Today, thinkers and policymakers envision new roles for human resource management, one of the most important one is "competency-basing" in all functions of human resource management from planning and selection as input processes to the development and maintenance and output processes of human resources. The purpose of this article is to review the “, Competency-Based Human Resource Management”,book by David Dubios et al. The book is reviewed and criticized based on two methods of formalist critique that focuses on form-elements such as structure and writing-and research critique that gives originality to the content, and also based on the criteria of the Iranian Council for Reviewing Books and Text on Human Sciences. Findings showed that the main strengths of the book are having a theoretical and practical perspective, paying attention to the organizational context in the application of competencies and confronting and comparing traditional with competency-based human resource processes. This work also has points for improvement, the most important of which are the lack of up-to-date references despite the reprint of the book, issues unrelated to or less related to the main concept of the book, and the need to explain new methods of human resource management processes in the competency-based approach. In the end, based on the findings, suggestions were made in two headings of form and content.

The main objective of this study was to explore the contingency factors of strategic human resource management and identify effective practices of human resource based on and prioritization of factors and practices are identified. The research purpose of applied and exploratory mixed approach and utilizes the strategy has been phenomenology. In the qualitative study section, semi-structured interviews with 22 experts in the study population was conducted in state tax organization, In the quantitative study section also designed three questionnaires and distributed among 300 experts in human resources organization and necessary data were collected. The analysis findings in the qualitative section done with using content analysis and using software MAXQDA. Quantitative study section to prioritize contingency factors have been recognized and identified effective practices of human resource and utilizes method analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and using software AHP SOLVER 2015. The findings suggest the existence of two sets of contingency factors are external and internal organizational. In total, 8 contingency factors external organizational and 14 contingency factors internal organizational identified.

In contrast with contingency theories in strategic human resource management that emphasize on the best fit between business strategies and HRM strategies for achieving higher performance, universalistic approaches emphasize that there are some best human resource management practices and strategies that always leading to higher performance. This research aimed at empirical test of universalistic theory and identify the best HR practices in 100 high performance firms in Tehran Stock Exchange. The results, based on analysis of questionnaires completed by 43 firms show that there is one best strategy (facilitation strategy) and some best HR practices in human resource management that can lead Iranian firms to higher performance.