matching model HRM

One strategic HRM debate has focused on the integration or ‘fit’ of business strategy with HR strategy. This shift in managerial thought, calling for the HR function to be ‘strategically integrated’, is depicted in Beer et al.’s (1984) model of HRM. The authors espoused the need to establish a close two-way relationship or ‘fit’ between the external business strategy and the elements of the internal HR strategy: ‘An organization’s HRM policies and practices must fit with its strategy in its competitive environment and with the immediate business conditions that it faces’ (Beer et al., 1984, p. 25). The concept of integration has three aspects: the linking of HR policies and practices with the strategic management process of the organization the internalization of the importance of HR on the part of line managers the integration of the workforce into the organization to foster commitment or an ‘identity of interest’ with the strategic goals.
Not surprisingly, this approach to SHRM has been referred to as the ‘matching’ model.
Early interest in the ‘matching’ model was evident in Devanna et al.’s (1984) work: ‘HR systems and organizational structure should be managed in a way that is congruent with organizational strategy’ (p. 37). This is close to Chandler’s (1962) distinction between strategy and structure and his often-quoted maxim that ‘structure follows strategy’. In the Devanna et al. model, HRM–strategy–structure follow and feed upon one another and are influenced by environmental forces.
Similarly, the notion of ‘fit’ between an external competitive strategy and the internal HR strategy is a central principle of the HRM model advanced by Beer et al. (1984). The authors emphasize the analysis of the linkages between the two strategies and how each strategy provides goals and constraints for the other. There must be a ‘fit between competitive strategy and internal HRM strategy and a fit among the elements of the HRM strategy’ (Beer et al., 1984, p. 13).