TY - JOUR U1 - Wissenschaftlicher Artikel A1 - Brandl, Julia A1 - Keegan, Anne A1 - Kozica, Arjan T1 - When less is more: HRM implementation, legitimacy and decoupling JF - Human resource management journal : HRMJ N2 - The implementation of human resource (HR) policies often proves troublesome due to the appearance, and stubborn persistence, of gaps in the process. Human resource management (HRM) scholars problematise these gaps and advocate tight implementation to reduce gaps and to ensure the desired impact of policies on organisational performance. Drawing on organisational institutionalism, we contend that gaps in implementing HR policies can actually be productive, as they secure organisational legitimacy, and thus enable organisations to operate viably within several institutional environments. We suggest that different approaches to implementation are needed, some of them premised on accepting sustained implementation gaps. We introduce minimum and moderate implementation approaches, rooted in the notion of decoupling, to complement approaches aimed at tight implementation. Our aim is to support the further development of research based on a richer interpretation of HRM implementation challenges and choices they present for HR managers. KW - decoupling KW - HR Professional KW - HRM implementation KW - institutional theory KW - legitimacy KW - line manager KW - strategic HRM Y1 - 2022 UN - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:bsz:rt2-opus4-32782 SN - 1748-8583 SS - 1748-8583 U6 - https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12388 DO - https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12388 VL - 32 IS - 1 SP - 247 EP - 260 S1 - 14 PB - Wiley CY - Hoboken, NJ ER -