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The articles in this issue suggest that Human Resource Management (HRM) educators need to seriously consider questions of what to teach, when to teach it, who should teach it, and to whom. The discussion in this article focuses on these questions and concludes that HRM education can and should address varied content areas, assist HR professionals in effectively interacting with the broader environment, occur at multiple points in individuals' careers, and be delivered by a variety of sources. No single approach to HRM education is likely to meet the varied needs of today's HRM professional. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Introduction
The articles in this issue illustrate the wide variety of concerns faced by those of us with a commitment to the education of human resource management (HRM) professionals. Taken as a set, they provide the following insights and implications for HRM education:
* HRM education can and should address a variety of content areas (e.g., traditional HRM content, leadership skills, business fundamentals).
* HRM education can and should assist HR professionals in effective and appropriate interaction with their environment, whether environment is defined as the organization's strategic environment or the broader social and institutional context in which we work.
* HRM education can and should occur at multiple points in individuals' careers. It cannot be confined to a particular life or career stage.
* HRM education can and should be delivered by multiple sources (e.g., universities, corporations, professional associations).
* HRM education can and should be delivered to a variety of audiences (e.g., traditional university students and practitioner-students, HRM professionals and general managers).
In other words, the articles in this issue suggest that we should concern ourselves with what to teach, when to teach it, who should teach it, and to whom. Specific issues associated with these concerns are elaborated below.
Issue #1: What Should We Teach?
The question of the content of HRM education can be viewed at two levels. First, we need to consider the specific skills that we expect our students to acquire. Second, we need to consider our students' ability to use these skills in a broader context.
Fortunately, there is an increasing amount of information available to help guide our thinking about the specific skills needed...