Theoretical Issues in Human Resources Management: From Taylorism to Theory Z

Abstract

The human resources of any given organisation are the greatest assets that should be managed in order to attain desired performance goals. Thus, human resources management is the bedrock of all management activities in any formal work setting. In the bid to achieve organizational goals, there is need to manage the human resources with established knowledge which scientifically related methods yield. This is termed human resources management theory which is a system of interconnected propositions that condenses and organizes the knowledge about the social world, nay work organizations and explains the workings of the work organizations. Secondary data were garnered to elicit information for the analysis of the paper which presents relevant theories of industrial organizations and critically analysed them so as to acquaint us with the knowledge and effectiveness of the theories. This is essentially a metatheoretical schema for theories adopted in the motivation of human resources in order to attain deeper understanding of theories of human resources management.