Human Resources management styles within firms: a matter of Human intensity

Abstract

There are not too many articles that have studied how human resources (hereafter HR) practice systems have been used inside organizations. The uniform vision with which the management of HR, and more specifically the high performance practices, is approached can be hiding a reality that suggests that different HR practices may coexist. Thus, various authors warn about the necessity to consider this fact in order to avoid falling in a too simplistic vision of HR management. This article pretends to prove that HR practices vary inside the enterprises according to the importance of the jobs, as defined by Lepak and Snell. Further, it proposes that internal variations can follow the trend found in works that study HR practices systems. An empirical study confirms that, depending on how important the jobs are, organizations adopt different styles or uses of HR practices and that these are, basically, a more or less intensive use of the approach proposed by the high performance practices.