Purpose – To examine how an external performance review process introduced as part of the public sector modernisation agenda in England and Wales has impacted on HR service provision and processes in local government and the extent to which it has acted as a catalyst for the development of...

Purpose – Most works on human resource (HR) practices assume that companies use them in the same way for the entire workforce. The objective of this work is to check whether the application of HR practices varies within organizations. To be specific, HR practices can vary depending on the...

Management and organisation literature often characterises managing in Africa as 'the challenge of' and rarely do scholars look to the continent for novel ideas, inspiration, best practice, or theoretical insights. Yet, in the last five years or so, the African organisational landscape has...

Evaluates the levels of strategic “integration” of human resource management (HRM) into the corporate strategy and “devolvement” of responsibility for HRM to line managers in the UK manufacturing sector. Summarises, initially, some of the primary theoretical debates existing in the HRM...

Contingency theory holds that human resource management methods are selected in accordance with the type of competitive strategy adopted by a business. It moreover assumes that companies that closely coordinate their business strategy and HRM activities achieve better performance than companies...

Purpose – Human resource management (HRM) theory has transitioned in recent decades towards “human capital” and “human assets” frameworks that emphasize strategic choice and “investment”, which are concepts borrowed from strategic management, accounting and economic theories. This...

Describes a process through which an organization moved from traditional personnel management towards a more strategically oriented human resource management. Focuses on tracking down, periodically, the actions taken by the human resource manager and his/her relationships with the strategic...

Considers the idea of linking decisions on business strategy, product market characteristics and personnel/human resource management policies. Initially explores some theoretical aspects of business strategy‐personnel policy linkages and then considers some empirical evidence from a survey of...

One of the main features of human resource management (HRM) is the emphasis on aligning the organization’s employee management practice with its strategy. It is argued that the strategy pursued by an organization needs to be supported by a compatible form of HRM practices. Each strategy has to...

Reviews the changes in personnel/HRM practices within a post‐command economy. Explores personnel/HRM practices within 25 Polish companies and reports on the diversity of personnel/HRM practices in evidence. The data suggest significant under‐development in terms of practices and little...