47. THE ROLE OF HUMAN RESOURCES IN GAINING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Albana Berisha Qehaja

University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Kosovo

Enver Kutllovci

University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Kosovo

Abstract

It is given that Human Resources are a key source of competitive advantage in firms. Starting from the

proven link between human resources and competitive advantage in developed firms worldwide, and on

the other side, the generally unsatisfactory handling of human resources in Kosovan firms, we decided to

undertake this research. The study was conducted in seven wholesale distribution firms of food and non-

food products in the Republic of Kosovo.

A total of 35 directors and managers within these firms were surveyed. We have proposed that wholesale

distribution firms of food and non-food products in Kosovo do not consider human resources significant

resources in providing competitive advantage. Therefore, they do not possess a standard strategy for

human resource development. Another assumption was that most of these firms have human resource

departments, but in practice these departments mainly deal with administrative work. Additionally, we

have proposed that human resource practices are more or less similar in firms that have or do not have

human resource departments. The results of empirical study are generally consistent with the

assumptions set out in this research.

Key words: human resources (HR), competitive advantage, human resource practices, human resource

department, distribution firms, Kosovo.

JEL classification: M10, M12, O15