Time is of the essence: Improving the conceptualization and measurement of time

We advance the understanding and measurement of the concept of time by offering a taxonomy of four distinct time constructs: duration, frequency, timing, and sequence. On the basis of a literature review of human resource management and allied fields (i.e., organizational behavior, industrial and or...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Human resource management review Vol. 31; no. 2; p. 100763
Main Authors: Aguinis, Herman, Bakker, Rene M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Greenwich Elsevier Inc 01.06.2021
Elsevier Science Ltd
Subjects:
Corporate culture
Decision making
Duration
Entrepreneurship
Frequency
Human resource management
Measurement
Psychology
Sequence
Strategic management
Time
Timing
Frequency
Time
Duration
Timing
Sequence
ISSN:1053-4822, 1873-7889
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We advance the understanding and measurement of the concept of time by offering a taxonomy of four distinct time constructs: duration, frequency, timing, and sequence. On the basis of a literature review of human resource management and allied fields (i.e., organizational behavior, industrial and organizational psychology, general management, entrepreneurship, and strategic management studies), we offer recommendations on how to measure each construct as well as illustrations drawn from different domains and theories on how these recommendations can be implemented. In addition, for each construct, we offer specific, practical, and actionable recommendations regarding critical design choices, dilemmas, and trade-offs that must be considered when investigating time conceptually and empirically. We discuss these recommendations in the form of a sequential decision-making process that can be used as a roadmap by researchers. We hope our conceptualization and recommendations will serve as a catalyst and useful resource for future conceptual and empirical research that aims to formulate better time-sensitive and temporally falsifiable theories. •Time is critical to human resource management theories and research and to all human activity.•We improve the definition and measurement of time by offering a four-construct time taxonomy: duration, frequency, timing, and sequence.•We offer specific and actionable recommendations regarding critical design choices, dilemmas, and trade-offs to consider when investigating time conceptually and empirically.•We offer recommendations as a sequential decision-making process to be used as a roadmap in future conceptual and empirical research.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:1053-4822
1873-7889
DOI:10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100763