The Client-Consultant Relations and the Role in Which Human Resources Acts - Annotated Bibliography Example

 This particular article hinges upon the fact that the relationships which are shared between consultants and clients are such an integral part of the business operations process that understanding the nuances of how these relationships develop, are encouraged, and grow over time is an extremely powerful tool in working to build a better and more effective communications model. As such, the author of this article puts forward to study these social constructs via a threefold rubric which encompasses the following models of interpretation: expert model, critical model, and the social learning model. As such, the author makes it a determinant point to investigate seven different cases which help to formalize the approach and inference that is drawn with relation the three previously mentioned models of interpretation. Furthermore, the author identifies three practices which she claims characterize client-consultant interaction. The author names these three practices as: shaping impressions, problem solving, and negotiating expectations. In this way, the study helps to determine and quantify some of the major characteristics, activities, and contingencies that are associated with client and consultant interaction within the construct of the business world. This particular article is of specific interest to this researcher due to the fact that it considers the externalities that are associated with client/consultant relations. Although a great deal of emphasis has previously been placed on client-client communication and the role in which Human Resources acts as a facilitator in this process by way of training and instructing shareholders with their respective duties, little attention and/or research has been done with respect to attempting to understand the nuanced approaches that client-consultant relations (Van Glinow et al 1983). Although the study itself grapples with salient and important topics, the one issue within the study that gave this author pause was with respect to the methodology within which the framework of the research was carried out. As is a well known fact among researchers, having a deep and varied set of available from which to draw upon and gain a level of inference is an absolute necessity if one intends on having an intellectually stimulating and rigorous approach to the research question. However, with respect to this particular topic, the researcher has contented herself with drawing the entire dataset from one particular firm Hermann and Partner (H&P). Although it is doubtless that the data extracted from such an approach is salient to the research question at hand, it would have been far better had the methodology focused on a more diverse dataset with which to seek to answer the research question. Although the research is lacking in this one particular area, the piece itself is still highly beneficial to a researcher who is interested in determining the unique interplay that exist between client and consultant. As such, this author has chosen to incorporate this piece as part of the larger research that is being conducted. Ulrich, D. (1998). A New Mandate for Human Resources. Harvard Business Review, 76(1), 124-134. This particular article begins by questioning HR’s legitimacy and usefulness in the current system. Although the author finds that HR continues to be a legitimately useful and positive force, he finds it necessary to radically redraw and rework the entity as a means of satisfying the many new needs and demands that have emerged and place themselves within the purview of HR as he defines it. The author beings by stating that there are many invisible levels of HR influence that effects a firm in oftentimes immeasurable and unperceived ways. As such, many of the standard roles that HR has been tasked with include responsibilities to impart learning, quality, re-engineering, teamwork, and re-organization within the organization (Morton 1996). The author advocates a new role and measurements which can be used to define the role of HR in the changing environment. The author states that such a role would be outcome based; rather than the previous models The author defines this new role as one in which HR integrates fully with upper and middle management in order to forge a constructive path ahead based on the needs approach that defines the market at the given time. Secondly, the author argues that HR should take a more active role in seeking to organize the institution to better manage outputs. Thirdly, it should become a champion of employees to represent the concerns of these employees to management (De Grip et al 2009). Lastly, the author argues that HR should become an agent of continuous change within the organization by constantly being willing and able to change needs according to the needs that both the market and key shareholders have grow and develop. Although the analysis is multifaceted, there is one drawback that this model implies. The model assumes that HR is effectively broken or somehow non-functional in all institutions and therefore the author states that the new model will be the way ahead; or the way in which formerly broken models of HR can again take over the lead in advancing the needs of the shareholder and the organization (Singh 2008). The problem with this particular view is that there is no proof that HR is broken and/or somehow incomplete within each and every extant organization. This author has found this particular piece useful due to the fact that it takes a radically divergent approach to the needs that HR can work to provide within a given firm. Although the approaches are radical, they are well thought out and most definitely within the reach of possibility for what particular actions HR would be able to accomplish within the given scope of work performance that it is skilled at and trained for. Additionally, although the approach is somewhat short sighted in the sense that it proposes such a radical approach without taking into consideration that individual HR departments may be fully functional, the information provided within the analysis is helpful in determining the possible expansions and differentiations within HR that are being considered and should be made within given instances. References De Grip, A., & Sieben, I. (2009). The effectiveness of more advanced human resource systems in small firms. International Journal Of Human Resource Management, 20(9), 1914-1928. doi:10.1080/09585190903142373 Morton, T. (1996). Managing human resources: A basic primer. Assessment Journal, 3(4), 57. Singh, V. P. (2008). Human Resource Management Back to the Basics. Journal Of Marketing & Communication, 3(3), 69-71. Von Glinow, M., Driver, M. J., Brousseau, K., & Prince, J. (1983). The Design of a Career Oriented Human Resource System. Academy Of Management Review, 8(1), 23-32. doi:10.5465/AMR.1983.4287645 Read More