Effective Human Resource Management ─ A Global Analysis

Lawler and Boudreau (business, U. of Southern California) report on a study they conducted at USC's Center for Effective Organizations on human resources management in large corporations, which measured whether the HR function is changing and whether it is effective, as well as analyzing how organizations can more effectively manage their human capital. They compare data from earlier studies to that collected in 2010, as well as data from other countries to compare to the US, to consider how human resources organizations are designed and operate and how they are changing in response to the strategic and organizational initiatives that businesses are undertaking, and examine the new directions needed to fit with changes that are occurring in organizations. They also examine how these changes are related to the strategic role of HR, its effectiveness, and the effectiveness of organizations, and the impact of how the HR function is designed and operates on its effectiveness. They consider HR activities, the HR function and its design, decision science for talent decisions, outsourcing, information technology, metrics and analytics, HR skills and effectiveness, and organizational performance. No index is provided. Annotation c2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)