Defining the Activities and Effectiveness of the Human Resource Department: A Multiple Constituency Approach

Abstract Human resource strategy research has focused primarily on the effects of business objectives and other organizational contingencies on organizational‐wide human resource systems and policies. Relatively little attention has been paid to the human resource function at the business implementation level. The multiple constituency approach was proposed to be a meaningful conceptual basis for analyzing the activities and effectiveness of the human resource department at the firm's operating level. A research project involving three separate studies found support on the validity of the multiple constituency approach. Constituency perspectives differed in both the activities desired of the human resource department and criteria meaningful for evaluating its effectiveness. The largest discrepancy was between constituencies with a strategic focus and constituencies with an operational orientation. Implications of the research findings and of the multiple constituency approach for strategic human resource management research and practice are discussed.