ABSTRACT
Strategic human resources management (SHRM) refers to the pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals (Wright & McMahan, 1992). It involves all of the activities that are implemented by an organization to affect the behavior of individuals in an effort to implement the strategic needs of a business. Over the last decade or so, the eld of strategic human resources management has witnessed a progression through a number of stages, including (1) initial excitement and energy around the convincing argument that HR practices should be considered as a system that, when implemented appropriately, can enhance organizational performance; (2) empirical tests of this argument; and (3) critiques of the growing eld accompanied by propositions for how thinking on the topic can be expanded and improved. Of the critiques that have been levied at the eld, the most common contend that the “black box” through which HRM practices are thought to impact organizational performance remains insufciently specied. Less common, but no less valuable, are critiques surrounding the conceptualization and measurement of t or alignment, and the need to identify the boundary conditions that inuence the effectiveness of high-performance HRM systems. Even more critiques and proposed theoretical extensions to the eld are likely, as it is through such
endeavors that we will improve upon and advance our science (cf. Reichers & Schneider, 1990).
