The Handbook of Human Resource Management Education: Promoting an Effective and Efficient Curriculum, Edited by Vida Gulbinas Scarpello, Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications, 464 pp., ISBN 978-1-412954-90-7.

In this comprehensive reference book on Human Resource Management (HRM) Education, the editor combines a wide-ranging mix of thought-provoking articles, research and pedagogical papers from thirty-five authors, each with an academic background shaped by varying practical experiences in HRM. The book openly confronts a recognized difference between educational qualifications and the demands of the field by clearly addressing various forms of and issues in HRM education at both undergraduate and graduate levels, including behavioural sciences, competencies, globalization of education, micro- and macro-organizational concepts and stakeholder views. Acknowledging that there are gaps between academicians and the HRM profession, the book includes articles which address some topics usually neglected in HRM education. One such chapter offers a model of knowledge transfer in HRM based on the integration of practice, research and education. This approach offers a solution to some of the editor's own criticism of the gulf between traditional and multidimensional approaches to HRM education. The model bridges the gulf between those barriers which prevent research-based knowledge from being applied to HRM practice, and those which preclude changes in HRM practice from influencing research and education. The editor is unapologetic about the emphasis on academic input, detailing the credibility these particular academic authors enjoy because of their various experiences in organizationally relevant issues, a focus Scarpello suggests is lacking in HRM generally. Of equal significance must be the fact that academicians might be best placed to understand curricula and training issues applicable to HRM needs. The various chapters of this book cover training and practice from the historical and current perspectives, accounting for the variety of education programs on offer – undergraduate, graduate and international; in face-to-face, distance and online delivery models. Roughly half of the book analyses different approaches, emphases, and components in HRM education. It is in this first section that we find a chapter devoted to “What We Should Know but (Probably) Never Learned in School” (by Klein et al.), reporting on HR education in psychology departments. Crossing the divide between academia and practice, this research reviewed the relevant academic literature and interviewed professionals, in the process developing five themes which they argue address the disconnect between “what is taught in, and what is desired from,” Masters-level programs. The authors challenge academic and business to take up these themes in a joint effort to bridge the gaps. The latter half of the book focuses on practice, comprising research findings and articles which address micro- and macro-organizational concepts, stakeholder views, and issues of success and failure relevant to HRM. This section includes some cases where research and practice have converged. For example, in “Some Psychological Concepts Essential for Human Resource Managers,” Murray and Dulebohn cover psychological theories they believe have already influenced or have potential to impact successfully on HRM practice. In a practical approach, the theories are individually assessed for their HRM implications, and applied to the principal activities of HRM – staffing, compensation and performance management – thus offering realistic and useful illustrations of successful theory-practice relationships. In another example of a practical nature, Scarpello relates HRM management directly to the organizational context, demonstrating the need for HRM practice to match the needs of the organization. “Fundamentals of Organizing” describes implications which the organizational structure may have for HRM personnel, functions, policies and processes. Given its focus on the divide between education and practice, the book offers an illuminating section reporting stakeholder views of HRM education. Through interviews, focus groups and surveys, three chapters describe research projects which convey the assessment of HR executives, employees, unions and accreditation bodies on HRM education and its fit to their …