Strategic Hrm Practices and Their Impact on Company Performance in Chinese Enterprises

R esearchers have argued that human resources may be seen as a source of sustained competitive advantage for organizations (Barney, 1991, 1995; Becker & Gerhart, 1996). The underlying assumption is that human resources are unique to the extent that competitors cannot imitate them. This research has led to the identification of a number of human resource management practices that contribute to company performance across different organizations (Huselid, 1995). In a literature review, Delery and Doty (1996) identified seven such practices that have been consistently considered strategic HRM practices. They defined strategic HRM practices as those that are “theoretically or empirically related to overall organizational performance” (p. 805). These practices include internal career opportunities, formal training systems, results-oriented appraisals, employment security, participation, job descriptions, and profit sharing. This approach has come to be known as the “best practices” or universalistic approach. Within the best practices approach to strategic HRM, the first practice, internal career opportunities, refers to the organizational STRATEGIC HRM PRACTICES AND