Human Resources Management - Semco Company - Essay Example

Semco Company Activity Semco has introduced a unique system of industrial democracy. Using appropriate evidence, critically evaluate this organisation design. Your answer should consider how effective the approach has been in the long term in managing staff and projects. 2. To what extent does the Semco system differ from traditional approaches to strategic human resource planning? Make reference to either; recruitment and retention; succession planning; or systems of appraisal in your answer. 3. With reference to one other case of your choice, to what extent could the system employed at Semco be transferred to this case? What would be the likely consequences of the changes in the short and medium term? It may help your answer if you consider key differences between your chosen case and Semco. [words 3007] Question 1. One of the most important characteristics of the firm’s human resources management is the freedom related with the participation of employees in the organizational projects. Employees can choose the type of work that suits better to their needs and their time – referring to the time available on a daily basis for work, an issue particularly important for women with children. Furthermore, the firm’s top management is not accurately informed on the personal details of employees – a fact that could be criticized negatively by theorists and practitioners in the HR management sector. In accordance with the comments of the firm’s owner, R. Semler, ‘we could decide to find out which is which and who is who, but for two good reasons we never bother; first, the employment and contractual relationships are so complex that describing them all would take too much time and trouble; second, we think it’s all useless information’ (case study, p.64). The structure of the firm’s HR management can be compared to the open-source software – everyone can enter the firm and participate in its profits – the performance of each employee is depended on his/ her own ambitions and targets. Rather than trying to monitor employees in all their activities within the organization managers in Semco try to communicate with them quite often and give them the chance to participate actively in the firm’s key strategic decisions. The structure of the firm’s HR framework is not similar with others in the market. In fact, people with limited time or those that were working for the firm in the past have equal chances to participate in the development of the firm’s projects. The firm supports the development of industrial democracy giving the chance to employees from different educational or social background to participate in its projects offering them the incentive of participation in the organizational profits. It is for this reason that the firm’s manager claims that ‘what we’re now engaged in might be called a radical experiment in unsupervised, in-house, company-supported satellite production of goods and services for sale to Semco itself and to other manufacturers’ (case study, p.64). The specific organizational structure is the result of the owner’s efforts to develop an innovative HR management system so that the firm is able to face successfully the strong financial pressures of the last two decades. In fact, the firm’s owner makes clear that ‘I did try to reconstruct the company so that Semco could govern itself on the basis of three values: employee participation, profit sharing and open information systems’ (case study, p.64). The participation of employees refers not only to their presence in the workplace but also to their intervention in the firm’s key strategic decisions. The specific fact has strengthen the bonds among employees and organization; in this way even in periods of crisis – because of the financial pressures in the national economy and the limitation of profits – the performance of employees has not been particularly affected – the communication with the firm’s leaders has led the firm to face the crisis of the market and further increase its profits even in periods that all other firms in the Brazilian market suffered severe losses. Even when employees state their opposition with the managerial decision and proceed to dynamic reactions – two or three strikes have taken place in the firm so far in accordance with its owner – the problem has resolved quickly with the identification of a commonly (employees and employer) accepted solution. The appearance of employees who tried to cause damages to the firm – using the advantage of the firm’s structure – led to appropriate measures – identification of these employees and use of relevant legal proceedings without the issue to be developed across the organization or affect negatively the relationship of trust between employees and management. The evaluation of a firm’s strategic plans has to be based on specific criteria, including the achievement of the targets set, the actual increase of the firm’s performance, the overall cost of these plans (in terms of resources employed) as well as the long term effects of these plans on the firm’s position in the market. On the other hand, the development of effective strategic plans requires the relevant skills of leaders/ managers involved in their planning and monitoring. In