The differential effects of human resource management on organizational innovation: a meta-analytic examination

Purpose This meta-analytical review aims to clarify the relationships between three bundles of human resource management (HRM) practices—competency-enhancing, motivation-enhancing and opportunity-enhancing—and organizational innovation by addressing two questions: (a) Which types of HRM bundles are most strongly related to different forms of innovation (i.e. process and product innovation)? And (b) Which mechanism provides a stronger explanation for the positive effects of HRM bundles on innovation? Design/methodology/approach Based on data from 103 studies, a meta-analysis was conducted to quantitatively summarize existing HRM–innovation studies at the organizational level. Findings The results showed that the competency-enhancing bundle was more positively related to product innovation than the motivation-enhancing and opportunity-enhancing bundles. The opportunity-enhancing bundle was most strongly associated with process innovation. The authors further found that knowledge management capability (KMC) and employee motivation mediated the positive relationship between the three HRM bundles and innovation outcomes. In comparing the two mechanisms, this review suggests that KMC better explains both the impact of the competency-enhancing HRM bundle on product innovation and the effect of the opportunity-enhancing bundle on process innovation. Originality/value Based on behavioral and knowledge management perspectives, this study takes a sub-bundle approach to providing an integrative review by comparing the direct effects and mediating paths of HRM bundles on product and process innovation.