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Despite over three decades of debate around the nature of human resource management (HRM), its intellectual boundaries and its application in practice, the field continues to be dogged by a number of theoretical and practical limitations. Written by an international team of respected scholars, this updated textbook adopts a critical perspective to examine the core management function of HRM in all its complexity -- including its darker sides. Human Resource Management: A Critical Approach opens with a critique of the very concept of HRM, tracing its development over time, and then systematically analyses the context of HRM, practice of HRM and international perspectives on HRM. New chapters commissioned for this second edition look at HRM and the issues of diversity, migration, global supply chains and economic crisis. This textbook is essential reading for advanced and inquisitive students of HRM, and for HRM professionals looking to deepen their understanding of the complexities of their field.

This paper reviews the existing evidence base on the practice of people management in the context of post-state socialist countries of Asia. The focus is on Asian successor states of the Soviet Union and those under direct Soviet domination. In an undeniably diverse region, in all the countries under review there appears to be a disarticulation between liberal market reforms, economic progress, the ability to attract FDI and the development and persistence of a formal employment base. Extended informal networks of support often play an important role, inter alia, in informing recruitment, although clan based networks appear as quite impermeable to outsiders. Regulatory coverage is uneven but in many instances job protection is high. Drawing on the available research base, this paper consolidates and extends the existing state of knowledge on people management within the institutional contexts examined and draws out the implications for theorising and practice. The study highlights how reforms in one area may lead to counter-movements in others, shoring up existing modes of people management. Again, whilst clans and middle classes both have channels for political advocacy, there are fewer opportunities for workers and their representatives; this means that there is little impetus for legislation to promote better practice, workplace inclusivity and equity.

AbstractThere is significant research on employee voice (EV) practices in large, often unionised, workplaces. Yet, there is scarcity of empirical evidence on voice practices in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), specifically on the intricate dynamics of the employee‐owner/manager relationship at the micro‐level and its connection with organisational employment relations (ER) and voice climates at the meso‐level. This paper addresses this gap by examining these factors from the perspective of both employees and owners/managers in SMEs. It draws on 87 interviews in 29 non‐unionised SMEs. Our findings reveal SMEs as sites where the role of owners/managers in setting the employment relationship and the ER climate, and consequently the voice climate, is magnified, with profound consequences for EV behaviours. Our findings contribute to EV theory by offering a conceptualisation of how voice may be enabled or hindered in SMEs, with a focus on the role of trust and respect in the employment relationship in influencing the ER climate, voice climate and, consequently, voice behaviours, thereby guiding further research and offering practical implications for human resources practice in this respect.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to study particular structural and organisational factors affecting the formality of human resource management (HRM) practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South-Eastern European (SEE) post-communist countries, in particular Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in order to understand the antecedents of formalization in such settings.Design/methodology/approach– Adopting a quantitative approach, this study analyses data gathered through a survey of 168 managers of SMEs from throughout the region.Findings– The results show that HRM in SMEs in the SEE region can be understood through a threefold framework which includes: degree of internationalisation of SMEs, sector of SMEs and organisational size of SMEs. These three factors positively affect the level of HRM formalisation in SEE SMEs. These findings are further attributed to the particular political and economic context of the post-communist SEE region.Research limitations/implications– Although specific criteria were set for SME selection, the authors do not suggest that the study reflects a representative picture of the SEE region because the authors used a purposive sampling methodology.Practical implications– This paper provides useful insights into the factors which influence HRM in SMEs in a particular context. The findings can help business owners and managers understand how HRM can be applied in smaller organisations, particularly in post-communist SEE business contexts.Originality/value– HRM in SMEs in this region has hardly been studied at all despite their importance. Therefore, this exploratory research seeks to expand knowledge relating to the application of HRM in SMEs in SEE countries which have their business environments dominated by different dynamics in comparison to Western European ones.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the employment relations context in South Eastern Europe from a variety of capitalism perspectives. Particular attention is accorded to the uneven nature of change at both the levels of institutions and practice. This is followed by a review of the individual papers that make up this special issue.Design/methodology/approachThis paper is primarily a theoretical one, providing a review of the papers that make up this special issue and giving an overview of the foundation being provided.FindingsWhile the term "transitional" has often been deployed to describe employment relations across the region, the process has been an extremely protracted one. There is little doubt that the nature and form of employment relations in the countries encompassed in this review is still coalescing, with further ruptures likely as a result of the 2009 depression. At the same time, the papers in this special issue point to long‐standing continuities with employment.Research limitations/implicationsWhile the papers that make up this special issue may present the most recent research in the region, they also point to future areas for research. First, there is particularly little research that has been undertaken on peripheral areas of a generally peripheral region. Not only do we know very little about, say, Albanian employment relations, but we know little about employment relations in peripheral areas of large countries such as Turkey. Second, the 2009 depression is likely to accelerate trends to downsizing and insecure work, in the short term at least. Finally, there is a growing consensus that a sustainable economic recovery from the current crisis will depend, at least in part, on new social compromises both globally and regionally.Practical implicationsEmployment relations in the region are undergoing an extended transition. In the short term, the most likely trend will be towards a further weakening of the bargaining position of employees, and towards more insecure working. However, a sustained recovery is likely to see a reversal of this, with employers being more likely to be forced to contemplate new social compromises.Originality/valueThis study applies the comparative capitalism literature to the South Eastern European region context. It also introduces some of the most recent applied research in the region.

© 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited. Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study particular structural and organisational factors affecting the formality of human resource management (HRM) practices in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in South-Eastern European (SEE) post-communist countries, in particular Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in order to understand the antecedents of formalization in such settings. Design/methodology/approach – Adopting a quantitative approach, this study analyses data gathered through a survey of 168 managers of SMEs from throughout the region. Findings – The results show that HRM in SMEs in the SEE region can be understood through a threefold framework which includes: degree of internationalisation of SMEs, sector of SMEs and organisational size of SMEs. These three factors positively affect the level of HRM formalisation in SEE SMEs. These findings are further attributed to the particular political and economic context of the post-communist SEE region. Research limitations/implications – Although specific criteria were set for SME selection, the authors do not suggest that the study reflects a representative picture of the SEE region because the authors used a purposive sampling methodology. Practical implications – This paper provides useful insights into the factors which influence HRM in SMEs in a particular context. The findings can help business owners and managers understand how HRM can be applied in smaller organisations, particularly in post-communist SEE business contexts. Originality/value – HRM in SMEs in this region has hardly been studied at all despite their importance. Therefore, this exploratory research seeks to expand knowledge relating to the application of HRM in SMEs in SEE countries which have their business environments dominated by different dynamics in comparison to Western European ones.