Human Resource Development Foundations, Process, Contexts (3rd ed.), by Stephen Gibb. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. ISBN 978‐0‐230‐24710‐9 (paperback); 436 pages; $60.00. Companion Website: www.palgrave.com/business/gibbhrd3

• Published date: 01 September 2013
• Author: John Dewar Wilson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/hrdq.21162
• Date: 01 September 2013

Human Resource Development Foundations, Process, Contexts (3rd ed.), by

Stephen Gibb. Basingstoke, United Kingdom: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011. ISBN

978-0-230-24710-9 (paperback); 436 pages; $60.00. Companion Website:

www.palgrave.com/business/gibbhrd3

Textbook writing is a genre in which authors represent their version of the

reality of a fi eld of academic practice. The bottom shelf of my bookcase groans

with examples from the subgenre of HRD: Swanson and Holton (2001),

selected for probably Thailand’s fi rst doctoral HRD program in 2006; Werner

and DeSimone (2006), also from the United States; Sofo (1999), from

Australia; Wilson (1999), which some have mistakenly attributed to myself,

Joy-Matthews, Megginson, and Surtees (2004), McGoldrick, Stewart, and

Watson (2002), from England; Harrison and Kessels (2004), from England

and the Netherlands; Mankin (2009), from Wales; and McGuire and Jørgensen

(2011), from Scotland and Denmark. I was surprised to encounter the third

edition of Stephen Gibb’s Human Resource Development in Edinburgh in sum-

mer 2012 since previous editions were unreferenced. The cover informs that

this “fully revised and updated” volume has “improved international coverage,

stronger theoretical model, additional case studies and practical activities,

extended coverage of talent management, self-development and management

leadership, and new pedagogy to challenge students’ critical thinking skills.”

The text “provides a thorough introduction to the processes, practices, and

perspectives of HRD”; moreover, it is an “ideal resource” for undergraduate and

postgraduate students, including candidates for the United Kingdom’s

Chartered Institute of Personnel Development (CIPD) qualifi cations, a claim

that may interest a wider audience given Carliner’s (2012) concerns on HRD

“branding.” (Harrison, referenced above, was CIPD Chief Examiner.) One self-

identifying academic commends the “fresh and interesting . . . step-by-step

approach”; another praises a “very important core text.”

The Preface indicates a text for readers “with pragmatic concerns” or

seeking more “challenging, exploring ideas as well as practical and operational

realities” (p. xiii). Five “education value propositions” (p. xiv) claim that HRD

education promotes:

1. Facilitation of economic development and service.

2. Engaging with human development.

3. Competency development to enable contributions to organizations and

lifelong individual economic benefi ts.

4. Well-rounded graduates to strengthen the connection between business

and society.

MEDIA REVIEW

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, vol. 24, no. 3, Fall 2013 © Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/hrdq.21162 407