Who Believes Us?

Abstract

Because research-supported human resource (HR) practices appear to positively affect organizational outcomes, it is important to understand the factors that impact managers’ agreement with HR research findings. The authors drew from two theoretical perspectives to develop and test a model of factors related to managers’ agreement with research findings about effective HR practices. Using structural equation modeling, the authors found that job level and managers’ perceptions of their organizations’ business strategies directly influence managers’ agreement with HR research findings. In addition, managers who read academic journals are more likely to agree with research findings. Implications for reducing the belief gap between academics and managers are discussed.