile ways of working are gaining interest from practitioners and academics, many questions regarding agility remain. Submissions could explore the role of HRM in relation to the establishment of agility on the organisational level (e.g. studies that explore the HR systems best suited for achieving organisational agility); the team level (e.g. effectiveness of agile teams and the role leadership and/or self-management); the individual level (e.g. employee outcomes of agile ways of working); and multilevel (e.g. what HR practices contribute to organisational and team agility?).

Health and wellbeing at work during a pandemic: What is the role of HRM? Covid-19 was a challenge to the health and wellbeing of all workers; it is impacting employees, entrepreneurs and managers in their work, business, career and private life. In several calls for papers and editorials, researchers in the field of HRM have expressed the importance and urgency of researching the specific impacts of Covid-19 on workers, managers, and organisations. One important issue is forced working from home in relation to the work-family interface, digitalisation of work and new skill development, and leadership and supervisory support. We welcome submissions that share what has been found and achieved so far in relation to studying the impact of Covid-19 on employee health and wellbeing, and the role of HRM.

 

7 Interdisciplinary/practitioner track

Sponsored by WorkWell Research Unit of the North-West University.
HRM is not just for HRM professionals or HRM scholars. The discipline is interwoven with many other specialties and functions. An example is the interaction between HRM and marketing (e.g. employer branding), where we see that the marketing of the employer brand can have an influence on hiring and retaining new employees, especially in this day and age in which individuals want to work for companies that are able to show shared values. However, HRM can also influence the employer’s image for customers and other third parties. Without naming any one organisation in particular, there are regularly stories in the press that positively or negatively influence companies’ image and might incite potential customers to buy their products or services elsewhere. This track therefore invites interdisciplinary research that focuses on the interplay of HRM and other disciplines.

Furthermore, we would like to invite researchers, organisations, and/or practitioners within the wider HRM context to propose contributions on specific empirical topics of HRM. These contributions could for instance be submitted in the form of a case study to provide the relevant information regarding the context and actions that were taken by an organisation. The goal of this track is to further develop the relationships between academics and HRM practitioners who are working for national and international organisations.

Deadlines

Please send submissions to: HRIC2023@nwu.ac.za

If you have any questions about the HRIC2023, please contact:

Bennie Linde

Email: HRIC2023@nwu.ac.za

Mobile: +27 (0) 83 556 0301

Skype username: bennie.linde

Guidelines

GENERAL GUIDELINES:

• Submissions in the form of abstracts of around 150 words that represent original and new work are welcome. Please add a paper of around seven pages with the abstract if you wish to contend for the Best Paper award;
• To preserve anonymity, author names should be excluded from the header/footer or from the body of the abstract and paper. Authors should be referred to in the text or notes in the third person only;
• Paper submission is final and changes cannot occur to it afterwards;
• A maximum of three papers as an author or a co-author may be submitted; and
• Paper submissions sent to hric2023@nwu.ac.za will be accepted.

 

FORMATTING GUIDELINES:

• Abstracts of at around 150 words, including a short background, problem, objectives, method, results and conclusions can be submitted;
• Papers, to be judged for best paper awards, should be around seven pages;
• Text requirements: Please use single spacing and Times New Roman 12-point font or larger;
• The entire submission (title, abstract, text, figures, graphs, tables, and references) must be contained in one document;
• The title should be listed in the header of each page;
• Only electronic submissions will be accepted. The HRIC2023 submission system will be open for submissions from 1 June 2022; and
• Figures, graphs, tables, appendices, and references should follow the Academy of Management Journal’s Style Guide.
• Please follow the above guidelines to ensure your paper is reviewed. Papers that are not prepared according to these formatting instructions will not be reviewed.

Review process

Papers will be reviewed according to the following guidelines:

• All papers will be blind peer-reviewed by at least two (2) reviewers;
• Reviewers will be invited to supply review comments to authors, but a review report to the author is not compulsory;
• Reviews will start as submissions are received and notifications (accept/reject decisions) will be communicated within eight weeks after submission and not later than the end of February 2023; and
• Reviewer decisions are final and the outcomes will not be revisited.

Best paper

The best paper judging guidelines to follow

HRIC 2023 Doctoral Colloquium

EXTENDED DEADLINE FOR DOCTORAL COLLOQUIUM; 31 MARCH 2023

HRIC 2023 Doctoral Colloquium

31 May 2023 North‐West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa

Download the Brochure

 

Building the HRM field, your research, and your academic career through collaboration!

 

Who should attend?

Collaboration lies at the heart of all successful academic careers. This Doctoral Colloquium (as part of the Academy of Management HR Division International Conference) is designed for doctoral students in the field of HRM looking to connect with and learn from field experts and fellow students to help advance their career. We hope the conference will run in person but hybrid options for participation online will also be offered as needed.

 

How do I apply to attend?

The Doctoral Colloquium program includes the opportunity for you to present your research in roundtables for commentary and feedback. We therefore ask that you submit an extended abstract that outlines your research that will be shared with others in your roundtable.

Extended abstracts (not full papers) should be 750-1,000 words (in English) and formatted as per Academy of Management Journal submission style. They should include:

• the aims and intended contributions of your research;
• an outline description of the theoretical framework and concepts adopted;
• the research design and approach to data analysis (where applicable);
• the key findings, along with their theoretical and practical significance (only if your research is this far advanced - don’t worry if you haven’t started to collect or analyze data yet).

Please submit in Word (.doc or .docx) or PDF format to the workshop organizers (see final page for details: denise@cmu.edu; euf3@psu.edu; cara.jonker@nwu.ac.za; hewett@rsm.nl).

 

IMPORTANT
Please include in the email with your submission the following information:
1.    Full name, e.g., ‘Ms Elizabeth Doe’
2.    The name you would like us to use in communications with you, e.g., ‘Lizzie’
3.    Your university name, e.g., ‘University of Noland’
4.    Your email address, e.g., e.doe@noland.edu
5.    How far into your doctoral studies you are, e.g., ‘first year’, ‘mid-way through’, ‘completing this year’
6.    A brief comment on what you hope to gain from the colloquium, e.g., ‘the chance to network with other doctoral students in my field’