Human Resource and Quality Management and Colliding Gyroscopes. An Alternative Way of Looking at Value Creation in Organizations

There are several ways to look at the so called “human resources” within an organization. In the opinion of the authors it can be formulated as “analytical and measurable qualities of human beings that are leading to an optimal functioning of the organization in relation to its stakeholders.” The objectives for this are influenced by a factor which mostly is not taken into account in HRM. The instruments and tools to practice HRM in organizations are often used at an operational level contributing to the strategic goals. In this way the contribution does not touch upon strategic decisions, but is integrated in a part of strategic planning. It is the true belief of the authors that the role of the human dimension and its contribution to organizations is an important and underestimated factor in trainings, educations and in scientific research in HRM. Focusing upon the added value of the human dimension to strategic decisions in business is a new and slippery road; it is, as the other developed study programmes at a University in the Netherlands have already shown, a road that deserves more attention. In this paper the authors explain what the integrative approach named HRQM is and does to students and how the philosophy behind it can contribute to employees in the performance, gyroscopic thinking and internally motivated contributions to strategic decisions. The authors use the metaphor of a gyroscope and explain how these can collide in special ways.