Critical to organizational survival in the 1990's is the creation of a committed
workforce fostered by a strong organizational culture manifested in superior Human Resource Management (HRM) practices. In view of the emphasis on
organizational culture it is further argued that for organizations to have order and
consistency and thereby gain and sustain competitive advantage there should be
systematic ways of bringing newcomers into the organization. Implicit in this argument
is a call for renewed emphasis on socialization as an HRM practice. Operating
in a strategic HRM framework, this paper argues that the thoroughness of socialization
practices and therefore the level of employee commitment depends on the organization's
business strategy. Propositions linking business strategy, thoroughness of socialization
practices and type of employee commitment are suggested
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