Fields of Research:

HRM is living at the intersection between organizational objectives, the environmental context and the needs and interests of people, providing workforce and time to organizations under certain conditions. The HRM group’s research focus is on the status, influence, professional role and the organization of HRM as organizational function, department or occupation. We take a macro-perspective on HRM, by keeping in mind the interaction between the organization that needs the workforce as a resource, the humans embedded within these organizations, and the organizational environment.

From the position of the organization, HRM is about attracting and selecting people with the relevant potential for the organization to be able to transform this potential into performance adding to the organizations objectives. In this aspect, the organization cannot act unlimited, but is embedded in legal, normative and cultural contexts at the regional, national and supranational level. The (potential) staff members also have interests going beyond the legal work contract. For humans, work is not only central due to economic necessity and time, but also for their identities. Accordingly, workers look for intrinsically motivating tasks but also recognition and fair working conditions, etc.

Current Research Projects:

International Comparative HRM:

 Cranet, the Cranfield Network of global Human Resource Management, exists from 1989 and is a network of renowned universities in over 40 countries worldwide researching current trends in HRM in 5 year periods. Including over 30.000 corporations worldwide and information form six big survey rounds, Cranet is offering the biggest-ever data base in the practise of HRM.
The HRM group at the University of Salzburg, together with the ivm at the WU Vienna, represents the network for Austria. In Cranet, we deal with issues of international and comparative HRM, which are particularity valuable for comparting the influence of national contexts on HRM.

Career Research:

 5C, the Cross-Cultural Collaboration on Contemporary Career Research, is an international research network of renowned universities in over 30 countries worldwide. After a qualitative research phase, the project now attempts to gain insights career progression and possible factors at the organizational level and individual level that might influence careers based on quantitative research methods.

The network allows for comparative research, i.e. international comparison, for example how the influence of individual conditions, proactive behaviour and organizational career management on career success is contingent on the country context.

Gender and HRM:

In the research area “gender and HRM” we are looking at the complex multilevel interactions of gender relations in organizations and occupations. The occupation Human Resource Management is influenced by changes in the gender demography. At the same time, the function Human Resource Management is responsible for the implementation of gender equality and diversity demands by multiple stakeholders – Human Resource Management for example implements non-discriminatory personal processes and anti-discrimination and equal opportunity programs.

This creates a specific paradox but also options for HRM. HRM-practices can change over time and HRM can influence this process, but it also might have consequences for the position of HRM itself, all questions that the HRM group are engaged with.

Digitalization and HRM:

HRM as a function and practice is confronted with various challenges against the background of digitalization. Currently, various new applications associated with Big Data, HR Analytics, or Artificial Intelligence diffuse into the field. The HRM group addresses the implications of digital technologies in organizations from a perspective that emphasizes the dynamic relationships between technology, people, and (HR) practices.

The research interests focus on how the everyday use of digital technologies affects the influence of HRM as managerial function and its relations to other groups in organizations.