The paper titled "HR and IT capabilities and complementarities in knowledge-intensive services" co-authored by Professor Narendra M Agrawal, faculty member in the Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management area at IIMB, has been published in the December 2010 issue of The International Journal of Human Resource Management, published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
The main premise of this article is that human resources (HR) and information technologies (IT) are central rather than support functions in knowledge-intensive services. By building management capabilities in both HR and IT, knowledge-intensive services can transform their business processes that, in turn, enable them to provide exemplary services to the customers. Our arguments are grounded in the three related theoretical frameworks of the resource-based view, organizational capabilities, and the theory of complementarities. We suggest that the research and practice in HR and IT fields may have to focus on HR and IT capabilities rather than HR practices or IT investments as the sources of sustainable competitive advantage since capabilities better fit the definition of a 'resource' than HR practices or IT investments. Further, organizational capabilities in both HR and IT may enable knowledge-intensive services to transcend the inherent tradeoff between cost and responsiveness. We also discuss the role of HR and IT in knowledge management.
Keywords: complementarities; dynamic capabilities; knowledge management; resource-based view; services management; strategic HRM
AUTHORS
Dr Naresh Khatri, Associate Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management and Transformational Leadership and Dr Gordon D Brown, Professor of Health Management and Informatics, both from the Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA; Dr Alok Baveja, Professor of Management at the School of Business, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, USA; and Dr Narendra M Agrawal, faculty member in the Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management area at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 21, No. 15, December 2010, 2889-2909
Link to the article: URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2010.528672
Dr Narendra M Agrawal is Professor of Leadership and Human Resource Management and is currently Chairperson, Center for Software and Information Technology Management (CSITM) and Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management at IIMB. Dr Agrawal's current research interests are the human challenges of Indian IT and ITES enterprises, leadership and change management, managing knowledge workers, creating learning and innovative organizations, changing work cultures in the context of quality management accreditations and designing effective training systems. Prior to joining IIMB in 1994, Dr Agrawal worked for 24 years with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, including eight years as senior faculty at the HAL Management Academy. Professor Agrawal is a consultant to a large number of public and private sector organizations and to central and state governments in India and abroad. Dr Agrawal did his graduation in engineering from Nagpur University and post-graduation in Personnel Management from Pune University. He is a Fellow in Management from IIM Ahmedabad.
The paper titled "HR and IT capabilities and complementarities in knowledge-intensive services" co-authored by Professor Narendra M Agrawal, faculty member in the Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management area at IIMB, has been published in the December 2010 issue of The International Journal of Human Resource Management, published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
ABSTRACT
The main premise of this article is that human resources (HR) and information technologies (IT) are central rather than support functions in knowledge-intensive services. By building management capabilities in both HR and IT, knowledge-intensive services can transform their business processes that, in turn, enable them to provide exemplary services to the customers. Our arguments are grounded in the three related theoretical frameworks of the resource-based view, organizational capabilities, and the theory of complementarities. We suggest that the research and practice in HR and IT fields may have to focus on HR and IT capabilities rather than HR practices or IT investments as the sources of sustainable competitive advantage since capabilities better fit the definition of a 'resource' than HR practices or IT investments. Further, organizational capabilities in both HR and IT may enable knowledge-intensive services to transcend the inherent tradeoff between cost and responsiveness. We also discuss the role of HR and IT in knowledge management.
Keywords: complementarities; dynamic capabilities; knowledge management; resource-based view; services management; strategic HRM
AUTHORS
Dr Naresh Khatri, Associate Professor of Strategic Human Resource Management and Transformational Leadership and Dr Gordon D Brown, Professor of Health Management and Informatics, both from the Department of Health Management and Informatics, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA; Dr Alok Baveja, Professor of Management at the School of Business, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Camden, NJ, USA; and Dr Narendra M Agrawal, faculty member in the Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Management area at the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore, India.
The International Journal of Human Resource Management, Vol. 21, No. 15, December 2010, 2889-2909
Link to the article: URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2010.528672
Dr Narendra M Agrawal is Professor of Leadership and Human Resource Management and is currently Chairperson, Center for Software and Information Technology Management (CSITM) and Chairperson, Post Graduate Programme in Software Enterprise Management at IIMB. Dr Agrawal's current research interests are the human challenges of Indian IT and ITES enterprises, leadership and change management, managing knowledge workers, creating learning and innovative organizations, changing work cultures in the context of quality management accreditations and designing effective training systems. Prior to joining IIMB in 1994, Dr Agrawal worked for 24 years with Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, including eight years as senior faculty at the HAL Management Academy. Professor Agrawal is a consultant to a large number of public and private sector organizations and to central and state governments in India and abroad. Dr Agrawal did his graduation in engineering from Nagpur University and post-graduation in Personnel Management from Pune University. He is a Fellow in Management from IIM Ahmedabad.