„Effects of Mixed Signals on Employer Attractiveness: A Mixed-Method Study Based on Signalling and Convention Theory“

Traditional recruiting activities are marked by information asymmetry and organisational information control, leading to uncertainty among applicants about employer attractiveness. New technologies profoundly change the picture. Recruiting websites provide more thorough, yet controlled information; online employer reviews offer employee‐generated information mostly out of organisational control. While this diminishes information asymmetry, applicants have to handle incongruent information. It remains largely unclear how so‐called "mixed Signals" affect employer attractiveness and how applicants interpret them. To address the issue, we developed an integrated theoretical framework based on signalling and convention theory to better understand how applicants interpret and evaluate signals about employers. We then conducted a mixed‐method study to examine how congruent and mixed signals influence perceived employer attractiveness. Our results show that while congruent signals increase employer attractiveness and mixed‐signal situations reduce it, distinct evaluative patterns emerge when potential applicants reflect and judge employers. Implications for future research and practice are discussed

Flexible work practices: analysis from a pragmatist perspective

»Flexible Arbeitspraktiken: Eine Analyse aus pragmatischer Perspektive«. Traditional human resource management (HRM) research can hardly relate to today's developments in the world of work. Organizational boundaries are blurred because of the complexity due to globalization, digitalization, and demographic changes. In practice, new ways of organizing work can be found that depend on the specifics of the work situation. In this paper, we build on the economics of convention (EC) to elaborate on the current challenges HRM scholarship is confronted with and provide a theoretical lens that goes beyond the tension between market and bureaucracy principles in actual employment settings. We apply EC’s situationalist methodology to examples of the challenging coordination of flexibility in the workplace. We explain two hybrid forms of coordination – compromises and local arrangements – and highlight the dynamics of employment practices in organizations related to these forms. Thereby, we show that different modes of coordination in employment are applied in a fluctuating manner that depends on the specific situations. In doing so, we further seek to remind HRM scholars of the fruitfulness of the pragmatist perspective in analyzing work practices, as well as extending its conceptual toolkit for future analysis

Why French pragmatism matters to organizational institutionalism

In this dialogue, we explore the potential of bridging different approaches for furthering the field of organizational institutionalism. The two particular approaches that have received considerable attention include the institutional logics perspective and French pragmatism. While both present new opportunities, we briefly consider the implications of the treatment of action by proponents of French pragmatism for analyzing the importance of institutionalized rules in organizations. Our brief overview sets the tone for a more constructive conversation among scholars, which is exemplified in the various contributions to this dialogue that consider points of cross-fertilization and the consequences of such work for the field of organizational institutionalism