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Power, Innovation and Problem‐Solving: The Personnel Managers’ Three Steps to Heaven?
Author(s) -
Guest David,
King Zella
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
journal of management studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 4.398
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1467-6486
pISSN - 0022-2380
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00438.x
Subject(s) - heaven , power (physics) , human resources , human resource management , resource (disambiguation) , virtuous circle and vicious circle , business , management , public relations , marketing , operations management , economics , political science , computer science , history , computer network , physics , archaeology , macroeconomics , quantum mechanics
Legge's seminal book on personnel managers (Legge, 1978) identified ambiguities in their role, vicious circles that limited their power and possible strategies to improve their effectiveness. This paper explores how far the advent of human resource management has altered the circumstances in which they find themselves and how far it offers a new basis for power and influence. Analysis of interviews with 48 senior executives indicates that although there have been changes in features of the ambiguities and vicious circles, personnel managers have failed to overcome many of the problems identified by Legge 25 years earlier or to seize the opportunities outlined by Ulrich (1997) to become human resource champions.