Human Resource Management Discipline Research Articles

HRM vs Industrial Relations: a Comparative and Theoretical Evaluation of Two Disciplines

In recent years, significant changes are experienced in practice as well as theory to the field of industrial relations. Globalization, rapid progress in the field of technology, such as reduction of the importance of class conflict factors affect the industrial relations field. In this paper, the perspectives of (IR) Industrial Relations and (HRM) Human Resource Management disciplines within the framework of the text books compared. During the first part of this comparison information about the conceptual framework of the discipline of industrial relations. In the second part referred to the concept of human resource management. In the last chapter of human resource management and industrial relations textbooks, certain themes will be examined in a comparative framework. Thus, the perspectives of the two disciplines against each other is aimed.

Influence of occupational health and safety programmers on performance of manufacturing firms in Western Province, Kenya

Occupational health and safety continues to be one of the most critical but highly criticized issues within the discipline of human resource management. The purpose of the study was to investigate the influence of health and safety programmes on performance of manufacturing firms in Western Province, Kenya. The study presents the results on an empirical study conducted. The study utilized a convenient sample by using all manufacturing firms in Western Kenya. Content validity and reliability of the research instruments were done through test retest method using one of the manufacturing firms which was not included in the final analysis. Reliability coefficient yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.88. The data from all the manufacturing firms was collected and analyzed using descriptive statistics and inferential statistical tools like Pearson correlation, simple regression and one way ANOVA. The study findings showed a moderate positive relationship between occupational health and safety programmes (OHSP) and organizational performance of manufacturing firms. This was an indication that OHSP were not efficient in the studied firms, thus, affecting organizational performance of these firms in terms of sales, profitability, production, order delivery, reputation, target achievement, product quality and production costs. Management of firms must put in place policies and structures for improving occupational health and safety. They should not wait to form ad hoc committees (after an accident has occurred), whose recommendations may not be implemented. Organizations should put in place active health and safety committees which should be given mandate to implement their recommendations. Everyone in the organization should adhere to laid down policies, rules and safety precautions to reduce accidents. The study results provide vital information to managers, researchers and academicians on the relevance of occupational health and safety in business organizations. Key words: Occupational health and safety programmes (OHSP), employee productivity, organizational performance.

Encouraging divergent thinking in HRM studies through use of project management case studies

It is important that human resource management (HRM) undergraduate students develop critical thinking around project management decision making as part of their transferable skills development. Such initiatives provide opportunities for students to consider the implications of their decisions in relation to practical settings, that they might better address unexpected HRM demands of the future. We integrate project management into our teaching to progressively build students' skills in HRM. First, students engage in a project management case study and conduct a formal presentation. Second, we extend student awareness of divergent approaches to project management through engagement with excerpts from previous HRM student case studies. Third, the students execute project management of a written case study, under examination conditions. Our approach scaffolds students' higher order thinking and engagement with the divergent nature of the HRM discipline. We provide facilitator and student feedback to illustrate our outcomes. This research is relevant to management educators and, we suggest, is transferable to disciplines other than HRM.

Employee perceptions of knowledge management in two service units: A case study of management services and organisational development (OD) and skills development units

