Human resource development and human resource management levers for sustained competitive advantage: Combining isomorphism and differentiation
Abstract Numerous studies have investigated human resources as a source of sustained competitive advantage, indicating that the high performance work systems created by certain human resource development and human resource management practices lead to greater firm performance. Though the mechanism by which this link exists remains a 'black box, substantial evidence shows organizations benefit by adopting the human resource development and human resource management practices that lead to high performance work systems. We discuss two divergent perspectives, institutional theory and resource based view, and their impact on high performance work systems. We argue that organizations adhering to tenets of institutional theory experience isomorphism in certain human resource development and human resource management practices, whereas resource based view attributes create ways that firms differentiate their practices. We posit that to be competitive firms must balance the push pull effect of institutional pressure with that of resource based view differentiation.
Journal of Management Organization