SME managers’ causal beliefs on HRM as success factor of the firm

ABSTRACT

Human resource management (HRM) literature offers abundant theories on the ideal HRM practices leading to positive HRM outcomes and, further, to company performance. However, little is known of small and medium enterprise (SME) managers’ causal beliefs of HRM. We examine how HRM manifests itself in managerial perceptions concerning the important drivers of firm performance. A causal mapping technique was used to elicit perceptions of 37 CEOs of SMEs. The findings indicate that the role of HRM as a performance driver in managers’ causal beliefs varies substantively. The main result of this study is a typology of SME managers’ thinking on HRM as performance factor.

KEYWORDS:

• Human resource management
• managerial cognition
• small and medium enterprises
• success factors of the firm

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Finnish Work Environment Fund [114136].