Guest and King argue that recent developments in HRM have seen HR managers become more closely aligned with management and increased devolution of the employee champion role to line managers.Therefore, HR professionals act in an advisory capacity , ensuring that those with direct supervisory responsibility are empowered to make appropriate decisions through 'ownership' of HRM initiatives.In other words, line managers and HR specialists work in partnership to manage the workforce.This reflects a growing body of research which show that line managers are increasingly perceived as key to the successful implementation of HR practices and the relationship between line managers and subordinates has a significant influence on individual performance. Ulrich suggests that line managers must have ultimate responsibility for HR processes and outcomes, and whilst they have always also been people managers to some degree, the growing emphasis on the strategic dimension of HRM in contributing to corporate performance has elevated this role to the extent that some argue that HRM responsibilities should be of equal importance to their day-to-day functional responsibilities.