Investigation of Human Resources Applications from Sustainability Perspective: An Empirical Study

Abstract

This study conducted between November 2017 and October 2018 investigates companies included in the stock market sustainability index (BIST) in Istanbul. The focus of the research was on whether or not their sustainability works/ projects materialized, which shareholders were involved in this process and whether sustainability was integrated into their company activities. In addition, the issue of the relationship between sustainability studies and human resources applications and the question of whether or not human resources took a strategical role were investigated. 18 of the 44 companies included in the BIST Sustainability Index (41%) participated in the study. The result of the study shows that companies integrated sustainability into their corporate policies. Furthermore, the companies internalized sustainability with the aims of increasing corporate dignity and brand value, contributing to economic and social recovery, improving relations with shareholders and gaining trust from public opinion.

Keywords

• Corporate sustainability
• BIST sustainability index
• Strategic human resources management
• Sustainable human resources management

Sürdürülebilirlik Perspektifinden Insan Kaynakları Uygulamalarının Incelenmesi: Görgül Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Araştırmada Kasım 2017- Ekim 2018 döneminde Borsa İstanbul (BIST) Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi’nde yer alan şirketlerin yürütmekte oldukları sürdürülebilirlik çalışmalarını/projelerini hangi amaçlar doğrultusunda gerçekleştirdikleri, bu sürece hangi paydaşların dahil edildiği ve sürdürülebilirliğin şirket faaliyetlerine entegrasyonunun sağlanıp sağlanamadığı incelenmiştir. Ayrıca araştırmada, sürdürülebilirlik çalışmalarının insan kaynakları uygulamaları ile ilişkisi ve insan kaynaklarının stratejik bir rol üstlenip üstlenmedikleri araştırılmıştır. Araştırmaya, BİST Sürdürülebilirlik Endeksi’nde yer alan 44 şirketten 18’i katılmıştır (%41). Araştırma sonucu, şirketlerin sürdürülebilirliği kurumsal politikalarına entegre etmiş olduklarını göstermektedir. Yine şirketlerin; kurumsal itibarı ve marka değerini artırma, ekonomik ve sosyal kalkınmaya katkıda bulunma, paydaşlarla ilişkilerini geliştirme ve kamuoyunun güvenini kazanma gayeleriyle sürdürülebilirliği içselleştirdikleri görülmektedir.

Keywords

• Kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik
• BIST sürdürülebilirlik endeksi
• Stratejik insan kaynakları yönetimi
• Sürdürülebilir insan kaynakları yönetimi

References

1. Aghaei, N., M. Keivan ve S. Shahrbanian (2012), Relationship between organizational justice and intention to leave in employees of sport and youth head office of Tehran. European Journal of Experimental Biology, 2 (5), 1564–1570.
2. Akgeyik, T. (2010). İnsan kaynakları yönetimi boyutuyla kurumsal sosyal sorumluluk: Bir alan araştırması. Sosyal Siyaset Konferansları Dergisi, 65–106.
3. Aktaş, Hakkı. (2017). İşletmelerde sürdürülebilirliğin sağlanmasında lider yöneticilerin rolü ve küresel en iyi uygulama örnekleri”, İşletmelerde Sürdürülebilirlik Dinamikleri, Ed. (Işıl Menteş Pekdemir), İstanbul: Beta Yayıncılık.
4. Alt, E., Diez-de-Castro, E. P., & Llorens-Montes, F. J. (2015). Linking employee stakeholders to environmental performance: the role of proactive environmental strategies and shared vision. Journal of Business Ethics, 128, 167–18.
5. Anderson, V., Garavan, T., & Sadler-Smith, E. (2014). Corporate social responsibility, sustainability, ethics and international human resource development. Human Resource Development International, 17(5), 497–498.
6. Aras, G. ve Sarıoğlu, G. U. (2015). Kurumsal raporlamada yeni dönem: Entegre raporlama. İstanbul: TÜSİAD Yayınları. Argüden, Y. (2007). Yönetim kurulu sırları, İç Denetim Dergisi, 20, 30–32.
7. Azapagic, A. (2003). Systems Approach to corporate sustainability- a general management framework. Process Safety and Environmental Protection-Part B, 81, 303–316
8. Baird, L. ve Meshoulam, I. (1988). Managing two fits of strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 14, 116–128.

