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Human resources are strategic too: managerial career strategies, planned or realized?
Author(s) -
Watson Tony,
Harris Pauline
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
strategic change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.527
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1099-1697
pISSN - 1086-1718
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1697(199611)5:6<311::aid-jsc268>3.0.co;2-k
Subject(s) - conceptualization , mainstream , parallels , human resources , value (mathematics) , business , strategic human resource planning , strategic management , human resource management , knowledge management , resource (disambiguation) , work (physics) , public relations , management , strategic planning , marketing , sociology , political science , computer science , operations management , economics , mechanical engineering , computer network , artificial intelligence , machine learning , law , engineering
To understand better both the ways in which human resource (HR) strategies of organizations are shaped and the understandings and actions of employees are shaped, we need to look at the parallels and interconnections between the processes of strategy making which go on at both the corporate levels and at the level of employees' own career making. Mintzberg's conceptualization of strategies as realized patterns is useful in analysing both organizational and career strategies to ascertain the extent to which they are ‘more or less deliberate’ or ‘emergent’. This implies the need for more recognition in the mainstream literature on ‘strategic HRM’ of the value of conceptualizing strategies as processes rather than as big plans. Material from on‐going research is used to illustrate how the concept of strategy might be used in talking about the ways in which managers see their careers or work histories.