LAUSR

This study draws on contextual theories to determine when strategic involvement of human resource (HR) departments is required in organisations. From institutional and contingency theories, some internal and external circumstances of organisations are considered contextual factors on how to structure the role of their HR departments. Using a multisource dataset collected from 300 large South Korean firms, our regression analysis indicates that the strategic involvement of an HR department is related to normative pressures, the industrial relations climate, and environmental uncertainty. Our work provides theoretical implications for the context-bound understanding of the role of an HR department and practical guidelines for effective role fulfilment of an HR department according to organisational contexts.