HRM Strategy and Implementation

HRM Strategy and Implementation

RBV (Resource Based View ) Should be Read as Realistic Business Vision

By

Introduction

The seeds of idea that once envisioned humans as the prime capital of trade and commerce have now bloomed to their glory with the patronage of digital revolution and globalization . Therefore it is only but natural that they would now command more care and concern , and accordingly the Human Resource Management is now busier than ever to manage this dynamic asset , which is now seen as the prime component of competitive advantage (Boxall and

Purcell , 2003 , Pfeffer , 1998 Gratton , Hailey and Truss 2000 . Accordingly HRM has to gear up with newer ideas and application and in walked Strategic HRM , which is regarded by the researchers as the "pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable the firm to achieve its goals (Wright and McMahan , 1992 br

.295 . Therefore , this essay explores the elements of Resource Based View (RBV ) to ascertain about its efficacy as an SHRM of the organization

Background

1 . The Movement and RBV

The movement on firm positioning began in the 1980-s and it gained momentum with the books like Competitive Strategy (Michael Porter , 1980 and Search of Excellence (Peters Waterman , 1982 , which started generating new waves in the field of strategy with ideas like five forces (barriers to entry , power of buyers /suppliers , substitutes and competitive rivalry . It didn 't take much time for this new wave to culminate into more cogent and cohesive shape , when the concept of "resource-based view " arrived in the scene (Barney , 1991 , which improvised the previous researches on this field (Wernerfelt , 1984 ) and tilted the focus of organizations on the desired internal conditions of an organization . This concept settled for developing both intellectual and physical resources of the organizations as it regarded those components as the real engine for competitive advantage . Thus this new framework defined value in terms of the merit of the resources , where it would either exploit the opportunities or diffuse any threats to the organization , it observed that rarity is another exclusive resource for any organization , and it defined uniqueness as an sharp tool to maintain competitive advantage . This view might have sounded revolutionary at that time , but by now it has become a forgone conclusion that unique elements of a company (be it human ability or its end product ) can create a separate identity for it , which cannot be earned by its competitors . Thus the proponent of this concept , Barney , provided a crisp definition of it - the resources that are valuable , rare , unique and non-substitutable , will earn sustained competitive advantage for any organization (Barney , 1991

Thus resource-based view provided a refreshing platform for strategic management researches , especially the ones undertaken from knowledge-based perspective (Grant , 1996 . However , it could not avoid criticism that labelled it as just a tautological wonder (Priem and Butler , 2001 ) and chased what Barney placed as maxim by saying that the definition of valuable resources lacks definitional dependence and thus the his conclusion , that...