SHRM is a process of linking HR function with strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance which should be integrated and interlinked at different levels of an organization. Academics are primarily interested in understanding and learning about conceptual frameworks providing the ability to compare and contrast different policies, practices, strategies, HR strategies, internal and external characteristics, essentially leading to why the SHRM should be adopted.
The relationship between clusters of HR practices and organizational performance is important. For business practitioners it is to gain a competitive advantage where the implication of HR strategic choice impacts the company performance. Both academics and HR professions agree that leadership is the most important and difficult part of strategic implementation. Thus it is important to not only know or understand how it should be done, rather also what is actually done. Since strategic management is a political process it presents a gap between theoretical models and reality. I believe this gap can be narrowed when both academics and HR professionals work together by gathering and evaluating strategies implemented at corporate, business and functional levels informing more about strategic HRM. Studying about maximizing productivity, we understand that it is also important to know how to support the organization's competitive strategies as a whole, where bottom-up and top-down approaches are both analyzed.
There is a need to integrate business strategy and HRM for the academics, however, alongside, practitioners also take into account the importance of effective people management as a source of competitive advantage. Strategy linking to HRM can be explained in terms of rational choice and constituency based. Rational choice looks at people's skills and their intellectual assets that can provide advantage even with superior technology. With constituency based SHRM is a means of securing greater respect not only as a field of study but also a way for HR superiors appearing more strategic which in hand enhances their status in the organization.
There lies interest in understanding to which extent an HR strategy works effectively in one country and culture and can be used in another. There is no best universal implementation. I am of opinion that in order to formulate and embrace good SHRM, it is crucial that it is done not solely for self-interest, but where both HR professionals and academics can inform each other.