Human capital management: a new name for HRM?

The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of human capital management (HCM) and to make a case that it is much more than a new name for human resource management (HRM). The paper reviews the theoretical and empirical human capital (HC) literature, as well as the literatures regarding strategic human resource management (SHRM), and knowledge management (KM) to develop a framework pertaining to the management of HC. The framework developed will assist researchers and practitioners in the identification and exploration of variables linked to the effective management of HC within organisations. It is concluded that managers of organisations need to understand the complexity of managing HC and must combine their HRM strategy with their KM strategy to leverage their human capital. By integrating several fields of the literature that relate to HC management, the paper suggests propositions that deserve future research consideration.