Human resources slack refers to more human resources than the organization needs, which can have different and even contradictory effects on organizational performance. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effect of this new concept on organizational performance. The methodology adopted was qualitative and fundamental, with a systematic review in the case of purpose. Therefore, the systematic search to identify and extract articles was limited to two databases, Elsevier (Scopus) and the Scientific Network Information Sciences Institute (Thomson Reuters). The Critical Appraisal Skills Programs standard checklist was used to assess the study validity, and a Cohen kappa index equal to 0.731 was applied in SPSS software to assess the study reliability, which was confirmed. Having investigated the existing articles, a model was suggested to clearly state the effect of human resources slack on the organization’s performance. Referring to the articles, the model introduces the different types of human resources slack, which could range from value-oriented to knowledge-oriented to surplus-oriented to accumulation-oriented (relative or absolute), and could also be knowledge-based or non-knowledge-based and short-term or long-term period. The model presented in the research can be the basis for future research that aims to optimize human resource slack in human resource management measures such as training, rewarding and compensating, evaluation and so on. In the proposed pattern, value-oriented and knowledge-based human resources slack with positive effects were evaluated. Surplus-oriented human resources slack and, to some extent, accumulation-oriented human resources slack with negative effects were also evaluated. It was concluded that having too many of each type can prove detrimental to an organization’s performance.
AdomakoS., & NguyenP. N. (2020). Human resource slack, sustainable innovation, and environmental performance of small and medium-sized enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(8), 2984–2994. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2552
2.
Agusti-PerezM., GalanJ. L., & AcedoF. J. (2020). Relationship between slack resources and performance: temporal symmetry and duration of effects. European Journal of Management and Business Economics, 29(3). https://doi.org/10.1108/EJMBE-10-2019-0177
3.
Argil_es-BoschJ. M., Garcia-Bland_onJ., RavendaD., & Mart_ınez-BlascoM. (2018). An empirical analysis of the curvilinear relationship between slack and firm performance. Journal of Management Control, 29(3–4), 361–397.
4.
AsiriN., KhanT., & KendM. (2020). Environmental management accounting in the Middle East and North Africa region: Significance of resource slack and coercive isomorphism. Journal of Cleaner Production, 267, 121870.
5.
BarleyS. R., & OrrJ. E. (Eds). (1997). Between craft and science: Technical work in US settings. Cornell University Press.
6.
BlagoevaR. R., MomT. J., JansenJ. J., & GeorgeG. (2020). Problem-solving or selfenhancement? A power perspective on how CEOs affect R&D search in the face of inconsistent feedback. Academy of Management Journal, 63(2), 332–355.
7.
BourgeoisL. J.III. (1981). On the measurement of organizational slack. Academy of Management Review, 6(1), 29–39. http://dx.doi.org/10.5465/AMR.1981.4287985
8.
CarnesC. M., XuK., SirmonD. G., & KaradagR. (2019). How competitive action mediates the resource slack–performance relationship: A meta-analytic approach. Journal of Management Studies, 56(1), 57–90.
9.
ChengJ. L. C., & KesnerI. F. (1997). Organizational slack and response to environmental shifts: The impact of resource allocation patterns. Journal of Management, 23(1), 1–18.
10.
CiomagaB. (2013). Sport management: A bibliometric study on central themes and trends. European Sport Management Quarterly, 13(5), 557–578.
11.
CohenM. D., MarchJ. G., & OlsenJ. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative, 6(3), 1–10.
12.
CyertR. M., & MarchJ. G. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm (Vol. 2). Englewood Cliffs.
13.
DaiW., & KittilaksanawongW. (2014). How are different slack resources translated into firm growth? Evidence from China. International Business Research, 7(2), 1–12.
14.
DuanY., WangW., & ZhouW. (2020). The multiple mediation effect of absorptive capacity on the organizational slack and innovation performance of high-tech manufacturing firms: Evidence from Chinese firms,International Journal of Production Economics, 229, 107754.
15.
FinkR., ThompsonC. J., & BonnesD. (2005). Overcoming barriers and promoting the use of research in practice. Journal of Nursing Administration, 35, 121–129.
16.
