This article presents a conceptual framework for a political economy approach for studying the role of human resource development (HRD) leadership in organizations and understanding the linkage between an organization’s political-economic context and HRD programs and practice. This conceptual framework provides an integrative model for comparative analysis across organizations. It also brings the role of opportunistic advocacy to the forefront of discourse involving HRD practice. A political economy approach contextualizes the literature on performance improvement and emphasizes the role of HRD agency. This article provides a foundation for the conceptual framework, drawing on the seminal literature in strategy and organizational sociology. Examples of initial categories for a grounded theory of HRD from a political economy perspective are provided.
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