Strategic Human Resources Management

This article explores the nature of strategy and its relationship to human resources management (HRM). Two competing models of strategic human resource management are explored, the ‘soft’ ‘high commitment,’ ‘developmental humanism’ model and the ‘hard’ ‘utilitarian instrumentalism’ model. The implications of universalistic and contingency approaches to HRM strategy are considered with special reference to their contrasting assumptions about institutional and resource-based value theories of sustained competitive advantage. Finally, the relationship between strategic HRM and organizational performance is critically analyzed, with suggestions for future research directions.

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