and socio-political topics, which incorporate a range of factors that inXuence
strategic decision-making in HRM. Of course, these authors emphasize that they
do not want to fall into the trap of contingent determinism. There is always leeway
for the actors involved to make strategic choices. The importance of context is
recognized in theWeld of IR, which has a tradition and a well-developed range of
theoretical models for carrying out internationally oriented research. Much can be
learnt from these approaches.
9.4 HRM and Industrial Relations:
Societal Embeddedness, Strategic
Choice, and Different Rationalities
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
The relationship between IR and HRM received a lot of attention as HRM emerged
as an area of study (e.g. Guest 1987 ; Storey 1989 ; Poole 1986 ; Storey and Sisson 1993 ;
de Nijs 1996 ). We are especially interested in what we can learn from IR theory, and
IR modeling in particular, in order to shed light on the societal embeddedness of
HRM. The early models of IR theory (e.g. Dunlop 1958 ) focused on the process of
rule-making in the employment relationship (Clegg 1979 ) and emphasized the
adaptive nature of IR systems and their actors to the economic, technological
and political context. They were, however, rather deterministic. Walker ( 1969 ),
Poole ( 1986 ) and Kochan et al. ( 1984 ) were among theWrst to recognize that
variations in IR institutions and practices had their roots in the strategic choices
(Child 1972 ) of the parties to the employment relationship.
Kochan et al. ( 1986 ) extensively adapted and added to Dunlop’s original frame-
work. They saw a more active, as opposed to a merely adaptive, role for manage-
ment, emphasizing the idea of strategic choice. Of course, all parties involved can
make strategic decisions but Kochan et al. ( 1984 : 17 ) considered management to be
the dominant party in this respect. They also included interrelated levels of
industrial relations. Next to the functional level of collective bargaining, they
included strategic and workplace levels in their analysis. The strategic level, by
deWnition, concerns long-term, high-level planning and encompasses, from a
management point of view, the strategic role of human resources. Kochan et al.
( 1984 : 21 ) stress that theory should allow an exploration of both the content and the
process of strategy formation. The concept of strategy in industrial relations is only
useful if actors have some discretion over decisions.
Poole ( 1986 : 13 ) suggests that the concept of strategy encapsulates, at a more
abstract level, the idea of overall design within social action, which is based upon
hrm and societal embeddedness 171