The role of strategic groups in understanding strategic human resource management
Judie M. Gannon
Oxford School of Hospitality Management, Faculty of Business, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK
The role of strategic groups
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Liz Doherty
Business School, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, UK, and
Angela Roper
School of Hospitality & Tourism Management, University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
Abstract
Purpose – This article aims to explore how understanding the challenges faced by companies’ attempts to create competitive advantage through their human resources and HRM practices can be enhanced by insights into the concept of strategic groups within industries. Based within the international hotel industry, this study identifies how strategic groups emerge in the analysis of HRM practices and approaches. It sheds light on the value of strategic groups as a way of readdressing the focus on firm and industry level analyses. Design/methodology/approach – Senior human resource executives and their teams across eight international hotel companies (IHCs) were interviewed in corporate and regional headquarters, with observations and the collection of company documentation complementing the interviews. Findings – The findings demonstrate that strategic groups emerge from analysis of the HRM practices and strategies used to develop hotel general managers (HGMs) as strategic human resources in the international hotel industry. The value of understanding industry structures and dynamics and intermediary levels of analysis are apparent where specific industries place occupational constraints on their managerial resources and limit the range of strategies and expansion modes companies can adopt. Research limitations/implications – This study indicates that further research on strategic groups will enhance the theoretical understanding of strategic