Human Resources System of Apple - Essay Example

International Human Resources Table of Contents Introduction 3 USA Business Culture 3 Human Resources System 5 Apple and its Human resource management 7 SWOT Analysis 9 PESTLE Analysis 11 Conclusion 14 Reference 15 Bibliography 17 Introduction This report aims to provide an insight into the human resource system of Apple. It starts with a discussion about the USA business culture. The next part recollects the theories in human resource management which includes recruitment, selection, training and development. The very next portion deals with a brief discussion on the organisation, Apple and the human resource management system within that company. An analysis of the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of the human resource management in the respective company has been carried out in the next segment with the political, economical, social, technological, legal and environmental analysis. At last the conclusion has articulated the findings about the human resource management system in Apple. USA Business Culture The key business cultures of USA use the concepts and values of individualism, low context culture and egalitarianism. Individualism American culture put emphasis on the individual initiatives and achievements (Communicaid, American Culture – Key Concepts and Values). Self independence and confidence are highly recognised and appreciated in the working places where most of the businesses are carried out autonomously. The position of a person in The USA society is mostly influenced by his or her own achievement rather than his or her age or social status. So in advertisement for job vacancies, the USA companies can attract more qualified people by simply putting emphasis on their individual growth and remunerations. Low Context culture The people in USA are mostly task centred and they prefer communication to be the exchange of facts, specific information and individual opinions. So to attract more people it is better to give some quantitative figures regarding growth, remuneration for the respective position. Apart from that, it would be great if the company can put its economical and financial state in quantitative and specific qualitative data. This transparent communication would be helpful for the potential candidates to fetch the required data for the company; and hence the proper communication with the prospective employees would help to attract, recruit and select the candidates. In United States the organisations need to communicate with a clear and transparent note, so that they raise enough trust in the prospective human resource pool. Some times these direct and straight forward communications are inappropriately interpreted by the people coming from different other regions and who are not much accustomed to this kind of explicit communication (Communicaid, American Culture – Key Concepts and Values). Egalitarianism The American business culture is based on the concept of equal opportunity for everybody in the society. Despite of having much difference in their society the Americans believes in equal rights and obligations for the individuals based on their capability and merit (Communicaid, American Culture – Key Concepts and Values). There is no such noticeable difference among the US people as per their wealth, age or authority level. People in the business environments mostly call others by their first names irrespective of the position of those people. Success and prosperity are mostly attributed to those persons who are qualified and hard working (Communicaid, American Culture – Key Concepts and Values). Companies must adhere to the equal opportunity while going for recruitment and selection. Human Resources System In today’s competitive world, the organisations face challenges to manage its human resources. To find out the right calibre, train and develop the employees to work in alignment with the organisations’ operational strategies, the organisations need a proper human resource system in place. The system could be segmented in four major operational divisions related to human resource management; recruitment, selection, training and development. Recruitment and Selection The recruitment and selection process in any company should aim to obtain a required number of employees with a required level of quality level at a minimum possible cost. The three broad stages of the whole process comprises of the following. Framing the job descriptions and specifications. At the same time the process intends to decide on the terms of the employment. Attracting the right calibre through advertising, using resources inside and outside the company. Evaluating and assessing the candidates, offering employment and evaluating the references (Armstrong, Recruitment and Selection). Recruitment of the right calibre is very crucial for an organisation. It has been accepted that poor recruitment decisions can affect organisational performance badly and put a hindrance on the way of goal achievement. The task is not linear when it comes to accumulate the best feasible pool of the qualified and experienced candidates, from which the organisations can fill the vacancies as per their requirements. Recruitment comprises of the set of processes which are used to accumulate enough number of eligible people so that both the people and the companies can choose each other in compliance with their short as well as long term interests (Richardson, Introduction). While creating the specifications for the job applicants it is quite necessary to include educational as well as professional qualification in the same (Armstrong, Recruitment and Selection). Defining the technical as well as behavioural requirements would help the organisation to create the pool of such qualified and experienced people whose behaviour would be in alignment with the organisation culture. One of the most important factors, those are crucial while attracting the right calibre, is the proper assessment of the strengths and weakness of its recruitment process. The pool of the eligible candidates can come from internal as well as external sources. Most of the organisations first consider the internal candidates for their vacancies. To attract the candidates companies use advertising on web and printed media. Sometimes the companies take the help of the agencies and outside consultancies to fetch the right calibre. The organisation must identify and document the actual processes to ensure the pooling of the qualified and experienced people in alignment with the equal opportunity and other related regulations (Richardson, Introduction). Selection starts with the screening and reviewing of the resumes of the employees. The method includes picking up the right interview process, choosing