ABRI's Human Resource Management & Organizational Behavior track is focused on producing high impact research that is internationally excellent and serves to create knowledge that enables organisations, teams, and individuals to understand and proactively lead the current developments in employment relations, careers and meaningful work, work design, leadership, talent management, and diversity. We share a business-relevant research strategy that crosses disciplinary boundaries and utilises innovative methodologies (including survey research, experimental field studies, and qualitative research approaches). Our combined skills and interests allow us to unpack the complex patterns of influence present in society and organisations.
We address research on organisational behaviour from the following five key perspectives:
Careers and meaningful work
Environmental and societal changes, such as increased globalisation, technological advancements, workforce diversity, and temporary employment contracts have created significant changes in how individuals enact and manage their work and career. These changes call for a conversation on the topic and the development of research-based solutions that can enable employees’ experiences of meaningful work and careers in organisations. Our research interests concern topics as the sources of meaningful work and its consequences for individuals and organisations, proactive careers, changing employer-employee relationships, school-to-work transitions, and employability.
The future of work design
Job crafting allows individual workers to initiate changes in their job design such that the job fits the employee throughout the career. We study job crafting from a contemporary perspective, by focusing on the effects of non-traditional employment arrangements (e.g., fixed-contracts, self-employment, and temporary agency work) on motivation, proactive work behaviours, work engagement, employability, and career development. In our studies, we adopt a multilevel perspective, for example, by studying topics related to interpersonal dynamics in teams.
Leadership and organizational change
Successful change is one of largest problems that modern organisations face. Leaders play a key role in optimising organisational change, fostering social cohesion among individual workers, and fuelling growth for a wide range of individuals. We study questions related to leadership and change management and the cognitive and contextual antecedents of constructive and destructive leadership. We offer organisational practitioners theoretical and practical insights into how they can maximise their leaders’ potential.
Talent management
Organizations benefit from talent that powers their businesses, especially in roles that would otherwise remain unfilled. Recruitment, selection, and talent management therefore comprise essential levers for a sustainable future of work. Our research focuses on the assessment and identification of talent, and we study topics such as test development, impression management tactics, and talent management programs. At a more general level, we examine the effects of HR practices on employee and organisational outcomes.
Diversity management and inclusion
Labour forces have become increasingly diverse. Therefore, we need a future in which a range of options open up for the many, not just for the few. Our main research activities deal with age, gender, and ethnic diversity in job transitions. Specifically, we focus on the impact of implicit biases and normative beliefs on career systems, patterns, and outcomes. Our research also explores gendered distribution of social and psychological resources at work. Our research projects help build the evidence base and provide managerial implications in terms of HR practices for dealing with problems related to diversity and inclusion.