BUSINESS STRATEGY AND HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGY

The purpose of the research is to bridge the present gap between strategic management and personal/human resource management. Especially, the investigation sheds light on the linkage between business strategy and human resource strategy. In this study business strategy was operationalized in terms of strategic move from a present position to a desired position in the selected domain, while human resource strategy refers to a set of important decisions pertaining to changes in managerial staffing level, managerial quality, changes in managerial quality, functional area competence, and various personnel activities.; Since the literature on the topic is very limited (there are virtually no empirical studies but much speculation), the case study method was chosen to explore the phenomenon. In a pilot study, knowledgeable managers belonging to a U.S. multi-industry organization were interviewed to explore the topic and, then, a primary study based on a purposeful sample of twenty-two businesses was conducted within that organization.; The research findings show the existence of a relationship between business strategy and human resource strategy. Especially, variations in human resource activities can be accounted for by looking at variations in business strategy because different business strategies elicit different human resource challenges.; Several conjectural propositions pertaining to the linkage between business strategy and human resource strategy are formulated to guide further research. Then, a number of research questions and a research strategy are suggested for future studies.