Human resource management in relation to generic strategies: a comparison of chemical and food&drink companies in the Netherlands and Great Britain

In this paper, specific personnel policies and their relationship to generic strategies are examined in the light of the concept of human resource management (HRM). Since data from twelve Dutch and eight British companies in the food&drink and chemical industries reveal that the implementation of HRM components is subject to a societal effect–and thus HRM has a different meaning in Dutch companies than in their British counterparts–a typology of HRM at a more strategic level is proposed to facilitate the analysis of the relationship between HRM and generic strategies. Although in the majority of cases the HRM policy supports the generic strategy pursued, many problems and paradoxes remain in the analysis of an HRM–strategy fit.