Confusing explanation with prediction in HRM research leads to flawed recommendations.
The article discusses how researchers often mix up explaining why something happens with predicting what will happen in HRM studies. They looked at job satisfaction in older workers and found that a model that explains well might not predict accurately, and vice versa. They checked papers from top HRM journals and saw that most authors focus on explaining rather than predicting, even though their recommendations are based on predictions. The researchers suggest HRM studies should improve how they explain things to make their findings more reliable.