Role of Human Resource Flexibility and Coordination in Project Performance: A study in the Indian IT Industry

Abstract

SHRM literature has proposed a framework of HR flexibility that focuses on three points: (1) developing HR systems that can be adapted quickly, (2) developing a human capital pool with a broad array of skills, and (3) promoting behavioural flexibility among employees. Literature has also extensively covered flexibility that depends jointly on Resource flexibility which is the extent to which a resource can be applied to a larger range of alternative uses, the costs and time required to switching the use of a resource from one alternative use to another; and Coordination flexibility which is the extent to which the firm can reconfigure the chain of resources and redeploy them. The different dimensions of HR flexibility, individually and collectively, affect the firm-level human, operational, and financial outcomes. However, there is not much empirical work to establish the impact of HR flexibility on project performance. Hence, this paper discusses the impact of HR flexibility on IT project performance in the global delivery model. The paper also highlights the antecedents to superior project performance and the challenges posed due to requirement volatility and coordination issues. In this study, project leads and managers from leading IT firms have been interviewed to establish the need for flexibility for project success owing to aspects such as requirement volatility, unavailability of the right resources and lack of client information and involvement