proper assessment centres and carrying out structured tests for the same. Sometimes the reference can have an impact on the selection procedures. The tests can include aptitude test, group exercises, personality questionnaires and descriptive tests. As the time demands the usage of computer on a larger scale, some companies take computer based assessment tests (Bernthal, Part III: Selection). The interviews can be fully technical or behaviour and personality based; sometimes companies have a blend of both types of interviews. Checking the relative information and the references provided by the applicants are quite necessary to choose the right person. Attitudinal based interviews have been found to predict the consequential job performance much better than the other interviewing techniques (Bernthal, Part III: Selection).So more and more organisations are opting for this kind of tests and interviews while framing up the selection process to hire the required people who would be successful in their respective positions. As per Byham, assessments are more used to assess the critical capabilities for the upper management positions and may not be required for the low level jobs (Bernthal, Part III: Selection). However, for varied reasons the organisations prefer to keep the interview process as the main method to select the right calibre. It is better to make a proper structure of the selection procedures using a proper blend of assessment tests and interviews. The final step of the selection would be to confirm the employment offer and create a proper documentation including the basic information regarding the contract of employment (Armstrong, Recruitment and Selection). Training and development are very much crucial for an organisation to train and develop the employees’ qualities in alignment with the job specifications and requirements; at the same time the abilities must match up with the operational structure and culture of the company. Training and development aims to bring both the behavioural and technical changes within the employees’ to meet up the organisation’s requirements. Apple and its Human resource management The company is one of the leading names in the world of digital media and personal computers. Some of its outstanding innovations include MacBook, iMac, iPod and iPhone. Apple mostly looks for people who are smart, innovative, excited about their work and more over ready to face any challenges. Apple has got its totally diversified and talented human resource pool which is ready to dive for excellence with their performance. The human resource division is responsible for the recruitment and selection of the employees and train and develop the best calibre in each of the operational divisions. To choose the right calibre the company has established four major corporate campuses across the world. Each of them offers a challenging mix of job opportunities. Apple believes in supporting their employees throughout their carers to make them happy, which will in turn push Apple one step ahead of competition (Apple, Human Resources). A more insight into the human resource management in the company has been provided in the later segment. SWOT Analysis SWOT stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. First two exist in the internal environment of the organization and rest in the external environment. It is an effective strategic tool that can be used to find out the present environment inside and outside of an organization. Findings of SWOT analysis help organization in the process of making strategic decision. SWOT analysis of the HRM system in Apple is done with the objective of making more effective decisions regarding the system. Strengths One of the major strengths of the HRM system of Apple is its recruitment system. The company has a properly defined process of recruitment and it has a clear structure of requirements. For example when the company looks for an individual for Apple Store, it looks for a specific ‘type’. They don’t look for an individual with huge knowledge and vast experience. These requirements are clearly defined in the human resource policy of the company. Another crucial aspect of Apple’s HRM system is that there is no barrier in terms of sex, age, race or appearance. In Apple there is no criterion regarding sex, age or race in the recruitment process (GD Wallen, Retail Store Hiring). Human resource management system in Apple provides huge opportunities for innovation which is crucial for a company like Apple that deals with high end technology. Moreover it provides opportunities for any individual irrespective of his/her experience. Even people who have just earned their graduation can join the company (Apple. Students and New Grads-Welcome). Moreover there are large numbers of functions in the company where talented people are hired. Apple gives “an environment where people can make things happen”. This environment enables employees to come up with their new ideas and thoughts. According to the company “there is plenty of open space – and open mind”. This is another crucial strength of Apple’s HRM system. Weaknesses Apple’s HRM system does not give a corporate environment and this might not encourage those job seekers who want such environment. Apple always looks for people with more creativity and new ideas. However there are people who have high level of creativity but at the same time look for so called ‘corporate’ environment. As a result the company might lose some great talents. It is found that people do not get reply after giving an interview in the company. This sometimes results to dissatisfaction among the job seekers regarding Apple’s recruitment systems. In other words it can be said that Apple’s human resource system lacks responsiveness. HRM system in Apple gives too much importance on creativity at the time of recruiting. Most importantly sometime it neglects the aspect of ‘experience’. Opportunities Apple is one of the most successful companies in the world. Each and every function in the organization has different system and each of these systems is developed focusing on the overall objectives of the organization. Like other functional systems in the company human resource management system is also developed and maintained in such a way that organizational goals are attained successfully. There are proper guidelines and structure based on which the human resource management system in Apple actually runs. Little changes in the system can be made in order to cope up with the change in organizational objectives or change in inside and outside environment of the organization. However there is hardly any opportunity to make some significant change in the human resource management system of the company until its principles of running the company are