Applying employment systems theory to the analysis of national models of HRM

Abstract

The paper presents a model of employment systems as the basis for a systematic comparative analysis of HRM. Such a model has particular value for international HRM, where a stronger theoretical anchor would allow for better explanations concerning the origins and impacts of emerging practices and trends. Having established a typology of employment systems, which describes how organizations all over the world manage employment, the paper highlights a series of characteristic ‘boundary tensions’, around which change in employment practices takes place. These change processes can also be seen all over the world, driven by economic and institutional influences. By focusing on these boundary tensions, we can see how changes in the external environment act as a lever to change approaches to employment. The paper argues that comparative international HRM should look at the impacts of change on groups of employees managed through particular models and at the adjustments firms make in relation to these. The focus for explanation and research is then on developments that reinforce, weaken or reframe archetypal systems of employment. The paper concludes by identifying three ways in which this can be done – focusing on change in particular elements of employment practice, change in the psychological contract and employee behaviour and change in the institutional environment.

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