Critical social science, pragmatism and the realities of HRM

Abstract

The tendency of HRM writers to act as prescriptive advisors and legitimators to corporate management needs to be balanced if not replaced by critical-analytical and social scientific research. The notion of the sociological imagination provides inspiration and valuable guidelines for a type of realist research which, in addition to informing people directly implicated in human resourcing activities, has the potential to inform democratic processes as opposed to furthering the particular interests of one segment of society. To do this, it is helpful to adopt a realist and a philosophically pragmatist style of thinking. In line with pragmatist principles, it is argued that we are better placed to get to grips with the realities of human resourcing principles and practices if we conceptualise ‘HRM’ in terms of labour or employment management generally rather than treat it as just one variant of employment management. It is also important to appreciate the vital connection between HRM and bureaucracy. As a ‘vignette’ from research on HR processes in a small-to-medium enterprise (SME) illustrates, pragmatism also provides a methodological base for theory development and research on HRM processes, working in the sociological-imagination tradition. Pragmatic realism also has implications for how HRM scholars engage with the world outside the university.