{"_id":"NMwHPv29TX9P85F4R","bibbaseid":"sgourev-vanlent-whentoomanyarenotenoughhumanresourceslackandperformanceatthedutcheastindiacompany17001795-2017","author_short":["Sgourev, S. V","van Lent, W."],"bibdata":{"bibtype":"article","type":"article","title":"When too many are not enough: Human resource slack and performance at the Dutch East India Company (1700–1795)","volume":"70","issn":"0018-7267","shorttitle":"When too many are not enough","url":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717691340","doi":"10.1177/0018726717691340","abstract":"Slack is an elusive concept in organizational research, with studies documenting a variety of relationships between slack and firm performance. We advocate treating slack not as a resource, but as a practice – a sequence of events and responses over time. A longitudinal analysis of the Dutch East India Company (1700–1795) highlights the use of slack as a response to a resource constraint (the shortage of skilled labor). After documenting the negative performance effects of skill shortage, we identify a trade-off in the use of human resource slack (number of sailors above what is operationally required), in which slack enhanced operational reliability, but reduced efficiency. Derived from a historical context, this trade-off has contemporary relevance and is helpful in reconciling contradictory evidence on slack.","language":"en","number":"11","urldate":"2019-09-26","journal":"Human Relations","author":[{"propositions":[],"lastnames":["Sgourev"],"firstnames":["Stoyan","V"],"suffixes":[]},{"propositions":["van"],"lastnames":["Lent"],"firstnames":["Wim"],"suffixes":[]}],"month":"November","year":"2017","pages":"1293–1315","bibtex":"@article{sgourev_when_2017,\n\ttitle = {When too many are not enough: {Human} resource slack and performance at the {Dutch} {East} {India} {Company} (1700–1795)},\n\tvolume = {70},\n\tissn = {0018-7267},\n\tshorttitle = {When too many are not enough},\n\turl = {https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717691340},\n\tdoi = {10.1177/0018726717691340},\n\tabstract = {Slack is an elusive concept in organizational research, with studies documenting a variety of relationships between slack and firm performance. We advocate treating slack not as a resource, but as a practice – a sequence of events and responses over time. A longitudinal analysis of the Dutch East India Company (1700–1795) highlights the use of slack as a response to a resource constraint (the shortage of skilled labor). After documenting the negative performance effects of skill shortage, we identify a trade-off in the use of human resource slack (number of sailors above what is operationally required), in which slack enhanced operational reliability, but reduced efficiency. Derived from a historical context, this trade-off has contemporary relevance and is helpful in reconciling contradictory evidence on slack.},\n\tlanguage = {en},\n\tnumber = {11},\n\turldate = {2019-09-26},\n\tjournal = {Human Relations},\n\tauthor = {Sgourev, Stoyan V and van Lent, Wim},\n\tmonth = nov,\n\tyear = {2017},\n\tpages = {1293--1315},\n}\n\n","author_short":["Sgourev, S. V","van Lent, W."],"key":"sgourev_when_2017","id":"sgourev_when_2017","bibbaseid":"sgourev-vanlent-whentoomanyarenotenoughhumanresourceslackandperformanceatthedutcheastindiacompany17001795-2017","role":"author","urls":{"Paper":"https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726717691340"},"metadata":{"authorlinks":{}},"html":""},"bibtype":"article","biburl":"https://api.zotero.org/users/3747904/collections/5VT7PDA4/items?key=xkQcTN8SodpuucYU5N0vUxDx&format=bibtex&limit=100","dataSources":["H4BXChDz39m36dxh8"],"keywords":[],"search_terms":["many","enough","human","resource","slack","performance","dutch","east","india","company","1700","1795","sgourev","van lent"],"title":"When too many are not enough: Human resource slack and performance at the Dutch East India Company (1700–1795)","year":2017}