International Human Resource and Organizational Behavior - Oxfam - Case Study Example

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE AND ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR MENGRAN YANG Introduction Organizations across the world have come to appreciate the need for having a highly motivated workforce as an important approach towards developing an effective organization. Following this realization, business organizations have been trying to devise effective ways in which they can empower their employees to perform to their ultimate best (Boxall & Purcell 2011, p. 45). Highly motivated and empowered employees have been found to be more productive and therefore contribute heavily towards successful achievement of a company’s goals. The process of effective human resource management, also known as HRM is an important function in all organizations. Its aim is to maximize employee performance towards service of the employers set strategic objectives (Crawshaw, Budhwar & Davies 2014, p. 39). HRM uses various policies and systems in order to effectively manage any workforce, including training and development, recruitment, performance appraisals activities and employee motivation or reward schemes among others (Beardwell, Holden & Claydon 2007, p. 78). HRM is also responsible for ensuring effective practice of industrial relations, which include balancing of organizational requirements that emerge from collective bargaining and the different government laws (Bamber, Lansbury & Wailes 2011, p. 82). In this perspective, it is important to realize that for effective HRM, the business needs to consider some of the government’s legal provisions acceptable in every work context and implement these policies fully. This paper examines the concept of HRM and how this division has been instrumental in orchestrating an effective change at Oxfam, an internationally recognized organization that offers humanitarian support and assistance to different countries across the globe. Strategic Human resource management In the past two decades HRM as a field has received overwhelming support and recognition as being a field responsible for many positive changes within many organizations. Support for this field has accumulated in both academic literatures as well as in management practice. The parallel growth existing in its research literature as well as in interest among the managers practicing can be described as an important departure from the highly common experiences, where organizational managers are either simply uninterested in the scholarly § It is important to appreciate the fact the the strategic human resource field continues to grow and mature, it illustrates that the time for taking stock to establish where we actually stand as a management practice and field of effective inquiry has come. It is important to appreciate the fact that Human resource has evolved from the concept of human relations movement that was quite common especially at the beginning of the 20th century to one of strategic management of a workforce in order to provide the most effective system.(Briscoe, Schuler & Tarique 2012, p. 19). In the recent past, researchers have developed a growing interest in the process of establishing business values by having an effective and reliable strategic management of employees. With time, this function became highly dominated by various transactional work activities including benefits administration and payroll. However, following the wave of globalisation, the focus of human resource management has changed drastically, tending to give more emphasis and focus on initiatives like talent management, acquisitions and mergers, succession planning, labor and industrial relations as well as inclusion and diversity as some of the most important aspects. When it comes to most start up organizations and companies, the functions and duties of human resource management can be undertaken by different trained professionals. When it comes to large and highly established organizations, an entirely different functional group is set and typically dedicated and charged with the mandate of ensuring successful human resource practices. In such a case, the staff is often let to specialize in different human resource functions and tasks as well as having a functional leadership that engages in strategic and effective decision-making in the entire business. Some of the important functions of the human resource group in this case include recruiting potential candidates for the jobs available in the business after a thorough job evaluation. Many of the organizations that have managed to establish their competitive advantages are characterized with reliable and efficient approaches to their human resource management and related approaches (Scullion & Linehan 2005, p. 56). Some organizations that have been inexistence for a very long time have realized the benefits of effective people management, especially in a world where people’s needs and preferences are very dynamic. Oxfam is one of those organizations that have realized the advantages that exist in effective people management, especially when it comes to working in a cross-cultural work environment. Oxfam Oxfam is a global confederation, comprising of approximately17 organization that work in about 94 countries across the world. The main aim of the organizations in their work is to establish solutions to issues of poverty and different forms of social injustices across the world (Aaronson & Zimmerman 2006, p. 999). In all its entire actions, the ultimate objective of Oxfam is to make it possible for people to effectively exercise their rights and responsibilities and their lives in the most effective way.Oxfam engages with communities directly in the process of seeking influence over powerful members of the society, in ensuring that those that are poor can try to improve their livelihood and lives and get a say on major decisions that impact on them. Each of the organizations affiliated to Oxfam across the world works with the aim of achieving these common objectives, finding solutions to poverty and social injustices done on people in their societies (Stephen 2001, p. 109). In order to achieve this goal, the organizations often use their collective efforts in determining the best approaches towards their success and welfare of the people they serve across the world. Originally, Oxfam was established in 1942 in Oxford, at the 17 Broad Street, as an Oxford Committee for dealing with issues of famine relief by social activists, Quakers and other oxford academics (Aaronson & Zimmerman 2006, p. 1002). The organisation, which begun as a small group has grown to become the Oxfam Great Britain, still headquartered in Oxford in the United Kingdom. It is important to note that Oxfam was among the many local committees that were established to offer support to the National Famine Relief Committee. At the time of formation of the organisation, the main objective was to force the government of Britain to accept food reliefs via the allied blockade, which was meant for the many starving citizens in the occupied Greece (Aaronson & Zimmerman 2006, p. 1005). As the organization grew, it managed to set up its first office outside the United Kingdom in 1963 in Canada; since then, the organisation has managed to establish several branches across the world, reaching about 94 countries, with plans of reaching more (Aaronson & Zimmerman 2006, p. 1006). Human resource practices at Oxfam At present, it is important to realize that Oxfam has been responding to different kinds of emergencies in more than 30 countries across the globe. The emergencies range from the humanitarian conflicts in Sudan in the Darfur region to another humanitarian crises that are caused by massive water logging in Bangladesh. In order to fulfill these increasing demands, Oxfam is facing the need for recruiting human resource that can enhance and sustain long-term achievement