Organizations face unprecedented challenges from uncertainty, technological change, and shifting work arrangements. This special issue calls for researchers to revisit fundamental HRM theories and examine whether established assumptions adequately explain the relationship between people, organizations, and performance in today's turbulent context. The issue seeks to move beyond incremental complexity by returning to core concepts and critically assessing whether traditional perspectives on HRM-strategy alignment, employee development, and performance outcomes remain sufficient.

The special issue welcomes theoretically grounded and methodologically rigorous contributions that challenge conventional HRM wisdom and propose new understandings relevant to uncertain environments. Research may address tensions and unintended consequences of HRM practices, sustainability concerns, digitalization, employee well-being, and emerging employment models. Empirical studies, conceptual papers, and literature reviews are all welcome, provided they offer clear advances to HRM theory and research.

Appel publié par Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance. Voir l'appel sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Revisiting Theoretical foundations of HRM in contexts of uncertainty
• Critical reassessments of the HRM–performance relationship
• Challenges to traditional strategic HRM assumptions
• HRM, organizational resilience, and adaptation to change
• HRM and employee performance in uncertain and complex environments
• Sustainable HRM, green HRM, and long-term organizational performance
• HRM and employee well-being, happiness, engagement, and inclusion
• HRM, knowledge management, innovation, and creativity
• HRM and the management of technological and digital transformation
• HRM and the need for professional reskilling
• Work intensification, stress, and the unintended consequences of HRM
• HRM systems, organizational culture, and competing performance outcomes
• HRM and new approaches to work
• New theoretical approaches to careers, employability, and work-life integration

Timeline

• March 31, 2027: Opening date for manuscripts submissions
• March 31, 2027: Closing date for abstract submission
• June 30, 2027: Closing date for manuscripts submission

Jasmina Berbegal-Mirabent, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya

Angelo Cavallo, Politecnico di Milano

Antje Fiedler, University of Auckland

Esteban Lafuente, Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica

Digital technologies are fundamentally reshaping how both private and public organizations—including universities, hospitals, and local administrations—conceive strategy, innovate, and compete. However, scholarly understanding remains fragmented regarding how digitalization operates across different functional areas and organizational levels, and literature has not fully clarified the mechanisms through which technological adoption generates performance gains or the conditions under which it falters.

Appel publié par Review of Managerial Science. Lire l'appel complet sur le site de l'éditeur. Fiche de l'appel sur kerostig.

Potential topics

• Antecedents of digital technologies adoption: Strategic approaches including organizational, technological, institutional, and market-related factors influencing SMEs' digitalization strategies
• Differences in digitalization strategies between industries or economic contexts
• Strategic choices and prerequisites supporting digitally-induced organizational actions
• Socio-technical system readiness factors including technical infrastructure, organizational culture, workforce capabilities, and data governance maturity
• Ecosystem characteristics and their role in shaping digitally enabled interactions
• Human-technology interaction and integration of digital technologies into firm operations
• Value-adding strategies promoted through digital technology integration
• Organizational resources, processes, and competencies supporting digital technology integration
• Strategic purposes for technology integration: automation, augmentation, cybersecurity, and innovation
• Digital literacy, ethical concerns, organizational culture, and managerial practices in technology adoption
• Digital transformation in the public sector with constrained resources
• Leadership, governance structures, and resource orchestration in public institutions
• E-administration, hybrid learning platforms, and AI-enabled service delivery in public organizations
• Spillover effects of public digital initiatives on regional SMEs
• Public-private partnerships and cross-sector collaborations for digital solutions
• Governance models and knowledge-sharing mechanisms enhancing digital co-creation
• Absorptive capacity development through partnerships
• Sector and regional ecosystem factors affecting partnership effectiveness
• Performance outcomes of digital technologies and technology-enabled strategies
• Individual-level outcomes including productivity, learning, creativity, and decision quality
• Firm-level outcomes including innovation, internationalization, operational efficiency, and sustainability
• Mechanisms explaining heterogeneous digitalization outcomes across individuals, teams, and firms
• Digital literacy and human-technology interactions shaping performance outcomes
• Strategic alignment of competencies and digital technologies for competitive advantage
• Digital transformation impacts on power dynamics between entrants and incumbents

Timeline

• February 28, 2026: Open for submissions
• January 31, 2027: Paper submission deadline
• April 30, 2027: First-round review decision to authors
• July 30, 2027: Revised manuscript due
• October 31, 2027: Second-round review decision to authors
• January 31, 2028: Final revised manuscript due
• April 30, 2028: Final author notification of acceptance