Introduction At present, human resources in a large number of organisations are viewed as a

source of competitive advantage. There is greater acceptance that distinctive competencies are
obtained through highly developed employee skills, distinctive organisational cultures,
management processes and systems. Increasingly it is being recognized that competitive
advantage can be obtained with a high quality workforce that enables organisations to compete
on the basis of market responsiveness, product and service quality, differentiated products and
technological innovation. Strategic human resource management has been defined as ' the linking
of human resources with strategic goals and objectives in order to improve business performance
and develop organisational culture that foster innovation and flexibility' (Siddharth Chaturvedi).
Strategic HR means accepting the HR function as a strategic partner in the formulation of the
company's strategies as well as in the implementation of those strategies through HR activities
such as recruiting, selecting, training and rewarding personnel. Whereas

Strategic human resource management or SHRM has been defined as the pattern of planned
human resource deployments and activities aimed at the attainment of organizational goals
(Wright 1992). It is a macro approach to viewing the function of human resource management in
the larger organization and, in this respect, differentiates it from traditional human resource
management or HRM. It is woven around a short-term focus on business needs, called strategy,
and described as "a set of processes and activities jointly shared by human resources and line
managers in solving people-related business problems." It links human resource management to
that strategy and emphasizes the coordination among these practices. But owing to the applied
nature of SHRM, it lacks a theoretical foundation necessary in predicting and understanding the
impact of human resource practices on the functions of the organization (Wright). Experts
assume that particular institutional processes may shape HR practices: those imposed or coerced
by governments or companies upon acquired subsidiaries; authorized or legitimized practices by
an organization seeking the approval of a regulating entity, as in the case of hospitals and
colleges seeking accreditation from external agencies; practices that conditions of reward from
outside agents elicit; practices that evolve or are acquired by one organization from other
organizations so as to appear legitimate or up-to-date; and practices that become institutionalized
through the adoption of other practices at the start of operations (Wright)."

Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is concerned with establishing a specific and
managed cause and effect relationship between an organisation's actions to survive and grow and
its HRM principle and practices. It is also concerned with the mechanism through which people
in an organisation gain an understanding of the purpose of the organisation, its goals and
strategic objectives. As well as how the organisation related to its external environment in order
to achieve these goals and objectives (SHU International MBA, Intro to SHRM unit p.1)
Introduction Human resource management (HRM) can broadly be defined as a strategic and
coherent approach to the management of an organization's most value asset - the people work
there, who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives for
sustainable competitive advantage. As described by beer et al (1984): Human resource
management involves all management decisions and action that affect the relations....