This book was originally published in 1992. The skills shortage of the late 1980s demonstrated that managers need to support their corporate strategies with coherent policies for recruiting, developing and retaining people. While the recession has slowed the job market and caused some of these pressures to abate, they will reassert themselves with a vengeance when recovery comes: the demographic time bomb continues to tick.

Putting the emphasis on people should not, however, be a reactive process – a skilled and motivated workforce is one of the most important productive assets which companies possess, whether in recession or not.

Companies which are prepared to adopt more imaginative approaches to managing their human resource capital can unlock a major and unexploited source of long-term competitive edge. Recognising the competitive advantage in people – their contribution to productivity, the role of skills in strategic positioning, the opportunities in effective management training – brings human resources into the ambit of strategic management.

This book will help managers and students alike explore beyond the traditional methods of human resource management and focus on leading-edge techniques which successfully incorporate the management of human resources into strategic planning.