Human Resource Management Systems and Firm Innovation: A Conceptual Exploration and Meta-Analysis

This dissertation includes three essays. Essay 1 is a literature review of human resource management (HRM) systems and firm innovation. Essay 1 reviewed different dimensions of firm innovation and key supporting theories that explain why human resource management systems can influence firm innovation in the literature. Essay 1 classified firm innovation into three categories: innovation in people and organizations, innovation in processes, and innovation in products or services. Essay 1 presented a list of mediators that explain how HRM systems influence firm innovation, and a list of moderators that show when HRM systems influence firm innovation. Essay 1 also found that HRM researchers mainly focus on innovation in product or service. Thus, Essay 1 suggested that future research needs to explore how HRM systems enhance innovation in people and organizations and innovation in processes. Other future research directions can be found at the end of Essay 1. Essay 2 is a bibliometric analysis which aims to explore the bibliometric network structure in the major literature. Unlike Essay 3, Essay 2 does not include materials from non-peer-reviewed sources, as such company reports or governmental assessments. Essay 2 found that research collaborations exist within and across authors’ national cultures or national cultural clusters. The bibliometric network structure, based on the co-occurrence of authors’ key words, found three clusters in the field of HRM systems and firm innovation. The finding aligns well with the three types of firm innovation in Essay 1. This structure suggests that most publications focus on innovation in products or services. Therefore, more studies are needed for innovation in people and organizations and innovation in processes. Essay 3 is a meta-analysis, which intends to explore the relationships between different types of HRM systems and different types of firm innovation at the population level. Essay 3 also provides supports of the equifinality of different HR practices and examines the three theoretical modes of HRM: universalistic perspective, contingency perspective, and configuration perspectives. Unlike Essay 1 or Essay 2, Essay 3 only includes empirical papers. With the results of meta-analysis, Essay 3 found that researchers are likely to survey manufacturing companies at the Anglo cultural clusters when exploring the relationship between HRM systems and firm innovation. Additionally, Essay 3 demonstrates the dynamic relationships between HRM systems and different types of firm innovation and the moderating role of sampled industries and cultural clusters at the meta-analytic level