Human Resource Management - Annotated Bibliography Example

Annotated Bibliography Introduction: This research study will use books, journal articles as well as web based sources. Since the study will be carried out using companies in Doha as the participant sample, web based sources, newspaper reports and magazine articles will be used in reference to the background and environment within which IT companies in the Middle East function. Books and Journal articles would be the primary sources of information on theories of motivation and retention practices that are likely to be effective. Books: Armstrong, Michael, 2006. “A handbook of Human Resource Management practice” (10th edn), Kogan Page Ltd. This book deals extensively with Human Resource practices and changing models that are evolving due to the changing global environment. The book also contains research findings that demonstrate the link between Human Resources and Organizational performance and international issues. Budhwar, Pawar S, 2006. “Managing Human Resources in the Middle East”, Routledge This book provides an understanding of the dynamics of human resource management in the Middle East region. The book not only provides an overview of HRM in the Middle East, it also discusses the strategic role and function of Human Resources in specific countries and the HRM models which are emerging within this region. Dibble, Suzanne, 1999. “Keeping your Valuable Employees: Retention Strategies for your organization’s most valuable resource”, John Wiley and Sons. This book points out that in today’s competitive environment, companies face unrelenting competition for their most valuable employees, hence it is necessary to keep them happy and motivated, so that they remain productive. This book covers work environment and policies, salaries, benefits, counter offers and exit interviews as well as a range of other options and strategies to ensure retention of employees. Fuller, R.W., 2004. Somebodies and nobodies: Overcoming the abuse of rank , Canada: New Society Publishers In this book, the author discusses the gap between those in power who are the somebodies and weaker members who are the nobodies. It explains how humiliation and a violation of dignity can function as the basis for employees to leave the organization. Martel, L, 2002. “High Performers: How the best companies find and keep them”, San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons. The notable feature of this book is that it started off as a research project, where the author sought to identify the top 25 companies in the world on the basis of shareholder returns and its presence on Fortune’s list of top companies. This book focuses on changing workers and workplaces and examines several of the best performing companies to understand how these Companies are motivating their employees. Maslow, A.H, 1970. “Motivation and Personality” (2nd Ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. This book undertakes an examination into the characteristics of self actualized individuals. It sets out the hierarchy of needs that every individual has, both extrinsic and intrinsic, including the need for self actualization. The hierarchy of needs theory is invaluable in understanding employee motivation at the workplace. Murphy, Mark and Burgio-Mark, Andrea, 2005. “The Deadly sins of employee retention”, Leadership IQ Press. This book presents the results of interviews with more than 100,000 leaders, examining their efforts at retention of high performance employees. It identifies the most common mistakes that human resource departments make, which has a detrimental effect on the retention of employees. Pffeffer, J, 1994. “Competitive Advantage through people”, MA: Harvard Business School This book highlights the importance of people management in ensuring competitive advantage for an organization. It contains discussions of detailed procedures for employee training and TQM management procedures, including economic principles such as transaction cost economics. Thomas, Kecia M, 2007. “Diversity resistance in Organizations”, Psychology Press This book discusses workplace diversity and the impact of a cultural and ethnically diverse workforce. It also discussed resistance to diversity within organizations, especially psychological factors such as uncertainty, fear, power and organizational change. Trochim, W, 2001. “The Research Methods Knowledge base” (2nd Edn), Atomic Dog Publishing This book deals with the entire research process, including formulation of the research design, sampling and data analysis. It also discusses the theoretical and philosophical underpinnings of research, including addressing data validity and reliability, as well as the ethical aspects involved in research studies. Wilkinson, D. and Birmingham, P., 2003. “Using research instruments: A Guide for researchers”, Routledge. This book deals with the various instruments used in social research including questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, observation and content