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As organizational diversity becomes increasingly common, human resource departments must learn to effectively manage heterogeneity through the development of inclusionary practices. Although HR diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices seem like an adequate solution to workplace diversity, employee past experience and anticipatory justice regarding the fairness of HR initiatives may offer an explanation as to why such practices are not always successful at leading to positive perceptions and outcomes across employees. To begin to address this question, we use theory on uncertainty management to describe the role of cognitive biases on recollections of past experiences, and the role of anticipatory justice on fairness perceptions. Moreover, we argue for several moderators of the past experience—justice expectations and of the justice expectation—justice perceptions relationships. The contributions of this proposed framework are discussed as are directions for future research and practical implications.

Human resource management (HRM) research has documented the importance of high performance work practices (HPWPs) to organizations, and recent efforts have argued for increasing attention to the role of line manager implementation of HPWPs. To date, research in this area has focused largely on the organizational or employee implications of HPWP implementation, ignoring the process through which implementation affects outcomes. In this article, we use theory on impression formation to describe the perceptual process through which line manager implementation of HPWPs facilitates the formation of different employee impressions of manager leadership styles. We argue that this process is contingent upon employee attributions of implementation intent, which are influenced by the interaction of employee affective and attributional tendencies with line manager implementation style (i.e., political skill). Our conceptualization of this process contributes to HRM research by demonstrating the benefits of integrating it with leadership theory, as well as identifying the role of interpersonal perceptual processes in the effects of HPWPs.

The other articles in this special issue of Human Resource Management Review present meta-analyses of specific topic areas, or articles on methodological issues associated with meta-analyses, within the human resources management field. Ours is a bit different in that we do not present actual meta-analytic results, but instead conduct a thorough review of the field in order to identify areas where meta-analyses have not been conducted. Then, we discuss why such analyses have not been provided, suggestions for how we might like to see research proceed in such areas, and also implications for theory development in these areas of the field. We conclude our paper with some additional thoughts on issues to keep in mind as we seek to utilize meta-analysis to its fullest potential, and thus yield the best results possible.

We argue in this paper that overqualified employees represent an underutilized human resource that has the potential to be leveraged in impactful ways to enhance both personal and organizational effectiveness. Our proposed framework suggests that if organizations provide opportunities for employees to engage in career development experiences (i.e., job crafting, informal leadership, mentoring relationships), politically skilled overqualified employees will capitalize on these opportunities and utilize their additional knowledge, skills, abilities, and experience to make unique contributions, providing valued human resources to the organizations. Furthermore, the politically skilled overqualified employees' capitalization on opportunities to undertake career development opportunities will results in positive outcomes for both the employees (i.e., increased job satisfaction and reputation) and the organization (i.e., increased organizational commitment). Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The implementation of effective human resource (HR) practices typically rests with line managers. This paper uses social context theory to propose that line manager HR implementation is influenced by organizational culture, climate, and political considerations. Subsequently, HR implementation is anticipated to drive employee outcomes. This model's implications and future research directions also are discussed.

Team-based work structures are increasingly used in organizations as a viable means of improving performance. However, there is relatively little research on the practices of staffing teams and the implications of such practices with regard to a firm's competitive advantage. In this paper, we evaluate methods of team staffing from a strategic human resource management perspective. Included in this discussion is an extrapolation of individual approaches to team staffing, which include staffing individuals to build a team, and cluster hiring, which refers to organizational efforts to acquire and fit a pre-existing team with a new role. In particular, we evaluate how individual and cluster hiring modes influence the competitive advantage of organizations, linking human resource management practices with strategic outcomes, and presenting testable propositions to guide future research and practice in team staffing.

