This article presents the results of a qualitative research project aimed at examining
how Human Resource (HR) practitioners interpret HR strategy and strategic change. We will
illustrate how they develop HR strategy by relying on a system of shared practices which,
in turn, constitute the underlying relational dynamics. We argue that HR strategy is
embedded in a (rhetorical) network of middle and top managers from HR departments and
corresponding operational departments. This implies that HR strategy happens in a social
process, more precisely in practices-in-use. Drawing on a systemic constructionist
framework, the article discusses the nature of practices-in-use and presents findings from
an inductive analysis of a qualitative HR study. The qualitative nature enabled us to shed
light on previously neglected aspects of the field of strategic human resource management
(SHRM). We will outline our research approach and method in detail and discuss its
suitability for studying SHRM issues. The article concludes by proposing a new
understanding of SHRM that will hopefully prove to be fruitful both in theory and
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