Abstract
In the last decade ‘sustainability’ has started to attract attention from HR academics and practitioners. Scholars, such as Pfeffer (2010), have argued that company sustainability initiatives should focus not only on issues such as polar bears and melting icebergs but also on people. According to Pfeffer, sustainability research has so far neglected the human factor. In recent years, there has been an increase in the number of peer-reviewed articles exploring how HR can help organisations achieve social, environmental and financial sustainability. However, the field is still in its infancy. In this developing area of interest, a recent book Sustainable Human Resource Management. Strategies, Practices and Challenges by Sugumar Mariappanadar makes an essential publication.
Sustainable Human Resource Management (SHRM) is written by a well-established expert of SHRM and is a part of a textbook series called Management, Work & Organisations, edited by Gibson Burrell, Mick Marchington and Paul Thompson. Ten of 12 chapters are authored or co-authored by Sugumar Mariappanadar, however academics and practitioners such as Robin Kramar, Michael Müller-Camen, Peggy De Prins, Christine Parkin Hughes, Elaine Cohen and Iris Maurer have also contributed to this publication (pp. xiv–xv).
The book aims to introduce students and practitioners to a range of theories and strategies that link the worlds of sustainability and HR. The discussion is shaped into five main parts: (I) introduction to SHRM, (II) framing SHRM, (III) developing values and strategies for SHRM, (IV) SHRM: implementation, measurement and reporting, and (v) developing the future of SHRM. The first major section consists of one chapter and introduces SHRM as a new approach to human resource management. This is done by briefly discussing what HRM is and how it has evolved over the last few decades. The author follows this with definitions of SHRM. Interestingly, already in the first chapter Mariappanadar dives into deeper theoretical waters by briefly discussing synthesis paradox framework as a perspective for SHRM, a subject which is further explored in Chapter 3. The first chapter also begins to critically evaluate the traditional HRM and presents key arguments for focusing on SHRM. This theme continues throughout the book.
The second part of the book presents two frameworks for looking at SHRM: institutional contexts framework and the paradox framework. Chapter 2 discusses macro-, meso-, and micro-level institutional contexts to which organisations respond by developing SHRM. In other words, the chapter explains how some of the fundamental principles of SHRM are shaped, for example, by Global Reporting Initiatives, competitive conditions, employment relations or various industry characteristics. Chapter 3 explores organisational tensions and their impact on SHRM. This is conducted through the perspective of the paradox framework. The chapter also offers strategies for dealing with paradoxical challenges of implementing SHRM.
After setting the theoretical and organisational context, the author moves on to ‘Part III’ which discusses key values and strategies of traditional and SHRM. The idea here is to demonstrate to the reader the nature and impact of sustainable and unsustainable HRM. In Chapter 4, this is done, for example, by evaluating and challenging characteristics of traditional HRM and by proposing organisational values and ideas as to how to design more SHRM practices. Chapter 5 critically analyses costs and negative effects of practices such as overwork, work intensification and high-performance work practices. Chapter 6 then highlights the importance of SHRM by looking at ‘green HRM’. Chapter 6 helps readers to imagine and understand how HRM can help organisations achieve environmental sustainability.
‘Part IV’ focuses on more practical elements of SHRM. Here, the author reviews different frameworks for implementing SHRM (Chapter 7) and explains the ROC model (Respect, Openness, and Continuity) which is meant to help bridge theory and practice (Chapter 8). This is followed by an entire chapter dedicated towards measures of different aspects of SHRM (Chapter 9). Finally, Chapter 10 sheds light on a less exciting, but equally important, topic of transparent reporting of HRM practices in sustainability reports.
In the fifth, and last, part of the book, the author tries to forecast the potential future of SHRM. This is done through a consideration of what sustainable HR roles and competencies should look like in organisations (Chapter 11) and an exploration of global sustainable HR assumptions (Chapter 12).
SHRM is a very timely publication. It meets the growing interest in the subject and offers the most comprehensive introduction and summary of SHRM to date. It carefully places sustainability within HRM and strategic HRM discourse and explains the significance of such an approach.
Although the book makes a valuable contribution to the field, the structure of the publication could be a little bit more polished. For example, in Chapter 2, institutional theory was used to explain the macro-, meso-, and micro-level contexts of SHRM (p. 56). However, some academic readers may be left with an impression that a theoretical discussion in this part of the book could be further developed. A more in-depth investigation of institutional theory does not come until Chapter 6. Similarly, stakeholder theory is introduced in Chapter 1 but it is not discussed in more depth until Chapters 8 and 11. A slightly more organised structure would make it easier for readers, who are new to SHRM, to discover which theories and ideas are important to focus on.
Nevertheless, the book is a must-read for anyone who is searching for an up-to-date picture of SHRM. Scholars, partitioning managers, students and policy makers will find here useful information that will help them better understand the subject. It is a great publication for anyone curious about what sustainability has to do with HRM and a great core textbook for future courses.