and success of the organisation. In this case, effective human resource functions have become an important activity for the organisation. Since its development, Oxfam can be described as a highly devolved organization, with its financial management, human resource and programme management functions being led by around eight effective regional management teams located across the world. The eight regions span across the larger Middle East, South America, Eastern Europe as well as the Commonwealth comprising of Independent states. In the past five years, a deliberate strategy has been in existence in the process of establishing regional management as well as few people that are based in Oxford. In this respect, it means that when an emergency arises in a country like Haiti, for instance, it becomes the duty of the Central American Team, Caribbean and Mexican regions to intervene and offer the much needed help (Offenheiser & Holcombe 2003, p. 271). In such a process, it becomes easy to offer the different human humanitarian assistance to people affected by various issues requiring the assistance of the organisation with convenience and efficiency. The idea of creating functional regional teams had been an important approach towards effective functioning of the human resource at Oxfam. Devolving human Resource Functions The fact that Oxfam is designed to offer humanitarian services to different countries across the world means that the approaches towards human resource management should be designed in such a way that they address the emerging issues like cross-cultural management. The idea of creating regional teams often means that people living in certain regions get recruited to run these offices because they understand the particular needs in those places (Tayeb 2005, p. 35). This process has proved to be effective since the people recruited to work at Oxfam tends to have a background understanding of the needs in these regions, something that enhance efficiency and effectiveness of Oxfam in the different regions it exists. The reporting lines established at Oxfam provide a clear picture of the kind of devolved system established in the organisation. In such a move, human resource staff based in the country is supposed to report to report to the human resource managers in those particular regions (Dowling, Festing & Engle 2008, p. 81). These managers are later managed by other regional directors above them, however, for effectiveness; these managers also have their heads, who are in charge of the international human resource in the organisation. Work practices by the regional human resource officers are often not just rubber stamped by the corresponding head office (Bartlett & Ghoshal 2008, p. 61); instead, they are effectively recorded and monitored in order to enhance their effectiveness and success. As part of its recent developments in human resource management, Oxfam has an internationally recognized people strategy and approach, which is used in setting principles for effective human resource management in each of the regions that the organisation has reached (Harzing & Pinnington 2011, p. 64). This new developments are quite different from the organization’s human resource strategies in the other divisions like finance and trading divisions that are common in the United Kingdom, the organization’s headquarters. In the above understanding, it is clear while other organizations have been trying to copy an implement Oxfam’s people strategy as used on the international platform, the pay and benefits structure as well as the rest of the human resource procedures, they often have to decide on the way in which they will implement these particular policies. In such a move, they have to decide on the best pay structures that they can pay their staff in order not to cause them to reduce their output and dedication towards the success of their organizations. For instance, in Afghanistan, implementation of pay has been a regionally agreement, whereby information from local labor markets has been relied upon widely. Therefore, if they want to increase these pays by any margin, they are expected to make a request from the reward person recognized by the international office. In managing the devolved human resource functions effectively, the regional offices have the freedom to make decision that best works for them, however, when the decisions seem to be very major, they are supposed to contact the main office, which has the regional human resource managers for direction (Edwards & Rees 2011, p. 41). In many instances, these instances have not been happening in the past, because the system has been understood in the best way possible. The role played by the program manager in each country that Oxfam has reached is very essential towards the success of the organisation. Recruitment of the locals In any organisation operating on the international level, the process of recruitment is very critical towards its growth and success. Generally, the function of the human resource department is to make job evaluations and recruit the most qualified candidates for those jobs. However, at Oxfam, the success of the organisation has been partly due to effective approaches and strategies towards such recruitments (Thomas & Lazarova 2014, p. 34). For instance, the organization gives more emphasis on recruiting local experts and professional to run the organizations activities in those counties. In as much as the country project managers can be got from any country, Oxfam often endeavors to recruit and develop the locals as part of its workforce. The process of making such a move follows the fact that the local people have effective mastery and understanding of the local language and culture of the people (Hollinshead 2010, p. 76), something that makes it easy for the organisation to work in these regions without many hurdles. It is important to note that in some countries, it is sometimes hard to get the professionals that can work in the organization. This is always the case in countries that have poorly development educational infrastructure. In such a move Oxfam takes the step of getting staff from other countries in the same region that have an understanding of the language and other cultural aspects of such countries (Truss, Mankin & Kellihger 2012, p. 25). It is important to understand that globalisation has caused an international labor mobility, which means that as long as people can understand and fit in other cultures, they can be allowed to move and work in such places without any major issues. However, the work of the human resource department in such a case is to help such professionals to effectively integrate and fit in the new work environment and discharge their responsibilities (Hocking 2003, p. 239). Besides the country-based and regional staff, we have a team that comprises of emergency staff, that are well coordinated from the organization’s headquarters in the United Kingdom (Dicken 2011, p. 67). These people are always ready to be discharged to places that have emergencies to be attended to at any point. Part of these people is specialists in human resource functions, whose main function in such a move is to enhance effective coordination of the people sent in such emergency zones across the world. Conclusion In conclusion, it is important to appreciate the fact that human resource functions have continued to be an important competitive advantage for organisation across the world. Research studies across the world have tended to agree that in any organisation, whether business or non-business, human employees are the most essential of all the resources that exist. This is because; people can devise and implement strategies to be used in ensuring the success of organizations. In this understanding, Oxfam has been successful in managing to create an effective and reliable workforce in all its branches across the world. 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