A Quarter-Century Review of Human Resource Management in the U.S.: The Growth in Importance of the International Perspective

The past quarter century has witnessed many developments in the research and practice of managing human resources in the United States. In this article, we briefly describe two major areas in which these developments have been unfolding: strategic human resource management and international human resource management. Across these two areas of activity, HRM in the U. S. has evolved to encompass a greater appreciation of issues associated with: the systemic character of human resource management, the role that context plays in shaping HR policies and practices, the importance of demonstrating the effectiveness of HR policies and practices, the value of addressing the concerns of multiple stakeholders, the need for partnership in managing human resources, the complexity of managing human resources in multinational enterprises, and the challenge of developing theories and frameworks that provide new and useful insights about how to address all of these issues. We conclude with a brief summary and our thoughts about the future of HRM in the U.S. context and the continued importance of the international perspective.