Research Methods in HRM Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Research Methods in HRM - Essay Example It is an intended objective of HRM practices, undertaken under the paraphernalia of HRM, that organizational objectives are met. The most sharply defined organizational objective is performance. Performance in turn is expected to improve everything for the organization right from sales to profits. Therefore, in order to fine tune HRM practices frequent research is carried out not only to find out how past HRM practices and policies yielded but also to suggest newly improved HRM practices and policies for implementation. Often a case has been made that HRM research, say directly addressing the issue of employee performance, was conducted at great expense of time, funds and resources however the resultant improvement in employee performance after implementation of the findings of the research was not only not commensurate but grossly inadequate. While it may be possible that implementation schemata may have had serious errors and limitations however primary concern here is to explore i f the HRM research undertaken was able to truly address the HRM issues at hand; whether it oversimplified the research scenario with overbearing and sweeping assumptions; whether it focused on appropriate subjects; if it did collected sufficient data from a sufficiently representative sample(s); if the data analysis was done using correct techniques; if it missed some of the important explanatory variables or even if it was able to formulate and test a contextual research question(s) or hypotheses. These issues are called methodological issues and if ignored can lead to fatally misleading research findings. In the following paragraphs methodological issues connected with HRM research in organizational performance will be examined and discussed. Relationship between HRM and performance A lot of research has been conducted in exploring the relationship between organizational performance and HRM practices. Two broad methodological approaches can be delineated exploring this relationship. One approach is entirely within the domain of strategic HRM and tries to explain this relationship through strategic considerations ranged from external environment to internal strategies of the organization. These approaches explain the link between performance and HRM practices by weaving HRM policies within the overall strategic thrust of the organization (Wright and Snell, 1998).Another approach focuses on universal HR practices which are commonly practiced in most organizations and are such practices are slated to lead to better performance (Delery and Doty, 1996).The strategy woven contingency approach considers human factor as a means in the hand of overall organizational strategy(ies) ,sub serving the purposes of such organizational strategies, and considers HRM practices as an adjunct tool for achievement of strategic objectives. The universalistic school approaches focus on high performance work practices and considers human factor development as an organizational goal by itself. Universalistic approach