When less is more: HRM implementation, legitimacy, and decoupling

The implementation of HR policies often proves troublesome due to the appearance, and stubborn persistence, of gaps in the process. HRM scholars problematise these gaps and advocate tight implementation to reduce gaps and to ensure the desired impact of policies on organizational performance. Drawing on organizational institutionalism, we contend that gaps in implementing HR policies can actually be productive, as they secure organizational legitimacy, and thus enable organizations to operate viably within several institutional environments. We suggest that different approaches to implementation are needed, some of them premised on accepting sustained implementation gaps. We introduce minimum and moderate implementation approaches, rooted in the notion of decoupling, to complement approaches aimed at tight implementation. Our aim is to support the further development of research based on a richer interpretation of HRM implementation challenges and choices they present for HR managers.