Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary. This enlightening Research Agenda considers the latest developments within the world of work, arguing that the time is right to address the variety of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices and arrangements. Helping readers to deepen their theoretical understanding of HRM systems and processes, this Research Agenda brings insights from strategic human capital and theories that have been outside the main focus of strategic HRM researchers. Chapters look at attribution theories, the role of human and social capital in strategic HRM, as well as institutional or social forces that affect firm choices of HRM practices and outcomes. The book takes us beyond a best practice view by examining online labour platforms, the liquid workforce, networked organizations, and the management of human resources in entrepreneurial firms. Exploring the varying forms of HRM systems and practices, this book will be a key resource for scholars and PhD students in the fields of human resource management and strategic management.

Assessing scholarly work done in the 1980s, the editors discuss four major areas of research: unions, collective bargaining, and dispute resolution; human resource management; labor market research; and the regulation of industrial relations and human resources.