Human resource management (HRM) involves the effective management of people to achieve organizational objectives. In line with Boxall and Purcell (2003), Kostopoulos, Spanos and Prastacos state that the Resource Based View of the firm (RBV) focuses on how firms gain and maintain an advantage over competitors by putting together distinctive "bundles" of resources. This view has given legitimacy to human relations claims that people are strategically essential to the success of a business (Wright, Dunford & Snell, 2001). The RBV states that the set of resources should be rare, valuable, costly to imitate, and that the organization is capable and organized to exploit the resources, so that they can lead to a sustainable competitive advantage. According to Stone, (1998, p.4) HRM is the productive use of people to achieve an organization's sustainable competitive advantage and other strategic business objectives, as well as the satisfaction of employees' individual needs. At the basis of human resource management (HRM) are the assumptions of unitarism and pluralism. Unitarianism is the ideology that management and the workforce work together towards the same goals for the good of the organization. The organization is perceived as one big family and the management and staff share common objectives, interests and goals. The unitary perspective is paternalistic in that loyalty is expected from employees. In contrast, pluralism recognizes that an organization is composed of varied and divergent groups that have different needs and demands; and that it is essential that compromises are reached. The concept of human resource management is described as having two forms, hard and soft (Truss, Gratton, Hope-Hailey, McGovern & Styles,). The soft approach to human resource management suggests that employees are valued resources, ... middle of paper ... agement, 27(6), 701-721.Peteraf, M.A. (1993). The pillars of competitive advantage: a resource-based view. Journal of Strategic Management, 14(3), 179-191.Barney, J., Wright, M., & Ketchen, D. J. (2001). The resource-based view of the firm: Ten years after 1991. Journal of management, 27(6), 625-641. Ananthram, S., & Nankervis, A. (2013). Strategic agility and the role of human resources as a strategic business partner: An Indian perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 51(4), 454-470. Brown, M., Metz, I., Cregan, C., & Kulik, C. T. (2009). Irreconcilable differences? Strategic human resources management and employee well-being. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 47(3), 270-294. Davidson, M. C., McPhail, R., & Barry, S. (2011). Human resource management in the hospitality industry: past, present and future. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, 23(4), 498-516.