1 The CIPD now pays particular attention to business skills. Do you think it is right that HR managers should have such broad-

based skills? In a report prepared by Rajan and Chapple (2001), based on the views of 247 financial and business services companies mainly in the City of London, it was stated that change is being undermined by a lack of flexibility and dynamism amongst the very people who have been asked to implement it, namely HR professionals and line managers. Both have experienced modifications to their roles in recent years, whereby managers are asked to handle people issues

(e. g. recruitment and training) and HR professionals get involved in issues connected with corporate strategy. The HR function was also affected by outsourcing and by the application of software/ intranets to routine activities.