The Nordic model of HRM from 1995-2021– a case of ‘bounded change’?

The aim of this comparative study is to investigate the degree of continuity in the distinctiveness of private-sector Nordic HRM in terms of calculative and collaborative HRM in relation to the prototypical liberal market economy – the UK – and the prototypical coordinated market economy – Germany. Our analysis employs firm-level data from the Cranet survey for the period 1995-2021. In line with institutional theory and its concept of ‘bounded change’ our findings indicate that, notwithstanding structural change and institutional developments, the Nordic countries continue to be characterized by a relatively low adoption of calculative HRM and a relatively high adoption of collaborative HRM. As such, they continue to constitute a cluster of countries that is distinctive in relation to both the UK and Germany.

This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article published by Taylor & Francis on 13 Feb 2025, accepted for publication in The International Journal of Human Resource Management. Gooderham, P. N., Olsen, K. M., Sandvik, A. M., Smale, A., Bévort, F., Einarsdottir, A., & Tengblad, S. (2025). The Nordic model of HRM from 1995–2021– a case of ‘bounded change’? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 1–33. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585192.2025.2462050 . It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.