There is perhaps no more central human resources practice than performance evaluation. Scholars have engaged in active research in this area for decades, initially focusing almost exclusively on instrumentation, and, only within the past 25 years or so, considering ‘process issues.’ In this paper, we suggest that performance evaluation is a formal accountability mechanism nested within a complex social, emotional, cognitive, political, and relationship context, which needs careful consideration and comprehension in order to fully sort out performance evaluation challenges and leverage possibilities. Performance evaluation research is critically reviewed, emphasizing this accountability mechanism against the backdrop of the social, emotional, cognitive, political, and relationship contextual components. The status of prior theory development in this area also is considered, and we propose a framework for this area of scientific inquiry, which is grounded in Affective Events Theory and Emotion Cycle Theory. Implications of this conceptualization for future theory and research regarding the social, emotional, cognitive, political, and relationship context of performance evaluation are discussed.

Job titles are defined as socially reinforced symbols that are based on cooperation. Further, job title inflation (JTI) is defined as a deliberate violation of cooperative principle maxims that is intended to extract gains for an organization. The cooperative principle, which is borrowed from the theory of conversational implicature, is expanded to explain how job titles maintain social value, thus acting as important symbols. It is proposed that some organizations practice JTI because they tacitly understand that job titles possess symbolic value that can be leveraged for potential organizational benefit (e.g., increased productivity or sales). Further, three JTI formulas are offered that describe how JTI may be achieved, and a model that uses social exchange theory to describe how JTI ultimately leads to organizational level outcomes is presented. Implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

The Human Resources (HR) function in organizations has had a long and well-documented history, during which it has evolved through a number of distinct stages from a mere record-keeping function to one of strategic importance and bottom-line impact. Implicit in such characterizations is the reputation of HR as well as its effectiveness, and the focus of this paper is to review the status of theory and research on HR reputation and effectiveness, and recommend directions for future work.

In this paper, we explore the integration of trust and accountability, and in so doing, we employ the accountability role theory model proposed by Frink and Klimoski [Toward a theory of accountability in organizations and human resources management. In Ferris, G. R. (Ed.) Research in personnel and human resources management, vol. 16 (pp. 1–51). Stamford, CT: JAI Press]. While these two constructs have been increasingly recognized as having a ubiquitous and important impact on behavior in organizations, some interdependencies between these constructs exist. Utilizing the accountability role theory framework, trust and accountability are explored in an effort to better articulate the process dynamics underlying their integration. We argue that a more informed understanding of the role of these variables and, thus, a more informed understanding of organizational behavior might be derived from developing a combined model of their influence in organizations. The relation of trust, accountability, and organizational influence behaviors of political skill and impression management are discussed to show how this combined role theory model can be effectively used. Implications of this conceptualization of trust and accountability and directions for future research are considered.

With very low unemployment levels, competition for the best employees is extremely keen. Firms that strive to maximize job candidates' job offer acceptance should realize increased competitive advantage through more effective recruitment programs. It is clear that applicants are interested in job attributes and pay schemes, but in the current “seller's market,” pay and job enrichment levels may be considerably depreciated. This paper proposes a model of the recruitment interview process, which emphasizes organizations' strategic efforts to maximize the acquisition of top talent in competitive markets through interviewer persuasion and active promotion of organization reputation. Implications of this conceptualization for research and practice are discussed.

Currently, the topic of ethics is enjoying a surge in popularity among the media and corporate America. It is unclear if the reason for all the attention is “just for show” or if companies truly believe in the substantive benefits, which can be gained by facilitating an ethical context. However, by examining the negative consequences of unethical corporate cultures, as well as the benefits of ethical ones, we demonstrate that perhaps, in this case, the action is what is important, not the motivation. Human resource systems may be a means to promulgating an ethical culture in that ethics pervade selection and staffing, performance appraisal, compensation, and retention decisions. Thus, human resource systems and ethical corporate cultures should be considered partners in the process of creating competitive advantage for organizations.

Increasing evidence has been found in support of a relationship between human resources management (HRM) systems and organization effectiveness, which has emerged as an important body of work in the past decade. Noticeably absent has been sound theoretical development that explains how such HRM system effects operate. In an effort to address such theoretical limitations in the area, the present article proposes a social context conceptualization that incorporates culture, climate and political considerations to shed light on the intermediate linkages between HRM systems and organization effectiveness. Then, the proposed conceptualization is used to examine how the process dynamics involved with diversity objectives and initiatives might be associated with organization effectiveness. Implications and directions for future research are discussed.