changed. Threats Human resource is one of the most important functions in any organization. In organizations like Apple, where employees are perhaps the most valuable resources, human resource management function plays an important role in the process of achieving its goals. As a result there is simply no competitor of this function that can replace it. However the present system of running the function can be changed if the leadership in the organization is changed or the business model of the organization is changed. So, it can be said that as such there is hardly any threat of human resource management system of Apple. PESTLE Analysis PESTLE analysis is mainly done to find out the effect of macro environmental factors on the organization. PESTLE stands for political, economic, social, technological, legal and environmental. Each of these factors greatly influences the performance of the business of a organization or a particular function within an organization. Political There are several factors like government policies, different lobby groups, regulatory bodies etc. are likely to have significant effect on the human resource policy of an organization. Recruitment and selection policies are most likely to be impacted by various political factors. There are unions that are often found to be influencing the recruitment policies of the company. Most of these unions are run by some political parties. Government policies regarding reservation for a particular group of people might also influence the recruitment and selection policies of the company. However Apple’s human resource policy does not allow any reservation for a particular group of people. Economic Present economic state is perhaps the most influential factor in the context of human resource management policy of a firm. When the unemployment rate is very high in a particular economy, it is very much likely that there will be some pressure on the organizations to recruit as many people as they can. Apple is a US based company and US economy is suffering due to global economic meltdown. GDP growth rate of the economy has decreased significantly and unemployment is perhaps at its all time high. As a result there is significant pressure on the companies to recruit more and more people so that the economy of the country is benefitted. US government is found to be helping the companies by providing financial aids, but at the same time creating pressure to ensure that business processes are not outsourced and people are recruited from US only. Human resource management system in Apple is also influenced by these factors. However since Apple deals with products of high end technology and creativity, its human resource management system do not allow it to go for mass recruitment drive. Social Society is a very important factor as the products and services sold will be sold to the people and it is the people who actually make the society. Demographics, lifestyle trends, consumer opinions and attitudes, consumer buying trends, religious and ethnic factors, role models are some of the important social factors that greatly influence the business of a firm (Fullen, Podmoroff, 2006). Image of a company in the society greatly depends on its human resource management policy especially the recruitment policy. Apple is known for its innovations and its HRM system is found to be carrying the same tradition with its innovative policies. Technological Apple deals with high end technology products. As a result it requires people who “live by technology and die by technology”. Company’s HRM policy always ensure that each and every individual who is recruited, is very much tech savvy. Even if an individual is recruited in sales and marketing, he/she needs to have a clear idea about the technological aspects of the products. HRM policies of Apple ensure that all these requirements are fulfilled at the time of recruiting. Legal Legal issues generally complicate situations for the companies. As a result it is crucial to have proper HRM policies in place to deal with various legal complicacies. Apple’s human resource management system is developed in such a way so that all the possible legal problems can be properly handled. Environmental Environment is a prime concern for each and every organization in the world. Human resource management policies usually are not directly related to environmental issues. However in order to achieve overall objectives regarding environment, strong and clear HR policies need to be in place. Apple is very much aware of various environmental issues and it has its policies to deal with such issues. Conclusion As the organisation has been established in USA, Apple is supposed to align its human resource management system as per the American business cultures. The company should offer equal opportunity to their employees and the prospective candidates. Apple has excelled in performance through the participation of all of its employees; the innovations are an outcome of the group effort of the employees in Apple. As the Americans believe in individualism, Apple may need to introduce more trainings programs addressing this issue. Even it would be better if they include group exercises in their selection procedures. As Apple looks for smart, innovative challenge takers, no doubt, these kinds of exercises would be helpful for Apple. A properly conducted SWOT analysis reveals that there are several strengths as well as weaknesses of Apple’s HRM system. However there is hardly any major threat for the company HRM system. Several macro environmental factors greatly influence the HRM system of Apple. These factors and the effects of these factors are explained in the PESTEL analysis. Reference Apple. Human Resources. 2010. Corporate jobs, without the corporate part. March 18, 2010. < http://www.apple.com/jobs/ie/corporate.html#hr>. Apple. Students and New Grads-Welcome. No Date. Jobs at Apple. March 18, 2010. < http://www.apple.com/jobs/us/students.html> Armstrong, M. Recruitment and Selection. A handbook of human resource management practice. UK: Kogan Page, 2007. Bernthal, R., P. Part III: Selection. No Date. Recruitment and Selection. March 18, 2010. . Communicaid. American Culture – Key Concepts and Values. 2007. Doing Business in the United States of America | US Social and Business Culture. March 18, 2010. . Fullen, S. L. Podmoroff, D. 2006, How to write a great business plan for your small business in 60 minutes or less, Atlantic Publishing Company GD Wallen, Retail Store Hiring. No Date. ifoAppleStore March 18, 2010. < http://gdwallen.securesites.net/stores/hiring.html> Richardson, M. Introduction. No Date. Recruitment Strategies. March 18, 2010. . Bibliography Keeley, E. J. What is a SWOT Analysis?, No Date. How to Conduct A SWOT Analysis, Read More