Human resource management (HRM) is a term which is now widely used but very loosely
defined. In this paper it is argued that if the concept is to have any social scientific value, it
should be defined in such a way as to differentiate it from traditional personnel management
and to allow the development of testable hypotheses about its impact. Based on theoretical
work in the field of organizational behaviour it is proposed that HRM comprises a set of
policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility …

Human resource management (HRM) is a term which is now widely used but very loosely
defined. In this paper it is argued that if the concept is to have any social scientific value, it
should be defined in such a way as to differentiate it from traditional personnel management
and to allow the development of testable hypotheses about its impact. Based on theoretical
work in the field of organizational behaviour it is proposed that HRM comprises a set of
policies designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment, flexibility …