Introduction R esearchers have argued that human resources may be seen as a source of sustained competitive advantage for organizations (Barney, 1991, 1995; Becker & Gerhart, 1996). The under- lying assumption is that human resources are unique to the extent that competitors cannot imitate them. This research has led to the identification of a number of human resource management practices that con- tribute to company performance across dif- ferent organizations (Huselid, 1995). In a lit- erature review, Delery and Doty (1996) identified seven such practices that have been consistently considered strategic HRM practices. They defined strategic HRM prac- tices as those that are “theoretically or em- pirically related to overall organizational performance” (p. 805). These practices in- clude internal career opportunities, formal training systems, results-oriented appraisals, employment security, participation, job de- scriptions, and profit sharing. This approach has come to be known as the “best prac- tices” or universalistic approach. Within the best practices approach to strategic HRM, the first practice, internal ca- reer opportunities, refers to the organizational STRATEGIC HRM PRACTICES AND THEIR IMPACT ON COMPANY PERFORMANCE IN CHINESE ENTERPRISES SYED AKHTAR, DANIEL Z. DING, AND GLORIA L. GE This study examined the factorial validity of strategic human resource man- agement practices and their effects on company performance in a sample of 465 Chinese enterprises. Data were collected through two questionnaire sur- veys among general managers and HRM directors on product/service per- formance of their companies and a range of strategic HRM practices. Our findings indicate that a valid set of strategic HRM practices (training, partici- pation, results-oriented appraisals, and internal career opportunities) affect both product/service performance and financial performance. Employment security and job descriptions contribute uniquely to product/service per- formance, whereas profit sharing contributes uniquely to financial perform- ance. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Correspondence to: Syed Akhtar, Department of Management, City University of Hong Kong Phone: (852) 2788- 7870, Fax: (852) 2788-7220, E-mail: mgsyed@cityu.edu.hk. Human Resource Management, Spring 2008, Vol. 47, No. 1, Pp. 15–32 © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/hrm.20195