Human Resource Management in Professional Service Firms: a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Human resource management in professional service firms is one of the most important instruments for promoting sustainable competitive advantage. However, the questions of what HRM-related challenges such firms face and how they utilize HRM practices in order to address these challenges are not fully answered. Using a systematic literature review of 79 peer-reviewed journals, we attempt to contribute to answering to these questions. We analyzed the contribution of the articles by four HRM issues in PSF: "herding cats" problem, multiple commitment, autonomy and informality, and alternative incentives. As result, we identified possible gaps in the literature that could serve as the directions for future research.