FonsekaM. M., WangP., & ManzoorM. S. (2013). Impact of human resource slacks on firm performance: Evidence from a developing country. Preliminary Communication, 31(2), 279–306.
17.
FonsekaM., WangP., & ManzoorM. S. (2014). The interactions between different types of financial and human resource slacks on firm performance: Evidence from a developing country. South African Journal of Business Management, 45(3), 57–66.
18.
FouaadT. R. (2019). The role of human resource slack on the total quality management implementation. Academic Journal of Nawroz University, 8(4), 107.
19.
GeigerS. W., MarlinD., & SegrestS. L. (2019). Slack and performance in the hospital industry: A configurational approach. Management Decision. https://doi.org/10.1108/MD-07-2017-0703
20.
GeorgeG. (2005). Slack resources and the performance of privately held firms. The Academy of Management Journals, 8(4), 661–676.
21.
GoerzenA., & BeamishP. W. (2007). The Penrose effect: Excess expatriates in multinational enterprises. Management International Review, 47(2), 221–239.
22.
GreveH. R. (2003). A behavioral theory of R&D expenditures and innovations: Evidence from shipbuilding. Academy of Management Journal, 46(6), 685–702.
23.
KimS.-I., ShinH., ShinH., & ParkS. (2019). Organizational slack, corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and integrated reporting: Evidence from Korea. Sustainability, 11, 4445. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11164445
24.
LecuonaJ. R., & ReitzigM. (2014). Knowledge worth having in excess: The value of tacit and firm-specific human resource slack. Strategic Management Journal, 35, 954–973.
25.
LewinA. Y., WeigeltC. B., & EmeryJ. D. (2004). Adaptation and selection in strategy and change. Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (pp. 108–160). Oxford University Press.
26.
LoveE. G., & NohriaN. (2005). Reducing slack: The performance consequences of downsizing by large industrial firms, 1977–93. Strategic Management Journal, 26 (12), 1087–1108.
27.
LvD. D., ChenW., & LanH. (2020). Multiple performance pressure inconsistency, resource slack, and the firm’s R&D investment: A behavioral agency theory perspective. Business Research Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/2340944420916097
28.
LvD. D., ChenW., ZhuH., & LanH. (2019). How does inconsistent negative performance feedback affect the R&D investments of firms? A study of publicly listed firms. Journal of Business Research, 102, 151–162.
29.
MahoneyJ. T. (2004). Economic foundations of strategy. Sage Publications, Incorporated.
30.
MalenJ. (2015). Motivating and enabling firm innovation effort: Integrating penrosian and behavioral theory perspectives on slack resources. Hitotsubashi journal of commerce and management, 49, 37–54.
31.
MarchJ. G., & SimonH. A. (1958). Organizations. Wiley.
32.
MeyerM., & LeitnerJ. (2018). Slack and innovation: The role of human resources in nonprofits. Nonprofit Management and Leadership, 29, 181–201.
33.
MillerD., LantT. K., MillikenF. J., & KornH. J. (1996). The evolution of strategic simplicity: Exploring two models of organizational adaptation. Journal of Management, 22, 863–887.
34.
MishinaY., PollockT., & PoracJ. (2004). Are more resources always better for growth? Resource,Strategic Management Journal, 39(5), 1245–1264.
35.
MousaF.-T., & ChowdhuryJ. (2014). Organizational slack effects on innovation: The moderating roles of CEO tenure and compensation. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 15(2), 369–383.
36.
MunozS. R., & BangdiwalaS. I. (1997). Interpretation of Kappa and B statistics measures of agreement. Journal of Applied Statistics, 24(1), 105–112.
37.
NagendrababuV., DuncanH., & DummerP. (2020). Research that matters: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses. National Library of Medicine, 53(4), 437–439.
38.
NguyenP. V., HuynhH. T. N., TrieuH. D. X., & TranK. T. (2019). Internationalization, strategic slack resources, and firm performance: The case study of Vietnamese enterprises. Journal of Risk Financial Management, 12, 144. https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm12030144
39.
