Barbarians at the gate : a critical appraisal of the influence of economics on the field and practice of HRM / David A. Spencer

This article considers the influence of economics on the field and practice of HRM. Modern innovations, such as transaction cost economics and personnel economics, have enabled mainstream economists to encamp on the terrain of HRM and neighbouring fields. The article will contend that these perspectives incorporate certain ‘myths’ about key HRM issues and will argue against their transplantation into the study of HRM. The claim made by some critics that the language and assumptions of economics contribute to ‘bad HRM’ practices in the real world will also be critically assessed. It will be argued that modern economic theories of HRM reflect reality rather more than they create it, and that their support for a narrow and regressive form of HRM is, to some extent, in keeping with the actual reality of many organisations in which unequal power and conflict remain ever-present (if sometimes under the surface).

Business.