Title: Individualized HR Practices in Teams: A Social Comparison Perspective on Employee Behaviors

Speaker: Mengwei Li, Assistant Professor, Tilburg University

Host: Xueqing Fan, Assistant Professor, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Time: 13:30–15:00, Wednesday, June 24, 2026

Venue: Room B207, Antai Building, Xuhui Campus, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Brief introduction of the content: 

There is an increasing need for line managers to customize HR practices in teams in response to employee-specific needs, while recognizing their value and contributions in order to achieve managerial goals. However, how individualized HR practices (I-HRM) shape team dynamics through social comparison among coworkers, and how managerial characteristics influence this process, are not well understood. Drawing on social comparison theory and the actor-observer asymmetry perspective, we examined the emotional and behavioral implications of I-HRM for focal employees and coworkers in teams. In downward comparisons, focal employees who perceive higher levels of I-HRM are expected to experience authentic pride, which motivates helping behavior toward coworkers. In contrast, in upward comparisons, coworkers who perceive a focal employee as receiving more I-HRM are expected to experience benign envy, which motivates learning behavior directed toward the focal employee. We further proposed that perceived line manager status shapes these attributional and emotional processes asymmetrically. We first validated our measure of I-HRM and then tested our model in dyads. Results provided some support for our hypotheses. Relationships involving additional types of pride and envy with potential negative implications were explored in supplemental analyses.

Speaker's profile:

Mengwei Li is an Assistant Professor in Human Resource Studies at Tilburg University, the Netherlands. Her research focuses on strategic human resource management and human capital. From a multilevel perspective, she examines the mechanisms of HR practices and human capital at both macro and micro levels, with outcome variables covering firm performance and employee well-being.

Her works have appeared in peer-reviewed journals such as Journal of Management, Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management Journal, Human Relations and Journal of Business Research. Several conference papers have been accepted into the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, and she received the AOM HR Division Best Conference Paper Award in 2024.

Welcome all!