Human Resources Management Journal Summary and Analysis - Assignment Example

?Human Resources Management Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Article 4 Summary 4 Analysis 4 Article 2 6 Summary 6 Analysis 7 Article 3 8 Summary 8 Analysis 9 Article 4 10 Summary 10 Analysis 11 Article 5 12 12 Summary 12 Analysis 13 References 14 Article 1 Figure 1: HR issues in Infosys (Source: Sullivan, 2010) Summary In the year 2010 Toyota had failed in installing brakes in nine million cars worldwide. The mechanical failure had tarnished the public image of the company and the poor handling of the issue by the managers had affected the brand personality (Sullivan, 2010). Analysis The article lays emphasis on accountability, training and development which form an integral part of the human resource management (Browning, 2012). The article discusses that the mechanical failure was not attributed to the product design, onboard computers or faulty machines but the failure occurred due to the inefficiency of the employees. The employees failed to perform as per the expectations of the managers. Factors like improper training and faulty mechanization process were also the cause behind the product failure (Sullivan, 2010). The root cause of the error caused by employees, which led to the corporate catastrophe, could be the result of faulty human resource process. The employees at Toyota had received improper training for the particular assignment. Toyota follows the four step cycle which includes plan, do, check and act but clearly in this case the manager did not focus on the last two phases. The training to the employees was not effective and moreover the managers and the employees were not ready to take the accountability of the fault. Improper training and development can decrease the employee performance and have a negative impact on the employee behaviour. The managers of the Toyota should have taken the accountability for the incident and conducted a review meeting with the employees responsible for the product design. If the managers of the company had taken responsibility and apologized publicly then the brand image would not have been tarnished to a large extent. The managers of Toyota should conduct a meeting with the car design team and the engineers of Toyota for their new car model. The management at Toyota should lay emphasis on two key elements like scrutiny of design and ensuring that the employees have thorough product knowledge. Article 2 Figure 2: Wal Mart Gender Biasedness Incident (Source: Biskupic, 2011) Summary The article focuses on the gender discrimination faced by the women employees working in Wal Mart. The women employees of USA had filed suit against the company in April, 2011 claiming that the management of the company promoted the male workers at a less seniority position over the women employees at a senior position. The women employees even claimed that they were paid less and were denied promotions. It was also pointed out that the women employees were denied training which would help in advancement in their career (Biskupic, 2011). Analysis Discrimination by an employer on the basis of the gender is not only unlawful but promotes negative working environment. It is one of the crucial contemporary human resources challenges faced by most of the organizations. In the year 2004 it was claimed by an US district judge that there were disparities in the payment of the women and men employees working in WalMart. Gender discrimination not only promotes a negative and hostile work environment but also reduces the employee performance. WalMart should have clearly communicated the human resource policies designed for women employees and also addressed to their needs and demands. The management of WalMart should have implemented policies for the betterment of the women employees like prevention of discrimination at pay, sexual harassment and offensive behaviour (Lepak, 2009). Implementation and clear communication of the human resource policies for women would not only help the women employees to increase their organizational commitment but would also promote a congenial work environment. Article 3 Figure 3: Slave labor scandal of Zara (Source: Moore, 2011) Summary In the year 2011, Zara Fashions was accused of practicing slave labour in one of its shops in Brazil. One of the local authorities had also labelled the brand as “sweating workshop”. There were reports that the labour working in the Zara retail stores of Brazil were not registered and the workers lived in terrible conditions. The allegations of the workers were that they were not allowed to leave the office premises without taking the permissions of the senior officials (Moore, 2011). Analysis The article lays emphasis on the employee rights and fair treatment. These two components play a crucial role in the human resource management. The treatment of the employers towards the employees has an impact on the employee behaviour and performance. Although, Zara fashions have implemented standardized human resource policies but they should have ensured that policies are being followed by all the Zara offices worldwide. The duties and responsibilities of the human resource manager do not only cover policy designing and planning but it also ensures checking whether the policies are implemented effectively. In this case Zara should have ensured that the human resources policies are implemented worldwide and the employees of Zara receive fair and equitable treatment. This would have helped in strengthening the brand image of the company further. The three dimensions which should be covered by the human resource department of Zara are equal employment opportunities, employee rights and employee behaviour and clearly communicating these policies to the employees. Article 4 Figure 4: Misbehaviour towards Employees of Hyatt (Source: Roff, 2013) Summary The article focuses on the Hyatt controversy that had sparked in the USA in the year 2008 when the labour contract between the employees and the management of the Hyatt