9. Bansal, P. (2005). Evolving sustainably: A longitudinal study of corporate sustainable development. Strategic Management Journal, 26(3), 197–218.
10. Bansal, P., Jiang, G. F., & Jung, J. C. (2015). Managing responsibly in though economic times: Strategic and tactical csr during the 2008-2009 global recession. Long Range Planning, 48(2), 69–79.
11. Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120.
12. Becker, B. E., & Gerhart B. (1996). The impact of human resource management on organizational performance: progress and prospects. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 779–801. Borsa İstanbul (2014). Sürdürülebilirlik Rehberi. İstanbul.
13. Boudreau, J. W.; Ramstad, P. M. (2005). Talentship, talent segmentation, and sustainability: a new HR Decision science paradigm for a new strategy definition. Human Resource Management, 44(2), 129–136.
14. Bjorkman, I., & Xiucheng. F. (2002). Human resource management and the performance of wern firms in China. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(6), 853–864.
15. Boxall, P., Purcell, J., & Wright, P. (2007). Human resource management: scope, analysis, and significance”. içinde The Oxford Handbook of Human Resource Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
16. Bowen, D. E., Galang, C., & Pillai, R. (2002). The role of human resource management: an exploratory study of cross‐country variance. Human Resource Management: Published in Cooperation with the School of Business Administration, The University of Michigan and in alliance with the Society of Human Resources Management, 41(1), 103–122. Bratton J. ve Gold, J. (2007). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. 6th ed. Palgrave Macmillan.
17. Clutterbuck, D. (2003) Managing Work-Life Balance: A Guide for HR in Achieving Organisational and Individual Change, London, CIPD Publishing.
18. Collins, C. J ve Clark, K. D. (2003). Strategic human resources practices and top management team social networks: an examination of the role of HR practices in creating organizational competitive advantage. Academy of Management Journal, 46 (6), 740–752.
19. Cook, T. (2004). Communicating with Employees, A Jackson Wells Morris White Paper.
20. Daily, B. F., & Huang, S. (2001). Achieving sustainability through attention to human resource factors in environmental management. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 21(12), 1539–1552.
21. Darnall, N., Jolley, G. J., & Handfield, R. (2008). Environmental management systems and green supply chain management: Complements for sustainability? Business Strategy and the Environment, 17(1), 30–45.
22. Delery, J. E., & Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of theorizing in strategic human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 949–969.
23. Delmas, M., & Keller, A. (2005). Free riding in voluntary environmental programs: The case of the U.S. EPA WasteWise program. Policy Sciences, 38(2–3), 91–106.
24. Dyllick, T., & Hockerts, K. (2002). Beyond the business case for corporate sustainability. Business Strategy and the Environment, 11(2), 130–141.
25. Eccles, R. G., Miller Perkins, K., & Serafeim, G. (2012). How to become sustainable company. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53(4), 43–50.
26. Ehnert, I. (2006, March). Sustainability Issues in Human Resource Management: Linkages, theoretical approaches, and outlines for an emerging field. In 21st EIASM Workshop on SHRM (pp. 30-31). Aston, Birmingham.
27. Ehnert, I. (2009). Sustainable Human Resource Management A Conceptual and Exploratory Analysis from a Paradox Perspective. Springer, London New York.
28. Ehnert, I., & Harry, W. (2012). Recent developments and future prospects on sustainable human resource management: Introduction to the special issue. Management Revue, 23 (3), 231–238.
29. Ericksen, J., & Dyer. L. (2005). Toward a strategic human resource management model of high reliability organizational performance. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(6), 907–928.
