Gaining competitive advantage through a quality culture: the role of human resource management

Abstract

There is a good deal of evidence that, as technological transfer becomes increasingly rapid, the source of competitive advantage for many companies now lies within their workforces (Pfeffer, 1994). However, the issue of how to sustain and promote this type of competitive advantage may be more problematic than one based on keeping up-to-date with changing machinery and techniques. For some companies, investment in people and in the appropriate human resource practices to foster their development and commitment requires a consideration of the ways in which they have usually tackled such matters. For the human resource function this represents the opportunity to become involved in major change initiatives, but it may require a rethinking oftraditional roles. This paper considers the implications for both the human resource function and for human resource practices of the changes wrought within companies involved in the implementation of quality initiatives. Quality has become a key issue for companies seeking competitive advantage and recent research indicates that a focus on the human resource implications of these quality initiatives, although frequently a neglected dimension, may be critical to their long term success (Powell, 1995). The paper begins by considering some of the literature on the impact of quality programmes on the human resource function in particular and on human resource practices in general before reporting on the findings of research in some Irish companies