Structuring for innovative responses to human resource challenges: a skunk works approach

Biron, M, De Cieri, H, Fulmer, I, Lin, C-HV, Mayrhofer, W, Nyfoudi, M, Sanders, K, Shipton, H ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4006-7923 and Sun, JMJ, 2020. Structuring for innovative responses to human resource challenges: a skunk works approach. Human Resource Management Review: 100768. ISSN 1053-4822

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Abstract

Increasingly, organizations find that they need to be more flexible and innovative in responding to unexpected and emergent human resource (HR) issues affecting their members, such as outbreaks of infectious diseases (e.g., COVID-19) forcing massive transition to remote work, changes in industry landscape altering learning and development, and politically-driven global mobility regulations restricting people flow. Organizations have long utilized informal structures known as "skunk works", flexible groups empowered to work rapidly with minimal management constraints, to address technological challenges. In this article, we aim to better understand when and how organizations similarly employ skunk works-like structures to help them deal with rapidly evolving HR-related challenges. We discuss three examples of organizations that have utilized this approach. We then integrate the learning insights from these examples to develop a framework supported by a set of research questions to guide future scholarship into HR skunk works. We emphasize that there are both benefits and drawbacks of innovative organizational structures for addressing HR challenges alongside regular, established ways of working.

Item Type: Journal article
Alternative Title: Skunk works approaches for addressing HR challenges
Publication Title: Human Resource Management Review
Creators: Biron, M., De Cieri, H., Fulmer, I., Lin, C.-H.V., Mayrhofer, W., Nyfoudi, M., Sanders, K., Shipton, H. and Sun, J.M.J.
Publisher: Elsevier
Date: 30 May 2020
ISSN: 1053-4822
Identifiers:
Number
Type
1326826
Other
10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100768
DOI
1053482220300413
Publisher Item Identifier
Divisions: Schools > Nottingham Business School
Record created by: Linda Sullivan
Date Added: 20 May 2020 09:56
Last Modified: 30 May 2022 03:00
URI: https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/39877

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