accordance with Schuler et al. (1998) there are a series of criteria that should be used into consideration by managers when having to develop specific organizational plans: ‘a) the business structure, b) the legislative and employment relationship context, c) the patterns of HRM competence and decision-making and d) the national culture’ (Schuler et al., 1998, 159). The application of these criteria during the development of organizational strategies can lead to different results – under the influence of the internal and external organizational environment – referring especially to the resistance developed by the employees to the changes proposed. The style of human resources management applied on the particular organization has been proved to be particularly effective; in accordance with the firm’s owner ‘our approach has worked; loyalty is high, quality is excellent and sales and profits are surprisingly good for a manufacturing company in one of the world’s most lunatic business environments’ (case study, p. 65). Through the policies adopted by the firm’s management team, the development of employees’ performance has been easily achieved. Employees are interested in increasing their performance since they are going to participate in the firm’s profits. It is for the above reasons that even in extreme market conditions – like in 1990s when the government of Brazil decided to reduce the country’s cash causing severe losses to all firms operating in the country – the firm managed to survive. In the above case – severe crisis in the Brazilian economy in 1990s – the firm’s employees accepted the 30% reduction of their salary under the terms that their participation in the firm’s profits would be increased – until the exit from the crisis. The excellent communication developed between the management team and employees helped towards the survival of the firm during the specific period – when many firms in Brazil had to stop their operations. The firm’s industrial democracy – as developed above – has helped the firm to keep its market position but also to achieve a significant growth even in periods that were extremely adverse. In the literature, the strategies followed by the firm’s HR department could be characterized as innovative and valuable supporting the increase of organizational performance and the increase of the firm’s competitiveness in difficult market conditions. Of course, the firm would have chosen alternative options in order to keep its position in the market. We could indicatively refer to the work of Clarke et al. (2006) who noticed that ‘the concept of voluntarism, derived from the field of political philosophy, is proposed as an alternative organizational binding mechanism that alters the rationale for the role of hierarchy’ (Clarke et al., 2006, 313). Other HR policies have been also used by firms around the world towards the increase of their employees’ performance – leading to the increase of the firms’ productivity. The provision of benefits of various types is the most common tool used by HR managers internationally in order to keep the employees highly motivated. These benefits can be monetary or not – for instance provision of tickets for athletic events or for other leisure activities, provision of coupons for reduction of cost in selected medical centres and so on. Collective learning has been also proposed as a tool supporting the increase of employees’ performance. In fact, collective learning which ‘highlight characteristics such as relationships, shared vision and meanings, mental models and cognitive and behavioral learning’ (Garavan et al., 2008, 451) is an effective tool for the increase of employees’ performance but only under the term that is equally offered to a firm’s employees – no discrimination in the base of educational or social background. Semco’s managers have chosen to keep the firm’s profitability high by asking employees to participate in the firm’s profits. This type of motivation can be characterized as particularly effecting giving the employees an active interest on the firm’s performance. The effectiveness of the firm’s HR strategies is proved by its performance up to now. Even under the terms that the country in which Semco is based faced severe financial turbulences, the firm managed to survive while many firms operating in Brazil had to stop their activities. Question 2. The unique structure of the firm’s HR strategic management can be identified in a relevant statement of its owner. In accordance with R. Semler – owner of Semco – ‘we’ve introduced idiosyncratic features like factory-floor flextime, self-set salaries, a rotating CEO-ship, and, from top to bottom – from the owner to the newest, greenest maintenance person – only three levels of hierarchy’ (case study, p.65). It is clear from the above statement but also from all the issues developed in the previous section that Semco had to face severe difficulties – mainly to its external environment. The initiatives taken by the firm’s leaders – with the participation of employees – led to the increase of the employees’ motivation and the increase of the firm’s profitability. The recruitment and retention strategies applied on the particular organization have been proved to be extremely valuable and effective. These policies