Search Results

There is continuing interest in how to write and publish papers in top management journals. Some authors have focused on how the content of papers affects their publication – are they creative and interesting, with well-defined constructs, clear boundary conditions and provocative implications? Others have focused on how theories and results are presented in a paper – is the paper written clearly, is its macrostructure logical and is its style consistent with a particular journal? Yet other authors have focused on the processes that scholars have used to develop influential bodies of work. Taken as a whole, this work – whether focused on content, presentation or process – has generated important insights into writing and publishing papers in top management journals.

The array of human capital (HC) attributes a firm needs for building its ideal human capital pool directly influences how firms will attempt to access and build human capital resources (HCRs). Of course, firms can access and build HCRs both directly, through labor markets, and indirectly, through a variety of other business relationships. This chapter examines both the competitive and theoretical implications of these important observations found within the chapters by Kehoe and Bentley and Camuffo and De Stefano, specifically in the context of the theory of the firm literature. Namely, this chapter explores when HCRs should be brought within the boundary of the firm and when they should be kept outside the firm’s boundary to best create and implement strategies towards building strategic human capital resources (SHCRs).