The field of HRM in South Africa had humble beginnings, with HR officers mainly fulfilling an administrative role by recording and storing personal details of staff, doing leave administration and administrating and conducting basic training. However, due to an increasingly complex work environment, legislative changes and the evolution of technology this has changed. Most routine HR activities, such as the record-keeping of employee details, leave administration and training management, have been automated. This has freed up HR practitioners to concentrate on activities that make a real difference to the organisation in terms of its competitiveness, such as talent management, organisational design, and employee recognition. Organisations are subject to many international and national challenges. HR practitioners need to be knowledgeable about these challenges to understand how they impact on the organisation and respond in a meaningful way. consequence of competition is that people cannot be employed just to fill a position, and employees cannot be trained in a haphazard manner. Werner et al. 2021 1.1 List the core elements that justify Human Resource Management as a scientific, (8 marks) interdisciplinary field.