have been planned and developed with the active involvement of employees. Hierarchy in Semco can be considered to have different sense than in traditional organizations. Hierarchy in the specific firm is not used in order to give extreme power to specific persons within the organization but rather to contribute to the improvement of the firm’s HR policies – among other targets – with an emphasis on the recruitment and retention of employees across the organization. In accordance with Gabris et al. (2007) ‘hierarchy does serve as a significant force influencing employee attitudes toward leadership roles, contrary to the notion that hierarchy will diminish in importance over time; hierarchy remains a crucial structural force in public organizations and is unlikely to wither away’ (Gabris et al., 2007, 107). The methods used for the recruitment and retention of employees in Semco are clear: interested candidates can enter the firm by stating their interest on a specific organizational project – there is a high range of projects developed by the firm but most of them have the type of autonomous task. Whenever there is a need for employees, their selection is based on their willingness to accept the existing organizational structure which is characterized by the flexibility but also the trust between employer and employees. At a next level, employees can enter an existing team and work on the project developed under a specific scheme of work – either part time or full time. It is not a traditional method of working – it is rather an innovative scheme of HR management based on the excellent communication between all the participants – employer and employees. Even ex-employees can enter the firm asking for participation in a specific project. There is no rejection of employees that have been proved willingness to work hard nor to those that wish to use their skills/ competencies in the organizational projects. In accordance with Carley et al. (1994) ‘organizational structure is measured by features such as organizational degree of hierarchy, organizational connectivity, organizational least-upper-boundedness and organizational communication level’ (Carley et al., 1994, p.124-125). In the case of Semco, the current organizational structure – freedom in choosing the type of work and no close monitoring of employees – cannot lead to the assumption that the firm’s recruitment and retention strategies are out of control. In fact, everything is carefully planned and monitored; but the control of employees is made rather within the context of each particular organizational project – not in the context of the organization giving the impression that the firm’s managers are suspicious on every employee’s initiative – rather the trust is highly promoted. Particular reference should be made to the fact that employees can suggest – whenever necessary – the required changes in a particular project that is in progress. Their suggestions are always welcomed and are used for the development of any organizational strategy. Under these terms, the effectiveness of the firm’s recruitment and retention methods can be explained by referring to the firm’s structure. In accordance with Haley et al. (2005, 187) ‘hierarchy-enhancing (HE) organizations (e.g. police forces) tend to be occupied by those with anti-egalitarian beliefs, while hierarchy-attenuating (HA) organizations (e.g. civil liberties organizations) tend to be occupied by those with relatively democratic beliefs’. The firm has managed to develop quite effective recruitment and retention methods mostly by appropriately organized its structure. Democracy is highly supported in the specific organization; this democracy has led to the continuous improvement of employees’ performance even in extremely adverse market conditions. Question 3. The strategies followed by the firm’s HR managers can be characterized as particularly effective – for the reasons also explained above. The specific strategies should be also proved extremely valuable to other organizations that are interested in improving the performance of their employees. An indicative example is the case of Marks and Spencer (UK). The firm has a specific HR policy focusing on the equality and the diversity in the workplace. On the other hand, the initiatives of employees are not promoted – at least not at the required level. The comparison of the two firms’ recruitment and retention strategies could prove that even if Marks and Spencer is a multinational corporation having expanding its activities in most countries worldwide, still its HR policies are not quite effective – in fact they present many weaknesses if compared with those of Semco. More specifically, in Marks and Spencer (see the firm’s website) there is a specific procedure of hiring. Candidates can submit their resume through the firm’s website, the resume is reviewed by the firm’s managers – if certain requirements are met – which are not quite clear in the website – the candidate is asked to come to an interview. After a successful interview, the candidate can start working in the firm having the support of the managers – training seminars are also available. The hierarchy is complex – too many grades of hierarchy are the characteristic of the firm’s structure. On the contrary, in Semco