There is no single best way01
Contingency theory & strategic fit
Choose HR practices that fit the work and its context, while keeping legal and ethical standards consistent.
Paul R. Lawrence4 min
HRM / subject guide
HR strategy
Turn organisational direction into coherent choices about capability, work and people practices.
A suggested reading route
From understanding to practice.
Begin with the first guide, or choose the question you are working on. Each guide connects explanation, application, limitations and further reading.
Capabilities that last02
The resource-based view
Look beyond headcount to the knowledge, relationships and routines that enable an organisation to do something distinctive.
Jay B. Barney4 min
People analytics · models & decisions03
The HR value chain & causal chain
Connect HR investment with employee, operational and business outcomes—and test the links.
David E. Guest6 min
AMO framework04
Ability, motivation and opportunity
A performance problem may be about capability, willingness, or the chance to contribute. Diagnose before prescribing.
Thomas Bailey4 min
Stakeholders & consequences05
The Harvard HRM framework
Connect people-policy choices with stakeholder interests and their longer-term effects on work, organisations and society.
Michael Beer, Bert Spector, Paul Lawrence, D. Quinn Mills4 min
People analytics · models & decisions06
Workforce planning: demand, supply and capability
Translate strategy into workforce demand, available capacity, capability gaps and practical options.
Workforce-planning practice5 min
People analytics · models & decisions07
Balanced Scorecard & the HR scorecard
Connect measures to a strategy across financial, stakeholder, process and learning perspectives.
Robert S. Kaplan5 min
Where this subject grows next
This is a foundation, not complete coverage of every handbook chapter.
- Strategy implementation case studies
- Evaluating a people-strategy portfolio