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Strategic Human Resources Management: a Review of the Literature and a Proposed Typology

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Strategic Human Resources Management: A Review of the Literature and a Proposed Typology Cynthia A. Lengnick-Hall; Mark L. Lengnick-Hall The Academy of Management Review, Vol. 13, No. 3. (Jul., 1988), pp. 454-470.
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The combination of these factors raises the switching costs of IBM relative to other manufacturers and, thus, improves the firm's competitive position. However, the stronger tie also may increase the customer's expectation of responsiveness from IBM a n d , over time, this responsiveness may become more difficult or expensive to provide. In addition, a n important human resource precedent is set. Programmers a r e hired from outside the organization, a n d certain career paths a r e blocked for existing IBM employees. Again, the short-term outcome is beneficial, but the long-run evaluation is uncertain. Therefore, although integration between human resource management a n d competitive strategy often is proposed in the literature, this example illustrates the complex repercussions of such integration. Clearly, integration should not be a unidirectional process from either perspective i undesirable consequences a r e to b e minif mized. Why is it desirable to integrate human resources management a n d strategic choice despite these difficulties? First, integration provides a broader range of solutions for solving complex organizational problems. Second, integration ensures that human, financial, and technological resources a r e given consideration in setting goals a n d assessing implementation capabilities. Third, through integration

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