RT Journal Article
T1 Leadership and dynamic capabilities: the role of HR systems
A1 López Cabrales, Álvaro
A1 Díaz-Fernández, Mirta
A1 Bornay-Barrachina, Mar
K1 Quantitative
K1 Leadership style
K1 Competitive advantage
K1 Strategic human resource management (SHRM)
K1 Human resource management system
AB PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze the antecedents of the development of dynamic capabilities from an HRM perspective, considering the leading role of leadership styles and their potential impact on the orientation of HR systems and a firm’s capabilities.Design/methodology/approachThe authors designed an empirical study of a sample of 107 Spanish industrial firms, asking HR, production and marketing managers to assess the CEO’s leadership styles, the system of HRM practices applied in their organizations and dynamic capabilities. They applied multiple regressions and mediation analysis.FindingsThe authors’ results suggest that both transactional and transformational leadership styles are positively associated with dynamic capabilities (sensing, seizing and reconfiguration), directly and indirectly, through their effects on HR systems.Research limitations/implicationsThis paper approaches dynamic capabilities by using cross-sectional data. A longitudinal analysis would enrich this study. Also, the data aggregation in this paper does not allow to check different HR orientations from different departments. Finally, other HRM practices and strategic orientations could be assessed.Practical implicationsThis paper highlights the need to develop CEOs who are able to combine leadership behaviors in such a way that they promote HR systems (skill-based development vs job-based development) and to use them as mediating mechanisms and in order to generate greater dynamic capabilities in the organization.Originality/valueThe authors are proposing that HRM can be applied to leverage a firm’s competitive advantage, as HR systems mediate for obtaining different dynamic capabilities. Second, it could be concluded that any CEO should combine or display traits of both forms of leadership styles (transformational and transactional) in order to develop the full range of dynamic capabilities. Finally, this paper can provide some insights into the way dynamic capabilities can be measured and approached, through HRM microfoundations.
YR 2017
FD 2017
LK https://hdl.handle.net/10433/20077
UL https://hdl.handle.net/10433/20077
LA en
NO Personnel Review, Vol. 46 Iss 2 pp. 255 - 276
NO Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, Plan Nacional de I+D+I (ECO2010-14939).
NO Departamento de Organización de Empresa y Marketing
DS RIO
RD Apr 24, 2026