Human Resource Management: A Critical Approach

450 Pages·2018·3.84 MB·English

by  David G. Collings

“This book delivers detailed and engaging contributions by leading authors. An
important point of distinction for the book is the emphasis on critical analysis of
topics that matter in HRM. I recommend it for advanced students and managers
interested in HRM.”
– Helen De Cieri , Professor of Management,
Monash University, Australia
“This revised edition provides a much-needed critical refl ection on HRM cov-
ering the fi eld’s most up-to-date challenges. Questioning both content and
context, we are provided with a deeper understanding of HRM than hitherto
available to both professionals and scholars.”
– Elaine Farndale , Associate Professor, The Pennsylvania State
University, USA, and Tilburg University, The Netherlands
“This wide-ranging critical text places human resource management appropri-
ately in its broader social scientifi c and historical contexts. It makes a distinctive
and accessible contribution to the fi eld and will appeal to many of those who seek
a more refl ective and critical approach to the subject.”
– Richard Croucher , P rofessor of Comparative Employment Relations,
Middlesex University Business School, UK, and Adjunct Professor,
Norwegian School of Economics, Norway

Human Resource Management
Despite over three decades of debate around the nature of human resource
management (HRM), its intellectual boundaries and its application in practice, the
fi eld 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 fi eld.
David G. Collings is Full Professor of Human Resource Management and
Associate Dean for Research at Dublin City University Business School, Ireland.
Geoffrey T. Wood is Dean and Professor of International Business at Essex
Business School, UK.
Leslie T. Szamosi is Senior Lecturer and MBA Academic Director at the
University of Sheffi eld International Faculty, CITY College, Greece.

Human Resource
Management
A Critical Approach
Second Edition
Edited by David G. Collings,
Geoffrey T. Wood and
Leslie T. Szamosi
Second edition published 2019
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2019 selection and editorial matter, David G. Collings, Leslie T.
Szamosi and Geoffrey T. Wood; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of the David G. Collings, Leslie T. Szamosi and Geoffrey T.
Wood to be identifi ed as the authors of the editorial material, and of the
authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with
sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means,
now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording,
or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and explanation
without intent to infringe.
First edition published by Routledge 2009
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Collings, David G., editor. | Wood, G. (Geoffrey), editor. |
Szamosi, Leslie T., editor.
Title: Human resource management : a critical approach / edited by
David G. Collings, Geoffrey T. Wood And Leslie T. Szamosi.
Description: Second edition. | Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY :
Routledge, 2019. | Includes index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018019061 | ISBN 9781138237544 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138237551 (pbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Personnel management.
Classifi cation: LCC HF5549 .H78414 2019 | DDC 658.3—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019061
ISBN: 978-1-138-23754-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-23755-1 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-29955-6 (ebk)
Typeset in Galliard
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
To Dad. The best pal a guy could wish for.
D.G.C.
To Vicky, Alice and the Labradors.
G.T.W.
To my dearest wife, Katerina, my three angels,
Maria-Lorna, Margarita and Dimitris, Dad (Gabor),
and Giagia (Maroula). You give me wings to
keep fl ying.
L.T.S.

Contents
List of fi gures xii
List of tables xiii
About the editors xiv
About the contributors xvi
1 Human resource management: a critical approach 1
DAVID G. COLLINGS, GEOFFREY T. WOOD AND LESLIE T. SZAMOSI
PART I 25
2 HRM in changing organizational contexts 27
PHIL JOHNSON AND LESLIE T. SZAMOSI
3 Strategic HRM: a critical review 49
JAAP PAAUWE AND CORINE BOON
4 HRM and organizational performance 74
STEPHEN WOOD
5 HRM: an ethical perspective 98
MICK FRYER
6 HRM practices to diversity management:
individualization, precariousness and precarity 117
DARREN T. BAKER AND ELISABETH K. KELAN
7 Organizational outsourcing and implications for HRM 135
FANG LEE COOKE