Part of the answer to this problem is undoubtedly methodological, based around the impossibility of finding nations (or organizations) which are equal in all substantial areas except hrm strategies. It seems unlikely however that better methodology would resolve the issue. This raises two possibilities: the first is that the link with economic success, despite its obvious logic, is a fallacy. The second, more promisingly, is that current conceptions of hrm are inadequate. This would go some way towards explaining the lack of correlation of a narrowly conceived view of organizational strategies with economic success.