One of the most important business components that cannot be easily imitated is the ‘human resource’ of the organization. Although the companies claim that human capital is their strategic asset, they did resort to laying off thousands of their employees as and when the business scenario became bleak. This is so because, some of the organizations consider these assets as termites, not outside the company's system, but located within its cubicles. The book entitled ‘Leveraging Human Potential for Excellence’ is written with the aim of drawing attention of managers of such organizations and providing them with the alternate solution. The focus of the book is that organizations should strive to make best possible use of the existing human resource rather than finding faults or resorting to retrenchment. The basic aspect that must be kept in mind by the organizations in today's high competitive and vibrant global environment is that human resource is capable and it is upto the strategy thinkers to ensure that the energy of employees is harnessed and being put in right direction.

This book is written at such an opportune time when the entire corporate sector is at the threshold of revival and companies are gearing up to grab the opportunities and face the challenges posed by the new economic environment. It is an outcome of the experience sharing by the who's who of Indian industry in a summit organized last year. This book is divided into seven sections that focus at the crucial issues involved in the management of human capital in the organizations. These sections are given under:

• Beyond Belief: A Benchmark for Human Resources;

• Form Training to Life Long Learning: Birth of the Knowledge Society;

• Rethinking the Assessment Centre: Managing Staff Selection Competencies and Assessment;

• Goose that Laid the Golden Egg: Linking Pay to Team Performance;

• Managing Employee Involvement and Participation: Perfect Opportunity or Dangerous Illusion;

• Sustaining Organizational Vibrancy through HR; and

• Spiritualizing the Organizations.

The editors have done a commendable job in getting the articles compiled in a sequential manner so that the reader's interest remains intact and the subject matter does not lose the academic rigour. The book stresses on the need to include HR related issues in the overall strategy of the organization and HR department may not be seen as the one which is not connected to the mainstream of the business activity. It emphasizes on the HR practices interwoven with the marketing, finance, manufacturing, legal and other functional areas in the organization.

Section-I of the book underlines the importance of having a benchmark for employees in the organization so that the performance can be assessed by self as well as the management to decide about the rewards and punishment. This section is followed by the one that highlights the role of training in enhancing the employee's skills and the need for the continuous thrust on building the right attitude among the employees. This section also examines the importance of the emerging knowledge society and the role of HR professionals in creating the culture that encourages the managers to update their skills and keep peace with the changing world. The policy on this front should not be guided by the best practices in India but should focus on the international best practices as the world is getting to be a global village.

The next section present the argument in favour of creating assessment centres to manage the competencies in the organization and harnessing the energy of employees to achieve the excellence that is not only reflected in balance sheet numbers but also in the development of human capital. Section IV gives the materialistic dimension to the practice of HR where the authors dwell upon the need to quantify the performance and linking the same to the monetary benefits given to the employees. This section reminds the reader that profitability is the bottomline of any business concern hence social responsibility of business should not be misunderstood as the charity as has happened in case of public sector undertakings in Indian context.

Section-V accentuates the need for involving employees at each stage of the policy making because it is ultimately these people who would play a key role for the organization in achieving corporate objectives. Organizations are giving concerns and hence there is a need to have sustainability of performance. This is possible only when the organization is vibrant and employees are motivated. This is the theme for the next section that highlights the role of HR function in creating the vibrancy in the organization. Though HR may not be the sole department that plays a key role in this endeavour, it is one of the most important catalysts whose importance has been adequately emphasized.

The series of corporate scandals in US last year have brought to the force the fact that managers focus on short-term goals and strive to achieve the same through unfair means too. In fact, there is a governance crisis all over the world and shareholders remain the mute spectators in this entire scene. The last section of the book dwells upon the need to move away from the materialistic domain and move on to the path of spiritualization. This way the book can rightly be described as the compendium of human resource management that exposes the reader not with the theory but with the practices in corporate sector.

This book is an essential reading for all HR professionals as well as the aspirants who want to make a dent in the corporate sector in the field of personnel management. The profiles of the contributors clearly indicate that the book covers the practices from public sector as well as private sector enterprises. The compilation of experiences shared by the top HR executives has made the book an invaluable reference in human resource management. However, the editors should have included a conclusive summary that would have added further value to this masterpiece.