ON BECOMING A STRATEGIC PARTNER - THE ROLE OF HUMAN-RESOURCES IN GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Although managers cite human resources as a firm's most important asse t, many organizational decisions do not reflect this belief. This arti cle uses the value, rareness, imitability, and organization (VRIO) fra mework to examine the role that the human resource (HR) function plays in developing a sustainable competitive advantage. Why some popularly cited sources of sustainable competitive advantage are not, and what aspects of a firm's human resources can provide a source of sustainabl e competitive advantage are discussed. The role of the HR executive as a strategic partner in developing and maintaining competitive advanta ge within the firm is also examined. (C) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.