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For the Want of a Nail: The Interaction of Managerial Capacity and Human Resource Management on Organizational Performance
Author(s) -
Melton Erin K.,
Meier Kenneth J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.12611
Subject(s) - counterintuitive , human resource management , organizational behavior and human resources , business , knowledge management , human resources , organizational performance , set (abstract data type) , work (physics) , empirical research , resource management (computing) , field (mathematics) , public relations , management , computer science , economics , political science , mathematics , pure mathematics , engineering , programming language , mechanical engineering , computer network , philosophy , epistemology
Human resource management and managerial capacity are well documented in the public management literature as integral management functions. The field has devoted attention to the importance of human resources, but it has yet to consider whether human resource management interacts with capacity in attaining organizational outcomes. Using a large‐N, multiyear data set of public organizations, this article seeks to rectify this gap in the literature. The findings validate scholarly arguments on the importance of public organizations’ need to manage human resources and capacity effectively, identifying just the right combination for performance gains. Empirical results encourage practitioners to consider the ways in which human resource management and capacity work together to influence performance but sometimes undermine each other in counterintuitive ways .