In Search of HRM

Abstract HRM has been the industrial relations issue of the 1980s and early 1990s. Although it has very few direct references to HRM, WIRS3 sheds considerable light on a number of the debates involved. Not only does it suggest that some of the ideas and practices associated with HRM appear to be taking root; its most striking, and paradoxical, findings are that these fragments of HRM are to be found in union rather than non‐union workplaces. These findings have considerable implications for policy and practice as well as for future WIRSs.