Human Resource Management: Ethics and Employment

68 SITUATING HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Capablepeople:

skilled and

motivated

managers and

workers

Appropriate

businessgoals:

a sense of identity and

achievable objectives in

relation to those of

rivals

Relevant non-human

resources

e.g. funding, properties,

technology, databases,

historically developed

operating systems,

stocks of materials

Figure 4.1Three critical elements for the viability of the firm
Source: Boxall and Purcell (2003: 31).

of the firm’s strategy is formed in a ‘package’ when the original choice of
competitive sector is made.
The problem of viability isthefundamental strategic problem. While Figure
4.1 summarizes the critical elements involved in it, it naturally oversimpli-
fies the ambiguities, tensions, and complexities involved. It is not necessarily
straightforward to decide on the right mix of goals for the firm. Nor does
a simple diagram like Figure 4.1 highlight the difficult relationshipsamong
resources that have to be managed. What Figure 4.1 does highlight, however,
is that there is no solution to the problem of viabilitywithoutcapable and
motivated people. Appropriate human capabilities are strategic to the success
of every firm.

THE PROBLEM OF SUSTAINED ADVANTAGE

While the problem of viability is the fundamental strategic problem, and can
never be completely resolved (note the decline and even disappearance of
some major companies in the last decade), there is a ‘second-order’ problem
that lies beyond it: the contest among leaders of sound businesses to see which
firm can secure the best rate of return. In effect, this is not so much a problem
as an opportunity, an opportunity to move beyond the pack and gain industry
leadership (Boxall and Steeneveld 1999).