IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i12p4356-d184814.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Raising the Curtain in People Management by Exploring How Sustainable HRM Translates to Practice: The Case of Lithuanian Organizations

Author

Listed:
  • Živilė Stankevičiūtė

    (School of Economics and Business, Kaunas University of Technology, Gedimino g. 50, LT-44249 Kaunas, Lithuania)

  • Asta Savanevičienė

    (School of Economics and Business, Kaunas University of Technology, Gedimino g. 50, LT-44249 Kaunas, Lithuania)

Abstract

Arguing for the necessity to re-think human resource management (HRM), as human resources are becoming scarce, HRM practices themselves can be even harmful for employees, and the mainstream HRM is more interested not in the employee well-being, but in the search for the link between HRM and performance, the paper introduces sustainable HRM as an alternative approach to people management. Sustainable HRM is seen as a design option, which allows one to maintain, renew and restore human resources. Although previous works have broadened the understanding of the meaning given to sustainable HRM and its core characteristics, research into how sustainable HRM translates into practice is still lacking. Thus, the purpose of the paper is to reveal the practices through which 11 characteristics of sustainable HRM are expressed in real people management in organizations. In doing this, qualitative data were collected from Lithuanian organizations using semi-structured interviews with 19 human resource (HR) managers. The research indicated a variety of applied practices, which differ by maturity. Care of employees, profitability, external partnership, fairness and equality, and employee development were revealed as the characteristics of sustainable HRM most explicitly expressed through HRM practices. Nonetheless, the organizations need more heterogeneous HRM activities, which simultaneously consider the economy, environment, society, and human aspects.

