Strategic and Human Resource Management (Prefinals)

• Strategic HRM - It is about improving business performance through people.
• These are the major concerns of Strategic HRM:

  1. Business needs of the organization
  2. Individual and collective needs of the people employed in it.
• People - Stated in the assumption underpinning the practice of HRM is that these are the organization's key resource and organizational performance largely depends on them.
• True - The Holy Grail sought by many commentators on human resource management is to establish that a clear positive link between HRM practices and organizational performance exists.
• These are the two basic questions in the Strategic HRM:

  1. Do HR Practices make a positive impact on organizational performance?
  2. If so, how is the impact achieved?
• Purcell - He/she mentioned something about the "black box".
• Ulrich - He/she pointed out that: "HR practices seem to matter; logic says it is so; survey findings confirm it"
• Purcell - He/she have cast doubts on the validity of some of the attempts through research to make the connection: ʻOur study has demonstrated convincingly that research which only asks about the number and extent of HR practices can never be sufficient to understand the link between HR practices and business performance. As we have discussed it is misleading to assume that simply because HR policies are present that they will be implemented as intended.ʼ
• Truss - Following his/her research in Hewlett-Packard, he/she remarked that: "Our findings did lend strong support to the argument put forward by Mueller (1996) that the informal organization has a key role to play in the HRM process such that informal practice and norms of behaviour interact with formal HR policies."
• Commitment Strategy - A strategy, as described by Walton (1985), that promotes mutuality between employers and employees.
• Control Strategy - A strategy described by Walton (1985), one in which the aim is to establish order, exercise control and achieve efficiency in the application of the workforce but where employees do not have a voice except through their unions
• High-Performance Work Systems - These aim to impact on performance through people by the use of such practices as rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and relevant training and management development activities, incentive pay systems and performance management processes.
• AMO - It is a model which states that performance is a function of Ability + Motivation + Opportunities.
• Central Box-Front-Line Management - It draws to the fact that nearly all HR Policies are applied through and by line managers.
• HRM Strategies make an impact through the implementation of these concepts:

  1. Central to this model is the concept that performance is a function of Ability + Motivation + Opportunity (AMO).
  2. The second crucial feature of the model is the central box – front-line management – which draws attention to the fact that nearly all HR policies are applied through and by line managers.
• Attracting, developing and retaining high-quality people - It impacts through matching people to the strategic and operational needs of the organization. Provides for the acquisition, development and retention of talented employees who can deliver superior performance, productivity, flexibility, innovation and high levels of personal customer service and who ʻfitʼ the culture and the strategic requirements of the organization.
• Talent Management - Wins ʻwar for talentʼ by ensuring that the talented and well-motivated people required by the organization to meet present and future needs are available.
• Working environment core values, leadership, work–life balance, managing diversity, secure employment - Develops ʻthe big ideaʼ (Purcell et al, 2003), ie a clear vision and a set of integrated values. Makes the organization ʻa great place to work
• Job and Work Design - It provides individuals with stimulating and interesting work and gives them the autonomy and flexibility to perform their jobs well. Enhances job satisfaction and flexibility, which encourages high performance and productivity.
• Learning and Development - It enlarges the skill base and develops the levels of competence required in the workforce. Encourages discretionary learning, which happens when individuals actively seek to acquire the knowledge and skills that promote the organizationʼs objectives. Develops a climate of learning – a growth medium in which self-managed learning as well as coaching, mentoring and training flourish.
• Managing knowledge and intellectual capital - It focuses on both organizational and individual learning and on providing learning opportunities and opportunities to share knowledge in a systematic way. Ensures that vital stocks of knowledge are retained and deals with improving the flow of knowledge, information and learning within the organization.
• Increasing motivation, commitment and role engagement - It encourages people to identify themselves with and act upon the core values of the organization and willingly to contribute to the achievement of organizational goals. Develops a climate of cooperation and trust, clarifying the psychological contract.
• High-performance management - It develops a performance culture that encourages high performance in such areas as productivity, quality, levels of customer service, growth, profits and, ultimately, the delivery of increased shareholder value. Empowers employees to exhibit the discretionary behaviours most closely associated with higher business performance such as risk taking, innovation, knowledge sharing and establishing trust between managers and subordinates.
• Reward management - It develops motivation, commitment, job engagement and discretionary behaviour by valuing and rewarding people in accordance with their contribution.
• Top Managment - It is present to provide visionary leadership, define purposes and values and set the direction. It develops the overall business strategies and ensures that functional strategies for marketing, product/service devel-opment, customer service, operations, IT and HR are prepared and imple-mented in ways that provide sustained support to the achievement of business goals.
• Front-Line Management - They are responsible for the implementation of new policies. If line managers are not supportive of HRS initiatives, implementation will be poor. High organizational performance depends on effective implementation of HR policies by line managers, who play a crucial role in people management. Their ability to execute HR tasks, such as performance reviews and coaching, varies, and a lack of training can lead to failures in initiatives like performance-related pay schemes.
• Floyd and Woolridge - They argue that ine managers should be involved in both strategic thinking and execution.
• Line Managers - They can identify new opportunities, synthesize important information, and drive change.
• These are what the line managers need to be effective in the organization:

  1. Authority
  2. Freedom to experiment
  3. Involvement in strategic decision-making
• Currie and Procter - They suggest that HR strategies should be broad themes that line managers can adapt to local contexts. To enhance their role as strategic partners, line managers should be included in strategic planning and receive appropriate training and development.
• True - Effective HR strategy implementation is a collaborative process involving negotiation with line managers and other stakeholders.
• HR Director - They have a key role in strategic HRM, especially if they are as they should be on the board or members of the top management team.
• HR Director - They are there to envision how HR strategies can be integrated with the business strategy, to prepare strategic plans and to oversee their implementation.
• HR Director - They should play a major part in organization development and change management and in the achievement of coherence in the different aspects of HR policy.
• HR Director - They are the ones who will most probably play a full strategic role as business partners are likely to be involved in business planning and the integration of human resource plans with business plans and will be well placed to exert influence on the way in which the enterprise is organized, managed and staffed all with a view to helping it achieve its strategic objectives. Although professionally competent in HR techniques, their contribution and credibility will depend mainly on their business awareness and skills and their ability to play a full part as members of the top team.
• Ulrich - He/she stated that for the HR Executives to be fully fledged strategic partners with senior management, should 'impel and guide serious discussion of how the company should be organized to carry out its strategy'.
• True - HR must take stock of its own work and set clear priorities.
• True - At any given moment, the HR staff might have a dozen initiatives in its sights, such as pay for performance, global teamwork and action-learning development experiences.
• True - To be truly tied to business outcomes, HR needs to join forces with operating managers to assess systematically the impact and importance of each one of these initiatives.
• Ulrich - He/she stated that 'HR should not be defined by what it does but by what it delivers results that enrich the organization's value to customers, investors and employees'.