The Human Recourse Value - Case Study Example

The paper 'The Human Recourse Value ' is a great example of a Business Case Study. Ulrich & Brockbank (2005) issue a proposition in their book that, as part of that transformation of the science and art of HR, professionals must be masters of value. At the surface level, value refers to the standards within an organization. More deeply, though, value is also about something of worth that one receives from a transaction. That is, value is determined more by an outsider than an insider, or defined more by the receiver than the giver.

Hence, it ultimately means HR practices, departments and professionals are now obliged to produce positive results for key stakeholders – that is, not only for the management and the employees but for external stakeholders as well (e.g., investors and customers).

External business realities

Accordingly, to create value, HR professionals cannot afford to ignore the four basic factors that currently have a significant impact on business and industry – which fall in the three categories of technology, economics, and regulatory issues and workforce demographics – with globalization, being the fourth factor, cutting across and influencing the other three. Cognizance of the said basic factors means that HR practitioners must keep themselves abreast of (1) the pertinent trends relative to or within the factors, (2) the data points illustrating these trends, (3) what one needs to know (about these trends) to make one contribution to the management team discussions, and (4) where this information may be found.

Technology

The application of knowledge to the transformation of things into other things – or, technology – is at the base of revolutions in almost every aspect of doing business. It is a technology that is responsible for the automation of business transactions, enhancement of engineering and manufacturing processes, and design of new products and services – among others. In-state of continuing progress, technology is expected to get even much sharper and better because to date it is one of the fonts of competitiveness among business rivals. On this account, firms engage in the never-ending application of technology to new situations.

The current trends associated with technology may be categorized into four – i.e., speed, efficiency, connectivity, and customization. Things are now done very fast – as in a snap of fingers. Production has become more and more efficient. Stakeholders are getting connected more and more closely together as never-before-seen large and powerful human networks are now possible. And, customer requirements are much more easily and accurately met and satisfied.

Vividly illustrating these trends is coming to be of the smart mob. Smart mob refers to people who act together in new ways in situations where collective action was not possible before. It is important to be aware of their presence and activity since these customers, suppliers, employees and even employers may and can undercut pricing, raise product and service standards, communicate satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and impose substantial pressures on their target organizations. And eBay – the technological context for the almost instantaneous and frictionless markets within a self-regulating global democracy – is a testimony that smart mob exists.

Now, this technological advancement is happening within the context of globalization – that is, the movement of goods and services, capital, information, and people. On this account, outsourcing, vertical trade, multi-nationalization of production, slicing up the value chain, and disintegration of production – making possible the achievement of highest quality-to-cost ratio – have all become features of contemporary business and trade.