The HR narratives: AI-supported workforce strategy in tariff-impacted industries
Purpose: This study examines how adaptation and dynamic capabilities are discursively constructed in HR narratives that address AI- supported workforces within industries affected by tariffs. It investigates whether sensing, seizing, and transforming are presented as interconnected or separate capab...
| Autores: | , |
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| Formato: | artículo |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2026 |
| País: | España |
| Recursos: | Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (UPC) |
| Repositorio: | UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC |
| Idioma: | inglés |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:dnet:upcommonspor::666fb5dfa939352d54e4fa0a0362a2fc |
| Acesso em linha: | https://hdl.handle.net/2117/461185 https://dx.doi.org/10.3926/ic.3653 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palavra-chave: | Human resource narratives Artificial intelligence Tariff disruption Lexicometric analysis Àrees temàtiques de la UPC::Economia i organització d'empreses::Gestió i direcció::Recursos humans |
| Resumo: | Purpose: This study examines how adaptation and dynamic capabilities are discursively constructed in HR narratives that address AI- supported workforces within industries affected by tariffs. It investigates whether sensing, seizing, and transforming are presented as interconnected or separate capabilities amid dual technological and geopolitical disruptions. Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative lexicometric analysis was performed on 143 HR corporate magazine articles published from January 1, 2025, onwards in the IT, manufacturing, and import/export sectors. The corpus (552 pages; 201, 201,964 words) was sourced from EBSCOhost and analyzed using IRaMuTeQ, utilizing Reinert’ s hierarchical descending classification method. Findings: Four distinct narrative domains—Technology and Innovation; Financial Analysis and Market; Research, Experimentation and Knowledge Sharing; and Workplace, Skills, and Adaptability—covered 95. 73% of the corpus. HR discourse depicts these domains as mostly separate, with limited narrative overlap between technological, financial, and workforce adaptation themes. This separation reflects a rational response to conflicting disruption logics rather than organizational inconsistency. Research limitations/implications: The analysis is restricted to public- facing HR discourse and is purely lexicometric, without testing for stability or evaluating organizational behavior or performance outcomes. Practical implications: The findings offer HR leaders a framework for auditing organizational narratives and strategically connecting domains where coherence is achievable, while preserving stakeholder- specific legitimacy. Social implications: The study demonstrates how organizations manage legitimacy and workforce narratives amid AI- driven changes and geopolitical uncertainties. Originality/value: The study questions assumptions of narrative integration in dynamic capability theory by showing that capability coordination may occur through parallel discursive domains during extreme dual disruptions |
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