Dialogues in Sustainable HRM: Examining and Positioning Intended and Continuous Dialogue in Sustainable HRM Using a Complexity Thinking Approach

Jan Willem Nuis, Pascale Peters, Rob Blomme and Henk Kievit
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Jan Willem Nuis: Business Faculty, Christian University of Applied Science Ede (CHE UAS), P.O. Box 80, 6710 BB Ede, The Netherlands
Pascale Peters: Faculty General Management, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, P.O. Box 130, 3620 AC Breukelen, The Netherlands
Rob Blomme: Faculty General Management, Nyenrode Business Universiteit, P.O. Box 130, 3620 AC Breukelen, The Netherlands
Henk Kievit: Business Faculty, Christian University of Applied Science Ede (CHE UAS), P.O. Box 80, 6710 BB Ede, The Netherlands

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-20

Abstract: In the emerging sustainable Human Resource Management (HRM) literature, advocating to ‘rehumanize’ and pluralize HRM, dialogue is put forward as a silver bullet to cope with paradoxical tensions and pluralist workforces. This conceptual paper aims to add to the sustainable HRM literature by examining the position and application of dialogue within sustainable HRM, using ideas and concepts from dialogue literature and complexity thinking. We applied core concepts of complexity thinking (i.e., self-organization, nonlinearity, attractors, and emergence) to deepen our understanding of the positioning of dialogue, the position of power, and the emergence of intended and unintended outcomes. Moreover, through the distinction between intentional and continuous dialogue, the intentional, dynamic, and emergent nature of dialogue was explored. Connecting, sensing, grasping, and influencing the local patterning of continuous dialogue is important for positioning dialogue within sustainable HRM, and intentional dialogical practices can support this. More specifically, based on our literature review, we present a conceptual model that furthers our understanding of (1) conceptualizations of dialogue as both intended and continuous; (2) the role of power in dialogue; (3) how stability and novelty emerge from dialogue. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the developed perspectives on dialogue for future research as well as management practices.

Keywords: sustainable human resource management; dialogue; complexity thinking; emergence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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