HR's role in building relationship networks

Executive Overview For human resource management (HRM) to achieve its potential as a crucial source of competitive advantage in the knowledge economy, the role of human resource professionals in nurturing relationships will need to be redefined and expanded.1 Conventional human resource (HR) activities concentrate on individual-to-individual relationships within a firm and on overcoming barriers to effective interactions across workgroups. While effective results in these arenas are necessary, they are no longer sufficient. This article explains how HR professionals can become the driving force for building the kinds of relationships that turn social capital into competitive advantage. Relationships are the foundation of organizational capabilities that are an important source of sustained competitive advantage because they capitalize on individual differences and are relatively immobile since they are embedded within a firm's culture.