The integrative model
Bamberger and Meshoulam (2000) integrate the two main models of HR
strategy, one focusing on the strategy's underlying logic of managerial control,
the other focusing on the reward-effort exchange. Arguing that neither of the
two dichotomous approaches (control- and resource-based models) provides
a framework able to encompass the ebb and flow of the intensity and direction
of HR strategy, they build a model that characterizes the two main dimensions
of HR strategy as involving 'acquisition and development' and the 'locus of
control'.
Acquisition and development are concerned with the extent to which the HR
strategy develops internal human capital as opposed to the external
recruitment of human capital. In other words, organizations can lean more
towards 'making' their workers (high investment in training) or more towards
'buying' their workers from the external labour market (Rousseau, 1995)^46.
Bamberger and Meshoulam (2000) call this the 'make-or-buy' aspect of HR
strategy.
Locus of control is concerned with the degree to which HR strategy focuses
on monitoring employees' compliance with process-based standards as
opposed to developing a psychological contract that nurtures social
relationships, encourages mutual trust and respect, and controls the focus on
the outcomes (ends) themselves. This strand of thinking in HR strategy can
be traced back to the ideas of Walton (1987), who made a distinction between
commitment and control strategies (Hutchinson et al., 2000)^47. As Figure 2.1 0
shows, these two main dimensions of HR strategy yield four different 'ideal
types' of dominant HR strategy:
Commitment
Collaborative
Paternalistic
Traditional.