The human resource management (HRM) function has realized a considerable increase in power, influence, and reputation, but it has not been examined from the perspective of organizational boundary spanning. Because boundary spanning's function of information control provides a source of power, it is helpful in explaining HRM's growing influence in US organizations. However, our conceptualization of the boundary spanning role needs to be refined to incorporate developments after its initial creation. Hence, an evolutionary model is proposed that depicts two stages that the boundary spanning role subsequently undergoes when the conditions for its initial creation are no longer present to justify its existence. Despite what we have termed “phantom threats,” boundary spanners are able to maintain their influence through astute management of information that portrays their continued usefulness. This phase however cannot last forever, and boundary spanners need to discover new threats. A review of the development and evolution of HRM in the U.S. supports the proposed model. Because each of the three stages are reflected in the communication patterns of the boundary spanner, several propositions based on the notion of information richness and the nature of the language used in communicating with three critical groups (i.e., external contacts, management, and subordinate staff) are generated to test the model. Finally, suggestions for research are made.

Since the late 1970s, many organizations have professed to view human resources as valued assets rather than liabilities, and the investment in human resources as strategically imperative to corporate competitiveness. However, over the past fifteen years, there has been considerable variability in the extent to which corporate America has embraced and implemented this new view. This article brings agency, resource dependence, and institutional theories to bear in an effort to understand the variability in emphasis that organizations place on human resources investment. The argument is made that the pressures exerted on organizations by stockholders for short-term financial performance will have consequences which are to the detriment of investment in human resources and of long-term corporate competitiveness and viability.

This article addresses the issue of managerial behavior as actions that occur and are interpreted within a political arena. Whereas some theory and research has addressed organizational politics (Frost 1987; Pfeffer 1981), there is still a need to consolidate previous research, more precisely articulate the dynamics, and refine the concept of political behavior in relation to the actions taken by managers within the framework of human resource management (HRM). We strive to improve upon and extend previous attempts by developing a political conceptualization of managerial behavior that incorporates several disciplinary perspectives, and has implications for human resources systems. An additional objective of this paper is to identify relevant questions and future research topics that will advance the study of managerial political behavior as a relevant HRM issue.

There is perhaps no construct that is so fundamental to interpersonal interactions in organizations, yet so incompletely understood, than distance. Part of the difficulty in developing a comprehensive and informed understanding of the role distance plays in organizations is that theory and research in this area have been quite fragmented, focusing on narrow aspects of the construct and lacking the integration necessary to build a more general knowledge base. For example, Graen (1976) has contributed greatly to our understanding of one aspect of distance, presenting a model based on role theory whereby in-group and out-group members are hypothesized to enjoy different rewards, benefit from different leadership behaviors, and experience different levels of satisfaction and performance ratings based on relative closeness (or distance) in their working relationship with their supervisor. Other researchers have explored the phenomena of psychological distance (Rothaus, Morton, & Hanson 1965), spatial distance (Kerr & Jermier 1978; Ferris & Rowland 1985), and physical distance (Sundstrom, Burt, & Kamp 1980; Sundstrom 1986) in the supervisor-subordinate relationship. This research, although a good starting point, does not adequately define or integrate the various aspects of distance in organizations. This article represents an effort to develop a broader and more extensive understanding of the role distance plays in organizations by integrating the various types of distance into a theoretical model. A model of Dyadic Distance in the supervisor-subordinate relationship is presented which develops the new constructs of Dyadic, Psychological, Structural, and Functional Distance, examines their process dynamics and impact on Human Resource Management issues such as performance evaluations and turnover, and proposes needed directions for future research in this important area.

This article presents a framework that systematically describes the behavior of both sexual harassers and their targets within the context of power and politics in a dyadic relationship. The proposed framework explains the type of sexual harassment that will be exhibited within the dyad of harasser and target, and also explains the response of the target to the harasser. Testable propositions are derived that should serve as an impetus for future research, and implications of the proposed conceptual framework are discussed.