had expired. They were alleged reports from the employees regarding abusive behaviour, improper working conditions and long working hours. The management of the hotel were asked to negotiate the changes in the employment contract which included work benefits, wages, workload etc. However, the management of the hotel Hyatt refused to negotiate the terms and conditions of the contract (Roff, 2013). Majority of the housekeeping staff were working in the company since ten to fifteen years. Analysis The article focuses on elements like ill treatment towards employees and the duration of the work hours. Every company should have standardized working hours for the employees because long duration working hours can decrease the employee performance and the organizational commitment. Improper behaviour of the employers, communication gap between the employer and employee decrease the morale of the employees and the organizational productivity. The management of hotel Hyatt had had poorly handled the situation and refused to take accountability (Whitford, 2009). Firstly, the management should have offered a public apology for the inconvenience caused to the staff. A public apology would have mellowed the situation and not tarnished the brand image of the hotel. Secondly, the HR department should have conducted a meeting with the staff and handled their grievances effectively. Non financial motivators help in accelerating the personal growth, employee performance and organizational commitment. There are various forms of non financial motivators like providing immediate feedback to the employees which would help in recognition of the employees. Employers should realize that rewards and recognition act as an important motivator. Employee recognition is directly linked with self esteem of the employees in the Maslow hierarchy (Armstrong, 2002). Recognition can be provided with immediate feedback to the employees regarding their behaviour and work (Armstrong, 2002). Financial motivators like bonus and perks being offered to employees immediately after their achievement would serve as a catalyst (Goldsmith, 2008). In this case arranging for training programs and workshops would have increased the employee satisfaction and also enhance their technical and non technical skills (Desimone and Werner, 2011). Presently, the employer should clearly communicate about the job description and the duration of the work hours to the staff for clarity purposes. Article 5 Figure 5: NewsCorp Scandal (Source: Huffington Post, 2013) Summary In the year July 2011NewsCorporation had closed down one of its business units because there were alleged reports of computer and phone hacking by the employees and managers. There were reports of hacking and misuse of private information of celebrities, politicians etc. It was observed that employees and the managers were the main participants in the scandal. Around 106 employees were arrested for selling private information to public officials (Huffington Post, 2013). Analysis Employee misbehaviour is one of the crucial contemporary human resource challenges faced by most of the organizations. The HR department had failed to detect the root cause of the employee and manager misbehaviour. Although, employee inefficiency and misbehaviour were responsible for the downfall of News Corporation the HR department was also equally responsible. Employee misbehaviour not only leads to negative working environment but also impacts the organizational outcome. The HR department of News Corporation should have ensured the effective design, implementation and execution of the human resource policies. The HR manager should have conducted periodical review meeting with the employees to facilitate communication and address their grievances. The root cause of the employee misbehaviour and poor management by the managers of the company should have been determined. This would have prevented the situation from being aggravated. It is observed that most of the organizations do not implement independent auditing or monitoring instead they rely on human resource managers or managers for their own performance appraisals. Quality performance appraisal by the employees themselves would help in monitoring their own performance and increase the organizational performance on the whole. References Armstrong, M. (2002). Employee reward. London: CIPD Publishing. Biskupic, J. (2011, April 1). Women take case against Wal-Mart to highest court. USA Today. Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/washington/judicial/2011-03-28-WalMart28_ST_N.htm Browning, H. (2012). Accountability: Taking ownership of your responsibility. North Carolina: Center for Creative Leadership. Desimone, R.L., & Werner, J.M. (2011). Human resource development. (6th ed.). London: Cengage Learning. Goldsmith, M. (2008, July 08). Human resources: The Big Issues. BloomBergBusinessWeek. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-07-08/human-resources-the-big-issuesbusinessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice Huffington Post. (2013, February 12). 100 arrests in news corp. scandal over phone, computer hacking, corrupt payments to public officials. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/12/100-people-arrested_n_2669111.html Lepak, D. (2009). Human resource management. New Delhi: Pearson Education India. Moore, M. (2011, August 18). Zara caught in ‘Slave Labor’ scandal. Green Post. Retrieved from http://greengopost.com/zara-slave-labor-scandal/ Roff, C. (2013, January 23). When business and ethics collide: Yoga journal vs. Hyatt boycott. Huffington Post. Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/intent/hyatt-boycott_b_2529183.html Sullivan, J. (2010, February 15). A think piece: How HR caused Toyota to crash. Ere.Net. Retrieved from http://www.ere.net/2010/02/15/a-think-piece-how-hr-caused-toyota-to-crash/ Whitford, D. (2009, October 2). A mess: Hyatt's housekeeping scandal. CNN Money. Retrieved from http://money.cnn.com/2009/09/30/news/companies/hyatt_hotels_boston.fortune/ Read More