Strategic Human Resource Management

Journal of Strategic Management Studies
2009, Vol. 1, No. 2, 67–76

Strategic Human Resource Management: From the Process Point of
View for Improving Organizational Performance
HIROSHI YAMAMOTO
Professor, School of Business Administration, Aoyama Gakuin University

Abstract This article reviewed previous studies which investigated strategic human resource management
(SHRM) mainly from the process point of view for improving organizational performance. First, analyzing common features in definitions of SHRM clarified five features (a close fit between human resource management (HRM) and management strategy, etc.). Second, approaches which investigated the relationship between strategies, HRM practices and organizational performance were reviewed. As a result, the best practice approach has been used frequently and produced useful outcomes comparatively with the contingency approach and the configurational approach. Thirdly, the intervening factors and cause-and-effect relationships between HRM practices and organizational performance were analyzed.
From reviewing previous studies, retention and many factors were found as intervening factors. And it was suggested that placing too much emphasis on the cause-and-effect relationships wasn’t realistic in empirical studies. The last section of this article reconsidered SHRM in the context of general HRM research. The necessity of the attention paid to single-level practices was pointed out.
Key words: strategic human resource management, human resource management, intervening factors, causeand-effect relationships, single-level practices

INTRODUCTION

SHRM: DEFINITION AND SPECIAL
FEATURES

It’s been some time since the strategic human resource management (SHRM) theory has been used to promote research in human resource management
(HRM) in organizations. The SHRM theory was developed toward the late 1980s on a foundation based on various theories of strategy, system, human capital and behavioral science and on a

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