the interested candidate can enter the firm – there are no ‘close’ periods of hiring – and declare his/ her willingness to work for the firm either internally or – most commonly – as a contractor who can enter a satellite program and work on it using the firm’s fixed assets. There are no periodical controls over the performance of employees in Semco; there is just report by contractors – after a pre-arranged time – regarding the progress of the project. For any issue relating with the project’s progress – time of completion, additional resources and so on – there are meetings available in which contractors can state the existing problems and their proposals for change. The management’s decisions are then based on the organizational needs but always in accordance with the potential of employees, their time available and their willingness to continue their cooperation with the firm in the long term. It is clear from the above, that the application of Semco’s HR policies on another firm would be a challenging task. Because of the existing interests, it would be very possible that the introduction of the Semco’s HR schemes in a firm would cause significant resistance. In accordance with Katzenbach (1996) ‘change efforts are often conceived as waves of initiatives that sweep through an organization from the top down, or the bottom up, or both, and flow across functions’ (Katzenbach, 1996, 149). Towards the same direction, Greve (1998) stated that change as part of a firm’s strategy would be regarded ‘as an outcome jointly determined by motivation to change, opportunity to change, and capability to change’ (Greve, 1998, 59). In other words, it would be necessary for a firm that is interested in updating its HR policies to take in advance the appropriate measures for the improvement of communication between employees and managers. Otherwise, any attempt to change could fail. In Semco, the specific scheme has led to the increase of employees’ performance – and the following improvement of organizational performance – under the terms that the communication between employees and managers is kept at high levels. In Marks and Spencer managers could use the HR practices for Semco in order to increase employee motivation across the organization; in this case, it would be necessary that the communication in the organization is improved and trust between employees and employer is increased. The role of the managers of Marks and Spencer in the success of such a plan would be major. In accordance with Cook et al. (2001) leaders in modern organizations would have specific priorities, like ‘making and keeping relationships, implementing new technology in the supply channel, the use of forecasting to increase supply chain effectiveness, outsourcing to increase efficiency, and cost management as a strategic weapon’ (Cook et al., 2001, 14). Through another point of view it is also supported that ‘an organization could increase productivity simply by increasing the happiness and satisfaction of its employees, and both organizations and employees would benefit’ (Landy, 1989, R. Wright, 2000 in Barrick et al., 2003, 30). If the above issues are taken into consideration by managers in Marks and Spencer, then the implementation in the specific organization of HR plans like the one used in Semco would be successful – no particular resistance would be expected by the firm’s employees who would have asked to participate in all the phases of the scheme’s implementation. The success of the specific project would be also proved in practice through the firm’s performance. As it is noticed by Robertson et al. (1995, 547) ‘because private sector organizations are driven primarily by market or consumer preferences, organizational effectiveness is more readily measured in terms of efficiency and profitability’. In Marks and Spencer, like in Semco, the introduction of innovative HR plans – similar with those used in Semco, would require the development of radical changes in the organizational hierarchy and culture; however, if implemented they could lead – within a short time period – to the significant improvement of the firm’s profitability – the case of Semco is an indicative example of such organizational initiatives. References Barrick, M., Ryan, A. (2003). Personality and Work: Reconsidering the Role of Personality in Organizations. Jossey-Bass. San Francisco Carley, K., Prietula, M. (1994) Computational Organization Theory. London: Routledge Clarke, M., Butcher, D. (2006) Reconciling Hierarchy and Democracy - The Value of Management Learning. Management Learning, Vol. 37, No. 3, 313-333 Cook, J. S., Debree, K., Feroleto, A. (2001). From Raw Materials to Customers: Supply Chain Management in the Service Industry. SAM Advanced Management Journal, 66(4): 14-23 Gabris, G., Ihrke, D. (2007) No End to Hierarchy - Does Rank Make a Difference in Perceptions of Leadership Credibility? Administration & Society, Vol. 39, No. 1, 107-123 Greve, H. (1998). Performance, Aspirations and Risky Organizational Change. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(1): 58-63 Haley, H., Sidanius, J. (2005) Person-Organization Congruence and the Maintenance of Group-Based Social Hierarchy: A Social Dominance Perspective. