as “people are our most valuable asset”. This reappraisal of the techniques used to manage employees within an organization has led to the development of various approaches towards human resource management: for example the instrumental approach which focuses on the so-called hard HR areas such as HR planning where human resources are viewed as “rationally” as any other economic factor; and the humanistic approach emphasizing the so-called softer aspects of HRM such as organizational culture and employee commitment. The shift from traditional personnel management towards a more sophisticated human resource management has been reported extensively in recent years. Guest identifies the central levers for HRM as selection, training and rewards. It is widely accepted, however, that the main features of a human resource management network include additional features such as welfare, trade unions, assessment, employee involvement and equal opportunities. A further and essential feature of the HR model, or ideology, is that it is intended to be strategic in nature. Sophisticated human resource management practice stipulates that in order to be effective the HR activities of an organization must be linked to an overall corporate strategy and that the business direction of the organization must be reflected and supported by the HRM techniques adopted. It is in this area that potential contradictions have emerged between a strategic HR approach and the potential practical implementation of an equal opportunities policy. Such contradictions, which as yet remain largely unaddressed, are the theme of this article. Women's work and equal opportunities As Cockburn points out, many organizations today state in their job advertisements that “we are an equal opportunities employer”. Yet in reality the practice behind such claims can be experienced by women employees as radically different. Recent research suggests that such policies have little impact as catalysts for organizational change, largely because they still maintain a “marginal” presence within organizational life. Aitkenhead and Liff report a survey of 20 representative companies from The Times Top 1,000 index that investigated how equal opportunities policies were perceived and understood by organizations. Their conclusions were, first, that the majority had a view that equal opportunities policies prevailed; second, equal opportunities were not conceived of in terms of organizational structures requiring adaptation to suit individual needs; third, distributional changes were regarded as unnecessary and, finally, the criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of EO policies, where they existed, were only vaguely conceived. The authors concluded that their findings were profoundly depressing: It seems that women and ethnic minority group members are currently required, and will be required for some time to come, to fit into organizational contexts where they are disadvantaged. In promoting equal opportunities for female staff, a number of arguments are used.