CHALLENGE T0;TH.E AMERICAN CONCEPT?

The concept of human resource management (HRM.), and the associated coxept of strategic human resource management, is being debated increasingly in the literature and used increasingly within employing organisations. The history of the notion of HRM has been summarised elsewhere (Hendry and Pettigrew 1990; Beaumont 1991). It developed initially from work in the United States of America in the 1960s and 1970s and emerged as two distinct, though perhaps not fully formed, strands in the mid 1980s. Since then the concept has been an ever more visible feature of the academic literature, of consultancy services and of organisational terminology. This use of the terminology spread from the USA firstly into the developed English speaking world and recently- and more pam’ally- into Europe. It was not until 1987, for example, that the first French text to address the topic specifically was published (Besseyre des Horts 1987). This paper addresses the question of whether the concept is applicable in Europe. Is the concept of HRM universally valid? Is it possible to d@erentiate a spectjicall