30. Esfahani, S. A., Rezaii, H., Koochmeshki, N., & Parsa, S. S. (2017). Sustainable and flexible human resource management for innovative organizations. Ad-Minister, 30, 195–215.
31. Faris, C., Gilbert, B., LeBlanc, B., Ballou, B., & Heitger, D. L. (2013). Demystifying Sustainability Risk: Integrating the Triple Bottom Line into an Enterprise Risk Management Program; Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
32. Freitas, W., Jabbour, Ch., & Santos, F. (2011). Continuing the Evolution: towards Sustainable HRM and Sustainable Organizations. Business Strategy Series, 12(5), 226–234.
33. Fisk, P. R. (2010). Sürdürülebilir büyüme: İnsan, gezegen, kar (Çeviri: E. Yıldırım). İstanbul: Media Cat Kitapları.
34. Galpin, T., Whitttington, J. L., & Bell, G. (2015). Is your sustainability strategy sustainable? Creating a culture of sustainability. Corporate Governance, 15(1), 1–17.
35. Gladwin, T. N., Kennelly, J. J., & Krause, T. S. (1995). Shifting paradigms for sustainable development: Implications for management theory and research. Academy of Management Review, 20(4), 874–907.
36. Glavič, P., & Lukman, R. (2007). Review of sustainability terms and their definitions. Journal of Cleaner Production. 15(18), 1875–1885.
37. Gollan, P. J. (2005). High involvement management and human resource sustainability: The challenges and opportunities. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 43(1), 18–33.
38. Guerci, M., & Pedrini, M. (2014). The consensus between Italian HR and sustainability managers on HR management for sustainability driven change – towards a “strong” HR management system. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(13), 1787–1814.
39. Gürer, Ç. ve Tutkun, S. (2014). Sürdürülebilirlik yolculuğu, KPMG Gündem Dergisi. 19, 20–22.
40. Gürol, Y. D. ve Gemici, E. (2017). Armstrong’un stratejik insan kaynakları yönetimi el kitabı. Ankara: Nobel Yayınları.
41. Hassan, A. (2002). Organizational Justıce as a Determınant of Organızatıonal Commıtment And Intentıon To Leave, Asian Academy of Management Journal, 7(2), 55–66.
42. Helfaya, A. ve Moussa, T. (2017). Do board’s corporate social responsibility strategy and orientation influence environmental sustainability disclosure? UK evidence. Business Strategy and the Environment, 26, 1061– 1077.
43. Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38(3), 635–672.
44. Jabbour, C. J. C., & Santos, F. C. A. (2008). The central role of human resource management in the search for sustainable organizations. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(12), 2133–2154.
45. Jarlström, M. Saru, E., & Vanhala, S. (2016). Sustainable human resource management with salience of stakeholders: A top management perspective. Journal of Business Ethics, 1–22.
46. Jerome, N. (2013). Impact of Sustainable Human Resource Management and Organizational Performance. International Journal of Asian Socaial Science, 3(6), 1287-1292.
47. Jenkins, H. (2003). Small and Medium Sized Enterprises and Corporate Social Responsibility, The ESRC Centre for Business Relationships, Accountability, Sustainability and Society, Cardiff.
48. Keçecioğlu. T. (2009). Stratejik insan kaynakları yönetimine kaynak bazlı bakış açısı üzerine değerlendirmeler, Ege Akademik Bakış, 9(1), 159–171.
49. Kramar, R. (2014). Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource management the next approach? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 25(8), 1069–1089.
50. Koçoğlu, M. (2017). Sürdürülebilirlik çerçevesinde insan kaynakları yönetimi, içinde İşletmelerde Sürdürülebilirlik Dinamikleri, Ed. (Işıl Menteş Pekdemir), İstanbul: Beta Yayınevi.
51. KPMG. (2005). KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting, Amsterdam.
52. Kurtuluş, K. (2004). Pazarlama Araştırmaları (7. bs). İstanbul: Literatür Yayınları. Kuşat, N. (2012). sürdürülebilir işletmeler için kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik ve içsel unsurları. Afyon Kocatepe Üniversitesi İİBF Dergisi, 14(2), 227–242
