Customized Human Resource Planning : Different Practices for Different Organizations

Dr. Duane argues that there is no universal approach to human resource (HR) planning and that each organization must develop its own policies and practices, based on its own special needs and characteristics. Indeed, this is the only way an organization can stay competitive. This, then, is the first work to present a comprehensive discussion of how to match an organization's design parameters to its HR planning efforts, and to provide specific hands-on examples as guidelines. An important guide for HR professionals at the executive level and a useful agenda for academics in their own research.

In this exhaustively researched and definitive book, Duane argues that the key to an organization's competitive advantage is through effective human resource (HR) planning. Specifically, he notes that HR planning must move beyond simply matching individuals with immediate job requirements, to a point where it matches individuals with the organization's environmental and design parameters. Accordingly, this book offers a comprehensive discourse on how different types of organizations should engage in HR planning.

The book begins with a discussion of the basic steps in HR planning as well as a review of the various HR planning practices that are available to managers. Before he specifies how different organizations should conduct HR planning, Duane addresses the hotly contested debate over the legitimacy of organizational typologies. The preponderance of evidence examined supports the use of typologies in examining organizational operations, including HR planning. Two excellent examples of configurational theories that have enjoyed widespread popularity—Henry Mintzberg's theory of organizational structure and R. E. Miles and C. C. Snow's theory of strategy, structure, and process—are then investigated. For a variety of reasons, the Miles and Snow typology emerges as the more powerful predictor of organizational effectiveness, and thus it is used to illustrate how different types of organizations should approach human resource planning. In particular, separate chapters are dedicated to HR planning within each of the organizational configurations defined by the Miles and Snow typology. Duane concludes by presenting several propositions regarding how different types of organizations should approach HR planning. These propositions can serve as guidelines for practioners or as research agenda items for scholars.

MICHAEL J. DUANE is Associate Professor of Management at North Central College, Illinois.