The last decade has been an interesting period of change and survival for businesses. The worst economic recession in over 50 years forced many companies to rethink the way they did business. More recently, recovery from the recession has presente...

The last decade has been an interesting period of change and survival for businesses. The worst economic recession in over 50 years forced many companies to rethink the way they did business. More recently, recovery from the recession has presented organizations with a number of different opportunities and threats. Only the best companies survive and thrive in such trying times. But what makes some companies more successful than others? What gives organizations an advantage over their competitors? One answer emphasizes the benefit of having the right people as members of the organization. It is often said that “the people make the place,” which tells us that employees are the most important asset of any organization. Practices that help obtain and motivate employees are the core focus of human resource management, which is the field of study presented in this textbook. As you read this book, we hope you will agree that human resource management is an exciting field of study. In order to make ideas and concepts come to life, we include a number of examples from real companies that illustrate how effective human resource management is helping companies achieve success. Each chapter explains how an organization can increase its effectiveness by improving its processes for hiring and motivating top-performing employees. We also specifically link human resource practices to competitive strategies.