STUDENT ZONE
Chapter 1
Human Resource Management Phenomenon
CHAPTER OVERVIEW
This chapter introduces you to the human resource management (HRM) paradigm. HRM is defined and the tenets of the various HRM models are explained. The central importance of the nature of the employment relationship to HRM is explained, and the chapter draws attention to four aspects: economic, legal, social and psychological. Emphasis is given to understanding competing normative HRM models rather than to practical HRM activities. Evidence of the extensiveness of HRM is also provided. You may wish to refer back throughout your HRM course to Figure 1.3 that provides a framework for introducing the other chapters in the book.
Chapter objectives
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
Evaluate the development of HRM.
Explain the central features of the contract in the employment relationship
Summarize the key HRM functions
Explain the theoretical issues surrounding the HRM debate
Compare and contrast personnel management and HRM as approaches to managing employment relations
Explain the different approaches to studying HRM
CHAPTER OUTLINE
Introduction
The shift from orthodox personnel management to HRM is explained in terms of global economic developments. The ‘first wave’ critiques of HRM, represented by John Storey’s seminal book, New Perspectives on Human Resource Management (1989), introduces students to the debate on the many contradictions associated with the HRM model. The ‘second wave’ critiques focus on outcomes, restructured organizational forms and relationships. Recent events have exposed traditional underlying tensions and paradoxes in managing the employment relationship.
The history of human resource management
The development of personnel management is linked to post-Second World War government economic policies...