Abstract The essence of strategic human resource management (SHRM) is a systemic view of the management of a firm's human resources, as well as an orientation toward the future. The management of human resources must be linked to the organization's total management system, and human resource professionals must work to ensure that the organization anticipates its future human resource needs and is prepared to address them. Our chapter examines two perspectives on the strategic management of human resources. The first perspective is that of systemic fit, which characterizes much of the early SHRM research. This perspective focuses on planned human resource deployments and activities that achieve continuity over time, as well as consistency with other management decisions and actions. The other perspective, strategic resources and capabilities, characterizes much of the more recent SHRM research. This perspective focuses on the future and helps the organization to identify opportunities to use strategic human resource management to its competitive advantage. We review the empirical evidence related to both the systemic fit and strategic resources/capabilities perspectives, and we suggest future research directions for scholars in SHRM.
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