analysis, assessing the merits and drawbacks associated with each instrument. It also contains examples from actual research projects. Journal Articles: Al-Khalifa, K., Aspinwall, E. (2001), "Using the competing values framework to investigate the culture of Qatar industries", Total Quality Management, Vol. 12 No.4, pp.417-28. This article examines the efficacy of TQM measures implemented within the cultural context of Qatar in the Middle East. The authors of this study acknowledge the importance of culture in the success or failure of an enterprise. The findings in their study revealed that most organizations in Qatar are a mixture of two cultural types, which does not support implementation of TQM measures, hence bringing about organizational change is difficult with this country’s context. Erickson S., 2007. Ideas that really work to recruit and retain staff, Journal of Accountancy, 204(2):19 This article is written by CPA and Consultant Steve Erickson and contains a list of ten different tips for employers, to help their firms in the process of recruiting and retaining staff. It provides specific recommendations that companies can implement in order to retain more employees. Carmeli, A and Freund, A, 2004. “Work commitment, job satisfaction and job performance: An empirical investigation”, International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 7(3): 289-310 This article deals with the measures of job satisfaction and organizational commitment and the various factors impacting upon employee job satisfaction and motivation at the workplace. Herzberg, F. (1968) “One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees”, pp 85-95 in Harvard Business Review: Breakthrough Ideas: 15 Articles That Define Business Practice Today: Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston USA This article examines the importance of an employee’s intrinsic needs for appreciation and satisfaction on the job, which may be even more important than extrinsic factors such as salaries or incentives on the job. Kransdorff, A., 1996. Succession planning in a fast changing world, Management Decision, 34(2):30 In this article, the author highlights the lack of attention organizations pay to the issue of succession and the losses that result when experience and training gained by employees is lost through ineffective succession planning. The article also provides recommendations on how the process of succession can be improved and knowledge captured from outgoing professionals. Maurer, Steven and Li, Shaomin, 2006. “Understanding Expatriate Manager Performance: Human Resource Management Implications of Governance Environments on Work Relationships in Relation-Based Economies”, Human Resource Management Review, 16: 29-46. The subject of this article is the performance of expatriate managers and seeks to understand why expatriate managers from the West fail in their job assignments in developing countries. The findings in the study suggest that expatriate manager function may depend upon the ability to manage the discrepancies between rule based expectations of Western culture and relations based expectations of the local employees in the Middle East. Potter, David, 1999. Wealth creation in the knowledge economy of the next millennium, Third Millennium Lecture, Downing Street, 27 May, 1999. Retrieved December 8, 2008: www.number-10.gov.uk/textsite/news/features/feature_display.asp?id=665; cited in Rikowski, Ruth, 2000. The knowledge economy is here – but where are the information professionals? Business Information Review, 17: 157 The article by Ribowski deals with the changing requirements from workers in a knowledge economy. Potter’s views, which are also explained in Ribowski’s article, deal specifically with the enormous gains that come to an organization when it is able to hire skilled knowledge workers. Schuler, Randall S and Macmillan, Ian C, 1984. Gaining competitive advantage through Human resource Management Practices, Human resource Management, 3: 241-155 This article deals specifically with how human resource practices within an organization can be improved. It points out that while earlier, Human Resources used to be a transaction oriented function, it has now changed to an enabling function. The article points out that there is a new strategic role that needs to be performed by the Human resource department in a firm, especially because knowledge is not the pivotal aspect that determines whether or not an organization will enjoy a competitive advantage. Warhurst, C., 2008. The knowledge economy, skills and government labor market intervention, Policy Studies, 29(1): 71-86. This article takes up an analysis of skill needs and skill formation in the present day knowledge economy and how Governments can improve their policy of improving the knowledge economy by focusing on educational institutions for the development and structuring of such knowledge. It also points out the need for an expanded Government role in the labor market. Other Sources: (Government Report) OECD, 2001. Science, technology