Virtual HR: Strategic human resource management in the 21st century

This article explores the emergence of virtual HR in organizations as a res ponse to the increased presence of external structural options to perform H R services as well as the growing sophistication of information technologie s. We examine the motives that are encouraging HR managers to implement the se virtual arrangement and, drawing from transaction cost economics and the resource-based view of the firm, we present an architectural framework tha t can be used to understand and map the underlying structure of virtual HR. Theoretical and research implications are discussed throughout the article .