Strategic human resource management enhances productivity and the effectiveness of organizations. Research shows that when organizations employ such personnel practices as internal career ladders, formal training systems, results-oriented performance appraisal, employment security, employee voice and participation, broadly defined jobs, and performance-based compensation, they are more able to achieve their goals and objectives. Using ordinal regression analyses of data from a survey of North Carolina county social service directors and supervisors, this study examines the extent to which strategic human resource management is perceived to affect outcome assessments (or performance measurements) for welfare reform. Although strategic human resource management practices are perceived to be present, with training and employment security having notable impacts, they clearly are not a predominant feature in North Carolina counties.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Arthur, J. B.
(1992). The link between business strategy and industrial relations systems in American steel minimills. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 45, 488-506.
2.
Arthur, J. B.
(1994). Effects of human resource systems on manufacturing performance. Academy of Management Journal, 37, 670-687.
3.
Barney, J. B.
(1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, lock, and business strategy. Management Science, 32, 1231-1241.
4.
Barney, J. B.
(1991). Firm resource and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99-120.
5.
Barney, J. B.
(2001). Is the resource-based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 41-56.
6.
Barrett, K.
, & Greene, R. (1999, February). Grading the states: A management report card. Governing Magazine, 12, 17-90.
7.
Barrett, K.
, & Greene, R. (2000, February). Grading the cities: A management report card. Governing Magazine, 13, 22-91.
8.
Berry, F. S.
(1994). Innovation in public management: The adoption of strategic planning. Public Administration Review, 54(4), 322-330.
9.
Boxall, P.
(1991). The strategic HRM debate and the resource-based view of the firm. Human Resource Management Journal, 6(3), 59-75.
10.
Bryson, J. M.
(1996). Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
Delaney, J. T.
, & Huselid, M. A. (1996). The impact of human resource management practices on perceptions of organizational performance. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 949-969.
12.
Delery, J. E.
, & Doty, D. H. (1996). Modes of the orizing in strategic human resource management: Tests of universalistic, contingency, and configurational performance predictions. Academy of Management Journal, 39(4), 802-835.
13.
Devanna, M. A.
, Fombrun, C. J., & Tichy, N. M. (1984). A framework for strategic human resource management. In W. P. Anthony, P. L. Perrewe, & K. M. Kacmar (Eds.), Strategic human resource management (pp. 33-51). New York: John Wiley.
14.
Fitz-Enz, J.
(1994). HR’s new score card. Personnel Journal, 73, 84-87.
15.
Garson, G. D.
(n.d.). PA 765 statnotes: An online textbook. Retrieved from http://www2.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/pa765/logistic.htm
16.
Gerhart, B.
, & Milkovich, G. T. (1990). Organizational differences in managerial compensation and financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 663-691.
17.
Gormley, W. T.
, & Weimer, D. L. (1999). Organizational report cards. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
18.
Hitt, M. A.
, Bierman, L., Shimizu, K., & Kochhar, R. (2001). Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional service firms: A resource-based perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 44(1), 13-28.
19.
Huselid, M. A.
(1993, August). Estimates of the impact of human resource management practices on turnover and productivity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta, GA.
20.
Huselid, M. A.
(1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 635-672.
21.
Julnes, P. D. L.
, & Holzer, M. (2001). Promoting the utilization of performance measures in public organizations: An empirical study of factors affecting adoption and implementation. Public Administration Review, 61(6), 693-708.
22.
Keen, C. D.
(1994, August). Tips for effective strategic planning. HR Magazine, 39(8), 84-87.
23.
Klingner, D.
(1993). Developing a strategic human resources management capability in public agencies. Public Personnel Management, 22(4), 565-578.
24.
Lado, A. A.
, & Wilson, M. C. (1994). Human resource systems and sustained competitive advantage: A competency-based perspective. Academy of Management Review, 19(4), 699-727.
25.
Ledvinka, J.
(1995). Human resources planning. In J. Rabin, T. Vocino, W. B. Hildreth, & G. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of public personnel administration (pp. 217-240). New York: Marcel Dekker.
26.
Liner, C. D.
(1995). State and local government relations in North Carolina (2nd ed.). Chapel Hill, NC: Institute for Government.
27.
Merjanian, A.
(1997, June). Striving to make performance measurement work: Texas implements systems approach to planning, budgeting. PA Times, 20(6), 1, 19-20.
28.
Mesch, D. J.
, Perry, J. L., & Wise, L. R. (1995). Bureaucratic and strategic human resource management: An empirical comparison in the federal government. Journal of Public Administration Theory and Research, 5, 385-402.
29.
Mintzberg, H.
(1994). The rise and fall of strategic planning. New York: Free Press.
30.
Nutt, P. C.
, & Backoff, R. W. (1992). Strategic management of public and third sector organizations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
31.
Perry, J. L.
(1993). Strategic human resource management. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 13(4), 59-71.
32.
Perry, J. L.
, & Mesch, D. J. (1997). Strategic human resources management. In C. Ban & N. Riccucci (Eds.), Public personnel management: Current concerns, future challenges (pp. 21-34). New York: Longman.
33.
Peteraf, M. A.
(1993). The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 179-191.
34.
Riccucci, N. M.
, & Lurie, I. (2001). Employee performance evaluation in social welfare offices. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 21(1), 27-37.
35.
Selden, S. C.
, Jacobson, W., Ammar, S. H., & Wright, R. (2000). A new approach to assessing performance of state human resource management systems: A multi-level fuzzy rule-based system. Review of Public Personnel Administration, 20(3), 58-74.
36.
Snell, S. A.
, Youndt, M. A., & Wright, P. M. (1996). Establishing a framework for research in strategic human resource management: Merging resource theory and organizational learning. In G. Ferris (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resources management (Vol. 14, pp. 61-90). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
37.
Terpstra, D. E.
, & Rozell, E. J. (1993). The relationship of staffing practices to organizational level measures of performance. Personnel Psychology, 46, 27-48.
38.
Ulrich, D.
(1997). Measuring human resources: An overview of practice and a prescription for results. Human Resource Management, 36, 303-320.
39.
Walker, J.
(1978). Linking humane resource planning and strategic planning. Human Resource Planning, 1, 1-18.
40.
Wernerfelt, B.
(1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5, 171-180.
41.
Wright, D. S.
, & Carlton, K. (1997). State capacity study: North Carolina, the Nelson Rockefeller Institute of Government. Albany: State University of New York Press.
