MHCE

Task 1
User

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents.................................................................................................... 2
Table of Tables........................................................................................................ 3
Table of Figures....................................................................................................... 3
introduction............................................................................................................ 5
Topic....................................................................................................................
5
2
Statement........................................................................................................ 5
Keywords from the statement..........................................................................5
Entrepreneur................................................................................................. 5
Human Resource management.....................................................................5
Strategies in HRM.......................................................................................... 5
Examples...................................................................................................... 5
Planning HRM................................................................................................ 5
Implementing HRM plan................................................................................5
Sources................................................................................................................ 5
book Armstrong................................................................................................ 5
book hisrich...................................................................................................... 5
Book others...................................................................................................... 5
Journals............................................................................................................ 5
Websites........................................................................................................... 5
virgin................................................................................................................ 5
Structure............................................................................................................. 5
Research methodology........................................................................................6
Literature Review & Critical Analysis (1400 words).................................................7
Entrepreneur....................................................................................................... 7
Definition.......................................................................................................... 7
policies by the entrepreneur.............................................................................7
Human Resource management...........................................................................7
Definition.......................................................................................................... 7
Strategies in HRM................................................................................................ 7
Motivating employees......................................................................................8
Motivation and money...................................................................................8
Motivation strategies.....................................................................................8
Maslows Hierarchy of Needs (ch 19).................................................................9
Examples.......................................................................................................... 9
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Richard Branson..........................................................................................10
Delegation................................................................................................ 10
Steve Jobs................................................................................................... 10
Bill Gates..................................................................................................... 10
Planning HRM.................................................................................................... 10
Implementing HRM plan....................................................................................13
Primary research on Implementing HR strategies...........................................14
Big Companies...............................................................................................15
Conclusions- (300 words)......................................................................................16

Summary........................................................................................................... 16
Entrepreneur..................................................................................................16
Human Resource management......................................................................16
Strategies in HRM...........................................................................................16
Examples........................................................................................................ 16
Planning HRM.................................................................................................16
Implementing HRM plan.................................................................................16
Understanding................................................................................................... 16
Stand................................................................................................................. 16
Justification........................................................................................................ 16
References............................................................................................................ 17
Bibliography......................................................................................................... 18
Appendix a primary research interview with banglalink HR Director....................19
Appendix B Survey...............................................................................................20

TABLE OF TABLES
Table 1 Big companies size.....................................................................................4

TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1 Structure of the assignemtn......................................................................4
Figure 2 IBM Logo (IBM 2011).................................................................................8
Figure 3 SWOT of My Company (Armstrong 2012, p.12).........................................9
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INTRODUCTION

TOPIC
This is a report on HRM strategies from the perspective of Entrepreneur for which
we will look into literature review and critical analysis.

STATEMENT
KEYWORDS FROM

THE STATEMENT

E NTREPRENEUR

H UMAN R ESOURCE MANAGEMENT

S TRATEGIES IN HRM
E XAMPLES
P LANNING HRM
I MPLEMENTING HRM PLAN

SOURCES
The author has used a number of sources such as books, journals, websites and
online database to understand the topics.
BOOK

ARMSTRONG

BOOK HISRICH

BOOK OTHERS
JOURNALS
WEBSITES
VIRGIN

STRUCTURE
The answer to the statement is detailed through the following chapters

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FIGURE 1 STRUCTURE OF THE ASSIGNEMTN

RESEARCH

METHODOLOGY

FIGURE 2 MODEL OF SAUNDERS

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LITERATURE REVIEW & CRITICAL ANALYSIS (1400 WORDS)

ENTREPRENEUR
DEFINITION
Entrepreneur has a kind of behavior that includes: (1) initiative taking, (2) the
organizing and reorganizing of social and economic mechanisms to bundle
resources in innovative ways, and (3) the acceptance of risk, uncertainty and/or
the potential for failure (Hisrich et al 2011, p. 6).
POLICIES BY THE ENTREPRENEUR

To overcome pressures on existing human resources the entrepreneur must address the
question of what proportion of the workforce should be permanent and what proportion
should be part time, should be prepared to fire incompetent employees, and, at the same
time, should build and maintain a functional organizational culture. It is important that the
entrepreneur interact with employees, so as to establish a team spirit; effect open and
frequent communication to build trust and provide constructive feedback; provide key
employees with the flexibility to take the initiative and make decisions without the fear of
failure; and provide continuous training for employees (Hisrich et al 2011, p. 390).

HUMAN RESOURCE

MANAGEMENT

DEFINITION
Human resource management (HRM) is a strategic, integrated and
coherent approach to the
employment, development and well-being of the people working in
organizations (armstrong 2011, p.4).

STRATEGIES

IN

HRM

General HR strategies
General strategies describe the overall system or bundle of
complementary HR practices that
the organization proposes to adopt or puts into effect in order to improve
organizational performance. The three main approaches are summarized
below.

1. High-performance management
High-performance management or high-performance working aims to
make an impact on
the performance of the organization in such areas as productivity, quality,
levels of customer
service, growth and profi ts. High-performance management practices
include rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and
relevant training and management development
activities, incentive pay systems and performance management
processes.
These practices are often called high-performance work systems (HPWS)
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which, as defi ned

by Appelbaum et al (2000), comprise practices that can facilitate
employee involvement, skill
enhancement and motivation. Thompson and Heron (2005) refer to them
as high-performance work organization practices which, they say,
consist of work practices that invest in the
skills and abilities of employees, design work in ways that enable
employee collaboration in
problem solving and provide incentives to motivate workers to use their
discretionary effort.
This term is more frequently used 8
than either high-commitment
management or high-involvement management, although there is a
degree of overlap between these approaches and an
HPWS and the terms high performance and high commitment are
sometimes used
interchangeably.

