So what is wrong with page five, that depends on what you’re looking for? Figure 1.1 highlights the order of human resource management practices which need to be in place to help increase the performance of a company. The figure highlights 8 strategic HRM practices under broad and a little ambiguous headings. By using such headings the authors of the text are trying to move away from limiting themselves too much. For example where does the issue of employee motivation fall? Is it under compensation, training and development, performance management, employee relations or within the actual design of work itself? In my opinion it needs to be considered in all the mentioned practices, it cannot to confined or limited to one specific practice.

HRM is a fluid concept and thereby when you try to capture this fluid concept within a static medium such as figure 1.1 you are going to be facing limitations. I believe the authors of the text were trying to capture the broad idea of human resource management practices in a manner which would not be overpowering and easy to understand for individuals from various different academic disciplines. In doing so the authors skimped on a few areas in terms of detail and explicitly as has already been highlighted by my colleagues in the preceding entries. Once thing I do believe that the diagram need to make explicitly clear is that all of these practices need not only be put in place but also implemented and managed (not always that case here in Asia) in order for there to be a positive impact on the performance of the company. Only a well managed HRM program will be able to bring about “gradual” improvement within company performance over a period of time.

So coming back to your question “what is wrong with page 5”, well nothing much really, it accomplishes what it set out to achieve. It gives you a basic picture into HRM but is lacking in detail. I am assuming that as we progress onwards from page 5 through the remaining 750+ pages of the text that the issue regarding the lack of detail will gradually disappear.