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Paradox as a Lens for Theorizing Sustainable HRM

Mapping and Coping with Paradoxes and Tensions

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Sustainability and Human Resource Management

Part of the book series: CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance ((CSEG))

Abstract

This conceptual chapter discusses the strategic potential of sustainability as a concept for Human Resource Management (HRM). Aligning sustainability to HRM allows thinking about new solutions to solve HR problems such as HR shortages, employee health or HR development, to foster the proactive role of HRM in developing sustainable business organizations or to extend the understanding of HRM performance. However, realizing efficient and effective as well as sustainable HRM systems may create paradoxical choice situations and tensions that need to be actively coped with. The objective of this chapter is to explain first how organizations and HRM have responded to tensions from a historical perspective, second, how HRM can cope with potential tensions arising from efforts to make organizations more sustainable.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRECIS (Center for Research in Entrepreneurial Change and Innovation Strategies), Louvain School of Management, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain, Belgium

    Ina Ehnert

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  1. Ina Ehnert
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Correspondence to Ina Ehnert .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. , Louvain School of Management, Université Catholique de Louvain, Place des Doyens 1, Louvain-la-Neuve, 1348, Waals Brabant, Belgium

    Ina Ehnert

  2. , Cass Business School, University of Chester, Picts Lane 21, Princes Risborough, HP27 9DX, United Kingdom

    Wes Harry

  3. University of Kaiserslautern, Gottlieb-Daimler-Straße, Kaiserslautern, 67663, Germany

    Klaus J. Zink

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Ehnert, I. (2014). Paradox as a Lens for Theorizing Sustainable HRM. In: Ehnert, I., Harry, W., Zink, K. (eds) Sustainability and Human Resource Management. CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-37524-8_11

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