SECRECY EFFECTIVENESS AND THE ROLE OF HRM PRACTICES: A CONFIGURATIONAL APPROACH

Abstract

The objective of this study is to explore the extent to which human resources management practices may complement and substitute for each other to improve secrecy effectiveness. In an examination of 144 biopharmaceutical SMES, we applied fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) to investigate core HRM practices collectively and to determine their relationships with secrecy effectiveness. The results show that 1) effective HR is dependent on the manner in which the various practices are combined, or bundled; 2) the combinations are neither unique nor unchangeable, and the components of the configurations can be substituted for one another to form different configurations; and 3) the bundles of practices are sufficient, but not necessary, conditions.