Abstract:
This study examines the effectiveness of the human resource management (HRM)
function of a public sector entity as it became corporatlzed. There has been little
empirical research regarding the effectiveness of the people management
functions within the Australian pulic sector as these entities went through a
period of transition to commercialization. A questionnaire obtaining perceptions on
different aspects of HR effectiveness, both before and after corporatlzatlon, was
administered to a sample (N = 122) representing a number of different stakeholder
groups of the corporate HRM unit. The results showed a moderate, but statistically
significant, improvement in the effectiveness of HRM, and of the corporate HRM
unit, as the host organization went through corporatization. Perceptions on HR
effectiveness were not found to vary significantly between the different stakeholder
groups. Regression analysis showed that the malor predictors of the improvement
in the overall effectiveness of the corporate HR unit were, firstly, changes in the
level of satisfaction with the quality of the HR outcomes as a result of
commercialization and, secondly, the change in extent to which the senior HR
practitioner had effective influence over strategic decision-making processes.
