Human Resource Management in New Service Arrangements: Extending the Ability, Motivation, Opportunity Framework Into the Gig Economy

2025/04/22 by Michael Maffie, Tashlin Lakhani · 1 voice
Social Sciences · Business, Management and Accounting · Economics, Econometrics and Finance · #Digital Economy and Work Transformation #Sharing Economy and Platforms #Taxation and Compliance Studies

paper · doi:10.1002/hrm.22305

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article investigates how human resource (HR) practices affect organizational outcomes in one of the newest areas of service work: the gig economy. Combining theory on multi‐sided markets and strategic human resource management, this article explores how platform companies' use of HR practices can lead to improved worker retention. Specifically, we focus on one important aspect of retention: preventing workers from simultaneously working for a rival platform, a practice known as multi ‐ homing . Drawing on original qualitative and quantitative data from the ride‐hail industry, we demonstrate that the introduction of HR practices reduces gig workers' tendency to multi‐home.

Citations

• An Analysis of the Labor Market for Uber’s Driver-Partners in the United States
• ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES TO THE EMPLOYEE-ORGANIZATION RELATIONSHIP: DOES INVESTMENT IN EMPLOYEES PAY OFF?
• The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields

Discussions

• 🚨 Exciting new research in Human Resource Management! In this article, my coauthor Tashlin Lakhani and I explore strategic human resource management in the gig economy. 🚗 Check it out here: doi.org [bsky, 6 points, 1 comments]

Related

• Laying the Groundwork for a Worker-Centric Peer Economy
• Beyond the ‘Gig Economy’: Towards Variable Experiences of Job Quality in Platform Work
• What Happens When the Gig Is Up? The Relationship Between Gig Work Histories and Future Career Prospects
• Pay and Train to Sustain: A Dynamic Human Capital Resources View of the Relationship Between HRM Practices and Organizational Performance Over Time
• All Roads Lead to Rome? A Contingent Configurational Perspective of HRM Systems and Organizational Effectiveness