Configurations of human resource practices and battlefield performance: A comparison of two armies

A prominent theme in the HRM literature is the organizational impact of configurations or “bundles” of human resource practices, mostly researched in business firms. A recurrent empirical finding here is that configurations of high performance HR practices generally have a more positive effect on employee attitudes and behavior and on organizational performance than configurations of traditional HR practices. In this paper this research is extended beyond business firms to include army organizations. Specifically it is argued, first, that these two configurations are exemplified in respectively the German Army and the US Army in World War II and second, that these configurations can be reasonably related to a relatively more effective battlefield performance of the German versus the US Army, even in spite of final defeat.