The role of women in HRM in family SMEs

Purpose: This study tries to free women from the “invisible role” prison and understand the different managerial goals and styles adopted by males and females in family small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in managing employees. In particular, this paper grasps the complexity of the relationship between women’s leadership positions and configurational human resource management (HRM) practices in family SMEs. Design/methodology/approach: The authors use the qualitative fuzzy set comparative analysis (fsQCA) on 623 small and medium Italian family businesses to explore women’s contributions and impacts on adopting HRM practices and business performance. Findings: The findings confirm that gender-specific leadership styles influence the adoption of distinct bundles of HRM practices and ultimately affect organizational performance in family SMEs. Indeed, women in the family SME social context, to meet certain gender expectations, are more likely to implement steward-oriented HRM practices. This reinforces the role of women as key players in improving organizational performance by adopting people-centered HRM practices that promote employee satisfaction and retention. Originality/value: Using the fsQCA analysis and the gender theory, family business and HRM literature, the paper investigates the role of women in Italian family SMEs as CEOs or HR managers in implementing HR management practices to achieve good organizational performance.