The Song Remains the Same: the Evolution of Australian HRM and the Role of Economic and Institutional Change

There have been growing calls by scholars for the re-contextualisation of human resource management (HRM) research to promote greater theoretical understanding and practical relevance. Within this approach, we argue that there is an important role for historical context, macro-economic policy and industrial relations as an influence on contemporary HRM practices. We use findings from three data sets on the management of the Australian workplace: Australian Human Resource Institute, Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey and Australian Workplace Representation Survey of the Australian workplace. Our findings demonstrate the persistence of an embedded pluralist employment relations/HRM approach that has become part of the 'DNA' of Australian workplaces. This appears at odds with other Anglo-American countries. Employers appear comfortable adapting to a hybrid employment relations/HRM method to enhance a mutual gains approach to the employment relationship. This is the first paper to explore HRM through this lens. The key message of this paper is that HRM can be better understood within an economic, social and institutional context of continuity and change.