HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, CORPORATE STRATEGY AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE IN BRITISH MANUFACTURING Available to Purchase

The completed project discussed here represents the largest in‐depth survey of HRM to date. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with HRM directors, or equivalents in 60, mainly large, UK firms. The field work took place within a sampling‐frame created from the Data‐stream financial information source. Two key contrasting sectors were focussed upon ‐ Engineering and Electronics — with twenty companies in each. A miscellaneous group of twenty firms was also investigated as a piloting and control exercise. Data collected was of two kinds (1) rich qualitative descriptions of HRM practices and systems used in each company and (b) various quantitative company financial performance indices. The study is therefore revealing in terms of (a) simply describing HRM practice on the ground and (b) statistical correlations between these practices and company financial performance adjusted for sector effects.