Bleak house or bright prospect?: HRM in Australian SMEs over 1998-2008

Article


Wiesner, Retha and Innes, Peter. 2010. "Bleak house or bright prospect?: HRM in Australian SMEs over 1998-2008." Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources. 48 (2), pp. 151-184. https://doi.org/10.1177/1038411110368465
Article Title

Bleak house or bright prospect?: HRM in Australian SMEs over 1998-2008

ERA Journal ID22101
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsWiesner, Retha (Author) and Innes, Peter (Author)
Journal TitleAsia Pacific Journal of Human Resources
Journal Citation48 (2), pp. 151-184
Number of Pages34
Year2010
PublisherJohn Wiley & Sons
Place of PublicationLondon, United Kingdom
ISSN1032-3627
1038-4111
1744-7941
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1177/1038411110368465
Web Address (URL)http://apj.sagepub.com/content/48/2/151.short
Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine whether Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) could be described as 'bleak houses' or whether they have developed over the last decade into 'bright prospects' typified by human resource innovations. This study builds on empirical work (n = 1425) from ten years ago (1998), and re-examines the prospects of SMEs through the lens of human resource management (HRM) practices. Uniquely, the 2008 cross-sectional data provides for the large-scale tracking of strategic HRM practices. Specifically, 110 HRM practices over five traditional areas across 1230 SMEs are analysed. The prevalence, change, and patterning of HRM practices used by Australian SMEs in 2008 are investigated. It was found that SMEs need less of a make-over in relation to the adoption of HR practices, compared to a decade ago. From a practitioner viewpoint, the study provides cross-sectional benchmarking against the previous time-point, 1998, as well as extending that work with an examination of a more extensive range of new and emerging HRM practices.

KeywordsAustralia; human resource management; HRM; SMEs; small business
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020350799. Strategy, management and organisational behaviour not elsewhere classified
520104. Industrial and organisational psychology (incl. human factors)
350503. Human resources management
Public Notes

Contact Dr Retha Wiesner at wiesner@usq.edu.au for any queries.

Byline AffiliationsAustralian Centre for Sustainable Business and Development
University of the Sunshine Coast
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