Human Resource Management: The Promise, the Performance, the Consequences

Reviewing the trajectory of human resource management research over the last thirty years, this polemical paper argues that the dominant focus has been on 'Strategic HRM' or HRM that is supposed to improve firm performance in some way. It argues that this narrow focus has not
only proved disappointing in its own terms but has led to the subject being addressed in a simplistic neo-liberal way that fails to take into account the wider constituency of HRM stakeholders and does not address many of the 'big issues' that these stakeholders face in practice. It calls for a wider and more realistic research agenda.
Keywords
HRM strategy, job satisfaction, sustainable HRM, contextual HRM