The Future of Human Resource Management: 64 Thought Leaders Explore the Critical HR Issues of Today and Tomorrow

Book Overview

Sixty-three stellar academics, consultants, and practitioners look at the future of human resources The follow-up to the bestselling Tomorrow's HR Management (978-0-471-19714-0), this book presents an international panel of expert contributors who offer their views on the state of HR and what to expect in the future. Topics covered include HR as a decision science, understanding and managing people, creating and adapting organizational culture, the effects of globalization, collaborative ventures, and investing in the next generation. Like its bestselling predecessor before it, The Future of Human Resource Management offers the very best thinking on the future of HR from the most respected leaders in the field.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0471677914
• ISBN13: 9780471677918
• Release Date: May 2005
• Publisher: Wiley
• Length: 448 Pages
• Weight: 1.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.4" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Great purchase, great price

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The Future of Human Resource Management by Ulrich et al.

The authors describe human resource management as both an art and a science. It is an art because we are required to motivate, build alliances, assume new roles, adopt to the corporate culture and collaborate on mutually beneficial ventures. Human Resource management issues range from functional experience to talent management in an organization. An HR advisor is knowledgable on core competencies . Generally, such a team member is trusted by superiors to provide the talent necessary to accomplish corporate goals. Often, it is necessary to adapt the corporate culture to take full advantage of business conditions. Employees must focus on building markets of customers locally and globally. This task requires both new skills and a considerable technical analysis. The HR management process is a science in that there are reams of statistical data to sort and interpret for senior management, customers and governmental units at every level. This work is a good primer for the Human Resource function in an organization both large and small.

The Future Role of HR Function

While HR literature is replete with threats of redundancy for HR department due to variegated reasons, the book is optimistic that HR will continue to grow and play a critical role as a strategic business partner and leader in attracting and retaining talent. It has examined the trends and challenges that will define the future of HR. One of the biggest strengths of this book is its unity in diversity i.e. despite some 45 chapters expressing different perspectives, it goes remarkably well as a coherent whole. That reflects very astute editing. The book succeeds well in identifying the strategic HR themes for the morrow that HR professionals would have to master and nurture in order to deliver value in the present turbulent times. No doubt, the book will prove to be of immense use in expounding an articulate understanding of the dimensions in which the HR interventions are heading. The book is a fine addition to readings meant for management professionals and CEOs. The publication of such books has been labeled as the emergence of an era of "Heathrow Management Theory." It contains discussion on some of the most-talked-about themes in people management in which some of the best possible names in the HR profession have participated. It will be particularly appreciated by the busy practitioner and the graduate HR students who are tired of reading hard core researches while searching simple answers to some of the most intriguing HR questions. I must however add that since the book has considered the importance of India and China as markets for western goods and technology as also the emerging economies, a chapter each on the state of HR in these economies would have added tremendous value from the reader's point of view. That would have met the needs of a large number of big companies who are looking for operations in these countries. It is to be admitted that the realities of these economies are indeed not the same as those of the industrially-advanced world, and the new global manager would like to acquaint herself with the nuances of the prevailing practices in these new locales of entrepreneurial focus. Debi S. Saini MDI, Gurgaon, India.

VALUABLE, VALID AND VIVID SNAPSHOT OF THE HR PROFESSION!

To create this collection the editors contacted thought leaders and asked them "What is the future of HR?" They responded with the essays that make up this work. Its 45 brief chapters, contributed by 64 HR gurus, cover a broad spectrum of issues confronting the field. The chapters were clustered into nine parts, with the springboard clause of "In the future, an effective HR professional must..." These nine parts focus on outcomes and results-not actions or activities. This non-tradition (i.e., not based on specialized functions) organization of the book's content captures a dynamic, value-generating spirit. The authors hope they have provided a "road map for the profession," spotlighting how HR practitioners can constantly reinvent themselves to continue being of value people, organizations, and societies. The books' core value is that it encompasses so many key and leading-edge topics written by so many people who are at the forefront of forging the field's future. But each chapter has its own stand alone merit; quite a few have considerable originality and 'push the envelop.' For example, in Chapter 14, "Changing Mental Models: HR's Most Important Task," Jeffrey Pfeffer argues that aside from being keepers and analysts of organization culture, HR needs to be concerned with the mental models and mindsets of the people of the company, particularly its leaders. Page-forward to chapter 30; there, Jac Fitz-Enz has a slightly different take; he concludes that to be a strategic business partner, HR leaders must become more culture managers than anything else-"there is no better place to start than with the organization's culture." Such thought-provoking views are typical of this book and distinguish it as lively, varied and ambitious collection of substantive thinking. Clearly, this is not a fast-read; given its agenda and scope-that's a virtue. As an HR consultant and practitioner (HRconsultant.com, Partner, Stern & Associates), as well as a reviewer, I find this book to be a valuable, valid, and vivid snapshot of where the HR field is, where it's likely to be heading, and the many challenges it's confronting. No question about it, there's a lot of rewarding reading in this book.