Disappearing Between the Cracks: HRM in Permeable Organisations

This paper is concerned with examining the implications of inter-organisational relationships for human resource management (HRM). To date much of the literature on human resource management has been inwardly focussed on the organisation and its employees. Yet increasingly complex organisational forms and more permeable boundaries may mean that employees working for one organisation are influenced by the HR policies and practices of another. This paper presents evidence from two such case studies, representing different forms of inter-organisational relationship. The implications for the HR function are discussed and it is argued that traditional conceptions of HRM are inadequate to encompass these developments.