Antecedents of Transition towards Strategic HRM in Developing Countries

Abstract

Learning from the experiences of the developed countries in their transition towards strategic HRM, developing countries can make this journey in a lesser time. This paper briefly reviews evolution of the staff management after the industrial revolution in the western world. Taking strategic integration and devolvement a vital ingredient of strategic HRM the paper attempts to find antecedents of transition towards HRM in higher education institutes (HEIs) of Pakistan. The levels of the two types of integration are measured through a questionnaire based data in 52 HEIs. The predictors of the two integrations–presences of HR department, level of training of line managers, existence of HRM department since beginning and presence of written HR strategy–are the antecedent of transition towards strategic HRM. Implication of the study are discussed that may be useful for both practitioners and researchers interested in HRM in developing countries.

Keywords: Strategic HRM, Strategic Integration, Devolvement, Higher Education Institutes, Pakistan