“…Thus, it is assumed that the HRM function is considered a partner to the business (Lawler & Boudreau, 2009;Tarique & Schuler, 2014) and is capable of "managing" organisational cultures and supplying leadership and technical talent across the organisation (Garavan, 2012;Tansley & Tietze, 2013). Powerful HRM functions (in this study, variables that test HRM strategy-business strategy alignment) are those that have board level representation, form part of the top team and are involved in the strategic decision making of the organisation and are taken seriously (Gooderham, Morley, Parry, & Stavrou, 2015;Lawler, 2009;Sheehan, De Cieri, Cooper, & Brooks, 2014). Yet TM is viewed as the remit of the senior management team (Fernandez-Araoz, Groysberg, & Nohria, 2011), and HRM as a function has struggled with its image and is often excluded from decision making, playing only a secondary role in cultural integration (Björkman & Soderberg, 2006;Lawler & Mohrman, 2003).…”