Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example for Free

Strategic Human Resource Management Essay To simply define Human Resource Management (HRM), it is a management function that helps managers recruit, select, train and develop members for an organization. Obviously, HRM is concerned with the people’s dimension in organizations. When we say HRM of the organization, it is concerned with all the departments of it. In the marketing department, people consult products or services that lead to the sale. In the sales department, people sell products or give services to the customers. And also in finance, people manage and forecast the flow of money in the organization. All these functions cannot be accomplished without the help of the human resources and people are the ones that can make the organization achieve its objectives. And when the strategies come together with HRM, there comes Strategic Human Resource Management (strategic HRM or SHRM). It may be regarded as an approach to the management of human resources that provides a strategic framework to support long-term business goals and outcomes. The approach is concerned with longer-term people issues and macro-concerns about structure, quality, culture, values, commitment and matching resources to future need. First, according to Strategic Marketing Management by Wilson, Gilligan and Pearson, I would like to express the different levels within the organization that strategies must be developed. They are: * Corporate strategy, which deals with the allocation of resources among the various businesses or divisions of an organization. * Business strategy, which exists at the level of the individual business or division, dealing primarily with the question of competitive position. * Functional level strategy, that is limited to the actions of specific functions within specific businesses. The above strategies are set at the different levels to achieve a major or overall aim of the organization. The strategic approach addresses issues and needs relating to changes in structure and culture, organizational effectiveness and performance — matching human resources to future requirements, the development of distinctive capabilities and intellectual capital and the management of change. There are five functional areas identified by Bratton and Gold in forming the core of human resource management activities. Staffing: Obtaining people with appropriate skills, abilities, knowledge and experience to fill jobs in the work organization. This role encompasses human resource planning, job analysis, recruitment and selection. * Rewards: The design and administration of reward systems. This role includes job evaluation, performance appraisal and benefits. * Employee development: Analyzing training requirements to ensure that employees possess the knowledge and skills to perfo rm satisfactory in their jobs or to advance in the organization. Employee maintenance: The administration and monitoring of workplace safety, health and welfare policies to retain a competent workforce and comply with statutory standards and regulations. * Employee relations: Under this heading may be a range of employee involvement/ participation schemes in union or non-union workplaces. In a union environment, it also includes negotiations between management and union representatives over decisions affecting the employment contract. With the best HRM policies and practices, HRM strategy does more than drawing boundaries; it also recognizes and addresses peoples needs. The best HRM practices contribute the four outcomes as follow: * Competence: Employees are versatile in their skills and can take on new roles and jobs as needed and are better able to respond to changes in environmental demands. * Commitment: Enhance mutual trust and better communication between employees and managers. * Congruence: All stakeholders share a common purpose and collaborate in solving problems brought about by changes in environmental demands. * Cost effectiveness: HRM policies are cost-effective in terms of wages, benefits, turnover, absenteeism, strikes, and similar factors. Here is the example of â€Å"Starbucks† which is one of the best known and fastest growing companies in the world that invest a lot in human resources. Starbucks believed that the companys success and rapid growth could be attributed largely to its committed and motivated workforce. Consequently, the companys human resource policies reflected its commitment to its employees. Starbucks cared about its employees and was one of the few companies in the retail sector to provide generous benefits to both full time workers as well as part timers. This ensured that employees remained motivated, and Starbucks had a relatively low employee turnover. However, in the early 2000s, the company faced the challenge of finding and retaining the right number and kind of employees to man its future growth. Despite the fact that employees, especially those on the frontline, are critical to the success of retail businesses, most companies do not have a strong relationship with their employees, and consequently suffer from a high rate of employee turnover (In the early 2000s, employee turnover in the retail industry was around 200 percent). In this scenario, Starbucks stood out for its employee-friendly policies and supportive work culture. The company was especially noted for the extension of its benefits program to part-time workers something that not many other companies offered. They are offered health and dental coverage, vision care, life and disability insurance, paid time off, a retirement savings plan, stock options and a discounted stock purchase plan, adoption assistance, domestic partner benefits, emergency financial aid and a free pound of coffee every week. As a result, Starbucks employees were among the most productive in the industry and the company had a relatively low employee turnover. The above example proves that HRM is the crucial source of competitive advantage to be a successful organization in the business environment. Thus, as I have discussed so far, you may have some ideas about Human Resource Management and notice how much it is important for an organization. Reference 1. Aswathappa, K. Human Resource and Personnel Management (Fourth Edition ed. ), (pg. 5) 2. http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Starbucks. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from en. wikipedia. org. 3. http://www. hrtutorials. com/cs-model-evaluating-human-resources/. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from www. hrtutorials. com. 4. http://www. icmrindia. org/casestudies/catalogue/Human%20Resource%20and%20Organization%20Behavior/HROB068. htm. (2013, January 15 Tuesday). Retrieved from www. icmrindia. org. 5. http://www. mainstreet. com/article/career/employment/4-employers-great-part-time-benefits. (2013, January 17 Thursday). Retrieved from www. mainstreet. com. 6. Manual, ABE Study, Strategic Human Resource Management, (pg. 4,5)

