Online seminar – When do they care? The effects of negative media coverage and institutional ownership on Human Resource management systems

Professor Kaifeng Jiang, The Ohio State University

We respond to calls for research on antecedents of human resource management (HRM) systems by examining the main effect of negative media coverage and the moderating effects of institutional ownership. Drawing upon institutional theory, we propose that firms are likely to increase their use of high-investment HRM systems when they experience negative media coverage related to labour and employment issues and this relationship is stronger when dedicated institutional ownership is lower or when transient institutional ownership is higher. Using longitudinal archival data on listed firms in the United States from 2007 to 2018, we found the support for the joint effects of negative media coverage and institutional ownership on firms’ investment in high-investment HRM systems. Our paper advances research on antecedents of HRM systems and emphasises the roles of external stakeholders and shareholders in affecting firms’ HRM systems. Our findings also provide implications for both practitioners and policy makers.

Speaker bio

Kaifeng Jiang is a Professor of Management and Human Resources and a core faculty member of Translational Data Analytics Institute (TDAI) at The Ohio State University. Professor Jiang’s research focuses on strategic HRM, organisational climate, and work teams. With over 30 articles published in leading management journals, he is among the most productive and most cited scholars in the field of strategic HRM. He has earned prestigious recognitions for scholarly career achievement including the Early Career Achievement Award of the HR Division and the Luis Aparicio Prize of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association. His research has received financial support from multiple sponsors including the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and the SHRM Foundation. He serves on the editorial review boards of journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Personnel Psychology. He is an associate editor of International Journal of Human Resource Management and a former associate editor of Human Resource Management Journal (2016-2020). He has also been an active member of the Human Resources Division of the Academy of Management where he serves or has served in a number of capacities, including Executive Committee member (2017-2020) and Division Chair (2021-2026).

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