Collaboration-oriented Human Resource Management and Professionalism: An Empirical Study of the Effect of HRM on the Professionalism of Management Consultant

Abstract

Professionals in the professional organization were a collection of individuals who came together to draw on common resources and support services but otherwise wanted to be left alone. However, the need for collaboration arose from the marketplace. Collaboration among these professionals was very much desirable, but there was a downside to it. If the professionals adapted too much to the organization, they would lose their specialized roles and power. Some of the management consulting firms, as an example of a new type of professional organization, were practicing collaboration-oriented human resource management (HRM), and the autonomous consultants were working in a collaborative manner. The purpose of this research was to examine the effect of collaboration-oriented HRM on the degree of professionalism of the individual who was working at the organization. A total of 145 consultants from seven management consulting firms completed a questionnaire concerning the relationship between the degree of HRM practices and their own professionalism. With regard to the results, factor analysis and a reliability test detected two interpretable factors of the HRM: “ the systems emphasizing qualitative appraisal” and “ the systems enhancing team recognition,” and four factors of professionalism: “autonomy,” “belief in public service,” “belief in self-regulation,” and “using the professional organization as a major referent.” Then a multiple regression analysis revealed that “the systems emphasizing qualitative appraisal” was the determinant of “professionalism” as a whole and “belief in public service,” and that “the systems enhancing team recognition” was one of the “belief in self-regulation.” Thus, the HRM practices made individuals engaged in a collaborative working style more professional, which then might result in greater organizational effectiveness.