broken free from its earlier managerialist anchor and its concern with making
organizations more competitive or eVective. HRM writers, it would seem, have
been reluctant to sever these ropes (Watson 2004 ). Hence, it can be argued that
there needs to be more utilizing of critical social science thinking generally and
non-managerialist organization theory speciWcally in the study of HRM. But in no
way whatsoever is this to argue for HRM research and writing which lacks
relevance for people with a practical involvement in HRM. Nobody at all is helped
by analyses that confuse the ‘is’ and the ‘ought’ of HR practices. In theWnal
analysis, good theory tells us about ‘how things work in the world.’ And if
organization theory can help us produce ‘good theories’ about how HRM processes
‘work’ in practice then it will be of equal relevance and value to everyone involved
with HRM. It will equally inform the thinking and the actions of people who want
to develop HRM skills, people who want to challenge HRM institutions, and
people who simply want to reXect in a detached and scholarly manner upon
HRM institutions and practices.
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