Construction and HRM - Coursework Example

Section/# Construction and HRM Introduction: Nearly each and every aspect of the modern world is changing at a rapid rate. Due to the proliferation of technology and the means by which processes are continually being updated and the means of global integration are affecting new paradigms, seeking to understand and define these processes is oftentimes a difficult task. With this in mind, the following analysis will be focused upon the issue of human resource management as it relates to the construction industry on a global scale. Accordingly, the initial discussion will analyze existing human resource management theory, move on to discuss the changing patterns of human resource management within the construction industry, and focus definitively upon a specific dimension of the human resource management process; taking special time and consideration in terms of providing a discussion on the merits and limitations of the dimension in question. Through such an examination and discussion, it is the hope of this particular student that the reader will gain a more warmed understanding with respect to the subject matter and further grasp upon the realm of human resource management as it relates to the construction industry. HRM Theory Overview: Likewise, before delving directly into a discussion of unique changes in terms of the construction industry as it relates to human resource management, this particular section will tell into some of the overarching human resource management theories that have been promoted and employed throughout organizations around the globe - over the past several decades (Roberts, 2013). The first of these is with respect to what is known as the vertical integration approach. Within this particular paradigm of human resource management, individual stakeholders within leadership and management are of the understanding that unique metrics and guidelines for the way in which employees and the employer should relate with one another are best relayed from the top down. Within this clearly structured approach, other management utilizes and leverages middle management and subsequent supervisors as a means of relating their overall goals and expectations to stakeholders within the very bottom layers of the organizational structure (Fong et al., 2011). Whereas this particular approach can be useful in terms of defining a company culture in a rapid manner, the ultimate level to which it can “stick” is oftentimes somewhat limited. Furthermore, as will be discussed at further death laser within the analysis, this particular approach does not necessarily lend itself well to a situation in which human resources are drawn from many subcontracting entities; and are otherwise not beholden to the company or culture that is retained within the upper management of a given company or organization. Likewise, sensing the overall inadequate nature of this particular approach, illustrated above, the “set” model has been incorporated within many human resource management theories that have been put forward within the past two years. Inherently, the type that model is a response to the vertical integration approach that was illustrated previously (Ranjan, 2014). As such, this “lateral integration” approach seeks to leverage cultural reinforcement illustrated at many levels within the firm or organization as a means of establishing a level of human resource management that might not otherwise have existed. Once again, whereas this particular approach, illustrated within many different human resource management theories, is an especially effective way of engaging individuals within different sectors of a given firm, it does not speak to the means that certain organizations have; as a definitive culture is oftentimes not possible. For instance, as will be discussed at some depth later within the analysis, the current dynamic construction firms is one that sees these companies hiring more and more subcontractors and individuals from outside the organization as a means of fulfilling specific needs and goals within the entire process (Rizescu & Rizescu, 2014). Accordingly, seeking to instil a level of cultural management by utilizing the type that model approach is inherently inadequate in terms of providing a baseline of human resource management that pervade these different groups and subunits. Another determinant of human resource management has been highly leverage over the past several decades has to do with the resource-based approach. Essentially, the resource-based approach is as the name defines and described; predicated mainly upon increasing overall efficiency and decreasing overall costs. Not surprisingly, this particular approach comes in direct conflict with many other forms of human resource management; as a means of maximizing efficiency and reducing costs oftentimes conflict with the way in which human resource management should be conducted and the individual needs of employees or stakeholders within a given organizational unit (Muntean, 2014). As will be discussed at some depth later within this analysis, the resource-based approach to human resource management is particularly ineffective in dealing with some of the more nuanced issues that are oftentimes represented within the realm of construction management. Rather than speaking to broad an underlying issues, this particular approach is oftentimes exhibited as a means of dealing with outputs rather than fundamentally readjusting the means by which a particular organization or group focuses on the problem at hand. Finally, a human resource management theory that has been incorporated into many recent approaches for human resource management is that the universalist approach. As the name denotes, the universalist approach is one that seeks to leverage and utilize best practices that other industries were organizations have been able to effect within their own workforce. This best practices approach is highly efficient in terms of being able to elicit similar outcomes within similar work groups. However, his most notable shortcoming is the fact that it does not lend itself readily to be transposed or utilized within each and every culture or situation that an individual stakeholders within management might otherwise seek to affect. In other words, the universalist approach is not quite as universal as one might necessarily expect; lending itself to a level of cultural differences and organizational focus problems that have determined that many best practices within some firms are not only ineffective and others that could potentially be damaging to the overall bottom line that help to construct (Dusheng & Zhongming, 2014). Another factor that makes the universalist approach somewhat unworkable in the construction context has to do with the nuances between sectors and the potential for “best practices” in management to easily cross over into other fields of construction management (Kramer & Perry, 2014). This is not to say that best practices cannot be utilized as a means of making more effective and better construction management atmosphere; however, it should be noted that seeking to perform such a task as a means of aligning a certain aspect of the construction management sphere to another is necessarily a very dangerous approach and one that threatens to ignore relevant factors that may otherwise relate to profitability or success within such a sector. Changing Patterns of HRM in the Realm of the Construction Industry: As referenced previously within the introduction to this particular piece, the changing pattern of human resource management within the realm of the construction industry and figment of broader and systemic change within the realm of human resources; it is a result of the fact that rapid and demonstrable change is affecting