The hrm-economic success equation
It is frequently argued that there is a direct correlation between strategic hrm and economic sjccess. Porter (1980,1985) believed that hrm can help a firm obtain competitive advantage. Schuler and macmillan (1984: 242) make a similar point, that ‘effectively managing human resources’ gives benefits which ‘includw greater profitability’ other authors make the point explicitly that ‘firms that engage in a strategy formulation process that systematically and reciprocally considers human resources and competitive strategy will preform better … ober the long term’ (lengnick-hall and lengnick-hall 1988: 468); hrn has even been propounded as ‘the only truly important determinant of success’ (beyer 1991:1). Salaman (1992 ) comments ‘this is an obvions but important point’. Pieper builds on this to argue that ‘since hrm is seen as a strategic factor strongly influencing the economic success of asingle company one can argue that it is also a strategic factor for the success of an entire nation’ (1990: 4 ).