Understanding Competitive Advantage Through HRM: Looking Beyond the Use of Effective HR Practices

Strategic human resource management (SHRM) scholars and practitioners have long recognized the importance of HRM as a source of competitive advantage (e.g., Boxall, 1998; Coff, 1997; Wright, McMahan, & McWilliams, 1994), demonstrating that systems of effective and interconnected HR practices enhance the abilities, motivation, and opportunities of employees to meaningfully contribute to value creation in their employing organizations (Jiang, Lepak, Hu, & Baer, 2012; Lepak, Liao, Chung, & Harden, 2006). This literature has traditionally focused on the link between HRM and organizational performance, with a frequent emphasis on the alignment of HR practices – or HR content – as a coherent system (e.g., horizontal alignment) that supports the requirements of an organization’s environment (e.g., vertical alignment). More recently, some SHRM scholars have begun to explicitly examine additional factors …