Premium
HRM as Hologram: A Polemic
Author(s) -
Keenoy Tom
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/1467-6486.00123
Subject(s) - argument (complex analysis) , metaphor , globalization , perspective (graphical) , epistemology , sociology , process (computing) , holography , political science , positive economics , computer science , philosophy , economics , artificial intelligence , linguistics , law , optics , physics , operating system , biochemistry , chemistry
The polemical argument developed in this paper is an attempt to analyse the ‘problem’ of HRM and suggest a way forward. The ‘problem’ is identified in terms of the intrinsic conceptual‐theoretic, empirical, representative and institutional ambiguities which characterize the discourses and practices of HRM. It is argued that these stem from the epistemological limitations of modernist methodologies employed to ‘identify’ and ‘fix’ HRM. The proposed ‘solution’ involves visualizing the phenomenal forms taken by HRM through the metaphor of the hologram and re‐understanding HRM from a holographic perspective. This permits the well‐known ‘contradictions’ to dissolve and HRM is reconstituted as a complex holistic process refracting the politico‐managerial changes attendant on ‘globalization’