Understanding the linkage between New Public Management (NPM) reforms and Human Resource Management (HRM) are required to be highlighted. A Systematic Literature Review (SLR) used as a research methodology to discuss the implementation of NPM reforms, gaps and challenges of NPM, and the effects and implications of these gaps and challenges on HRM. This paper contributes to the existing literature by offering important lessons and experiences of the implemented NPM reforms, alongside their major gaps and challenges towards HRM in the developing world. The discussion and conclusion are presented at the end.