1 Introduction business strategies and enable the organization to achieve its goals. In essence,strategic HRM is conceptual;it is a general notion of how inte gration or'fit'between HR and business strategies is achieved,the benefits of taking a longer-term view of where HR should be going and how to get there,and how coherent and mutually supporting HR strategies should be developed and implemented.Importantly,it isalso about how members of the HR function should adopt a strategic approach on a day-to-day basis This means that they operate as part of the management team,ensure that HR activties support the achievement of gies on a continuous basis and are consciously concerned with seeing that their activities add value To understand strategic HRM it is first necessary to appreciate the concepts of human resource management and strategy as covered in Chapters 1 and 2 respectively in Part 1(the framework of strategic HR).The concept of strategic human resource management(strategic HRM)is then examined in detail in Chapter 3 Part 2 of the book is concerned with the roles of management and HR in developed.The book concludes with a toolkit providing guidance on devel- oping HR strategy through a strategic review. Introduction Strategic human resource management (SHRM) is an approach to the devel￾opment and implementation of HR strategies that are integrated with business strategies and enable the organization to achieve its goals. In essence, strategic HRM is conceptual; it is a general notion of how inte￾gration or ‘fit’ between HR and business strategies is achieved, the benefits of taking a longer-term view of where HR should be going and how to get there, and how coherent and mutually supporting HR strategies should be developed and implemented. Importantly, it is also about how members of the HR function should adopt a strategic approach on a day-to-day basis. This means that they operate as part of the management team, ensure that HR activities support the achievement of business strategies on a continuous basis and are consciously concerned with seeing that their activities add value. To understand strategic HRM it is first necessary to appreciate the concepts of human resource management and strategy as covered in Chapters 1 and 2 respectively in Part 1 (the framework of strategic HR). The concept of strategic human resource management (strategic HRM) is then examined in detail in Chapter 3. Part 2 of the book is concerned with the roles of management and HR in strategic HRM and with the processes of developing and implementing HR strategies. Part 3 covers each of the main areas of HR in which strategies are developed. The book concludes with a toolkit providing guidance on devel￾oping HR strategy through a strategic review. 1