The oxford handbook of contextual approaches to human resource management

This introductory chapter explains the origins of The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Approaches to Human Resource Management and outlines some of the underlying motivations for its development. In order to set the scene, the chapter discusses aspects of the development of academic interest in the field of contextual human resource management and establishes the need for a move away from the emphasis on the universalistic approach to HRM. The chapter also presents a multilevel perspective on context encompassing the macro, meso and micro levels. This is followed by an explanation of the structure of the handbook and an overview of each chapter, and their contributions to this text.