【文章內(nèi)容簡介】 rategy Authors like [10,35,56] estimate that HRM practices are not only the result of firm39。s strategic orientations since they can also partly determine them. HRM practices in particular are assets behind the development of specific petencies which,consequently, contribute to the definition of firm strategy. This allusion to firms’ internal petences indicates the evolution of various strategy research trends,thanks to the contribution of the Resources Based Viewtheory [6,8]. These reflections were finally reinforced by the works carried out into “core petencies” [31]and into the “best practices” of human resource, designated as sources of petitive advantage [1,29,49,52]. For ten years, the evolution of the strategy field thus has showed the progressive switch from an external representation of the petitive advantage towards an internal analysis of skills, capacities and more generally of resources not easily substitutable and imitable [9].SHRM practices: What is it? SHRM is mainly defined as a set of coherent practices, intended for the reach of the best longterm performance [20,71]. This approach of HR strategy emerges like a consensual vision among the researchers in spite of the existence of other , the literature is shared between authors who study SHRM through the HR department [60], others who focuses on firm’s human capital (employees’ collective knowledge, skills and abilities) [32,43,48,57,72] and, finally, those who define HRM as individual practices [62,70] orbundles[20,29]. Concerning HR department, for example, we can quote the contributions of Ulrich [63,64] and Tyson and Fell [61]. Tyson and Fell drew up a kind of typology of the various HR professionals, according to the dominant tasks they set up for this function in the firm. The authors identify three great types of HR professionals: the executant,the administrator of contracts, the architect. This first typology is deepened and enriched by the works of Ulrich [63,64], and Ulrich and Brockbank [65] who identified the principal roles those HR professionals must play to be able to be gradually mitted to the strategic level: lawyer of the employees, developer of human capital, functional expert, strategic partner, HR , the vision of SHRM in terms of practices is most dominant in the literature. SHRM is often designed by highinvolvement management practices[3],highmitment practices [67], highperformance management practices[10,52]. SHRM supposes the construction of a coherent system of mobilizing HR practices which ensures the cooperation of employees through a higher implication level (in opposition to employees’ control), in order to increase firm’s economic and social performance [26,68,69]. SHRM practices such as autonomy, training, information sharing, participation in the decisions and pensation seek to make employees a source of petitive advantage while acting on mitment and involvement [10,52].In our study, we have chosen this last definition of SHRM which we will try to analyze in the French context, in opposition to traditional HRM. SHRM in small and mediumsized enterprises The first works on HRM in SMEs claimed for a long time that these last invest less in human capital and that their HRM practices remain informal [45].However, recent research note that HR practices in SMEs are rather sophisticated. For example, Deshpande and Golhar [21] raised in their research the similarities between HRM practices of manufacturing SMEs and those of large firms. Moreover, Mayson and Barrett [45], quoting the study of Bacon and Hoque [4],consider SMEs which adopt HRM practices are likely to be influenced by coercive networks rather than advisory networks . In another study on 446 US firms with less than 100 employees, Way [68] notes the presence of practices raising highperformance work systems (HPWS). Moreover, these practices improve the productivity and the turnover.In France, several researchers support adoption of SHRM to face with the 21st century’s challenges [12–14]. However, the little study which exists in this field does not answer all the questions concerning the position of SHRM practices in small and mediumsized enterprises. Among the existing studies, we can quote research of Som and Cerdin [58] and Liouville and Bayad [44]. In a study concerning 28 French organizations (large and SMEs firms), Som and Cerdin [58] analyzed SHRM practices evolution like role and structure of HR Department, recruitment, retraining and redeployment, performance appraisal, pensation,and rightsizing. These authors affirm a tendency towards SHRM in the studied panies and notice that these practices have positive effects on their performance. In another research, Liouville and Bayad [44] analyzed the link between SHRM practices such as education and training, empowerment, munication,employee participation, promoting personal and managing careers, improving working conditions, and the performance in 300 SMEs manufactures. The first result of this study is that the SHRM is well established pared to technical HRM in SMEs. The second result is that SHRM practices contribute to increase firms’ performance. However, although of the last studies point out the presence of SHRM practices, their objective was especially to analyze the impact of SHRM on studies did not analyze the position of SHRM directly. In addition, their character crosssectional doesonly allow a photograph of the events. Moreover, Som and Cerdin have worked on a mixed sample (large and SMEs firms), what is not the case for the research of Liouville and Bayad which studied SMEs. In this context, our study will attempt to improve these methodological weaknesses and provide us plementary elements necessary to our prehension of the HRM in the small and mediumsized firms. If it appears that HRM evolves to a more strategic dimension of practices, what is the place of strategic HRM in the