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'Best practice' human resource management: perfect opportunity or dangerous illusion?
Open accessAbstract
In recent years there has been a considerable degree of interest in the notion of 'best practice' HRM, inspired at least in part by the work of Jeffrey Pfeffer. Along with other contributions from the UK and the USA, this has resulted in assertions that a particular bundle of HR practices can increase profits irrespective of organizational, industrial, or national context. In this paper, we focus on the way in which HRM is characterized in these writings, querying whether the practices which are typically assumed and put forward as 'good' may not appear quite so beneficial to workers when analysed more systematically. It is suggested that there are a number of problems with the notion of 'best practice', both in relation to the meaning of specific practices, and their consistency with each other, and the claims that this version of HRM is universally applicable. The unitarist underpinnings of this literature are also exposed. This is not to argue that HR policies and practices do not influence organizational performance but, rather, that we cannot determine this from the current literature. The 'best practice' conclusions may be attractive but the jury is still out.
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“Here, a universalist best practice approach to configuring sustainable HRM practices may not be effective (Marchington & Grugulis, 2000).”
From Advancing the sustainability agenda through strategic human resource management: Insights and suggestions for future research (2023) · cites this paper as Marchington & Grugulis, 2000
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Research works printed but not linked: 20
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ren, S., Cooke, F. L., Stahl, G. K., Fan, D., & Timming, A. R. (2023) · Human Resource Management · doi:10.1002/hrm.22169 · Cited by 148
Metadata
- Authors
- Marchington, M., & Grugulis, I.
- ORCID
- Grugulis, Irena
- Venue
- The International Journal of Human Resource Management
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2000-01
- Volume
- 11
- Issue
- 6
- Pages
- 1104-1124
- ISSN
- 0958-5192 (ISSN-L)
- 1466-4399
- OpenAlex
- W2066797299
- Cited by
- 384
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 12 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 13 · 2017: 12 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 33 · 2014: 22 · 2013: 21 · 2012: 25
- FWCI
- 11.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- The International Journal of Human Resource Management (publishedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (acceptedVersion)
- Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Human Resource and Talent Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Business and International Management › Global and Cross-Cultural Management
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management Theory and Practice
- Keywords
- unitarism, human resource management practices, organizational performance, employee welfare, human resource management theory
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- Marchington, M., & Grugulis, I. (2000). 'Best practice' human resource management: perfect opportunity or dangerous illusion? The International Journal of Human Resource Management. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190050177184
