Transcript HRM for MBA Students Lecture 1 People management: personnel management and human resource

HRM for MBA Students
Lecture 1
People management: personnel
management and human resource
management
Learning outcomes
• A good appreciation of the ‘people management’ function
in contemporary organisations
• Knowledge of ‘human resource management’ (HRM)
and ‘personnel management’ (PM)
• An appreciation of the theoretical development of HRM
• Understanding of the relationship between HRM and
business strategy
• An appreciation of the practical application of HRM
• Recognition of the themes of HRM in the early twentyfirst century.
‘People are the only real source of ...
continuing competitive advantage.’
Prahalad and Hamel (1990)
We can define people
management as:
‘all the management decisions
and actions that directly affect
or influence people as members
of the organisation rather than
as job-holders.’
What do people managers do?
Their role has specific objectives under four
headings:
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Staffing objectives
Performance objectives
Change management objectives
Administration objectives
Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2002)
The ‘Ulrich model’ of HRM
Human Resources should become:
– a strategic partner with top management
– an expert in administration
– a champion for employees
– an agent of continuous transformation
Ulrich (1998)
‘Building organisational capability
is HR’s heartland’
and
HR managers
‘can help make capitalism human’
Linda Holbech (2007 )
Taylorism
Principles of ‘scientific management’ (1911):
– time and motion studies of work processes
– standardisation of tools, implements and
methods
– increased division of labour
Taylorism + machine-paced work = Fordism
The evolution of people
management
Personnel management
• The first Industrial Revolution: welfare role
• Rise of trade unionism: industrial relations
role
• ‘Scientific management’: training;
sophisticated recruitment and selection
• Thus by the 1970s the Personnel
management paradigm
Human resource management
• Loss of faith in traditional mass-production
techniques
• The example of Japanese quality
• Technological development
• Thus by the 1990s the (post-Taylorist)
HRM paradigm
Perspectives in management
• Unitarist
– Conflict is ‘wrong’
• Pluralist
– Conflict is not ‘wrong’ but must be managed
• Radical/critical
– Conflict is inevitable ... and may be ‘right’
The Harvard model of HRM
Stakeholder
interests
Shareholders
Management
Employee groups
Government
Community
Unions
HRM policy choices
HR outcomes
Employee influence
Human resource flow
Reward systems
Work systems
Commitment
Competence
Congruence
Cost-effectiveness
Situational factors
Workforce characteristics
Business strategy and
conditions
Management philosophy
Labour market
Unions
Task technology
Laws and societal values
A ‘map of the HRM territory’: from Beer et al (1984, p.16)
Long-term
consequences
Individual well-being
Organisational
effectiveness
Societal well-being
‘Ideal types’ of PM and HRM
Characteristics
Personnel
management (PM)
Human resource
management (HRM)
Strategic nature
Psychological contract
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Ad hoc
Based on compliance
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Proactive, strategic
Based on seeking willing commitment
Job design
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Typically Taylorist/Fordist
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Typically team-based
Organisational structure
Remuneration
Recruitment
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Training/development
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Hierarchical
Collectivised
‘Pay by position’
Sophisticated recruitment practices
for senior staff only
Limited
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Employee relations
perspective
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Pluralist:
Collectivist, low trust
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Flexible
Individualised
‘Pay for contribution’
Sophisticated recruitment for all employees
Strong internal labour market for core employees
A learning and development philosophy for all core
employees
Unitarist:
Individualistic, high trust
Organisation of the function
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Specialist / professional
Bureaucratic and centralised
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Welfare role
Criteria for success of the
function
 Residual expectations
 Minimising cost of human
resources
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Largely integrated into line management for day-to-day
HR issues
Specialist HR group to advise and create HR policy
No explicit welfare role
Control of HR costs, but also maximum utilisation of
human resources over the long term
HRM in practice
• Evidence of significant adoption of HRM
practices
– (Workplace Employee Relations Surveys and
others)
• But still two traditions or paradigms
• Most organisations share characteristics of
both
• But HRM is in the ascendant
Key themes in HRM
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High-involvement employee work practices
Flexible organisation (core and periphery)
Micro-level work organisation (teamworking)
Sophisticated HR for recruitment
Unitarist employee relations
Change management
The learning organisation
Knowledge management
Leadership