ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines a particular aspect of the human resource function, that of staffing decisions regarding hiring arrangements with employees. It also examines the contingent employment setting in more detail. The book presents a discussion of contingent employment, including its importance in today’s organizations, its benefits and costs. It describes M. E. Porter’s generic competitive strategy typology and then integrated with transaction cost theory. The book explores organizational theories to develop a strategic model of temporary employment. It also describes hypotheses to be tested in the study. The book describes the research methodology including description of the research survey and variable operationalizations. It discusses the study’s findings, limitations, directions for future research and conclusions.
