Internal labour flexibility from a resource-based view approach: definition and proposal of a measurement scale

Abstract

The dynamic nature of current competitive environments has motivated managers to identify sources of flexibility based on the organisation's human resources. In this regard, internal labour flexibility emerges as a valid strategy to counteract environmental changes, based on the adaptability of the organisation's current workforce to face non-routine circumstances and events that require creativity and initiative. However, despite recent interest in the notion of internal labour flexibility, there is no commonly accepted definition of this term. Currently, there are several competing definitions of the construct, along with a variety of operationalisations. Some integration of these approaches is needed to ensure that our knowledge of internal labour flexibility grows cumulatively. In this study, we have sought to address some of these limitations by theoretically conceptualising and empirically validating a scale to measure internal labour flexibility from the resource-based view (RBV). The application of structural equation modelling to a sample of 226 Spanish firms confirmed the suggested dimensionality of the internal labour flexibility scale, which distinguishes between employees' intrinsic flexibility, skill malleability, behavioural malleability and relational flexibility. Tests of reliability and validity confirmed the appropriateness of this measurement scale.

Keywords:

• labour flexibility
• measurement scale
• resource-based view
• structural equation modelling

Acknowledgements

This work was carried out as a part of a research project (ref. GV05/125) funded by the Valencian Regional Government. It was also supported by a grant from the Bancaixa Foundation (ref. P1 1A2005-11).

Notes

1. For example, the 2001 European Employment Guideline 13, under the adaptability pillar, explicitly addressed both flexibilisation and security goals in European firms (Wilthagen and van Velzen 2004). In terms of the European Council Decision of 22 July 2003, ‘providing the right balance between flexibility and security will help support to the competitiveness of firms, increase quality and productivity at work and facilitate the adaptation of firms and workers to economic change’.

2. Human resources versatility has been given different terms, such as, ‘multi-skilling’, ‘ability extension’ and ‘polyvalence’ (Cordery 1989).

3. Social capital is broadly defined as an asset that inheres in social relations at different levels (individuals, communities, networks, societies, etc.) (Coleman 1988; Shaw, Duffy, Johnson and Lockhart 2005). At the organisational level, Leana and Van Buren (1999) proposed a definition of organisational social capital, as a resource reflecting the character of social relations within the firm. It refers to individual's levels of collective goal orientation and is comprised of associability (i.e. employee willingness and abilities to engage in collective actions) and trust.

4. The two-digit SIC code has commonly been taken as a sectorial selection criterion in the SHRM literature (see for example, Youndt, Snell, Dean and Lepak 1996 or Fey, Bjorkman and Pavlovskaya 2000).