Radical HRM innovation and competitive advantage: TheMoneyballstory

Abstract

Moneyball(Lewis, 2003), aNew York Timesbestseller, is a book about baseball. When read through a broader lens, however,Moneyballis also a book about innovation, resistance to change, competitive advantage, achieving excellence, and, of most relevance here, human resource management. While many would agree that the radical innovation described inMoneyballrepresents a “new vision of management” in baseball, this article describes howMoneyballlessons might contribute to a “new vision of HRM” in various types of organizations. The focus of the article is on what HR executives and scholars can learn from theMoneyballphenomenon. More specifically, the authors address a number questions related to theMoneyballstory that have relevance to successfully implementing HRM innovations; these questions have to do with overcoming resistance to the implementation of radical innovation and how HRM innovation can contribute to sustainable competitive advantage. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.