Human resource management and organizational effectiveness: yesterday and today

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to describe how the understanding of the relationship between human resource management (HRM) and organizational effectiveness (OE) has evolved during the past three decades and to provide examples how firms are using HRM to improve their OE today by addressing several challenges that result from a broader stakeholder model. Design/methodology/approach – This paper reviews the past and current work on the relationship between HRM and OE. Findings – This findings indicate that the relationship between HRM and OE is very different when comparing the past with the current work on the relationship between HRM and OE. A major reason for this is the current work on OE uses the multiple stakeholder model that accounts for many more stakeholders than the past work. Practical implications – Human resource (HR) professionals have the opportunity to demonstrate many ways by which HRM can influence OE, and not just solely on the basis of firm profitability. Thus the use of the multiple stakeholder model today offers the HR professional and the HR profession many more opportunities to demonstrate their importance and impact. Originality/value – A systematic review and comparison of the past and current relationship between HRM and OE using the multiple stakeholder model have not been using both the viewpoints of both academics and practitioners.