Human Resources are the most important resource that a firm commands and should be regarded as capital, a factor of production in which managers invest today in order to realize future profits. This book deals with the strategic implications of Human Resource Management as an important strategic asset and emphasizes its importance within the overall strategy of the firm. The book covers issues such as job design, evaluation, recruitment, training, career concern, and outsourcing and downsizing. The linkage between the various pieces of HRM policy are stressed and how the policies are related to management issues such as TQM, just--in--time manufacturing, and others. The book is aimed at the general manager, not the HRM practitioner and it stresses conceptual frameworks, not procedural methodology.