This research provides an overview of human resources man agement. Concepts and models of manpower management are empha sized in the discussions related to the development of organi zational commitment, management development, and performance appraisal.
Managers have for years proclaimed that an organization's people were its most valuable resource. All too often, how ever, this statement represented the real extent of top organi zational interest in the human component of an organization's resource base. Intensive strategic planning and management was reserved for financial, physical, and technological resources. In the late 1970s, however, a widening recognition of the sig nificance of human resources to an organization began to develop (Cherrington, 1983).
Much of the early interest in a transition from the older concept of personnel management to the new concept of human resources management was prompted by declining productivity in American organizations, and the competitive threat of the Japanese. Japanese management became a buzz phrase in American organizations, and Japanese management is, essentially, human resources management (Pascale, & Athos, 1981). As the concept of human resources management gained acceptance in American
1 2organizations, the concept itself was subjected to intensive review and development. One resultwas the recognition that human resource management should be subjected to the strategic planning and management process (Mills, 1985). This recogni tion was quickly followed by a realization that an effective human resources strategy could provide an organization with a competitive advantage (MacMillan, & Schuler, 1985). Thus, wasborn strategic human resources management (Hax, 1985).
At the beginning of the 1990s, strategic human resources management continues to evolve. Many of the important aspects of strategic human resources management in the 1990s are likely unknown at the be...