NARRATIVE ANALYSIS: AN INTERPRETIVE APPROACH TO RESEARCH IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN SRI LANKA

Abstract

As in many other disciplines, the research in Human Resource Management (HRM) still majorly depends on scientific positivism. The reason for its extensive use is its convenience of practice due to many advantages. Scientific positivism that uses existing theory to develop hypothesis is based on objective social reality mainly applying the quantitative approach. But it is timely to rethink whether it is always useful and applicable, particularly for a subject like HRM, which always deals with qualitative functions. The objective reality represents the position that social entities exist in reality external to social actions. But, can social entities always exist in reality external to social actions, particularly in a subject like HRM? Are not the perceptions and consequent actions of social actors important in the creation of HR phenomena? The direct answer to this question is that the perceptions and consequent actions of social actors are essential and inevitable in understanding any kind of HR function. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to emphasize the importance of narrative approach, which is based on the role of the narrator, telling stories on how different functions in HRM go on with the past and present narrative experience. Methodologically this is a conceptual paper constructed by reviewing various literatures in the field. As the outcome, the paper attempts to highlight the significance of narrative approach as an interpretive methodology to the HRM research,having a basic lacuna of interpretive knowledge in Sri Lanka.