Special issue call for papers

Advancing the Quality of Theories and Methods in Human Resources Management

Guest editor:

Goran Kuljanin, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Management & Entrepreneurship in the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University, Michigan State University

PhD, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Michigan State University, 2011
MA, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, Michigan State University, 2008
BA, Psychology and Spanish, DePaul University, 2005

https://business.depaul.edu/faculty/faculty-a-z/Pages/Goran-Kuljanin.aspx
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=eZ7rlpcAAAAJ&hl=en

e-mail: g.kuljanin@depaul.edu

Research interests – Professor Kuljanin’s research focuses on developing computational process theories and models of human functioning and workplace operations to enable process-oriented, strategic decision-making on human resources management. He has published his research in the Journal of Applied Psychology, Leadership Quarterly, Organizational Research Methods, and Psychological Methods. His research awards include Best Article in Organizational Research Methods in 2013, the 2015 William A. Owens Scholarly Achievement Award from the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, and a monograph distinction from the Journal of Applied Psychology. As a co-investigator, he has won two grants from the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

A brief summary:

The foundation of any science rests on the quality of its theories and empirical methods. For the science of human resources management (HRM), quality theories provide a detailed accounting of how people do or may operate in the workplace (e.g., how exactly do or could team members perform their work), whereas quality empirical methods track the detailed happenings of people as they engage in their work and workplace (e.g., tracking team members as they perform their work). The modus operandi of construct-focused theories and empirical research in HRM provides a starting point for investigating HRM phenomena, but it lacks the depth of understanding required for strategically unique and impactful HRM practices. To achieve greater depth of understanding, the study of HRM requires process-focused theories and empirical research. As a result, this special issue seeks examples of HRM theories or empirical investigations that speaks to how people operate in the workplace.

Specifically, this special issue seeks manuscripts that demonstrate either process theorizing about HRM phenomena or empirical research that captures processes behind HRM phenomena. As an example, if we want to understand how teams achieve different levels of team performance, then our process theory may consider who are the team members and what are their capabilities and characteristics, what roles do team members need to perform and how do those roles interface with their tasks, how do team members collaborate or coordinate their efforts, when do team members engage in particular tasks or activities, and/or why might team members choose particular work strategies. Our empirical process research would not merely track the outcomes of team members (e.g., number of completed tasks), but instead, it would track the team members as they engage in their work (e.g., how do team members perform their individual work, how do they collaborate and communicate with each other, how do they organize their work activities, etc.). With that in mind, this special issue especially seeks:

• Process theories focused on how entities (e.g., individuals, dyads, teams, organizations) enact sequences of actions that lead to the emergence of phenomena as a function of underlying generative mechanisms;
• Experimental research that focuses on analyzing data within and in-between performance/task/decision episodes as opposed to merely analyzing the outcomes at the end of such episodes;
• Qualitative research that investigates the emergence of phenomena from detailed expositions of entities in action;
• Quantitative research that investigates the flow of activities enacted by entities as they complete tasks or other duties.

Key words (themes are not limited only on key words): human resources management, organizational behavior, process theorizing, experimental process research, action-focused qualitative data, quantitative analysis of the flow of human work activities, HR (people) analytics, systematic literature review

References for process theory and empirical research include:

Ballard, T., Palada, H., Griffin, M., & Neal, A. (2021). An integrated approach to testing dynamic, multilevel theory: Using computational models to connect theory, model, and data. Organizational Research Methods, 24(2), 251–284.

Borsboom, D., Mellenbergh, G. J., & van Heerden, J. (2003). The theoretical status of latent variables. Psychological Review, 110(2), 203–209.

Borsboom, D., van der Maas, H. L. J., Dalege, J., Kievit, R. A., & Haig, B. D. (2021). Theory construction methodology: A practical framework for building theories in psychology. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 16(4), 756–766.

Braun, M.T., Kuljanin, G., Grand, J.A., Kozlowski, S.W.J., & Chao, G.T. (2022). The power of process theories to better understand and detect consequences of organizational interventions. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 15, 99-104.

Coveney, P. V., Dougherty, E. R., & Highfield, R. R. (2016). Big data need big theory too. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences, 374(2080), 20160153.

Grand, J. A., Braun, M. T., & Kuljanin, G. (2025). Hello world! Building computational models to represent social and organizational theory. Organizational Research Methods, 28, 487-539.

Grand, J. A., Braun, M. T., Kuljanin, G., Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Chao, G. T. (2016). The dynamics of team cognition: A process-oriented theory of knowledge emergence in teams. Journal of Applied Psychology, 101, 1353-1385.

Kozlowski, S. W. J., Chao, G. T., Grand, J. A., Braun, M. T., & Kuljanin, G. (2013). Advancing multilevel research design: Capturing the dynamics of emergence. Organizational Research Methods, 16(4), 581–615.

Kozlowski, S. W. J., Chao, G. T., Grand, J. A., Braun, M. T., & Kuljanin, G. (2016). Capturing the multilevel dynamics of emergence: Computational modeling, simulation, and virtual experimentation. Organizational Psychology Review, 6(1), 3–33.

Kuljanin, G., Braun, M. T., Grand, J. A., Olenick, J. D., Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Chao, G. T. (2024). Advancing organizational science with computational process theories. The Leadership Quarterly, 35, 101797.

Kuljanin, G., & Lemmon, G. (2024). The role of work psychologists in the development of antiwork sentiments. Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Perspectives on Science and Practice, 17, 45-49.

Macy, M. W., & Willer, R. (2002). From factors to actors: Computational sociology and agent-based modeling. Annual Review of Sociology, 28(1), 143–166.

Pentland, B. T. (1999). Building process theory with narrative: From description to explanation. Retrieved from Academy of Management Review, 24(4), 711–724.

Simon, H. A. (1992). What is an “explanation” of behavior? Psychological Science, 3(3), 150–161.

 

Important dates:

Deadline for extended abstract submission: 20th November 2025

Deadline for extended abstract acceptance: 20th December 2025

Deadline for submitting the final article: 15th May 2026

Releasing the special issue: September 2026

 

Submission guidelines for extended abstract:

PROPOSITIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR ARTICLE PROPOSAL IN THE FORM OF EXTENDED ABSTRACT