Identification and Prioritization of the Methodological Problems in the Study of the Relationship Between HRM and Performance Outcomes

One of the most important research topics in HRM field of study in recent decades, is the study of HRM-performance relationship. The importance of these studies is so much, as they imply both micro and macro implications of HR practices, encompass HRM influences on performance outcomes, and also the existence reason of HR practices and the nature of its practices. However, a body of researches have scientifically criticized/questioned the findings of aforementioned previous studies. These criticisms often comprise the methodological aspects of previous studies. Current study, in two phases, has been done by considering the importance of prementioned issue and the lack of a study in order to introduce and summarize those criticisms. First, we applied “mixed research synthesis” approach as one of the subsidiaries of meta-synthesis method. By studying and summarizing 40 valid critical papers in this field of study, we have presented and explained a five-dimensioned guiding map for introducing the criticisms on the HRM-performance researches. In order to assess research validity, CASP standard checklist was applied, and to determine the reliability, Cohenchr('39')s Kappa was used in SPSS software which was confirmed by resulting in 0/762.  In the second phase, the five dimensions, found in the former phase, were prioritized with AHP method.