The globalization of markets has put enterprises under a lot of pressure to increase their competitiveness and human resource management has been greatly impacted by such changes. The main objective of this paper is to compare some of the results obtained in a research project conducted with 100 enterprises in the Great São Paulo area, Brazil, as well as the ideas voiced by 14 experts (academics and consultants) from all over the country, about what defines and which are the main functions of the human resources area, with the concepts and trends most discussed in the national and international literature. The main interest of this work is to verify the existence of a gap between discourse and practice. The research data suggest the formation of three groups of enterprises: (1) those who still maintain an operational approach to the human resources area; (2) those that adopt a strategic approach and (3) those who get closer to the management for competitiveness approach. The study also shows great diversity among the experts thinking, which enhances even further, in our opinion, the found heterogeneity of the human resources practices.
people management models; strategic human resource management; human resource management for competitive advantage