and Industry Scoreboard: towards a knowledge based economy, Paris: OECD This document released by the OCED contains a detailed and exhaustive analysis of the changing world economy and the increasing importance that is being attributed to knowledge by organizations. While earlier, means of production contributed towards the gaining of a competitive advantage, it is now knowledge is the most significant resource employers look for in employees in order to gain a competitive advantage. Web based Resource: Oracle Middle East, 2007. How technology is reshaping Human resources in the Middle East. Retrieved December 8, 2008. AME Info, http://www.ameinfo.com/42459.html This article by Oracle Middle East examines the ramifications of the employment context in the Middle East. It highlights the role being played by technology in Human Resource Systems and points out that most Middle East countries have high per capita incomes and a correspondingly higher level of access to the tools and facilities afforded by these resources. This provides the Middle East with an edge when it comes to hiring the most knowledgeable and skilled workers from across the globe and illustrates how countries like Dohar have a high percentage of expatriated among the working populace. Primary Sources of data: The Primary sources of data for this study will be the responses obtained on the survey questionnaires. This will be supplemented by face to face interviews with some of the survey participants which will be captured on tape and used as the basis for coding of data. Internal Sources: This will include company-specific information that can be collected from the annual reports of the Companies, press releases and promotional catalogues. Additional sources of data will include internal Company memos, especially those issued by the HR Department and these will include email communications. Bibliography * Al-Khalifa, K., Aspinwall, E. (2001), "Using the competing values framework to investigate the culture of Qatar industries", Total Quality Management, Vol. 12 No.4, pp.417-28. * Armstrong, Michael, 2006. “A handbook of Human Resource Management practice” (10th edn), Kogan Page Ltd. * Budhwar, Pawar S, 2006. “Managing Human Resources in the Middle East”, Routledge * Carmeli, A and Freund, A, 2004. Work commitment, job satisfaction and job performance: An empirical investigation, International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior, 7(3): 289-310 * Dibble, Suzanne, 1999. “Keeping your Valuable Employees: Retention Strategies for your organization’s most valuable resource”, John Wiley and Sons. * Erickson S., 2007. Ideas that really work to recruit and retain staff, Journal of Accountancy, 204(2):19 * Fuller, R.W., 2004. Somebodies and nobodies: Overcoming the abuse of rank , Canada: New Society Publishers * Herzberg, F. (1968) One More Time: How Do You Motivate Employees, pp 85-95 in Harvard Business Review: Breakthrough Ideas: 15 Articles That Define Business Practice Today: Harvard Business School Publishing, Boston USA * Kransdorff, A., 1996. Succession planning in a fast changing world, Management Decision, 34(2):30 * Martel, L, 2002. High Performers: How the best companies find and keep them, San Francisco: John Wiley and Sons. * Maurer, Steven and Li, Shaomin, 2006. “Understanding Expatriate Manager Performance: Human Resource Management Implications of Governance Environments on Work Relationships in Relation-Based Economies”, Human Resource Management Review, 16: 29-46. * Maslow, A.H, 1970. Motivation and Personality (2nd Ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. * Murphy, Mark and Burgio-Mark, Andrea, 2005. The Deadly sins of employee retention, Leadership IQ Press. * OECD, 2001. Science, technology and Industry Scoreboard: towards a knowledge based economy, Paris: OECD * Oracle Middle East, 2007. How technology is reshaping Human resources in the Middle East. Retrieved December 8, 2008. AME Info, http://www.ameinfo.com/42459.html * Pffeffer, J, 1994. Competitive Advantage through people. MA: Harvard Business School Press * Potter, David, 1999. Wealth creation in the knowledge economy of the next millennium, Third Millennium Lecture, Downing Street, 27 May, 1999. Retrieved December 8, 2008: www.number-10.gov.uk/textsite/news/features/feature_display.asp?id=665; cited in Rikowski, Ruth, 2000. The knowledge economy is here – but where are the information professionals? Business Information Review, 17: 157 * Schuler, Randall S and Macmillan, Ian C, 1984. Gaining competitive advantage through Human resource Management Practices, Human resource Management, 3: 241-155 * Thomas, Kecia M, 2007. “Diversity resistance in Organizations”, Psychology Press * Trochim, W. , 2001. The Research Methods Knowledge base (2nd Edn) Atomic Dog Publishing * Warhurst, C., 2008. The knowledge economy, skills and government labor market intervention, Policy Studies, 29(1): 71-86. * Wilkinson, D. and Birmingham, P., 2003. Using research instruments: A Guide for researchers, Routledge Read More