The Changing Mission of Human Resources Management

The paper attempts to present a case for an approach to Human Resources Management (HRM) which is based on aligning HRM policies, programs and practices to the strategy of the organization served, its culture, its external and internal environment and its technology of production and on aligning the different elements of HRM programs and practices to each other, using the “best fit” principle. Based on evidence derived from the case histories of major companies in the recent past, the paper will demonstrate that only this approach to HRM will add value to the organization served and will provide it with a competitive edge which is something the traditional “best practices” approach to HRM is not capable of doing. Lastly, a case is presented for the need to manage with metrics.