Agency theory from the perspective of human resource development

Abstract

This paper reviews and examines the development of agency theory and its components, the relationship between the principal and agent, and further explores its implications for the field of HRD. Understanding the foundations, functional utility, and implications is important both for HRD scholars and practitioners, as the field is striving to motivate productivity of employees in today's complex and dynamic workplace environment, where the ways in which business is conducted are changing. This paper contributes to our understanding of how organisational principals and agents interact and how HRD programmes and functions may benefit from the opportunity that agency theory offers to address the challenges which this phenomenon presents.