Strategic Misalignment, Corporate Governance, and HR Analytics Adoption: A Qualitative Study for Sustainable Organizations in the Airline Industry

Human Resource Analytics (HRA) promises to improve decision-making, workforce planning, and organisational performance through data-driven insights (Isson & Harriott, 2016; Marler & Boudreau, 2017; Minbaeva, 2021; McCartney & Fu, 2022a[M1.1]). Yet, despite growing interest in people analytics, many organisations still struggle to embed HRA into strategic and operational decision processes in ways that support innovation, effective governance, and long-term organisational sustainability. This article examines strategic misalignment as a critical but underexplored barrier to the adoption of HRA in the airline industry. Drawing on a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 15 professionals connected to Portugal’s commercial aviation sector—including Experts in AI (n = 5), HR/Airline Professionals (n = 4), and HR/Airline Executives (n = 6)—the paper shows that HRA is constrained not merely by technical limitations but by the weak strategic positioning of HR itself and by governance arrangements that fail to integrate people-related evidence into executive decision-making. The findings indicate three interrelated barriers: the marginal role of HR in strategic decision-making, fragmented data and cross-functional silos, and inconsistent executive sponsorship for analytics-driven people management. These barriers reduce the practical value of analytics initiatives, weaken the governance of workforce-related decisions, and confine HRA to descriptive reporting rather than strategic intervention. The study contributes to the literature by reframing strategic alignment not as a secondary success factor, but as a prerequisite for meaningful HRA implementation and for building sustainable organisations able to connect workforce capability, operational resilience, and business value. Practical implications are discussed for organisations seeking to strengthen digital HR transformation in highly regulated and operationally complex sectors.