Abstract
It is important for companies to evaluate the quality and performance of their different departments (Baruch, 1997). Evaluating the human resource department (HRD) is even more important due to its many links with and influences on other items -for example, with increased productivity (Fox et al, 1999), good customer service (Fox et al, 1999), increase profitability (Delery and Doty, 1996) and overall organisational survival (Welbourne and Andrews, 1995). As such, evaluating the department is of primordial importance (Stavrou-Costea, 2005: 114) and it is generally believed that HRM practices, when aligned with the organisation overall strategy, can help create a competitive advantage (Roos, Fernström and Pike, 2004). As showed by Ulrich's (1997) framework, the role of HR can be classified in four categories (administrative expert, employee champion, change agent and strategic partner).
