Examining the Dynamics of HRM Accountability: Analyzing the Relationship Between Decentralization, Devolution, and Employee Autonomy in Multi-Unit Organizations

Abstract

Abstract

This study explores the connection between decentralization and devolution in Human Resource Management (HRM) and helps to explain two terms that are often used interchangeably. Devolution is the delegation of HRM responsibilities from HR professionals to line managers, while decentralization is the authority to implement HRM policies from the head office to local organizational units. The study uses data from the Cranet survey and employs multilevel analysis to test this relationship and the moderating effect of HR department power. The result indicates that decentralization of HRM is positively related to devolution to line managers. But this positive correlation decreases when the HR function has greater influence within the organization, suggesting that stronger HR functions are more likely to retain policy decisions. By highlighting departmental power as a crucial boundary condition and offering more precise conceptual and operational differences between the two procedures, the study advances HRM theory. The results indicate that, in practice, the location of HRM authority needs to be intertwined with the actors involved in policy-making.