From HRM to Smart HRM: A Bibliometric and Thematic Analysis of Cybernetic Approaches in Workforce Management

This study looks at how artificial intelligence (AI) and cybernetic systems have been integrated to transform human resource management (HRM) into smart HRM. The study analyses the intellectual structure, theme progression, and new frontiers of Smart HRM by bibliometric and thematic analysis of 219 Scopus-indexed publications from 2020 to 2025. Core HRM and innovation, AI and data-driven systems, Industry 4.0 and automation, sustainability and green HRM, and employee engagement and digital empowerment are the five main research clusters identified by the findings. The findings show that Smart HRM functions as a cybernetic ecosystem that facilitates real-time workforce sensing, adaptive learning, and performance optimisation through feedback loops, predictive analytics, and machine learning algorithms. The report reveals important issues like data privacy, algorithmic transparency, and gaps in AI literacy while highlighting the expanding international collaboration, especially between Asia and Europe. A move away from efficiency-driven HRM and towards a value-based and human-centric paradigm is indicated by emerging research horizons that place an emphasis on sustainability, ethics, and responsible technology governance. The study advances the theoretical development of smart human resource management (HRM), a multidisciplinary discipline that combines organisational strategy, technology, and human behaviour. In the age of digital transformation, Smart HRM is positioned as a key mechanism for creating workforce ecosystems that are robust, intelligent, and adaptive by fusing AI-enabled insights with moral and sustainable business practices.