Human resource management implementation as a system-level legitimacy process: visibility and binding mechanisms in the multi-actor governance of industrial relations

With legitimacy being crucial to the effective implementation of human resource management (HRM) policy, this paper advances a system-level understanding of HRM implementation as a legitimacy process. Extending institutional perspectives on legitimacy and HRM implementation as justification work, this paper conceptualizes legitimacy as a dynamic social process sustained through the interplay of visibility and binding mechanisms among interdependent actors – firms, unions, employer associations, professional networks, and regulatory bodies. Empirically, the study draws on a long-term qualitative inquiry (2014–2025) involving more than 150 interviews and field observations in Indonesia, supplemented by fieldwork in Japan and across relevant intermediary networks. The dataset captures the multi-actor coordination through which organizational practice links to institutional governance. The study contributes theoretically by (i) reframing HRM implementation as a system-level legitimacy process; (ii) integrating strategic HRM and Industrial Relations (IR) literatures through a unified analytical lens to examine visibility–binding mechanisms; and (iii) explaining how legitimacy functions as an institutional capability supporting industrial democracy and stabilizing employment systems in emerging economies.