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, Vol. 8, No. 2, 187-203 Katzenbach, J. (1996). Real Change. The McKinsey Quarterly, 1: 148-153 Robertson, P. J., Seneviratne, S. J. (1995). Outcomes of Planned Organizational Change in the Public Sector: A Meta-Analytic Comparison to the Private Sector. Public Administration Review, 55(6): 547-558 Schuller, R., Rogovsky, N. (1998) Understanding compensation practices across firms: the impact of national culture’, Journal of International Business Studies, 29(1): 159-172 Online sources Marks and Spencer, (2009) available from http://www.marksandspencer.com/gp/node/n/42966030/277-7699923-7943366 Semco Company Activity: 1. Critically evaluate the ‘reflective practitioner’ model of management development. In particular refer to the work of Kolb’s (1984) ‘Learning Cycle’ and Honey & Mumford’s (1996) ‘Preferred Learning Styles’ Include the following in your analysis: A critical analysis of both the ‘learning cycle’ and ‘preferred learning styles’; What theory/theories of learning underpin the models; A critical assessment of the usefulness of these approaches for management development and training. 2. Drawing on Kolb and Honey & Mumford, apply the learning cycle and ‘preferred learning styles’ to your assignment based on Semco. Include the following analysis in your answer: What problems did you encounter in completing the assignment? What learning strategies did you use in order to deal with the problems? Having identified your own preferred learning style, explain why you would or would not, be comfortable in working and managing in an organisation such as Semco. [words 1852] Question 1 Learning is a concept extremely importance for many aspects of life. In terms of a person’s personal development, learning reflects the education provided in educational institutes of various levels – from primary school up to the university and the schools on professional studies. In the case of business activity, learning is used in order to explain the procedure of increasing employees’ knowledge on specific organizational activities. In the literature, the concept of learning is considered as being close to that of knowledge. Moreover, a lot of efforts have been made in order to retrieve methods of learning that are effective in current market conditions. An indicative example is the model of learning proposed by Rowley (2001); this model includes the following stages ‘knowledge creation and construction, knowledge articulation, knowledge repository updating, knowledge access, knowledge use and knowledge revision’ (Rowley, 2001, 227). Different schemes of learning (or knowledge) can be developed in modern firms in accordance with the organizational culture and aims, the resources available and the willingness of employees to participate. In order to understand the various aspects of the reflective practitioner model of management development it is necessary to refer to the relevant work of theorists who have explained the above concept proposing appropriate models. An indicative example is the Learning Cycle of Kolb’s (1984); the ‘Preferred Learning Styles’ of Honey & Mumford (1996) are equally valuable towards the understanding of the elements of successful organizational learning. The work of Kolb has been extensively examined in the literature. In accordance with Katz (1998) ‘the Learning Style Inventory developed by David Kolb (1976) is designed to measure the degree to which individuals utilize one of four learning styles; Kolb provides a model of learning as a four-stage cycle-from concrete experience to reflective observation, through abstract conceptualization and active experimentation’ (Kolb, 1976, 1984, in Katz, 1998, 361). In accordance with the above statement, Kolb’s model is characterized by four elements: concrete experience, abstract conceptualization, active experimentation and reflective observation. The Kolb’s model – as described above – should be reviewed in order to meet actual educational needs of individuals worldwide. Emphasizing on the applicability of inventory – based learning methods on modern educational environments Lisle (2007) noticed that the specific initiative ‘has been derogated as leading to theory-practice pedagogy that is misinterpreted and ill-informed’ (Lisle, 2007, 23). However, the above view does not refer to the potential effectiveness of this method if it is appropriately re-structured. The Kolb’s model can be used in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of various organizational concepts, like the Total Quality Management. From this point of view, Amores et al. (2005) referred to the relationship between the Total Quality Management and the learning schemes applied on organizations worldwide. Their study led to the conclusion that ‘the two are not only mutually non-exclusive but even that they are found to be mutually complementary in the renewal process’ (Amores et al., 2005, 149). In other words, the use of theoretical models on organizational learning – like the Kolb’s model – cannot be considered as eliminating the value of other organizational concepts or initiatives. It should be noticed that Kolb tried to make his learning theory more efficient. For this reason, he developed the ‘a learning style preference instrument (LSI)’ (Brew, 2002, 373). This instrument however has been