Competitive advantage has been viewed as an essential tool for organizations to compete in the current business environment. Kuwaiti manufacturing companies strive to cope with new changes and adopt competitive advantages to survive and continue in the global economy. The purpose of this study is to examine the direct relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and competitive advantage for Kuwaiti manufacturing companies, as well as the indirect relationship between HRM practices and competitive advantage by means of person-organizational (P-O) fit. The respondents were employees working in sixty-three manufacturing companies. The findings indicate that HRM practices have a significant positive impact on competitive advantage. In addition, the P-O fit has a mediation impact on the relationship between HRM practices and on competitive advantage. Our results showed that only eleven of twenty HRM practices were found to have effects on competitive advantage. These results are consistent with previous research, which suggested that there is lack of consensus in the existing literature on which HRM practices are best. A discussion of the study’s findings and limitations are provided.
Keywords: Competitive Advantage, Human Resource Management Practices, Kuwaiti Manufacturing Companies., Person-Organizational Fit
