Enhancing knowledge exchange and combination through HR practices: reflexivity as a translation process

Knowledge-intensive firms need to encourage their employees to engage in knowledge exchange and combination (KEC) so as to create the new knowledge that is core to their success. HRM has the potential to play a key role in encouraging KEC, but relatively little is known about the micro-processes through which HRM and KEC are linked. Based on a sample of 498 knowledge workers in 14 knowledge-intensive firms in the pharmaceutical and information and communications technology sectors in Ireland and the UK, this study focuses on the knowledge workers themselves and their perceptions of how HR practices influence KEC. In so doing, we drill down into the micro-foundations of the proposed linkages between HRM and knowledge creation, proffering reflexivity as a translation process in understanding these linkages.