Matching the theory of strategic human resource management with the realities of practice: a review of theoretical perspectives based on a study of Danish companies

This paper presents a review of the Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) literature and the relationship of SHRM to organisational performance. It reviews longstanding concepts such as the design school and process school of HR, best practices and best fit, internal alignment and external alignment and tight alignment and minimal alignment and further reviews these perspectives in the light of a study of Danish companies, which examined the performance implication of HR strategy and business strategy alignment. Data was collected from 156 Danish managers from the corporate, business and functional strategy levels. The study found that organisational performance is best explained by the tight alignment and minimal alignment of HR strategy and business strategy (as opposed to misalignment). However, one noteworthy result is the viability of using a combination strategy where dimensions from two or more “pure” strategies in a typology can be combined and effectively implemented. A combination strategy manifests flexibility, which is an important feature within the SHRM literature