53. Lado, A. A., & Wilson, M. C. (1994). Human resource systems and sustained competitive advantadge: A competency-based perspective. Academy of Management Review, 19(4), 699–727.
54. Mahajan, A., & Benson, P. (2013). Organisational justice climate, social capital and firm performance. The Journal of Management Development, 32(7), 721–736.
55. McGraw, P., & Heidtman, D. (2009). Work life balance in australian legal firms. IJES, 17(2), 1–33.
56. Malone, E. K., & Issa, R. R. (2012). Work-life balance and organizational commitment of women in the US construction industry. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 139(2), 87–98.
57. Manfredi, S., & Holliday, M. (2004). Work-life balance, great Britain. The Centre for Diversity Policy Research. Mazur, B. (2015). Sustainable human resource management. The attempt of holistic approach. Ekonomia i Zarządzanie, 7(2), 158–170.
58. Melnyk, S. A., Sroufe, R. P., & Calantone, R. L. (2003). Assessing the impact of environmental management systems on corporate and environmental performance. Journal of Operations Management, 21(3), 329–351.
59. Montiel, I. (2008). Corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability: separate pasts, common futures. Organization & Environment, 21(3), 245–269.
60. Naithani, P. (2010). Overview of work-life balance discourse and its relevance in current economic scenario. Asian Social Science, 6(6), 148–155.
61. Osterman, P. (1987). Choice of employment systems in internal labor markets. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 26(1), 46–67.
62. Oswal, N., & Narayanappa, G.L. (2014). Evolution of HRM to E-HRM towards organizational effectiveness and sustainability. International Journal of Recent Development in Engineering and Technology, 2(4), 7–14.
63. Özçelik, A. O. (2006). Türkiye ve ABD’deki işletmelerde insan kaynakları departmanlarının stratejik rolüne ilişkin karşılaştırmalı bir çalışma. Yönetim Bilimleri Dergisi, 4(1), 69–94.
64. Özgül, B. ve Tarhan-Mengi, B. (2016). Kurumsal sürdürülebilirlik ve güvencesi: İç denetim. İstanbul: Beta Yayınevi.
65. Özgül, B. ve Gürol, Y. (2019). Kurumsal sürdürülebilirlikte sürdürülebilir insan kaynakları yönetiminin rolü üzerine bir içerik analizi. Doğuş Üniversitesi Dergisi ,20(1), 107–126.
66. Peters F., & Romi, M. (2015). The association between sustainability governance characteristics and the assurance of corporate sustainability reports. Auditing, 34(1), 163–198.
67. Petrini, M., & Pozzebon, M. (2010). Integrating sustainability into business practices: Learning from Brazilian firms. Brazilian Administration Review, 7(4), 362–378.
68. Pfeffer, J. (1994). Competitive advantage through people. Cambridge MA: Harvard Business Scholl Pres.
69. Pisani, J. A. Du. (2006). Sustainable development- historical roots of the concept. Enviromental Science, 3(2), 83–96.
70. Preuss, L., Haunschild, A., & Matten, D. (2009). The rise of CSR: Implications for HRM and employee representation. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(4), 953–973.
71. Prins, De. P., Van Beirendonck, L., De Vos, A., & Segers, J. (2014). Sustainable HRM: Bridging theory and practice through the “Respect Openness Continuity (ROC)”- model. Management Revue, 263–284.
72. PWC. (2011). İMKB ve iş dünyası ve sürdürülebilir kalkınma derneği, Türk İş Dünyası’nda Sürdürülebilir Uygulamaları Değerlendirme Raporu.
73. Ramus, C. A., & Steger, U. (2000). The roles of supervisory support behaviors and environmental policy in employee “Eco-initiatives” at leading-edge European companies. Academy of Management Journal, 43(4), 605–626.
74. Roosa, A. S. (2010). Sustainable development handbook. Fairmont Press.
75. Ryder, G. (2003). Social Responsibilities of Business and Workers Rights içinde Labour Education: Corporate Social responsibility: Myth or Reality?, 130, 21–24.
76. Saif, M. I., Malik, M. I., & Awan, M. Z. (2011). Employee work satisfaction and work - life balance: a pakistani perspective. Interdisciplinary Journal of Contemporary Research In Business, 3(5), 606–617.
