Relationship Between Business Strategy And HRM Practice - Research Paper Example

HRM and Culture Introduction In a business organization, human resource management plays an important role as it is where the employee related issues are dealt with. The basic human resource management processes like recruitment, selection, training etc. has a prominent role to play in maintaining the stability and solidarity of an organization. As a result, the human resource management practices have the ability to influence the values, beliefs and collective behavior of the employees in an organization. This belief, value and behavior of the employees of an organization are collectively known as organizational culture and it is deeply connected with the human resource management practices. According to (Witte & muijen,1999. Pg.500) “Organizational culture is a complex phenomenon. It manifests in behavioral norms, hidden assumption, and human nature suggests the usefulness of viewing organizational culture from different levels, namely artifacts and creations, values, and basic assumptions”. Usually, the behavior of the employees is depended on the human resource management’s ability to influence the employees. If human resource practice can bring about positive outlook among employee’s behavior, then the organizational culture get enriched to achieve business goals. The cultural values as an external factor puts an impression on the human resource practices of an organization. In order to result in higher job satisfaction among employees, human resource management must allow more engagement of employees. HRM should formulate such business strategies which create a close link between management style and business strategy, which further alleviates the performance standard and the wellbeing of the employees. To understand this deeply, an analysis is done on two Korean companies name SK telecom and Samsung Electronics, where women power led to success of the organization. HRM practice and business strategy In modern strategic management, the elevated integration between human resource management practice and business strategy is given utmost importance. This is because management of employees and strategic deployment has a prominent role in increasing the continuity and success of a both SK telecom and Samsung Electronics organization. The first concern is about the relationship status between the human resource management and the business strategy, in regard to the position of employees in relation to internal factors such as technology, finance and economy. Here the configurational issue is the different actors and factors. An organization in order to have a smooth functioning must appoint a board of director as the human resource manager as he understands more about the organization’s cultural value and business policies. Mostly, both of these organizations may operate in an unpredictable and dynamic business environment and integration between human resource management and business strategy allows them to earn a competitive advantage in business market. In this competitive business world, only an aligned human resource management with business strategy can enhance profit and capital growth. The business strategies are formulated by considering the organizational culture of the employees and to bring a co –ordination between both, human resource management should play a strong role in motivating employees. Here, the human resource management should contribute strategic values which are reactive and proactive to the organization. In a reactive mode, human resource management connects human resource practices with business strategy to improve change management. In proactive mode, human resource creates culture which is innovative and creative to adjust with ever changing business strategies. For example, involving more women in an organization can deliver versatility and vibrancy to the business. Role of women in creating business competitive advantage In Korea, women entering business was considered as a taboo and men considered women to be less competitive and challenging. Here, when studying the case of SK telecom and Samsung electronics where a woman has proved to challenge men in bringing change to organization’s business strategy, we can understand the empowerment of women work force. Sam Hyung of SK telecom who is staff of business development field brought her own new ideas to bring change in the business policy and created a niche for herself in the company infrastructure. In the same manner Sonia Kim , the TV marketing staff of Samsung electronics implemented new promotion campaign to promote the company, which gave her an image of contributing employee of the company. Looking at the changes brought about by female employees, these two Korean organization must move to include more women employees, so as to extract more potentiality from women workforce. The qualities and thinking ability of women are unique and different from that of men work force. Inviting more women, the SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics can acquire competitive ideas and business policies which can enhance their profitability and reputation. Since women are a natural net workers, they co – operate and co – ordinate well with other employees which bring in more business advantage to the companies. Women employees are extremely active with social media and can handle international deals better than male employees. In today’s world, social media interaction is highly important, so women will definitely have upper hand in business conferences and discussions. Adding more women power into SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, can extract the intuitive power of female employees. Women unlike men have the capacity to measure personality of people with intuitive power .This practice can avoid indulgence with client’s who can turn to be threat to these business organization. Today’s business world is extremely fast paced and interacting with people who are less business oriented can create obstacle in the business activities of these organizations. Apart from this, women employees have the ability to cope up with pain and tolerance as they are more submissive and subtle in character compared to men. This is an important competitive advantage as business is surrounded by painful moment and experience which can be better dealt by women employees. Unlike men, women have the characteristic of multi – tasking and still are able to produce excellent results for the company they work for. This aspect can enable the Koran companies to achieve more productivity and hence increase the profitability o f the business. Another key quality of woman is that they have more patience and neatness than men employees. As per(Barry & Brent,2002,pg. 28-39)“Men are just as capable of conducting operative work as women, but men are not associated with such attributes as dexterity, patience and neatness”. In today’s business environment, being patient is the key towards success. So if SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics recruit more women in their companies they get the advantage of being more realistic and reliable business organization. Recruitment plan Position Title – Female Marketing Co -coordinator (3 required) Educational Qualifications – The prospective candidates for the post must have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, communication, business or public relations. The candidate also need basic qualification in computer operations some understanding of telecom industry would be beneficial. Preference will be given to candidates who have good experience in marketing products and services. Candidates who have interpersonal and communicative skill will be given special preference. Training provided: The successful candidate will be given training in marketing skills and selling techniques. The successful candidate must have intention to work closely with marketing department in order to learn marketing strategies and policies. Compensation: Marketing co – ordinates are given competitive salary, basic allowances, maternity leave and commission. Recruitment goals: To attract around 10 qualified female marketing co –coordinator applicants. Recruitment Steps: 1. Each employee of the company will be given notice to bring forth personal recommendation. 2. Display advertisement in company website and newspaper 3. Give out vacancy notices to all clients and dealers. 4. Alerting the human resource department about marketing position needs. 5. The prior screening of the applicant will be done by means of telephone, and will be interviewed in person later. The candidates who are unsuccessful will be intimated through telephone and e- mail. Retention Plan Providing voluntary benefits : Automobile and home insurance plans, legal insurance, Pet insuarance,Long term care insurance, travel insurance, disability programs, discount vision plans Perks: Retail store discounts, discount through local merchants and clients, discount for local attractions or museums, computer purchase discount. Compensation: Appropriate salary for the employees according to the nature of their work, rewards and bonuses for best performance. Providing workplace convenience: On –site ATM,direct deposit, on- site dry cleaning pick up, assistance with tax preparation, expecting mom parking spot, Parenting guide, lactation rooms, casual dress policies. Having fun at work: Recognize, Anniversaries/birthdays/promotions/retirements, Holiday parties and holiday gifts, picnics,games and competitions. Stress relievers : Professional head and neck massages, handwriting analysis, partner prepared breakfasts, ice cream Thursdays , Starbucks coffee days, cookie and Milk afternoon break. Personal crisis Support: Emergency related loans, Elder care and child care provisions, subsidized care facility. Benefits : medical reimbursement, dependent car assistance Obstacles in workforce diversification 1) Poor communication: In ST Telecom and Samsung Electronics which intends to diversify its work force, the main obstacle which can be faced is poor communication. As the company is attempting to recruit more female employees there could arise communication problems between male and female staff. It is possible for the male and female to suffer from misunderstanding and misconception as both the genders are different in communicative wavelength. Misunderstanding is the root cause of misinterpretation and can result in weak office relationship. 2) Disorganisation: Having an unorganized work force diversity plan is equal to not having a diversity plan. Managers should make sure that there is an organized approach on the implementation of work force diversity plan. The diversity plan must be analyzed and communicated well to the employees who are from opposite gender. 3) Negative attitude and behavior: As both the company aims at recruiting more female employees in their organization, there can be negative attitude and behavior from male employees. Here prejudice, discrimination and stereotyping should be avoided by management while hiring, retention and terminating the female employees HRM strategies to empower women employees. 1) Managing people: The human resource management should make sure that right female candidates are recruited in the company so as to avoid conflicts and misunderstanding in the work atmosphere. It should be noted whether the recruited women employees are goal orientated and multi skilled. As per (caliskan,2010,pg. 100-116) “People and how they are managed are becoming more important because many other sources of competitive success are less powerful than they used to”. 2) Training and development: The SK Telecom should make sure that the male and female employees of the organization are given appropriate training and development in order to make them more focused on business motives and goals. The new female employees must be trained well regarding business strategies and policies to increase the positivity in their wok nature. Conclusion In an organization, the human source department is the core section, as it directly deals with the activities related to employees. As everyone knows, employees are the foundation of an organization and any issues related to them are dealt by Human resource department alone. The human resource practice has direct connection with the values, culture and beliefs of employees. Thus organizational culture of an organization can be manipulated by the interference of the human resource practice and strategies. Human resource practice is a channel by which the organizational culture is formulated and sustained. When we look at the case study of SK Telecom and Samsung electronics, we can find that changes brought about by Korean women went a long way to change the perspective of the company regarding female employees. The paper here discusses about the role of women in creating competitive advantage to the Korean organizations. The paper proves that women can work bring more productivity and creativity to an organization than male employees. This paper also lays down the recruitment plan for the placement of women employees .Moreover a retention plan is also laid down which can assist the company in retaining their female employees. From this paper, it should be understood that in the traditional business environment of Korea, only female employee like Sam Hyung can bring significant revolution. Here we can understand that the potentiality and contribution of female employees are as important and valuable as that of male employees. References Barry, A. M., & Brunt, B. M. (2002). Female Employment in the Multinational Electronics Industry in Ireland's south - west planning region. Irish Geography, 35(1), 28-39. ÇALIŞKAN, E. (2010). THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE. Journal of Naval Science and Engineering, 6(2), 100-116 Witte, K. D., & Muijen, J. J. (1999). Organizational Culture: A Special Issue of the European Journal of Work and Organizationa Psychology (p. 500). Hants: Psychology Press Ltd. Read More