Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (11th ed.)

Michael Armstrong is a prolific author of Management books dating back to the 1970s. He is particularly known for his books on reward and performance management. His work is informed by his academic experience, CIPD responsibilities and consultancy work. His books are aimed at both the student and general practitioner market. This edition is a substantial revision of The Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice (2006).

The book is described as “the classic text for all students and practitioners of HRM” which “has been updated to incorporate new developments in human resource management policy and research”. At over one thousand pages, it is certainly a desk reference book rather than a casual read, and it is ambitious in its scope covering a comprehensive range of HRM topics. The revised layout with each chapter introduced by outline “Key concepts and terms” and “Learning outcomes” with a review of “key learning points”, questions for exam practice and references at the end is certainly geared towards those studying, particularly for CIPD qualifications. However, some practical advice is also included which could be of use to practitioners. In addition to the restructuring of the book and inclusion of example exam questions for students, there are also a number of accompanying web‐based materials for both students and lecturers including study notes, glossary, case studies, a CIPD examinations guide for students, and lecture notes, bibliographies and further case studies and exam preparation materials for lecturers.

The book contains sixty‐two chapters, divided between twelve parts.

Part One contains ten chapters on human resource management covering topics from The practice of human resource management through Human capital management to International HRM. This is the most extensively revised section of the book including new chapters on The impact of HRM on performance, Corporate social responsibility and Human resource research methods. These chapters are generally well referenced including supporting material published since the previous edition in 2006.

Part Two covers human resource management processes in the three chapters on Competency‐based HRM, Knowledge management, and High‐performance work systems (HPWS). The first two chapters are mostly updates from previous editions while the HPWS chapter is largely new work supplemented with excerpts from previous chapters included.

Part Three includes three chapters on Work, The employment relationship, and The psychological contract. These are largely updated versions from previous editions with some updates to include some additional material, both practical and theoretical.

Part Four has six chapters devoted to different aspects of organizational behaviour. Apart from the addition of the chapter on The essence of organizational behaviour, these are all largely revisions of the corresponding chapters in the previous edition.

Part Five looks at organization design and development over five chapters including Change management, and Job, Role, Competency and skills analysis. Most of the material has been included in previous editions, but much of the work has been reorganized into more coherent chapters.

Part Six is titled “People resourcing” and includes ten chapters covering all aspects of human resource planning, recruitment, retention, promotion and release. The basic chapters appear largely as they do in earlier editions, but with updated survey information, new legal implications and some additional practical advice. These chapters include few references and those references given mostly predate the previous edition, so this section is more likely to be of use to a practitioner than to an academic looking to explore source materials.

Part Seven, Performance management, has only two chapters which are largely reproductions of earlier work. In the case of the chapter on 360‐degree feedback, much of the material can be found in the corresponding chapter in Armstrong and Baron's 2004 publication Managing Performance: Performance Management in Action (CIPD), although, interestingly, he does not reference that material in this case.

Part Eight covers learning and development and includes six chapters with the first two chapters on Learning and development strategy and The process of learning and development containing the most new and revised material.

Part Nine covers the topic of rewarding people for which Armstrong is probably best known. There has been very little revision of these chapters other than some reorganization and the addition of more recent data. Again the referencing in this section is limited, although the content is well practiced. In view of the current economic climate, it may have been timely if he could have included some caveats about excessive reward structures for Special Groups in his new chapter on this topic: executive bonuses being so prominent in the news.

Part Ten includes four chapters on employee relations which have been substantially revised and now include relevant material on EU implications in Employment Law.

Parts 11 and 12 cover health, safety and employee well‐being and HR policies, procedures and systems. They are largely practical guides as to the considerations and obligations of HR managers to their staff and organizations. The chapters in Part 12 have all been reorganized so that the issues discussed are arranged alphabetically, making it much easier to find the relevant material.

The Appendices include new examples of surveys and some training advice and materials.

In general, this book is a vast improvement on its predecessor, with a much clearer layout. The reader can clearly identify the key messages from each chapter and use the key points, questions and references as a basis for further study. Many of the figures have also been improved to aid clarity and by separating out key materials in coloured boxes, it is easier to follow the flow of the underlying text. The text itself comprises straightforward reporting of the topics discussed. References to specific organizations have been removed in many instances, indicating an effort not to be seen to advocate the practices of organizations which may subsequently suffer or fail in the current economic climate. This supports the book's aim to become a “classic text”.

In summary, this book does provide comprehensive reference materials covering a wide range of HRM topics. It will doubtless be useful as a study aid for those studying for CIPD examinations and there is sufficient practical advice to make it useful for the practitioner as well. Those familiar with Armstrong's previous books will find little new here, but the layout is vastly improved, making this a somewhat unwieldy but useful text book.