Human Resource Management Innovation and Practice in a Digital Age

Dear Colleagues,

Digital transformation associated with the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and generative technologies, has been a key strategic driver of innovation within public, for-profit, and not-for-profit sectors worldwide (Nankervis et al., 2019). This transformation has the potential to result in both positive and negative consequences in all organisations, careers, workplaces, jobs, education, employee skills, competencies, and capabilities—‘digital work, digital employees, and digital management’ (Fregnan et al., 2020; Hirschi, 2018; Ayentimi et al., 2023; Nankervis & Cameron, 2023). In this context, the management of human resources has attracted significant interest (see Khoruzhy et al., 2023; McDonnell et al., 2021). Nonetheless, Fedorova and Koropets (2019) warn that the use of these technologies in human resource management (HRM) processes and practices ‘must bring benefits to the overall employee well-being and must be evaluated not only in terms of their effectiveness and efficiency but also in terms of perceived equity and fairness by all employees’ (p. 8). Two implicit themes in many studies are the importance of ethical guidelines (see Klimchak et al. 2020) for employee trust and affective commitment. This Special Issue calls for submissions examining the impacts of these technologies on HRM processes and practices.

Specific issues within developed, developing, and emerging nations to consider include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Critical strategies for managing human resources in the context of digitalisation at the national, organisational, and individual levels.
• Emerging digital challenges associated with staffing, job design, learning and development, performance management, remuneration management, and career development.
• Ethical issues surrounding the use of digital technologies, such as biases, disruption, and the technological divide in terms of access and skills.
• Impacts on HRM professional practice, including examples or case studies of successful and unsuccessful interventions.
• Perceived benefits of increased HRM efficiency and effectiveness in developed, developing, or emerging economies.
• Graduate employability challenges, such as planning for the future workforce with new jobs and new skills.
• Possible replacement or redundancy of HRM through digital displacement.

We welcome all methodologies. Empirical and conceptual papers are also welcome.

References

Ayentimi, D. T., Abadi, H. A., & Burgess, J. (2023). Decent gig work in Sub Sahara Africa? Journal of Industrial Relations, 65(1), 112–125.

Fedorova A and O Koropets (2019) Digitalization of HRM practice and its impact on employees' well-being. Conference Paper. https://doi.org/10.3846/cibmee.2019.075; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333075755_digitisation_of_human_resources_management_practices_and_its_impact_on-employees'_well-being.

Fregnan E, S Ivaldi and G Scorattie (2020) HRM 4.0 and new managerial competencies, profile: the COMAU case. Frontiers in Psychology, Original Research 11, 78251.

Hirschi, A. (2018). The fourth industrial revolution: Issues and implications for career research and practice. The career development quarterly, 66(3), 192–204.

Khoruzhy, L. I., Khoruzhy, V. I., Kubrushko, P. F., Karataeva, O. G., & Bitkova, L. A. (2023). Comparative analysis of human capital management strategies in the context of digitalization of the national economy. Frontiers in Sociology, 8, 1114301.

Klimchak M, AK Bartlett and W MacKenzie (2020) Building trust and commitment through transparency and HR competency: a signalling framework. Personnel Review 49(9), 1897–1917.

McDonnell, A., Carbery, R., Burgess, J., & Sherman, U. (2021). Technologically mediated human resource management in the gig economy. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 32(19), 3995–4015.

Nankervis, A. R., & Cameron, R. (2023). Capabilities and competencies for digitised human resource management: Perspectives from Australian HR professionals. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 61(1), 232–251.

Nankervis, A., Prikshat, V., & Dhakal, S. (2019). Mapping stakeholders of graduate work-readiness (GWR). The Transition from Graduation to Work: Challenges and Strategies in the Twenty-First Century Asia Pacific and Beyond, 31–42.

Submission of Papers open: 1 November 2023–30 June 2024

Prof. Dr. Alan Nankervis
Prof. Dr. John Burgess
Dr. Subas Dhakal
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Administrative Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

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• HRM
• policies
• innovation
• digital era
• public sector
• not-for-profit Sector
• developing and emerging economies

Title: Designing Green HRM Systems through Open-Eco Innovation

Abstract: In recent years, technological advances have led to a modernization of human resources management in a wide variety of practices, making its configurations and systems more sustainable and efficient. The literature on sustainability in the area of human resources has advanced significantly in recent years at a theoretical level, requiring a greater contribution at an empirical level that allows knowing what are the social, economic and environmental effects on society. This article focuses on analyzing the phenomenon of open eco-innovation in the design of Green High Performance Work Systems. At a theoretical level, the work is based on the phenomenon of open innovation. In the methodological section, an analysis is carried out in the company Mayse SL, surveying its human resources director, an aspect that will allow the design of a high-performance green HRM system through a case study. The results of the interview will be shown in the last section, as will the conclusions, professional recommendations and future research lines.

Title: Employment Relations and Worker Involvement in Multinational Enterprises in terms of Global Political Economy actual transformations

Abstract: Aim of this paper is to study several views and peculiarities of transnational employee relations in multinational companies (MNCS) in the context of the new emerging global environment. We try to investigate the various factors that contribute to the functions and/or the effectiveness of employee voice schemes within MNCs’ subsidiaries and the new challenges arising in post-covid 19 period, in two industries. The factors, which have been arisen from the pertinent literature re-view, have been linked with the characteristics of the ongoing new global dynamics of labor divi-sion, the enterprise and the form of employee involvement. In a pilot, empirical approach of Eu-ropean Works Council Representatives were interviewed and, thus, a series of critical data were collected. The main findings indicate that certain influencing factors behave a differently across different industries of subsidiaries inside a global environment progressively more and more transformative and rapidly restructured.

Title: A Rapid Bibliometrics Analysis of the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) and Human Resources Management (HRM) Literature: Implications of for the Future of Work

Abstract: The world has gradually entered the Fifth Industrial Revolution (5IR) era. 5IR advances the idea of collaborations between humans and technologies to benefit society, the economy and the environment. The likely Human Resources Management (HRM) implications are that 5IR will induce fundamental changes in how we work and in the future of work. However, little is known about the emerging 5IR and HRM nexus literature. This article responds to this gap and utilises an exploratory approach to address the central research question: What ‘future of work’ work-related research and policy insights can be generated from the 5IR and HRM nexus literature? It analyses decade-long scholarly research outputs (2015-2024) available in the Scopus database (n=194) with two specific objectives: a) to identify key research trends, key focus areas, collaboration networks, and prominent research institutions/countries and b) generate insights into informing HRM practices and future research directions. This article contributes to the discussion in the context of the future of work-related policy and practices.

Title: Artificial Intelligence and Human Resource Management Practices in Indonesian SMEs

Abstract: The unfolding rapid emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) and associated technological disruptions is expected to have both positive as well as negative impacts on the future of work. Although the evidence suggests that AI is transforming contemporary human resource management (HRM) practices in developed economies, the extent of impacts on HRM practices in emerging economies remains underexplored. This study responds to this gap and explores the impacts of AI on HRM practices of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. This study utilises a sequential mixed methods research design with two phases: a) online survey of selected HR practitioners in Indonesian SMEs (n ~ 100), and b) focus group discussions (n ~ 5). The findings are expected to unravel the trends and patterns of AI adoption amongst Indonesian SMEs and provide an in-depth understanding of the utility of AI to potentially improve the productivity and profitability of SMEs The implications of findings to inform SME policy in the broader context of recent emphasis on digital innovation in Indonesia and HRM practices in terms of developing skills, capabilities and competencies are discussed.