Previous research will be presented in this section. The main focus is previous research of HRM, creativity and innovation, which additionally will be described in relation to knowledge sharing, since it is also required for innovation to occur.
2.1 HRM and innovation.
Previous research in the field of HRM and innovations will be described below, by describing the different HRM practices and its impact on innovations that has been studied.
According to previous research, HRM practices are the main methods for organizations to influence and shape attitude, behavior and skills of individuals to perform at work and hence to achieve the goals of the organization (Chen & Huang, 2009). Certain HRM practices do affect the innovativeness of a firm, and might therefore be a valuable resource for firms wishing to innovate (Beugelsdijk, 2008). Several studies has concluded that organisations should develop a system of internally consistent HRM practices (Jiménez-Jiménez & Sanz-Valle, 2005; Laursen & Foss, 2003) since a system with mutually reinforcing practices are the most beneficial to innovation performance rather than isolated HRM practices (Laursen & Foss, 2003).
The role of staffing in innovation has been studied by different researchers (see for example Jiménez-Jiménez & Sanz-Valle, 2008, Jiang et al. 2012; Chen & Huang, 2009; Beugelsdijk, 2008). Since staffing includes organizational practices to attract, recruit and retain employees with traits that support innovations, it is argued to be a key practice in order to affect innovation (Jiménez-Jiménez & Sanz-Valle, 2008). Additionally, Chen & Huang (2009) argue that selecting employees with appropriate skills and attitude to perform at work will enable organizations to integrate diverse sources of knowledge and hence stimulate innovations. Recruitment and selection of employees has been found to affect both the ability to and the motivation for employees to be creative, which are positively related to both administrative and technological innovation (Jiang et al.