and extend existing sources of value creation? Are there other architectural struc-
tures that are ideal for less innovative outcomes such as organizational eYciency or
customer service? If diVerent structural patterns of employment subsystems oVer
diVerent organizational beneWts, research is needed to examine which architectural
patterns are ideal to achieve these disparate objectives.
Relatedly, research is needed that examines the importance of the direction of
knowledgeXows. For example, is it more important to have knowledgeXow
equally in all directions orXow toward critical or core employees? It is conceivable
that companies may be able to realize knowledge advantages to the extent to which
they are able to increase theXow of knowledge from external employment arrange-
ments across their organizational boundaries while decreasing theXow of know-
ledge in the other direction (cf. Matusik and Hill 1998 ). Focusing on the direction
andXow of knowledge also raises the issue of willingness to share knowledge
(Lepak and Snell 2003 ). Companies are only able to realize beneWts of knowledge
Xow to the extent that employees are willing to cooperate (CoV 1997). If certain
employees perceive a personal beneWt in hoarding their knowledge, or a perceived
risk of sharing what they know, what HR practices are able to encourage employees
to share their knowledge with the appropriate people?
An additional important research question focuses on relationships between
HR systems for employees within each employment system and the higher-level
relational archetypes that are expected to facilitate knowledge exchange across
employment subsystems. While implementing HR practices across employee
groups to facilitate greater knowledgeXow is viable, does it diminish the unique-
ness, and perhaps the eVectiveness, of the HR systems used for managing the
knowledge stocks within each employment mode? Do some of the relational
archetype HR practices send conXicting messages to employees on their role within
the company? Also, what are the relative costs, beneWts, and challenges for imple-
menting multiple HR practices within a company? Research that investigates the
impact of implementing higher-level relational archetypes on the eVectiveness of
HR systems for employment subsystems would provide insights into the viability
and eVectiveness of the potential value of relational archetypes for facilitating
knowledgeXow across employee groups.
11.6 Conclusion
.........................................................................................................................................................................................
As the outset of this chapter we raised an apparent tension within organizations.
On the one hand, researchers and practitioners continue to claim that employees
are a key source of a company’s competitive advantage. At the same time, however,
226 david lepak and scott a. snell