Chapter 2: Ethics and Strategic Human Resource Management

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is a field of study that examines the relationship between the use of human resource (HR) practices and organizational outcomes, and focuses on the pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization achieve its goals (Wright & McMahan, 1992). Based predominantly on the resource-based view of the firm (Barney, 1991) and the behavioral perspective (Jackson, Schuler, & Rivero, 1989), strategic HRM researchers have built a strong body of evidence suggesting that HR practices may directly influence a firm’s potential competitive advantage. Specifically, competitive advantage achieved via HR practices results from an increase in the level and type of human capital (knowledge, skills, and abilities) of the workforce as well as an alignment of employee attitudes and behaviors with organizational contingencies. Extending this logic, strategic HRM researchers have made considerable progress demonstrating the validity of their arguments by finding apparent links between the use of HR practices and organizational performance (Collins & Clark, 2003; Delery & Doty, 1996; Huselid, 1995).