The devolution of HRM to middle managers in the Irish health service
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481011030548 |
| Date | 13 April 2010 |
| Published date | 13 April 2010 |
| Pages | 361-374 |
| Author | Edel Conway,Kathy Monks |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
The devolution of HRM to middle
managers in the Irish health
service
Edel Conway and Kathy Monks
Learning, Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre,
Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
Abstract
Purpose – The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of organisational restructuring on the
devolution of HRM to middle managers in the Irish health service.
Design/methodology/approach – The study involved interviews with a cross-section of 48 HR
and line managers in one area of the Irish health service.
Findings – Decision making by both HR and middle managers was adversely affected by the
increased layers of bureaucracy that had resulted from the restructuring process. HR managers were
devolving HR activities but were still retaining control of information systems and this was both
slowing down middle management decision making and leading to the creation of new databases by
the managers themselves. HR managers were emerging as regulators of HR activities.
Research limitations/implications – The study was conducted in only one area of the Irish health
service and with a limited number of respondents.
Originality/value – The study examines the way in which organisational context impacts on the
devolution of HR activities to line managers and adds to an understanding of the relationship between
HR and middle managers in the devolution of HR activities to line managers.
Keywords Middle managers,Health services, Human resourcemanagement, Devolution,
Organizationalrestructuring, Ireland
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
This article considers the impact of organisational restructuring on the delivery of
human resource management (HRM) in the Irish health service by focusing on the
devolution of HRM to middle managers that formed part of this restructuring process.
There have been several studies of the impact of the devolution of HRM to both front
line and middle managers (e.g. McConville and Holden, 1999; McConville, 2006; Currie
and Procter, 2001; Purcell and Hutchinson, 2007). However, the focus of attentionhas in
the main been on the change in the roles of both HR and line managers that such
devolution brings. This article expands this understanding by examining in more
detail the organisational and administrative context in which HR decisions are made
and how these contextual factors impact not just the relationship between the HR
function and middle managers but also the ways in which middle managers are
enabled or constrained in their enactment of HR responsibilities. The findings add to
the debate on the importance of context and climate in understanding both HR
processes and middle management roles (Paauwe, 2004; Marchington et al., 1994;
Bowen and Ostroff, 2004; Dopson and Stewart, 1993; Currie, 2000).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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The devolution
of HRM
361
Received 3 September 2008
Revised October 2008
Accepted 3 July 2009
Personnel Review
Vol. 39 No. 3, 2010
pp. 361-374
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/00483481011030548
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