Essay --

â€Å"Washington the General, the President and the Abolitionist† On a cold, frosty day in Westmoreland County, Virginia a baby boy was born to Augustine Washington and Mary Ball on February 22, 1732. This baby was named George and was their first child of five to come. From the age of three he lived at many different plantations on tributaries of the Potomac river. At the age of 11, George tragically lost his father and was under his mother’s management which he did not like. Living with many relatives he eventually found a sanctuary at his half-brother Lawrence’s plantation known as Mount Vernon. After the age of approximately 15 he began showing a deep interest in mathematics and eventually through Lawrence’s influence became a successful surveyor. In 1751 Washington made his first and last trip outside the colonies to Barbados with Lawrence to cure him of tuberculosis. When they were there George very quickly contracted smallpox. Although he survived the illness he was left with permanent facial scars and immunity to a dis ease that will ravage his troops in the near future. In 1752, Lawrence, who had served as Washington's mentor, tragically passed away. Washington eventually inherited Lawrence's estate, Mount Vernon, his militia office and there Washington learned how to become an officer and a farmer. In 1753 Virginia Governor Robert Dinwiddie sent 21-year-old Washington to warn French troops stationed north of modern day Pittsburgh Pennsylvania that they were trespassing in territory that was claimed by Virginia. The French ignored the warning, and the flopped. On the brighter side, when Washington returned, Governor Dinwiddie told a Williamsburg printer by the name of William Hunter to publish his report as The Journal of Maj... ...per his request Washington was remembered from then on as the â€Å"Father of the United States† because of his incredible leadership and his ability to bring an entire country together after a war of independence. In Washington’s farewell address he said that his successors should keep the highest standards for domestic policies and minimally involve in foreign policies. To this day in memoriam the document is read in the U.S. Senate for his birthday in February. In the House of Burgesses Thomas Jefferson Spoke of Washington and said, â€Å"On the whole, his character was, in its mass, perfect, in nothing bad, in a few points indifferent; and it may truly be said, that never did nature and fortune combine more perfectly to make a man great, and to place him in the same constellation with whatever worthies have merited from man an everlasting remembrance.† (Thomas Jefferson)

What led to the American Revolution?

