LECTURE NOTES

Human Resource Management

Week 01
Human resource management
- Human Resource vs Human Capital
- Craft system and Industrial Revolution
o Period before industrial revolution The society was primarily an agriculture
economy with limited production. Number of specialized crafts was limited and
was usually carried out within a village or community with apprentices assisting
the master craftsmen. Communication channel were limited.
o Period of industrial revolution (1750 to 1850) Destroyed the craft system,
unskilled and semi-skilled workers worked in large industries where complicated
were broken down into simpler ones. Industrial revolution marked the conversion
of economy from agriculture based to industry based. Modernization and
increased means of communication gave way to industrial setup. A department
was set up to look into workers wages, welfare and other related issues. This led
to emergence of personnel management with the major task as

Workers wages and salaries

Workers record maintenance

Workers housing facilities and health care

Post Industrial revolution (Scientific management and Human relations

movements). The term Human resource Management saw a major evolution after
1850. Various studies were released and many experiments were conducted during
this period which gave HRM altogether a new meaning and importance.
A brief overview of major theories release during this period is presented below
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Frederick W. Taylor gave principles of scientific management (1857 1911) led to the evolution of scientific human resource management
approach which was involved in
o Workers training
o Maintaining wage uniformity
o Focus on attaining better productivity.
Hawthorne studies, conducted by Elton Mayo & Fritz Roethlisberger
(1927 to 1940). Observations and findings of Hawthrone experiment
shifted the focus of Human resource from increasing workers productivity
to increasing workers efficiency through greater work satisfaction.

Douglas McGregor Theory X and Theory Y (1960) and Abraham

Maslows Hierarchy of needs ( 1954) These studies and observations led
to the transition from the administrative and passive Personnel
Management approach to a more dynamic Human Resource Management
approach which considered workers as a valuable resource.

As a result of these principles and studies, Human resource management became

increasingly line management function, linked to core business operations. Some
of the major activities of HR department are listed aso
o
o
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Recruitment and selection of skilled workforce.

Motivation and employee benefits
Training and development of workforce
Performance related salaries and appraisals.
Strategic Human Resource Management Approach

Strategic HRM
With increase in technology and knowledge base industries and as a result of
global competition, Human Resource Management is assuming more critical role
today. Its major accomplishment is aligning individual goals and objectives
with corporate goals and objectives. Strategic HRM focuses on actions that
differentiate the organization from its competitors and aims to make long term
impact on the success of organization.

Which megatrends determine future challenges in HRM?

- Innovation
o Knowledge Economy survival is difficult
o Apple should innovate and sell millions of iPhones every year to
survive.
o Employees have to change their competencies and upgrade their
skills continuously to be able to innovate
o Suggested reading
http://eprints.qut.edu.au/27157/1/CINet_09__Jorgensen.pdf
https://gupea.ub.gu.se/bitstream/2077/33647/1/gupea_2077
_33647_1.pdf
- Demography
o Graying West
o Fertility rates are dropping in industrial societies
o There are not enough people to replace retiring professionals in the
next two decades
o Germany & Canada
o Suggested readings
http://www.eipa.eu/files/repository/product/201210180736
18_WorkingPapers2012_W_01.pdf
http://www.toknowpress.net/ISBN/978-961-6914-024/papers/ML13-351.pdf
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/aug/23/babycrisis-europe-brink-depopulation-disaster
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/therefugee-crisis-could-actually-be-a-boon-forgermany/2015/09/09/6c824c44-56e8-11e5-9f541ea23f6e02f3_story.html

Globalization
o Even a small or midsized company acts globally. They have
customers all over the world.
o Booking and order at McDonalds
o Most jobs can be exported / outsourced.
o Therefore global teams require global skills
o Suggested reading
http://jenngibbs.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/GibbsBoyraz-2015.pdf

Web 2.0

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Web 1.0 vs Web 2.0

HTML vs Wiki, Facebook, LinkedIn etc.
Hiring has transformed
How you act on the Internet is significant
Suggested readings
http://www.cipd.co.uk/NR/rdonlyres/38B8F4B5-E83C4D64-B3403BB51DA681BB/0/web20andhumanresources.pdf

Value change
o What is important to us is totally different from what was
important to our grandparents
o Relationships have changed. Teacher / Student relationship

Most important reading

Whats Next: Future Global Trends Affecting Your Organization Evolution of Work and
the Worker
Link: http://whitepaper-admin.eiu.com/futurehrtrends/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/03/6-14EIU-Report-Web.pdf