Knowledge that Transforms

Conceptually, a central aspect of “strategic HRM” is the integration of the HR function with strategic decision making. Little is known, however, about the factors that influence integration or its subsequent effects. Using data from 148 diverse organizations, it was found that strategic type and whether or not top management views employees as strategic resources were associated with integration, but that labor market munificence and organizational growth were not. The results concerning the relationship between integration and performance were surprising; integration was associated with a lower evaluation of the HRM function by top management.

This special issue represents the collective wisdom of approximately 100 participants who attended the "HR Measurement Symposium" in late 1995.Sponsored by the California Strategic Human Resource Partnership, a human resources (HR) consortium consisting of top HR executives of 30 leading companies in Northern California, the symposium was designed to share and shape emerging thinking in the area of HR measurement.With Dave Ulrich and I acting as cochairs of the symposium, four academic thought leaders and six corporate speakers were invited to present their ideas and work in the one-and-a-half day conference.The presenters in the symposium were:

In this fast-paced world, skills and competencies must be developed quickly; people must learn from their experience and what they learn must be gathered from throughout the organization, then synthesized, analyzed, and made available where and when it is needed to improve performance. This article analyzes an organization successfully meeting these requirements, the United States Army's Center for Army Lessons Learned (CALL). Implications for human resource management are discussed.

No abstract.

Building upon the balanced scorecard framework, this article addresses three central issues of human resource (HR) measurement: (1) Do HR practices impact business results? (2) How can HR practices add value to business performance? (3) What HR measures can drive business performance? Using Eastman Kodak as a case study, this article identifies three paths through which HR practices contribute to business performance: (1) by building organizational capabilities; (2) by improving employee satisfaction; and (3) by shaping customer and shareholder satisfaction. Three clusters of measures are proposed: internal operational HR measures, internal strategic HR measures, and external strategic HR measures.

this paper, these recommendations must also be considered as a system composed of mutually reinforcing elements; they can not be implemented in isolation

This study investigates the factors which influence employees' choices among different health insurance options under a flexible benefits plan. Employee-specific selection and demographic data provided by the former National Cash Register (NCR), were used to analyze the effects of employee and plan characteristics on choice of health care plan. Results suggest that employees' health plan choices are influenced by premium, deductible, and coinsurance amounts, and by employees' age, gender, salary, and marital status. The results are considered within an expected utility maximization model. Implications for the design of flex plans as well as future research and theory are discussed.