NguyenT. T., & ChieuT. D. (2018). Slack resources and innovation in Vietnamese SMEs: A behavioural, stewardship, and institutional perspective [WIDER Working Paper, No. 2018/78], The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER). http://dx.doi.org/10.35188/UNU-WIDER/2018/520-6
40.
NohriaN., & GulatiR. (1996). Is slack good or bad for innovation?Academy of Management Journal, 39(5), 1245–1264.
41.
NohriaN., & GulatiR. (1997). What is the optimum amount of organizational slack?: A study of the relationship between slack and innovation in multinational firms. European Management Journal, 15(6), 603–611.
42.
OdellH. R. (1972). Organizational slack as a measure of the discretionary allocation of resources by the Business Firm [PhD thesis]. Indiana University.
43.
PaelemanI., FussC., & VanackerT. (2017). Untangling the multiple effects of slack resources on firms’ exporting behavior. Journal of World Business, 52(6), 769–781. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jwb.2017.06.007
44.
PaelemanI., & VanackerT. (2012). The interaction between financial and human resource slack and its effect on firm performance. Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research, 32(3), Article 3.
45.
SgourevS. V., & van LentW. (2017). When too many are not enough: Human resource slack and performance at the Dutch East India Company (1700–1795). Human Relations, 70(11), 1293–1315. https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717691340
46.
SharfmanM. P., WolfG., ChaseR. B., & TansikD. A. (1988). Antecedents of organizational slack. Academy of Management Review, 13(4), 601–614.
47.
SinghJ. V. (1986). Performance, slack, and risk taking in organizational decision making. Academy of Management Journal, 29(3), 562–585.
48.
SunY., DuS., & DingY. (2020). Article the relationship between slack resources, resource bricolage, and entrepreneurial opportunity identification: Based on resource opportunity perspective. Sustainability, 12, 1199. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12031199
49.
TanJ., & PengM. W. (2003). Organizational slack and firm performance during economic transitions: Two studies from an emerging economy. Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 24(2003), 1249–1263.
50.
TeirlinckP. (2020). Engaging in new and more research-oriented R&D projects: Interplay between level of new slack, business strategy and slack absorption. Journal of Business Research, 120, 181–194.
51.
ThompsonJ. D. (1967). Organizations in actions. McGraw Hill.
52.
VanackerT., CollewaertV., & PaelemanI. (2013). The relationship between slack resources and the performance of entrepreneurial firms: The role of venture capital and angel investors. Journal of Management Studies, 50(6), 1070–1096. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12026
53.
VanackerT., CollewaertV., & ZahraS. A. (2017). Slack resources, firm performance, and the institutional context: Evidence from privately held European firms. Strategic Management Journal, 38(6), 1305–1326.
54.
VaughanY., & KohY. (2019). Role of resource slack in rapid international expansion of restaurant companies. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 31(1), 2–20.
55.
WangH., JaepilC., WanG., & JohnQ. D. (2016). Slack resources and the rent-generating potential of firm-specific knowledge. Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University, 42(2), 500–523.
56.
WelbourneT. M., NeckH. M., & MeyerG. D. (1999). Human resource slack and venture growth: An exploratory analysis of growing employees at faster rates than sales. In ReynoldsP. D., BygraveW. D., ManigartS., . (Eds), Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research (pp. 17–31). Babson College.
57.
WisemanR. M., & BromileyP. (1996). Toward a model of risk in declining organizations: An empirical examination of risk, performance and decline. Organization Science, 7(5), 524–543.
58.
ZhangC. M., & GreveH. R. (2019). Dominant coalitions directing acquisitions: Different decision makers, different decisions. Academy of management Journal, 62(1), 44–65.
59.
ZhangY., LiJ., HuY., SongW., JiangW., & DingW.2018, The effects of slack resource of R&D professionals on firm performance: Evidence from traditional manufacturing firms in an emerging economy. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(12), 1594–1616. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2017.1416654
60.
ZhongH. (2011). The impact of human resource slack on the product innovation of information technology firms. InInternational workshop on intelligent systems and applications. IEEE.
61.
ZhongH., ZhangX., & FangR. (2008). The relationship between human resource slack and technological innovation. Science & Technology Progress and Policy, 14(1), 1–12.
