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t connotations for academics and HR professionals (Becker & Gerhart 1996). In order to avoid this, better communication is needed between 'the academic and managerial communities so that research outcome can have a greater influence on actual policy' (Becker & Gerhart 1996). Nevertheless the current disparity between practice and theory, the importance of HRM in developing a successful performance culture is very important as many organizations realise that the implementation of the operating and strategic objectives of firms can be done through implementing HR as a strategic partner. (Becker & Gerhart 1996

Also the importance of Strategic Human Resources has enhanced the profile of HR within organizations and shown that it can generate 'sustained competitive advantage' (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). Becker and Huselid (2006) believe that strategy relates to 'building a sustainable competitive advantage that in turn creates above the average financial performance' (Becker & Huselid, 2006). The general believe is that human, not financial capital 'must be the starting and ongoing foundation of a successful strategy' (Bartlett & Ghoshal 2002) and therefore, it is the human capital of the organisation that creates sustained competitive advantage. But this was challenged by Thompson (2011) who states that 'labour may be an asset with value but talk of 'people are our most important asset' (Thompson 2011). Further, the view is that it is the employees of an organisation that contribute to generating competitive advantage is also supported by Pfeffer (1994), Wright, Dunford and Snell (2001) and Becker and Gerhart (1996). This theory is known as the resource based view of the firm and has been developed by Barney (1986, 1991, and 1995).

The resource based view of the firm shows that firms can 'develop sustained competitive advantage only by creating value in a way that is rare and difficult for competitors to imitate' (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). The resource based view of the firm is the development of a set of best practices that are used interchangeably within the firm. However, Jeffrey Pfeffer's (1994) seven best practices are well known and acknowledged and include security of employment, selective hiring of new personnel, high compensation relative to organisational performance and extensive training amongst others. The rationale for adopting a set of best practices is that it will contribute to developing a high performance culture for both the individual and the organisation. Further, even with this approach, 'researchers have much to learn about what constitutes a high performing Human Resources strategy' (Becker & Gerhart, 1996). Once again, it's noted that with the term HRM, best practices are not universally accepted and recognised. Therefore, terms like best practice may have different implications for managers and for researchers (Becker and Gerhart, 1996).

Apart from that, one needs to understand not to assume that 'HR strategies are uniform within firms' (Boxall & Purcell, 2000). This relates to the 'best fit' school of thought, as it points out that HR strategy will 'be more effective when it is appropriately integrated with its specific organisational and environmental context' (Boxall and Purcell, 2000).

The security of employment and the selective hiring of new personnel are important in driving both individual and organisational perform