Human resource management is a rather self-important re-labeling of what, up to the 1980s, had simply been called personnel management (or sometimes personnel administration). The main proponent of human resource management was the Harvard Business School, which thought it might help future general managers (enrolled in its MBA program) deal with the changes (then) impacting society and the business environment.

In a word, the central issue was performance. Human resources would be managed to achieve positive outcomes in terms of workforce commitment, with personnel operating in harmony with the objectives of the organization and achieving competence and cost-effectiveness. These outcomes would in turn lead to positive long-term consequences: firstly, organizational effectiveness; secondly, individual and societal well-being.

Pace the quaint naïveté of its holistic ambitions, there have been major developments since the 1980s that now totally transcend the limits of the Harvard model (and could admittedly not have been foreseen): they include knowledge management, communities of practice, talent management, ethics, corporate governance, and technological change (the last of which now enables online recruitment, teleworking, e-learning, and the use of virtual teams, among others). A striking omission of the Harvard model related to learning and development.

From the afore-mentioned, references that seem relevant to this question follow pell-mell:

• Managing Knowledge Workers, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266478125_Managing_Knowledge_Workers
• A Primer on Talent Management, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254583127_A_Primer_on_Talent_Management.
• Leading Top Talent in the Workplace, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266477077_Leading_Top_Talent_in_the_Workplace.
• Managing Corporate Reputation, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254582908_Managing_Corporate_Reputation.
• Managing Virtual Teams, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281750803_Managing_Virtual_Teams.
• Building Communities of Practice, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254583096_Building_Communities_of_Practice.
• Growing Managers, Not Bosses, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254582901_Growing_Managers_Not_Bosses.
• E-Learning in the Workplace, available at https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254583111_E-Learning_and_the_Workplace.

Article Managing Knowledge Workers

Article A Primer on Talent Management

Article Leading Top Talent in the Workplace

Article Managing Corporate Reputation

Article Managing Virtual Teams

Article Building Communities of Practice

Article Growing Managers, Not Bosses

Article E-Learning and the Workplace