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The Institutional Antecedents of the Assignment of HRM Responsibilities to Line Managers

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Michael Brookes

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Abstract

This article uses large-scale international data to examine how much autonomy organizations have to assign human resource management responsibilities to line managers, as indicated in the prescriptions of the literature. We use data from 11 countries to explore the impact of a variety of internal characteristics of organizations and the kind of economy in which they operate. We find that around half of the organizations assign HRM responsibilities to the line and that organizations appear to have considerable latitude in making choices in this area. Organizations in the Nordic economies are most likely to assign responsibilities for HRM to the line and those in the liberal market economies are the least likely to do so. In any economy, larger organizations, unionized organizations, and those with strategically positioned HRM departments are the least likely to allocate responsibilities for HRM to the line. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and for practice.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Brewster C, Brookes M, Gollan PJ

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Human Resource Management

Year: 2015

Volume: 54

Issue: 4

Pages: 577-597

Print publication date: 01/07/2015

Online publication date: 20/10/2014

Acceptance date: 01/01/1900

ISSN (print): 0090-4848

ISSN (electronic): 1099-050X

Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hrm.21632

DOI: 10.1002/hrm.21632

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