The main objective of knowledge management in organizations is its “use” or “benefit”. A comprehensive review of the literature has revealed a rapidly increasing and eclectic body of knowledge relating to knowledge management by both practitioners and academics. Knowledge management initiatives adopted within eThekwini Municipality are technologically oriented and lack deeper analyses of knowledge. The purpose of this study is to gain knowledge on or insight into employee perceptions about the factors that contribute to the strategies for managing knowledge, to gain knowledge on, or insight into, employee perceptions about knowledge management processes to convert tacit into explicit knowledge, to explore employees’ views regarding the implementation of knowledge management strategies and employee’ perceptions about the ways in which knowledge management can contribute to organisational effectiveness and efficiency. Furthermore, this study investigates the interrelations between the four dimensions that impact on knowledge management (current knowledge management strategies, current processes for managing knowledge, implementation of knowledge management strategies and perceptions of the impact of knowledge management effectiveness) respectively. This study seeks to investigate new systematic strategies for knowledge management within eThekwini Municipality and international knowledge management initiatives and strategies in the public sector are to be explored with the aim to promote knowledge transfer. The study was undertaken at Skills Development and Management Services and Organisational Development (MS&OD) Units within eThekwini Municipality. A knowledge management survey used census and questionnaires were administered to 80 employees, of which 66 questionnaires were suitably completed. The survey took place during June to July 2009. Statistical analysis of the questionnaire included descriptive (measures of central tendency and dispersion) and inferential t-test, ANOVA and intercorrelations statistics. The validity and reliability of the questionnaire was established using factor analysis and Cronbach’s Coefficient Alpha, respectively. The hypothesis of the study was tested using inferential statistics to determine whether significant relationships exist among the variables. Interpretation of results indicated that there exists a significant relationship amongst the key variables of the study relating to knowledge management respectively. It is argued that these findings have practical implications for human resource management discipline, local government, private organisations and academics as it proposes and suggests strategies and recommendations that may be implemented to overcome barriers of implementing knowledge management. The limitations of the study as well as directions for further research are also discussed.

Towards a model curriculum for graduate human resource management studies

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a graduate human resource management (HRM) curriculum for a university in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The curriculum reflects the core knowledge areas identified by the two major professional bodies in the HRM discipline.Design/methodology/approach – The paper employs literature to justify the importance generally of education in the HRM discipline and specifically in the UAE context. It then summarizes a program development approach that synthesizes core areas defined by the US Society for Human Resource Management and the UK Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.Findings – The curriculum resulting from the program development process arguably constitutes a model curriculum for graduate studies in HRM. This proposition is tested with reference to focused survey of UAE HRM practitioners and is further explored with reference to the Syrian environment.Research limitations/implications – More work has to be done to confirm ...

Editorial: Human Resource Management and Economic Success

Human resource management has long been perceived as an ugly duckling within the wider field of business administration. The perception's roots are manifold. A critical issue, however, has always been that the utility of human resource management to a company's business success has been insufficiently demonstrated. In contrast to other business sub disciplines with deeper roots in classical micro-economic theories of the organization, human resource management could not acquire legitimacy through connectivity to production or sales functions. Although human resource management's practical utility has long been assumed, it requires empirical demonstration. Empirical evidence of an association between human resource management and company economic success has proved difficult. As long as human resource management has not been seen as a coherent pattern or system - in contrast to individual HR practices or loosely tied bundles of instruments - performance may only be ascribed to the specific effects of single instruments or measures. An example is increased employee satisfaction as a result of particular leadership styles, improved motivation due to different compensation packages or work tasks, decreased employee turnover because of enhanced selection procedures, etc. These empirical arguments may be of great interest within the particular field of research, but they do not satisfy, for example, economists. Only the development and implementation of coherent patterns or systems of human resource management practices - following HR's struggle for a strategic orientation - will ensure that the discipline of human resource management faces other sub disciplines on equal terms. Henceforth, proof of single HR instruments' relevance moved from the centre of attention, giving way to examination of the functionality of selected human resource systems for a company's economic success. This change in perspective - from the efficiency and effectiveness of specific instruments to the contribution of human resource management as a whole on an organizational level - has required different data sets than hitherto. Institutions rather than employees are the subject under analysis. In the European context, the Cranfield Network on International Human Resource Management (Cranet) provides longitudinal data on the organisational level since 1989. This dataset allowed, for the first time in Europe, analysis of the association of selected systems of human resource management practices (empirically identifiable as bundles/clusters of human resource measures) with a company's economic success. Cranet, starting with five European countries in 1989, now allows comparative international analysis of 39 (mostly European but also selected non-European) countries. As is often the case when looking at evidence-based research, audience receptivity is more important than advances in theoretical and empirical instruments. In this specific case - as hypothesized by the guest editors - company demand for human resource management has risen. The attraction, development, and retention of specific human capital has moved decisively to centre stage. In short, it is obvious that in the age of post-fordism, human resource management is a major focus of attention for practitioners as well as academics. This issue presents results from an international symposium organised by the guest editors in February 2004 to honour Wolfgang Weber's academic work on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Wolfgang Weber's work has been intimately connected with the discipline's strategic orientation as well as comparative international human resource management's organization and institutional anchoring. It is to our great pleasure that in total eight out of fourteen manuscripts successfully passed through the review process for this special issue, generating a considerable contribution to the research field. Following the standard procedure for each special issue of Management Revue, the first contributions attempt a critical overview of the state-of-the-art, and are followed by empirical studies addressing selected issues exploring the link between human resource management and economic success. …

