Human capital resources: a call to retire settled debates and to start a few new debates

Abstract

The concept of human capital resources (HCRs) is increasingly the predominant mechanism for explaining how organizations compete strategically through attracting, retaining, and developing talent. Despite the increased attention placed on the HCR construct, progress in HCR research has not advanced as rapidly as related scholarly fields. We posit that some of the lag in HCR research can be attributed to the continued focus on established debates. Rather than focusing on understanding how HCRs are developed and can be leveraged to achieve unit performance differentiation, HCR research often seems preoccupied with long-standing battles. In this manuscript, we provide a commentary on the current state of HCR literature, explain why we recommend reducing discussions along three specific HCR debates, and propose alternative HCR topics for researchers to pursue.