Strategic Human Resource Management

Since the publication of the fourth edition of this text, heightened attention continues to be shown and greater appreciation paid toward the value of strategic human resource management in orga-nizations. Boards of directors, business owners, stockholders, and senior executives are gaining a greater understanding of the relationship between HR and organizational, market, and financial performance as cutting-edge research illustrates the connection between HR practices and firm performance.

Scholarly HR-related publications continue to thrive, while practitioner-oriented management publications--traditionally dominated by articles focused on marketing and finance--are publishing an increasingly significant number of articles on human resource management, particularly strategic aspects of HR. Within the academy, there continues to be a significant increase in the number of HR-related articles in journals focused on general management and even those related to strategy. No longer is HR simply relegated to specialized journals that deal with HR. This significant movement toward the publication of more HR-focused articles in both the general management academic and practitioner literatures illustrates clearly that executives are realizing the role HR plays in an organization's success as well as the fact that HR is a general management responsibility and its effective practice a key to successful operating results.

Also since the publication of the fourth edition, the resources that are available to those of us who teach have greatly expanded. The Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest HR professional association, has continued to develop programs and materials to support HR education which include (1) curriculum guidebooks and templates for both undergraduate and graduate programs; (2) dozens of cases and learning modules to assist with course design and delivery; and

(3) a significant database of the latest research and position papers on critical issues in strategic HR, which allow instructors to remain very current on trends, best practices, and legislative and court activity. Much of this material is available to nonmembers at the SHRM Web site, www.shrm.org. In addition, the Journal of Human Resources Education (JHRE), continues to publish exciting original work that supports HR education.