Organisational Strategic Human Resource Management – The Case of Lehman Brothers

The emergence of the subprime mortgage crisis – an ongoing economic problem of contracted liquidity in the global credit markets and banking system, in the U.S. has wracked the operations of Lehman Brothers tremendously as their finances were dealt with a huge blow. Continuous hardcore influence of the external environment has further pressurised the human resource aspect of Lehman Brothers. Indefinite effects such as layoff backfire, workers’ dissatisfaction, and employment law issues were faced by the once high-flying investment bank. This paper looks at the influence of the external business environment on the human resource management activities using Lehman Brothers as a short case study. The organisational strategic human resource management application is explored and recommendations are presented on how organisations can address human resource challenges from the business environment.