Strategic Human Resource Management

Book excerpt: Increasingly, researchers in the field of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) are being called upon to provide insight into how the human resources of the firm contribute to competitive advantage. This work attempts to assess the complexities of the SHRM variables SHRM effectiveness relationship by proposing and testing a model in which HR competencies play a mediating role. Literature review traces the evolution of SHRM; schools of thought, theories and models in SHRM; the measurement of organizational effectiveness and HR competencies. Numerous studies are cited, current approaches to SHRM in the global and the Indian contexts are enumerated, and a critical review is provided. Practice of SHRM in Indian scenario is identified by comparing, Indian organizations with foreign organization located in India. Description of data analyses and the results constitute the descriptive statistics, ANOVA for variables, multiple discriminant analysis of SHRM variables, multiple regressions, and path analysis to prove the combined effects of all the variables in the SHRM-effectiveness model. This book opens up new dialogues for theorists as well as practitioners on effectiveness of SHRM.