Year: 2023
Type: dissertation
Abstract: The study highlights the disruptive influence of digital technologies on organizations, work structures, and the nature of work itself. While previous research has focused on the consequences of technology on HRM processes, there are limitations in understanding the complexity of technology and how it shapes HRM processes. The actual usage of technology by HRM actors is often overlooked, as well as the dynamic unfolding of e-HRM practices over time. This thesis adopts the sociomaterial perspective that recognizes the equal importance of human agency, material artifacts and social context in forming and reproducing e-HRM practices. Theories within the sociomaterial perspective view activities as dynamic and situated, which constitute and are constituted by people, actions, voices, gestures, tools, software, documents, infrastructure, hardware and other materiality. The key objective of the dissertation is to understand the role of technology in changing HRM practices and for HRM actors by shedding light on how the materiality of technology, social events, and human agency are intertwined in the HRM practice. The sociomaterial perspective is introduced in Paper 1, emphasizing the equal importance of human agency, material artifacts, and social context in shaping HRM practices. It recognizes the integral role of materiality, such as digital artifacts and physical spaces, in organizing social elements. Paper 2 applies the attention-based view to explore how technology influences the attentional engagement of line managers as HRM actors in remote performance evaluation. This offers a nuanced understanding of attention as both cognitive and context-dependent. In Paper 3, routine dynamics theory is employed to transform the conceptualization of HR roles, shifting from studying nominal roles to roles accomplished through routinized sequences of actions. These theoretical lenses align with the sociomaterial perspective and contribute to our understanding of the transformative impact of technology on HRM practices and the role of HR actors. The dissertation makes three main contributions to the research on HRM technology. It (1) theorizes HRM as sociomaterial practice and shows empirically the emergence nature of management practices around material artifacts, (2) addresses the lack of diversity of HRM actors in the literature, highlighting their agency in the enactment of technology, and (3) examines HR roles as dynamically produced and enacted through patterns of routines.
Source: Osuva (University of Vaasa)
Author: Myllymäki, Dina
Institutions: University of Vaasa, Aalto University
Language: English
Topic: Employer Branding and e-HRM
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W6992578016