A Road Well Traveled: The Past, Present, and Future Journey of Strategic Human Resource Management

This article provides an overview of the field of strategic human resource management (SHRM) by tracing its roots, describing its current state, and predicting its future directions. We discuss some past stages in the evolution of the field, including eras of conceptual models, empirical examinations, and empirical critiques. We then discuss the present state regarding theory, the human resources (HR) system–performance relationship, multilevel analyses, fit and flexibility, and international HR research. Finally, we propose that future research needs to be more rigorous, more multilevel, more global, more focused on human capital, more integrated with strategy, and more integrated with practice.