Relational Archetypes, Organizational Learning, and Value Creation: Extending the Human Resource Architecture

Abstract

Theories of knowledge-based competition emphasize the firm's ability both to explore and to exploit knowledge as the source of value creation. We attempt to bring human resource management directly into this forum by introducing a framework of relational archetypes—entrepreneurial and cooperative—that are derived from unique configurations of three dimensions (structural, affective, and cognitive) of social relations within and across firm boundaries. We identify how human resource configurations can be linked to the strategic management of these relational archetypes.