trategic process. This will include the function of recruitment and training programs in HRM, the concept of strategic fit and how human resource management can lead to a competitive advantage. The manner in which an organization’s personnel are managed has a tangible influence on the productivity of the employees, which ultimately acts upon the firm’s bottom line. Corporate success is dependent upon the integration of the human resource plan and the corporate strategic plan. It has become a prominent part of business management, that people provide organizations with an important source of sustainable competitive advantage and that the effective management of human capital, not physical capital, may be the ultimate determinant of organizational performance (Youndt, Snell, Dean, Jr, & Lepak, 1996).

The relationship between the strategic planning of an organization’s people and the overall strategy is being increasingly recognized as one of great importance. A growing recognition of human resources as being a company’s most important asset has, and will continue to, changes the focus of strategic planning. It is no longer acceptable to exclusively plan for those assets that will appear on the balance sheet. A plan integrating human resource management and the overall strategic plan is necessary, such that the management of people is not a distinct function, but acts as a medium through which all other business strategies are implemented (Armstrong and Long, 1994: p. 42). In essence, the competitive, human resource, and structural strategies should all be linked in a systemic and dynamic fashion (Boxall, 1996: p. 61).

The purpose of HRM is to anticipate changes within the employee framework, thereby ensuring that the organizational objectives are fulfilled (Nankervis, Compton and McCarthy, 1993: p. 53). This process is critical to the strategic objectives of