Human Resource Management of the Best-Fit and its Implications

Abstract

This article with the title Human resource management of the and its implications discusses the contingency and configurational schools in strategic human resource management, summarized as the Best-Fit Approach. It concludes that the approach helps the practitioner to see the idiosyncrasy of the firm and prevents her from adapting management fashions or ostensible Best-Practices in an unreflected way, but is of limited value beyond this. From a technical point of view, the issue of statistical artifacts is raised. In order to discuss the best-fit approach the article starts by embedding human resource management in the resource-based view of strategic management. The view of human resource management used in this article is documented. The universalistic, contingency and configurational perspectives are briefly introduced, with a focus on the Best-Practice and the approaches. A comparison of international settings shows the limits of the best-practice approach. The dynamics resulting for human resource management from a best-fit thinking are stressed.