the way in which the construction industry engages with projects and manages its workforce (Payne & Wayland, 1999). One of the most clear and definitive changes that has impacted upon human resource management within the construction industry over the past several decades has to do with the proliferation of contractors and subcontractors that now defined this particular economic engagement (Vermeeren et al., 2014). As the focus on the bottom line has come to be of such primal importance and the overall level of globalization that the world experiences is now greater as compared to any other previous time, the need and ability to engage contractors and subcontractors, many of which have never before had any level of interaction with given construction firm or managing entity, create a litany of difficulties that human resource management must necessarily justify. Another unique and definitive issue has to do with the cyclical nature of construction and the means by which global workforce comprised of individuals with unique cultures and approaches to how project should best be performed is also being leveraged. As with the situation defined above, in terms of subcontractors and contractors, this particular issue is impacted upon heavily by globalization and the drive to incessantly bring the overall cost of individual parts of the project down so that a company can maintain a level of competitiveness even within a market that is saturated with competition. The final determinant that must be understood has to do with the continuing an incessant demand for flexibility of cost based upon the focus that a particular project or group projects might sustain. This has a direct and indirect impact upon project management and human resources management; as the overall level of flexibility within the workforce serves as a primary motivator for the way in which human resource management takes place and the means by which management of a particular construction project will engage with subsequent parts of the project and the human resources associated with them. Essentially, these are but a few of the ways in which human resources management within the field of construction has changed and shifted over the past several decades. Although not an exhaustive list of each and every determinant that could be analyzed, the aforementioned listing is an effective mechanism by which the stakeholder can come to understand the broad and overarching trends that human resource management is facing within the realm of construction management. The greatest difficulty that can be surmised from all of this has to do with the decreased level of emphasis on the individual worker and the increased level of emphasis on reducing the overall cost and producing more and greater, larger and more complex construction projects at lower costs; all the while impacting upon the overall attention, time, training, and focus that human resources might otherwise afford within a different era. This is of course not to say the previous periods of history have exhibited a situation in which human resource management has directly and intrinsically upon the individual worker. However, in terms of labour history and the means by which the future was expected to unfold, analysts and theoreticians within the 1970s and 80s expected that the coming decades with illicit and exhibit more labour focus an individualized approach to human resource management as compared to what has actually occurred. A Human Focus: As denoted above, the shortcoming that is most clearly exhibited with respect to human resource management in the realm of the construction industry relates to the human focus. Accordingly, the reason that this particular analyst has chosen to focus upon the human element, beyond the reasons given thus far, is contingent upon the fact that the human element of human resource management lies at the crux of all potential efficiency, profitability, and success that this particular industry might seek to exhibit or promote within the coming years (Wilkinson et al., 2012). For instance, a unique and definitive and merit of a human focus has to do with the fact that such a focus would bring direct improvements to overall efficiency and the potential for a reduction in cost; thereby achieving elements that would promote stakeholders within management to more carefully consider such an approach. More specifically, in terms of actual proposed change to the human focus, as it exists today within the realm of resource management in the construction industry, it is the understanding of this particular analyst that significant time and resources should be expanded early on in the project development and management phase. The underlying reason for this has to do with the inability of current human resource managers still a culture or to provide a set of expectations many contractors and subcontractors ultimately what. As such, realizing the scope of the project and determining its unique human focus needs based upon the information provided above, would be a significant step in the right direction towards improving upon the overall situation and benefiting all stakeholders throughout the entire process. Tangentially, this would also improve the overall cost-effectiveness of the project and potentially reduce overall levels of cost overruns and/or delays that might otherwise be extraordinarily expensive. Recommendations and Theoretical Analysis: From the information that has thus far been provided, it is clear and apparent that the importance of strategic human resource management, at least from a human focus, has an extraordinary impact upon whether or not the project will be successful; or whether or not a given firm will be able to continue to engage with projects and success within the industry. Whereas it is true that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs could be employed as a means of providing structure to the management of complex and multinational construction projects, the hierarchy of needs is inadequate to meet the determinant factors surrounding cross cultural differences and unique nuances of project implementation. By much the same token, employing a more structural approach, such as Taylor’s scientific management, would miss further nuances between people and the means by which the era of contracting and subcontracting had further complicated the field of human resources that existed during the time of Fayol and/or Taylor. Recognizing the fact that all organizations, whether or not they employ part time labour, or individuals that contract or subcontract for the job, must consider the importance of their individual employees, the reader can in turn realize that the human focus is necessarily the one that most significantly speaks to the inherent and existing weaknesses that are currently exhibited within the construction industry as it exists today. Although it is still true that best practices and analyzing aspects of the extent industry are no doubt still relevant, the aforementioned discussion has been extraordinarily beneficial in denoting the fact that seeking to rely upon such means of human resource management within the construction industry could ultimately lead to catastrophe and failure. Bibliography Dusheng, C, & Zhongming, W 2014, The Effects of Human Resource Attributions on Employee Outcomes During Organizational Change, Social Behavior & Personality: An International Journal, 42, 9, pp. 1431-1443, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 November 2014. Fong, C, Ooi, K, Tan, B, Lee, V, & Chong, A 2011, HRM practices and knowledge sharing: an empirical study, International Journal Of Manpower, 32, 5/6, pp. 704-723, Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost, viewed 7 November 2014. 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