Business models for the human resource management discipline

This article starts with describing what the surplus value of modeling is for the processes of selection, implementation and optimization of human resource (HR) systems in terms of money, time and quality. The second part explains the architecture of the HR model. Eight components are defined: organization; human resource logistics; compensation and benefits; employability management; relations; health, safety and environment; information strategies; and employee administration. Within these components all generic HR processes are defined by means of best practices.

HRM: A Management Science in Need of Discipline

Human resource management (HRM), as a subdiscipline of managementscience, is in its infancy. HRMpractices are often utopian in expectation andfail to incorporate a realistic view of existing knowledge bases in the psychological, social, and biological sciences. The HRM discipline relies upon theoretical approaches (e.g., theories of motivation, satisfaction, and performance)which are: 1) almost invariably linear in conceptualization and dependlargely upon correlational evidence, 2) frequently validated within non-representative contexts that are overly constrained by researchers, and3) overly simplistic in that the constraints and patterns imposed by our biological, psychological, and social systems are frequently ignored or assumedto constitute random error within the models. This frequently translates intoHRM practices which map reasonably well onto theory yet fall short of yieldingexpected outcomes. The theories do not match the realties observed. We pointto non-linear dynamics and chaos theory as a way of conceptualizing howcommon HRM practices may translate into observable outcomes. Such anapproach will force managers to pull back from simple reliance on linearpredictions and realize that truly effective HRM practices should be sensitiveto the unique, complex, and less systematically predictable patterns of humanbehaviour.

Personnel and Human Resource Management in the Occupational Therapy Curriculum

Personnel and human resource management has emerged as a dynamic, vital, and important component of the management of any organization. Persons involved in management at all levels are responsible for organizing, directing, motivating, coordinating, and controlling the people under them in the organizational hierarchy. Health care professionals are almost always in a position requiring them to supervise some aspect of human resources. Graduates of the health professions often find themselves unprepared to meet the rigors of human resource management and are not cognizant of the body of information available to assist them in becoming proficient managers. This article outlines the development of a graduate course in human resource management for occupational therapists. The course was designed to recognize the unique background, experience and needs the health care professional brings to management while offering the student a strong base of information appropriate to the discipline of human resource management.

Personnel and Human Resource Management in the Occupational Therapy Curriculum

Personnel and human resource management has emerged as a dynamic, vital, and important component of the management of any organization. Persons involved in management at all levels are responsible for organizing, directing, motivating, coordinating, and controlling the people under them in the organizational hierarchy. Health care professionals are almost always in a position requiring them to supervise some aspect of human resources. Graduates of the health professions often find themselves unprepared to meet the rigors of human resource management and are not cognizant of the body of information available to assist them in becoming proficient managers. This article outlines the development of a graduate course in human resource management for occupational therapists. The course was designed to recognize the unique background, experience and needs the health care professional brings to management while offering the student a strong base of information appropriate to the discipline of human resource management.