After the French and Indian War, which was a brutal battle against the British colonies and New France, Britain had an enormous debt to pay off. The British Empire looked to he colonies to help pay off the money, but colonists were not at all compliant with this. Nevertheless, Britain went ahead with their plans and enforced several acts that not only restricted the colonists In Issues pertaining to their economy. But also created much dissatisfaction with life in the colonies.The constant shifts in British policies regarding economic policies and trade designed to benefit the British Empire, especially the Stamp Act, Townsend Act, and Tea Act, caused much discontent amongst colonists, thus sparking a sense of rebellion that led to the orientation of unified, organized groups and ultimately the American Revolution. The Stamp Act, enforced In 1765, spurred a rebellion that later helped to create the Stamp Act Congress. The Stamp Act virtually taxed the colonists on nearly every piece of printed paper, such as newspapers and legal documents.Though the outraged colonists saw it as unjust, the British thought their enforcement was justified. As Thomas Whitely, advisor of the man who wrote the initial Stamp Act, said in â€Å"Considerations†¦ † † , , [the British] are not yet recovered from a War undertaken solely for [the Americans'] Protection†¦ Hey should contribute to the Preservation of the Advantages they have received†. According to this, the Brothels thought their primary reason for being so In debt was due to the wars they had been fighting In America towards the colonists' favor.Whitely believed that colonists should also partake in contributing towards paying off the debt. The Stamp Act became the first blatant attempt of the British to use the colonists and their growing economy to benefit the Empire. Because this act's intentions were so obvious, the colonists had extremely opposing reaction. Colonists also began boycotting stamps and goods to bell against the act. They also formed the Stamp Act Congress to devise a unified protest against the taxation.According to Patrick Henry, â€Å"the Taxation of the People by themselves, or by Person chosen by themselves to represent them, who can only know what Taxes the People are to bear†¦ Is the only Security against a burdensome Taxation, and the distinguishing Characteristics of British Freedom†. This quote from Henry portrayed the colonists' perspective on the phrase â€Å"No Taxation Without Representation† and that colonists would only find taxation fair If they were allowed o discuss their own pollens to Parliament that would actually be taken Into consideration.Overall, the Stamp Act caused discontent amongst colonists while also causing more rebellious behavior to arise. The Townsend Acts were another series of policies that greatly angered colonists, especially merchants, in that through these acts, the colonists realized the immen se and unjust control the British had over them. These acts focused particularly on following were all practical necessities at that time. Though these acts went against mercantilism in that they were bound to discourage British manufacturers and encourage manufacturers from the colonies, the creator of this taxation demanded to have this enforced no matter what.The Townsend Acts also shut down the New York assembly, who had been providing part of the money needed to house British troops when the Quartering Act was imposed. The act shut down the assembly until the full amount lost from the Boston Tea Party was appropriated. In response to this, John Dickinson, who had served in the Stamp Act Congress, stated â€Å"There is another late act of parliament which appears to me to be unconstitutional, and†¦ Destructive to the bibber of theses colonies†¦ The Townsend Acts claim the authority to impose duties on theses colonies, not for the regulation of trade†¦ UT for the single purpose of levying money upon us†. This depicts the true perspective of colonists. These acts were not enforced for the purpose of Just gaining more authority over colonists and their trade, but also exhibited the immense power the British held over the colonists. Britain taking away the assembly was what hit colonists the hardest. Though the portion with taxation on goods mostly impacted merchants, the rest were still greatly angered by how the British shut down the assembly.They began to ponder on the possibilities of Britain taking away the rights of having any assemblies since they had disassembled New Work's. This caused much uproar in the colonies, who did not want their only ties to somewhat of a government taken away by the British yet again. The imposition of the Tea Act in 1773 especially riled up colonists, even women, which proved even more that the acts were truly intolerable in that women were not very active in the rebellion up until then. At the time, th e East India Company was trundling to survive.This act helped the company and gave it the right to export its merchandise directly to the colonies without paying any regular taxes that were imposed on colonial merchants. To the colonists, it was Just another scheme from Britain to solve their issues by using the colonies towards their benefit. They opposed this act because it affected the already-standing taxation on colonists. Also, not only was the money from the act put towards helping a British company, it went towards the fund to pay of Britain's war debt from the French and Indian War. In response, he colonists boycotted British tea.In a tea party that occurred in Denton, North Carolina, the women who participated stated they were â€Å"determined to give memorable proof of their patriotism†¦ And could not be indifferent on any occasion that appears nearly to affect the peace and happiness of [their] country'. They would do anything if it meant that they were able to be free from the harsh acts from Britain. In addition, this statement was given by women who were, at the time, supposed to stay in their homes and complete housework activities such as cooking, sewing, and cleaning.This resisting behavior was unfitting to the standards of women and the act obviously discontented colonists so much that women felt the need to become involved in the political affairs. All in all, the Stamp Act, Townsend Act, and Tea Act, as well as many of the other acts, caused colonists to become discontent with life under the rule of the British. For a long time, they had been dissatisfied, but these impositions brought about a rebellious attitude that spurred colonists to resist their new common enemy: the United States evolved greatly that ultimately transformed it into how it is today.

Understanding The Demographics Of Green Consumerism

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