Abstract

This chapter locates the emergence and significance of key intersections of Human Resource Management (HRM) and Employment Relations (ER) in a threefold manner. First, the chapter traces the origins of HRM, highlighting the importance of longstanding domain assumptions which formed the conceptual heritage of the term. Second, the chapter explores key waves of research that have characterised the field since the mid-1980s, including an emphasis on strategy, HRM-Performance linkages, and employee outcomes. Third, the chapter draws on a 5C framework to provide a critical evaluation of HRM. Overall, this serves to illuminate the value of more employment relations grounded understanding and on-going conversation between related modes of thinking about the management of people at work in contemporary society.