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Organising & Human Resource Management (Co-ordinating work by…
Organising & Human Resource Management
why does structure matter
Current structure - reflects assumptions about how to divide and coordinate tasks
Knowledge enables us to question
assumptions in a structure and its context
alternatives available
limitations of any structure
evidence that a company's structure affects whether it adds value to resources
Structure and performance
when an organisation is not performing well, managers often change the structure
structure affects performance since
clarifies expectations and enables monitoring
avoids confusion and waste of poor design
as a business grows, those running it divide the work and co-ordinate the parts - they create a structure within which people work
Designing a structure
defines responsibilities of divisions, departments and people
how work is divided, supervised, coordinated
large business more layers
small business - less layers
Vertical structure - how centralised
centralisation - those at the centre make the most decisions
grouping into functions
Network
Divisional
functional
Matrix
Horizontal structure
divisional - products, geography
Matrix - work on divisional tasks
functional - common profession
Dividing work externally
collaborative networks
independent organisations agree to work together on some parts of a larger task - Arm Holdings example from high tech sector
Outsourcing
delegate to external providers - save investment
Co-ordinating work by
hierarchy
Standardising inputs and outputs
direct supervision
rules and procedurres
information systems
direct personal contact
mechanistic structure
knowledge located at top of hierarchy
vertical communication
Hierarchical structure of control
loyalty and obedience stressed
specialised tasks
Organic
horizontal communication
commitment to goals more important
network structure of contacts
contribute experience to common tasks
Contrasting forms
appropriate to certain conditions - fit with right conditions led to high performance
Contingencies
cost leadership or differentiation
differentiation needs innovation
Technology
production line v information systems
what structure best supports technologies used to transform inputs
Business environment
Burns and Stalker - 'stable markets contrasted with volatile markets
Larwence and Lorsch - firms face many environment with different needs
size and life cycle
birth - informal, little division of labour organic
youth - decisions shared more widely, specialists : employed
Mid life - extensive division of responsibility with rules for co-ordination
Maturity - mechanistic, perhaps divisions, rules for coordination
Contingencies or management choice
Management choice - greater degree of choice over structures they adopt
standards of performance not always rigorous
preferred choices may have limited effect on performance
political interests and ambitions shape choice
contingency - effective performance depends on managers adopting structure, suited to the key contingencies of the environment in which it is operating
Emergence of HRM
Companies of excellence literature
companies of excellence literature
success in countries such as Japan and West Germany
changing composition of the workforce
more globally integrated markets
decline in Trade Unions
HRM territory
HR outcomes - commitment, competence, congruence, cost-effectiveness
Long term consequences - individual well being, effective, social well being
policy choices - employee influence, human resource flow, reward systems, work systems
Four propositions in HRM - Guest
Integration - linking HRM policies and strategy enhances performance
Commitment - employees will be more satisfied, perform better, stay longer and accept change
Flexibility - make it easier to change with conditions
Quality- high quality staff, suitably managed will deliver high quality results
HRM philosophy
external fit
Link between wider strategy and HRM strategy
for example different approaches for low cost and differentiation strategies
Internal Fit
team working supported by reward systems
consistency of HRM policies
HR planning
Three stages of human resource planning - forecasting, job analysis, recruitment and selection
limitations of forecasting techniques encourage managers to create more flexibility as an alternative way to balance supply and demand
detailed analysis of the size and nature of the workforce to fulfil the organisation's strategy
Job analysis process
decide who should collect the info
decide how the job info should be structured and put into a standard format
collect data for job description
competencies and team working approaches offer more flexible ways of meeting new strategic requirements
Recruitment and selection
selection process aims to select best applicant to fit the job
selection methods - interviews, personality tests, assessment centres
recruitment process aims to produce a good pool of applicants e.g. advertise on the internet or in newspapers or journals
approaches to reward management
payment by results
skill based
time rate
performance related pay - based on individual performance in relation to set objectives
Positive
some reports of positive effects on performance
underpinned by expectancy theory
negative
little effect on individual or organisational performance - according to some studies
danger of overloading the appraisal system
often operating difficulties
flexible benefits package
Workforce diversity
for diversity
greater understanding of diverse groups who are potential and existing customers
better communication with diverse group of customers
greater access to wider range of individual strength, experience and perspectives
evidence for it
the research that is available is ambiguous
potential benefits may be offset by costs such as increased communication and conflicts
limited research
outcomes may vary with dimensions of diversity