Suggested Citation

  • Živilė Stankevičiūtė & Asta Savanevičienė, 2018. "Raising the Curtain in People Management by Exploring How Sustainable HRM Translates to Practice: The Case of Lithuanian Organizations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-31, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4356-:d:184814
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4356/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/12/4356/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Guerci & Abraham B. (Rami) Shani & Luca Solari, 2014. "A Stakeholder Perspective for Sustainable HRM," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 205-223, Springer.
    2. Sugumar Mariappanadar & Ina Aust, 2017. "The Dark Side of Overwork: An Empirical Evidence of Social Harm of Work from a Sustainable HRM Perspective," International Studies of Management & Organization, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(4), pages 372-387, September.
    3. Sugumar Mariappanadar, 2012. "The harm indicators of negative externality of efficiency focused organizational practices," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 39(3), pages 209-220, February.
    4. Ehnert, Ina & Harry, Wes, 2012. "Recent Developments and Future Prospects on Sustainable Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 221-238.
    5. Lis, Bettina, 2012. "The Relevance of Corporate Social Responsibility for a Sustainable Human Resource Management: An Analysis of Organizational Attractiveness as a Determinant in Employees’ Selection of a (Potential) Emp," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(3), pages 279-295.
    6. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    7. Ina Ehnert, 2011. "Sustainability and HRM: A Model and Suggestions for Future Research," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Adrian Wilkinson & Keith Townsend (ed.), The Future of Employment Relations, chapter 12, pages 215-237, Palgrave Macmillan.
    8. Pratima Bansal, 2005. "Evolving sustainably: a longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 197-218, March.
    9. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    10. Tobias Hahn & Frank Figge, 2011. "Beyond the Bounded Instrumentality in Current Corporate Sustainability Research: Toward an Inclusive Notion of Profitability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 104(3), pages 325-345, December.
    11. Pfeffer, Jeffrey, 2010. "Building Sustainable Organizations: The Human Factor," Research Papers 2017r, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    12. App, Stefanie & Merk, Janina & Buettgen, Marion, 2012. "Employer Branding: Sustainable HRM as a Competitive Advantage in the Market for High-Quality Employees," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 262-278.
    13. Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink, 2014. "Sustainability and HRM," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 3-32, Springer.
    14. Sugumar Mariappanadar, 2014. "The Model of Negative Externality for Sustainable HRM," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 181-203, Springer.
    15. Sugumar Mariappanadar, 2016. "Health harm of work from the sustainable HRM perspective: scale development and validation," International Journal of Manpower, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 37(6), pages 924-944, September.
    16. Paul J. Gollan & Ying Xu, 2014. "Fostering Corporate Sustainability," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 225-245, Springer.
    17. Jesus Barrena-Martinez & Macarena López-Fernández & Pedro M. Romero-Fernandez, 2018. "Drivers and Barriers in Socially Responsible Human Resource Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-14, May.
    18. Nathalie Hirsig & Nikolai Rogovsky & Michael Elkin, 2014. "Enterprise Sustainability and HRM in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 127-152, Springer.
    19. Edyta Bombiak & Anna Marciniuk-Kluska, 2018. "Green Human Resource Management as a Tool for the Sustainable Development of Enterprises: Polish Young Company Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-22, May.
    20. Ehnert, Ina & Harry, Wes, 2012. "Recent Developments and Future Prospects on Sustainable Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(3), pages 221-238.
    21. Ina Ehnert, 2014. "Paradox as a Lens for Theorizing Sustainable HRM," CSR, Sustainability, Ethics & Governance, in: Ina Ehnert & Wes Harry & Klaus J. Zink (ed.), Sustainability and Human Resource Management, edition 127, pages 247-271, Springer.
    22. Thomas Dyllick & Kai Hockerts, 2002. "Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 130-141, March.
    23. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Živilė Stankevičiūtė & Asta Savanevičienė, 2018. "Designing Sustainable HRM: The Core Characteristics of Emerging Field," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-23, December.
    2. Astrid Kainzbauer & Parisa Rungruang, 2019. "Science Mapping the Knowledge Base on Sustainable Human Resource Management, 1982–2019," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Živilė Stankevičiūtė & Eglė Staniškienė & Urtė Ciganė, 2020. "Sustainable HRM as a Driver for Innovative Work Behaviour: Do Respect, Openness, and Continuity Matter? The Case of Lithuania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(14), pages 1-29, July.
    4. Muhammad Mohiuddin & Elahe Hosseini & Sedigheh Bagheri Faradonbeh & Mehdi Sabokro, 2022. "Achieving Human Resource Management Sustainability in Universities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(2), pages 1-19, January.
    5. Mónica Santana & Rafael Morales-Sánchez & Susana Pasamar, 2020. "Mapping the Link between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Human Resource Management (HRM): How Is This Relationship Measured?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-28, February.
    6. Barbara Sypniewska & Małgorzata Baran & Monika Kłos, 2023. "Work engagement and employee satisfaction in the practice of sustainable human resource management – based on the study of Polish employees," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1069-1100, September.
    7. Gaitree Ramgolam & Needesh Ramphul & Hemant Chittoo, 2025. "Sustainable Human Resource Management—A Systematic Literature Review and Directions for Future Research," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 16(3), pages 11407-11444, September.
    8. Maria Järlström & Essi Saru & Sinikka Vanhala, 2018. "Sustainable Human Resource Management with Salience of Stakeholders: A Top Management Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 703-724, October.
    9. Anselm Schneider, 2015. "Reflexivity in Sustainability Accounting and Management: Transcending the Economic Focus of Corporate Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 127(3), pages 525-536, March.
    10. Francisco Rincon‐Roldan & Alvaro Lopez‐Cabrales, 2021. "Ethical values in social economy for sustainable development," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 92(4), pages 705-729, December.
    11. Edyta Bombiak & Anna Marciniuk-Kluska, 2018. "Green Human Resource Management as a Tool for the Sustainable Development of Enterprises: Polish Young Company Experience," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-22, May.
    12. De Prins, Peggy & Van Beirendonck, Lou & De Vos, Ans & Segers, Jesse, 2014. "Sustainable HRM: Bridging theory and practice through the ‘Respect Openness Continuity (ROC)’-model," management revue. Socio-economic Studies, Rainer Hampp Verlag, vol. 25(4), pages 263-284.
    13. Ehnert, Ina & Harry, Wes, 2012. "Recent Developments and Future Prospects on Sustainable Human Resource Management: Introduction to the Special Issue," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 221-238.
    14. Kozica, Arjan & Kaiser, Stephan, 2012. "A Sustainability Perspective on Flexible HRM: How to Cope with Paradoxes of Contingent Work," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 23(3), pages 239-261.
    15. Edyta Bombiak & Anna Marciniuk-Kluska, 2019. "Socially Responsible Human Resource Management as a Concept of Fostering Sustainable Organization-Building: Experiences of Young Polish Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-28, February.
    16. Aslanertik Banu Esra & Çolak Murat, 2021. "The Link Between Sustainability Reporting and the Core Characteristics of Sustainable Human Resource Management," International Journal of Contemporary Management, Sciendo, vol. 57(4), pages 15-24, December.
    17. Beatrice I.J.M. Van der Heijden & Ans De Vos, 2015. "Sustainable careers: introductory chapter," Chapters, in: Handbook of Research on Sustainable Careers, chapter 1, pages 1-19, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    18. Antonius Setyadi & Yunata Kandhias Akbar & Sunda Ariana & Suharno Pawirosumarto, 2023. "Examining the Effect of Green Logistics and Green Human Resource Management on Sustainable Development Organizations: The Mediating Role of Sustainable Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-20, July.
    19. Natàlia Cugueró-Escofet & Pilar Ficapal-Cusí & Joan Torrent-Sellens, 2019. "Sustainable Human Resource Management: How to Create a Knowledge Sharing Behavior through Organizational Justice, Organizational Support, Satisfaction and Commitment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-20, September.
    20. Sarah Birrell Ivory & Simon Bentley Brooks, 2018. "Managing Corporate Sustainability with a Paradoxical Lens: Lessons from Strategic Agility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 347-361, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:12:p:4356-:d:184814. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.