Purpose – The aim of this article is to argue that human resources (HR) should adjust the role it performs depending on its local environment – what is desirable and achievable. Design/methodology/approach – The paper discusses the arguments for and against the arrival of a universal...

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to ask why western organisations appear to be moving towards a single global HR model that minimises cultural differences compared with Asian organisations that seem to allow more variation in HR policies and practices. Moreover, we try to identify the...

Purpose – This paper aims to explore the obstacles to human resources (HR) making a strategic contribution and to share ways of overcoming those obstacles. Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses case studies to demonstrate how organizations are successfully integrating people and...

The article argues that many of the practices associated with the concept of human resource management were flourishing under different names before the notion of HRM emerged in the mid‐1980s. There have been many developments in these practices but they have been evolutionary. They have not...