People-centred HRM Lean Principles and Practices Adapted by Italian Work Integration Social Enterprises to Suit Mission and Competitive Needs: A Successful Matching?

Lean production has arisen in the context of for-profit companies. The same attention to lean has not been paid in non-profit organisations like work integration social enterprises (WISEs). In turn, few studies have looked into the content of HRM systems characterising these organisations when adopting for-profit models. Within this research, dichotomous positions have emerged. However, both of them adhere to a universalistic perspective of HRM systems. We challenge this claim by drawing from the contextual perspective, arguing that practices of people management are affected and revised by peculiar organisational and external environmental characteristics. The research question is pursued by relying on three case studies involving different actors. Our exploratory results suggest that WISEs rely on (positive) lean HRM practices by adapting them to their specific context and integrating both social and economic goals.