found to present differentiations related with the gender of learners and is characterized as ‘gender sensitive’ (Brew, 2002, 373). The effectiveness of Kolb’s model in modern organizations has been strongly criticized in the literature. In accordance with Vince (1998, 304) ‘a more comprehensive picture of experiential learning in management education might be based on developments around emotional and political aspects of Kolbs model’. Another indicative example is the study of Koob et al. (2002) where it is noticed that the Kolb’s theory has many weaknesses like the following ones: ‘suspect methodology, misapplication of statistical procedures, logical inconsistencies in theory construction, and a general lack of support for reliability and validity’ (Koob et al., 2002, 293). It is not made clear however whether the replacement of Kolb’s model by another – similar or not – learning model would guarantee the increase of employees’ performance – on which organizational performance is depended – a criterion that should be considered as the most important one when developing learning schemes for modern organizations. On the other hand it is noticed that ‘Kolbs experiential learning theory can be placed within the cognitive psychological tradition; a tradition that overlooks or mechanically explains the social, historical and cultural aspects of self, thinking and action’ (Holman et al., 1997, 135). In other words, different assumptions can be made on the effectiveness of the Kolb’s theoretical model in accordance with the criteria use for its evaluation. On the other hand, the learning theory of Honey & Mumford is based on a learning questionnaire (see Management theories, online source), which categorizes learners in four major categories: a) the activists (they are characterized by the fact that they don’t think the consequences of their actions, they prefer to risk and think only of the present, they are also egoists considering themselves as having all necessary skills and knowledge, they don’t seek to increase their skills or capabilities), b) the reflectors ( they avoid to involve in various activities, they prefer to monitor other’s work and thoughts, they don’t express their view, they need a specific period of time in order to analyze a fact or view, they are likely to participate in training initiatives but they need quite a time to start performing accordance to the target set by the educators), c) the theorists (they are likely to collect data and views and develop relevant theories, they like the order in things and thoughts, they are likely to perform well in educational sessions but it cannot be guaranteed that they will apply all issues learned; they are likely to follow their theories on facts and persons, they are difficult to accept others’ views) and d) the pragmatists (they present similar characteristics with the activists, they are quick in responding to their environment’s incentives and changes, they would be particularly effective in applying innovative ideas, however there willingness to accept specific views cannot be estimated in advance). In practice, the application of any learning model requires the cooperation between educators and learners. Otherwise, the relevant effort will be led to a failure. In accordance with Cunliffe (2002) ‘both educators and learners need to take a critical view of their dialogical practices and what may constitute `good learning conversations’ (Cunliffe, 2002, 35). The above study emphasizes on the need of dialogue for the development of effective learning methods; of course, appropriate theoretical models – like the one of Kolb’s or that of Honey & Mumford presented above – can be used as the basis for every relevant plan; however these models would be appropriately customized in order to meet the needs of the particular environment – including the organizational environment and the educational environment. The learning styles proposed by Kolb and Honey and Mumford were critically analyzed by Sims et al. (1989). The above researchers came to the conclusion that ‘the correlation between the dimensions of the two instruments ranged from .01 to .22, indicating a relatively low level of congruence; psychometric difficulties associated with both instruments were also identified’ (Sims et al., 1989, 227). The above assumption is in accordance with the view developed previously that the development of learning methods within modern organizations is depended on specific criteria; if these criteria are not met then alternative approaches or schemes should be developed. Question 2 In accordance with Steyn (2004, 615) ‘successful organisations are knowledge-creating organisations, which produce, disseminate and embody new knowledge in new products and services’. In other words, the effective management of knowledge is quite important for the development of organizational activities; of course, it is necessary that knowledge management methods used by a particular organization are periodically reviewed ensuring that they respond to the actual organizational performance and that they reflect the current market trends. Under these terms the use of specific learning methods for the employees of Semco would lead to the development of their skills and competencies increasing further their