Firm Flexibility, Firm Structure, and Human Resource Management

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Consumer demands, technological developments, and competitive conditions are increasingly unpredictable, and the globalization of markets and the opportunities of the internet disrupt the ways business is done and firms are managed. Companies need to foresee and react to such changes, and to initiate them themselves. Not surprisingly, flexibility has become a key driver of business success. Flexibility is achieved through the ownership of resources that provide adaptive capabilities, and through the adequate coordination of those resources. In this dissertation, the role of human resources for firm flexibility is studied. Employees contribute to a firm's flexibility through providing the basis for the "informal organization" and through showing discretionary behaviors (i.e., organizational citizenship behaviors). Likewise, management and firm structures also have a positive impact on a firm's flexibility, through coordinating and developing human resources strategically. The three chapters of this dissertation examine how firm structures, human resource management, and human resources interact in the creation of flexibility.