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date: 06 July 2022

Abstract and Keywords

There is an interesting tension that exists within the HRM literature with regard to employment subsystems. On the one hand, a clear pattern is emerging in strategic HRM research that suggests that HR systems geared toward increased commitment and employee involvement can have a dramatic impact on organizational outcomes. Terms such as commitment-oriented HR systems, high-performance work systems, high-involvement HRM, and the like exude a connotation of extensive investment in, and reliance on, employees. This article first reviews the ‘HR architecture’ to provide a backdrop for our discussion of employment subsystems and changing forms of employment. Second, it examines the implications of globalization, strategy, and managing knowledge flows for how companies structure their portfolio of employment subsystems. Throughout the discussion it offers suggestions for future research.

Keywords: employment subsystems, strategic HRM, employee involvement, HR systems, high-performance work systems, globalization

David P. Lepak

David Lepak  is Professor of Human Resource Management and Department Chair of the HRM department in the School of Management and Labor Relations at Rutgers University. His research focuses on strategic human resource management with an emphasis on employment sub-systems and the HR architecture, contingent labor, intellectual capital, and linking HR systems to important company outcomes. His research has appeared in a variety of outlets such as Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, and Human Resource Management. He has co-authored a comprehensive textbook with Mary Gowan entitled Human Resource Management (Prentice Hall, 2008). He is currently associate editor of Academy of Management Review, and serves on the editorial boards of many other academic journals.

Scott A. Snell

Scott A. Snell is Professor of Business Administration at the Darden School of Business, University of Virginia. His research focuses on the development and deployment of intellectual capital as a foundation of an organization's core competencies and he is the author of Managing Human Resources (Southwestern Publishing) with G. W. Bohlander.

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