Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Course Overview
Week 1 - Introduction to HRM Week 2 HR Planning Week 3 Job Design Week 4 Recruitment and Selection Week 5 Performance Management Week 6 -Training Week 7 - Leadership Week 8 - Conflict Week 9 Power Week 10 Review
Definitions of HRM
No universal definition. Many academics have written on the subject with no one definition agreed. Storey (1995:5) defines HRM as a distinctive approach to employment management which seeks to achieve competitive advantage through the strategic deployment of a highly committed and capable workforce, using an array of cultural, structural and personnel techniques
HRM Overview
HRM has theoretical roots in the US Business Schools. Historically: A first wave arose with Storeys New Perspectives on HRM (1989) The second wave arose in consideration of: Social and economic context of HR functions HR and organizational performance New organizational forms and HR HR and knowledge management (1990s) The third wave (current) looks at the strategic implications of HRM, known as Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) Other debates exist around: The differences between HRM and personnel management Employee manipulation
Style
Soft Commitment, Quality & Flexibility Partnership Hard Resources like any other Cost Efficiency Drive for performance Lean Production Staff & Management Soft and Hard HRM may not necessarily be incompatible. There may be different variants.
Personnel Mgt Planning Perspective People Management Perspective Reactive Crisis Mgt input Cost Efficiency Productivity
HRM is built on the premise that the human capital of the employee can have strategic importance and value
Hence employment policy is coherent when integrated with strategic policy Some element of conflict of interest between workers and employers nevertheless remains, and the management of this is down to HR
HRM Functions
Millward et al (2000) and Ulrich (1997) identify eight key HRM functions:
Strategic planning the organizations HR needs/forecasts Staffing Training and development Motivation - requires a rewards system Maintenance - includes health and safety Managing relationships - participation schemes/collective agreements Managing change in the workplace Evaluation procedures to institute and communicate HR Policy
Strategic HRM (SHRM) has roots in manpower planning but it is unclear whether it is an outcome or a process
The Resource Based View of the Firm The relationship among resource endowments and sustained competitive advantage
Overall, only a minority of workplaces have followed the premises set out by proponents of SHRM
Some studies have found positive correlations between bundles of SHRM practices and superior organizational performance However, evidence is not conclusive
It is necessary to consider aspects of the host country, as the employment relationship is affected by factors such as:
Cultural/legislative context National regulatory framework
The International HRM cycle tabulates these kinds of issues (see the next slide)
Paradoxes in HRM
A paradox occurs when managers try to accomplish a goal in a manner contradictory to the very goals the organization seeks to attain
Critics have drawn on the idea of a paradox of consequences deriving from a tension between HRM policies and practices For example, tension between a psychological contract and formal practices or procedures etc The soft versus hard aspects of HR might be said to express some degree of ambiguity about the aims of HRM Karen Legge (2005) has exposed the rhetoric of soft or caring HRM as being a foil for a managerial agenda This can be seen at a practical level for instance the tension between short term goals (accounting/financial) and longer term investment - for instance in staff training