Line managers and HRM: a managerial discretion perspective

Juan López-Cotarelo

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: Line managers play a central role in HRM practices, but research and theory on how their role is enacted remains underdeveloped. This paper presents a case study of a large UK-based fashion retailer, and uses managerial discretion theory to develop a novel understanding of line managers’ contribution to the implementation of HRM practices. We describe three distinct ways in which line managers engage with HRM policies and procedures, and propose that line managers make an important contribution to the effective implementation of HRM systems through exerting their cognitive and political abilities to bring about decisions that are well suited to their local situations. Moreover, we find that HR specialists design and manage HRM policies and procedures to afford different levels of managerial discretion in different areas of HRM.

Keywords: line managers; human resource management; managerial discretion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-04-01
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published in Human Resource Management Journal, 1, April, 2018, 28(2), pp. 255-271. ISSN: 0954-5395

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:84178

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