ABSTRACT
Human resource managers are especially concerned with some of the 'softer' aspects of management through which values are expressed, including management style, interdepartmental relationships, bargaining processes, employee development, employee involvement and organisation culture. In the United Kingdom the Institute of Personnel Management (IPM) and, to a lesser extent, in Sweden the Sverges Personaladministrativa Foreng (SPF) offer a 'professional' form of training, through national associations which have tried to take on the role of a professional body by establishing qualification schemes, and have attempted to sustain human resource practitioners as a separate managerial profession. In other parts of Europe there are different perceptions of professional associations. The French Association Nationale des Directeurs et Chefs de Personnel (ANDCP) like the IPM and SPF has helped to create personnel management programmes in the technical universities, but has not sought to offer qualifications itself in the way of the British IPM.
