Analysis of the Article Human Resources Management: A Political Influence Perspective

Ferris, G. R., & Judge, T. A. (1991). Personnel/human resources management: A political influence perspective. Journal of management, 17(2), 447-488.

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Introduction

The purpose of the article was to propose and evaluate the significance of political influence perspective in personnel/human resource management. The perspective is reviewed on individual and dyadic analysis domain levels, group and organizational domain levels, which provide an understanding into the effects of political influence in P/HRM decisions and systems, as well as making a better sense of the interpersonal dynamics. In essence, the political influence is dependent on the situation, the personnel or the target, as well as the actor characteristics. My understanding is that HR management is a function within an organization that maximizes personnel production and performance, and these incline to the firms strategic objectives.

The intended audience includes organizations and students. In essence, through the article, organizations will comprehend the how politics influence the organizations, and thus, what strategies it can adopt to mitigate negative effects, In addition, the article highlights the importance of human resources and its management in an organizational context, and thus, it is vital in explaining perspectives and strategies that can be used in realizing the firms strategic objectives. For students, it highlights and imparts useful knowledge on political influence on P/HRM perspectives in an organization, which can subsequently be applied once the student gets employed. The journal of management covers theoretical and empirical articles that deal with micro, meso, and macro workplace phenomenal, and thus, covers domains including human resource management, business strategy, and policy. For this reason, the article, having covered these aspects is appropriate for the article.

The article is conceptual rather than empirical. In essence, the article supports the arguments based on the logical and persuasive reasoning of the researcher. The author did so by analyzing past literature and never used statistical or detailed evidence, which is common for empirical research.

Brief Summary

The problem being addressed was the political influence in an organizational context, on the P/HRM systems and decisions.

The solution presented is on a system and contextual level. The system level was necessary because it facilitates a full comprehension of political influence in context. It was also noted that the best understanding of the political influence in P/HRM systems and decisions was based on a broad perspective that includes multiple levels of analysis. The evidence provided is based on qualitative analysis of secondary articles.

Results

It was revealed that the political influence perspective on P/HRM systems entails diversity, scarcity of resources, competing interests, and power struggles. The traditional perspective along with the other perspectives are divergent from the political one, and thus, it is difficult to identify common ground. Even so, the article advocates for a multi-perspective conceptualization of P/HRM since most of the research is micro-analytic for more comprehension of P/HRM systems and decisions.

Contribution

The article makes a new contribution as it concludes that considering the political influence perspective in the field of P/HRM is useful in supplementing research on other perspectives that can affect the human resources sphere. It also highlights the importance of the multi-perspective in analyzing and understanding P/HRM issues in an organization and also points out that the single perspective is myopic.

Foundation

The research builds on the qualitative research of other researchers, such as Bolman and Deal, who noted that the single perspective understanding of the P/HRM issues is limited. In essence, the researchers pointed out that the strengths of the political perspectives present limitations of other perspectives, It is for this reason that the article advocates for a multi-perspective approach, which is more insightful.

General Critique

Many perspectives influence the P/HRM issues, including extrinsic motivation and were not covered in the article. Also, the article does not provide strong evidence, such as the use of empirical evidence. The researcher is also reliant on a single perspective, rather than concentrating on the multi-perspective proposed. Besides, the researcher used limited illustrations, which could otherwise offer more insight to the reader.

Issues (Author)

The issue was to investigate the political influence on P/HRM systems and decision. It is important because it influences the strategies adopted by an organization, as well as its success. The political perspective determines how successful the strategies within an organization are affected. However, the author advocates for a multi-perspective, which he did not cover. The political perspective is limited and cannot solve P/HRM issues, which calls for a multi-perspective approach.

Issues (My opinion)

The P/HRM system is important in running an organization. However, the author concentrated on one issue, political perspective but proposed for a multi-dimensional approach. The research is limited to this area. Therefore, it would have been handy to cover other perspectives. The research, for this reason, did not cover every aspect that was discussed.

Questions

How does the advancement of mobility be solved on multi-perspectives dimensions proposed as a solution to the single-perspective political influence?

How does performance evaluation be affected as one moves to the top of the organizational hierarchy?

How does the compensation systems be proof of influence from a multi-perspectives of P/HRM?