Human Resource Management in the Knowledge Economy

Preface

“We have met the enemy, and he is us.”—Pogo

The human resource management function in organizations is in need of a reexamination to determine whether simply doing what it has always done—only perhaps better—will meet the challenges of the emerging, knowledge-based economy. We think the answer to this question is a definite “NO!” In the same way that the United States military has developed exceptional technological prowess—yet has found that the conventional military approach is inadequate for fighting terrorists—the human resource management function that evolved to address the needs of the industrial era is insufficient to meet the needs of the knowledge era.

In our many years of teaching, researching, and consulting in the area of ...