Orchestrating the flow of human resources: Insights from Spanish soccer clubs

Although prior research recognizes the strategic importance of changes to the organization’s human resource base, there is little consensus regarding the influence of human resource flows on organizational performance. Employing a resource orchestration perspective, we emphasize the need by managers to “orchestrate” multiple, interrelated human resource flows; the role of the incumbent or newly appointed orchestrator in the decisions and outcomes associated with human resource flow strategies; and the importance of the performance of the current human resource base with which the flows interact. Utilizing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis and longitudinal data from the Spanish premier soccer league, we identify five ways in which organizations are able to effectively configure human resource flows. We then elaborate theory on managerial decisions that allow human resource flows to work together depending upon the particular organizational conditions. Our study contributes to a better understandin...