77. Schaltegger, S., & Christian H. (2006). Corporate Sustainability Reporting-An Overview, (Ed. Stefan Schaltegger, Martin Bennett, Roger Burritt, Sustainability Accounting and Reporting, Dordrecht, Springer Publishing, ss.301-324.
78. Schein, E. (2010). Organizational Culture and Leadership (4th ed.). Jossey-Bass, San Francisco : California.
79. Schuler, R. S. (1992). Strategic human resource management: linking people with the strategic needs of the business, Organization Dynamics, 21(1), 18–32.
80. Schuler, R., & Jackson, S. E. (1987). Linking competitive strategies with human resource management practices. Academy of Management Executive, 1(3), 207–219.
81. Schuler, R., & Jackson, S. E. (2014). Human resource management and organizational effectiveness: yesterday and today. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 1(1), 35–55.
82. Seviçin, A. (2006). Kaynaklara dayalı rekabet stratejisi geliştirme. Dumlupınar Üniversitesi Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 15, 109–124.
83. Seow, C., Hillary, R., Gao, S. S., & Zhang, J. J. (2006). Stakeholder engagement, social auditing and corporate sustainability. Business Process Management Journal, 12(6), 722–740.
84. Sohn, Y. W., & Shin, J. (2015). Effects of employees’ social comparison behaviors on distributive justice perception and job satisfaction. Social Behavior & Personality, 43(7), 1071–1083.
85. Spector, P. E., & Che, X. X. (2014). Re-examining citizenship: How the control of measurement artifacts affects observed relationships of organizational citizenship behavior and organizational variables. Human Performance, 27(2), 165–182.
86. Sakthivel, D., & Jayakrishnan, J. (2012). Work life balance and organizational commitment for nurses. Asian Journal of Business and Management Sciences, 2(5), 1–6.
87. Stankeviciute, Z., & Savaneviciene, A. (2013). Sustainability as a concept for human resource management. Economics and Management, 18(4), 837–846.
88. Stead, W. E., & Stead, G. J. (1994). Can humankind change the economic myth? Paradigm shifts necessary for ecologically sustainable business. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 7(4), 15–31.
89. Susi, S., & Jawaharrani, K. (2011). Work-life balance: the key driver of employee engagement. Asian Journal of Management Research, 2(1), 474–483.
90. Taylor, S., Osland, J., & Egri, C. P. (2012). Guest editors’ introduction: Introduction to HRM’s role in sustainability: Systems, strategies, and practices. Human Resource Management, 51(6), 789–798.
91. Thom, N., & Zaugg, R. J. (2004). Nachhaltiges und innovatives Personal management. In Nachhaltiges Innovations management. Gabler Verlag, 215–245.
92. Van Marrewijk, & M., 2003. Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: between agency and communion. Journal of Business Ethics, 44, 95–105.
93. Vickers, M. R. (2005). Business ethics and the HR role: past, present, and future. Human Resource Planning, 28 (1), 26–33.
94. Wilkinson, A., Hill, M., & Gollan, P. (2001). The sustainability debate. International Journal of Operations and Production Management, 21(12), 1492–1502.
95. Wirtenberg, J., Harmon, J., Russell, W. G., & Fairfield, K. D. (2007). HR’s role in building a sustainable enterprise: Insights from some of the world’s best companies. Human Resource Planning, 30, 10–20.
96. Wong, S. C. K., & Ko, A. (2009). Exploratory study of understanding hotel employees’ perception on work– life balance issues. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 28, 195–203.
97. Wright, P. M., & Snell, S. A. (1998). Toward a unifying framework from exploring fit and flexibility in strategic human resource management. Academy of Management Review, 23(4), 756–772.
98. Wright, P. M., & McMahan, G. C. (1992). Theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource management. Journal of Management, 18(2), 295–320.
99. Zappala, G., & Cronin, C. (2003). The employee dimensions of corporate community involvement in Australia: Trends and prospects. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 12, 59–73.
100. Zaugg, R. J. (2002). Mit profil am arbeitsmarkt agieren. Personalwirtschaft, 13–18.