performance – a fact that would influence also the firm’s profitability. An issue that would be examined here is the fact whether the application of theoretical models in modern organization is feasible – at least easily. The above issue is examined in the study of Berings et al. (2005) who noticed that ‘organizations and employees can benefit from an awareness of employees on-the-job learning styles, by developing an adaptive flexibility in the use of on-the-job learning strategies’ (Berings et al., 2005, 373). Under the market’s pressures, firms need to respond quickly to the challenges set either in the internal and the external organizational environment. From another point of view, the ability of firms to adopt specific theoretical models of organizational performance is depended on the structure of the firms – which reflects the organizational culture. In the literature, the use of learning methods when having to develop specific educational sessions – either in educational institutes or in businesses - has been proved to be problematic. More specifically, the following three problems as highlighted regarding the use of existing learning theories in practice: ‘first, there is a realist treatment of world and events; second, a distinct and independent individual is assumed to be able to experience, know and act on this real world; third, cognition, be it in the form of knowledge, interpretation or perception, is treated as the unproblematic precursor to action’ (Ramsey, 2005, 219). In Semco, the application of the two theoretical models would have different effects on the organizational performance. More specifically, following the Kolb’s theory HR manages would proceed to the following changes on the firm’s recruitment and retention strategies: a) the relevant experience of employees and their ability to be adapted on the firm’s environment would be closely examined, b) the ability of employees to respond quickly to the organizational demands would be examined through appropriate tests and c) training sessions would be arranged for the firm’s employees in order to identify their ability to concentrate on suggested targets. The above scheme, taking into consideration the actual employment conditions in Semco, would not be applicable on the particular organization – where the freedom of employees to decide on the progress of their work is highly emphasized. Same assumptions would be made regarding the learning model developed by Honey and Mumford – the potential application of this model in the case of Semco would be in opposition with current business culture – employees’ character – not even their names – are not particular examined. Only their willingness to participate in the firm’s projects and their ability to respond to the needs of these projects are taken into consideration by the firm’s HR managers – a policy that has been proved to be particularly effective if reviewing the firm’s performance up today. Of course, current HR policies could be reviewed – even using the above two models – but this task should not focus on the replacement of existing HR strategies. Rather, the potential improvement of these practices would be required – if possible – in order for the employees’ performance to be further increased. References Amores, M., Rodriguez, M. (2005) The Transition from ‘Total Quality Management’ to the ‘Learning Organization’. Management Learning, Vol. 36, No. 2, 149-180 Berings, M., Poell, R. (2005) Conceptualizing On-the-Job Learning Styles. Human Resource Development Review, Vol. 4, No. 4, 373-400 Brew, C. (2002) Kolb’s Learning Style Instrument: Sensitive to Gender. Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. 62, No. 2, 373-390 Cunliffe, A. (2002) Reflexive Dialogical Practice in Management Learning. Management Learning, Vol. 33, No. 1, 35-61 Holman, D., Pavlica, K. (1997) Rethinking Kolbs Theory of Experiential Learning in Management Education. Management Learning, Vol. 28, No. 2, 135-148 Katz, N. (1988) Israeli Norms and Cross-Cultural Equivalence of Kolbs Learning Style Inventory. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, Vol. 19, No. 3, 361-379 Koob, J., Funk, J. (2002) Kolb’s Learning Style Inventory: Issues of Reliability and Validity. Research on Social Work Practice, Vol. 12, No. 2, 293-308 Lisle, A. (2007) Assessing learning styles of adults with intellectual difficulties. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 11, No. 1, 23-45 Ramsey, C. (2005) From Learning in Reflection to Learning in Performance. Management Learning, Vol. 36, No. 2, 219-235 Rowley, J. (2001) Knowledge management in pursuit of learning: the Learning with Knowledge Cycle. Journal of Information Science, Vol. 27, No. 4, 227-237 Sims, R., Veres, J., Shake, L. (1989) An Exploratory Examination of the Convergence between the Learning Styles Questionnaire and the Learning Style Inventory II. Educational and Psychological Measurement, Vol. 49, No. 1, 227-233 Steyn, G. (2004). Harnessing the Power of Knowledge in Higher Education. Education, 124(4): 615-623 Vince, R. (1998) Behind and Beyond Kolbs Learning Cycle. Journal of Management Education, Vol. 22, No. 3, 304-319 Online source: Management theories (2009) Honey and Mumford model, available from http://www.mftrou.com/honey-mumford.html Read More