2. High-commitment management
One of the defi ning characteristics of HRM is its emphasis on the
importance of enhancing
mutual commitment (Walton, 1985b). High-commitment management has
been described by
Wood (1996) as: A form of management which is aimed at eliciting a
commitment so that
behaviour is primarily self-regulated rather than controlled by sanctions
and pressures external to the individual, and relations within the
organization are based on high levels of trust.

3. High-involvement management
As defi ned by Benson et al (2006): High-involvement work practices are a
specifi c set of
human resource practices that focus on employee decision making, power,
access to information, training and incentives. The term high
involvement was used by Lawler (1986) to
describe management systems based on commitment and involvement,
as opposed to the old
bureaucratic model based on control. The underlying hypothesis is that
employees will increase
their involvement with the company if they are given the opportunity to
control and understand their work. He claimed that high-involvement
practices worked well because they acted
as a synergy and had a multiplicative effect. This approach involves
treating employees as partners in the enterprise whose interests are
respected and who have a voice on matters that
concern them. It is concerned with communication and involvement. The
aim is to create a
climate in which a continuing dialogue between managers and the
members of their teams
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takes place in order to defi ne expectations and share information on the

organizations mission,
values and objectives. This establishes mutual understanding of what is to
be achieved and a
framework for managing and developing people to ensure that it will be
achieved.

MOTIVATING

EMPLOYEES

M OTIVATION AND MONEY

Money is a powerful motivating force because it is linked directly or indirectly to
9may in itself have no intrinsic meaning, but
the satisfaction of many needs. Money
it acquires significant motivating power because it comes to symbolize so many
intangible goals.

M OTIVATION STRATEGIES
Motivation strategies aim to create a working environment and to develop policies
and practices that will provide for higher levels of performance from employees.
They include the development of total reward systems and performance
management processes, the design of intrinsically motivating jobs and leadership
development programmes.

MASLOWS HIERARCHY

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twny
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ea
e
n q e r

au5b
0is

p 0pa

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tbu

an

ath
r

OF

NEEDS (CH 19)

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em n

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FIGURE 3 MASLOWS THEORY OF NEEDS (MASLOW 2012)

The most famous classifi cation of needs is the one formulated by Maslow (1954).
He suggested
that there are fi ve major need categories that apply to people in general, starting
from the fundamental physiological needs and leading through a hierarchy of
safety, social and esteem
needs to the need for self-fulfi lment, the highest need of all. When a lower need
is satisfi ed the
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next highest becomes dominant and the individuals attention is turned to

satisfying this
higher need. The need for self-fulfi lment, however, can never be satisfi ed. Man
is a wanting
animal; only an unsatisfi ed need can motivate behaviour and the dominant need
is the prime
motivator of behaviour. Psychological development takes place as people move
up the hierarchy of needs, but this is not necessarily a straightforward
progression. The lower needs still
exist, even if temporarily dormant as motivators, and individuals constantly return
to previously satisfi ed needs.
Maslows needs hierarchy has an intuitive appeal and has been very popular. But
10
it has not
been verifi ed by empirical research such as that conducted by Wahba and
Bridwell (1979), and
it has been criticized for its apparent rigidity (different people may have different
priorities
and it is diffi cult to accept that needs progress steadily up the hierarchy) and for
the misleading
simplicity of Maslows conceptual language. In fact, Maslow himself expressed
doubts about
the validity of a strictly ordered hierarchy.

EXAMPLES

Examples of general HR strategies

A local authority
As expressed by the chief executive of this borough council, their HR
strategy is about:
having a very strong focus on the overall effectiveness of the
organization, its direction
and how its performing; there is commitment to, and belief in, and
respect for individuals, and I think that these are very important factors.

A public utility
The only HR strategy you really need is the tangible expression of values
and the implementation of values unless you get the human resource
values right you can forget all
the rest. (Managing Director)

A manufacturing company
The HR strategy is to stimulate changes on a broad front aimed ultimately
at achieving
competitive advantage through the efforts of our people. In an industry of
fast followers,
those who learn quickest will be the winners. (HR Director)

A retail stores group

The biggest challenge will be to maintain (our) competitive advantage and
to do that
we need to maintain and continue to attract very high calibre people. The
key differentiator on anything any company does is fundamentally the
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people, and I think that

people tend to forget that they are the most important asset. Money is
easy to get hold
of, good people are not. All we do in terms of training and manpower
planning is
directly linked to business improvement. (Managing Director)
R ICHARD B RANSON
D ELEGATION
Richard branson states that it is important to be able to delegate tasks by the
entrepreneur so that he can focus on 11
the broader picture of the company.
You need to learn to delegate so that you can focus on the big picture (virgin
2016).

S TEVE J OBS
According to Verganti, (2011) Steve jobs had a very harsh method of managing
employees. He put people at the center. Which does not imply that he gave users
what they wanted, nor that he created a flat playful organization where ideas flew
from the bottom up. Apples approach to innovation is definitely not user-driven: it
does not listen to users, but makes proposals to them. And narrations on Jobss
leadership style tells of a vertical, top-down approach, often harsh. At new product
launches, he, not the team, was the protagonist.

B ILL G ATES

PLANNING HRM

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12

FIGURE 4 HRM PLANNING FLOWCHART (ARMSTRONG, 2011, P. 490)

Scenario planning
Scenario planning is simply an assessment of the environmental changes
that are likely to
affect the organization so that a prediction can be made of the possible
situations that may
have to be dealt with in the future. The scenario may list a range of
predictions so that different
responses can be considered. The scenario is best based on systematic
environmental scanning,
possibly using the PEST approach (an assessment of the political,
economic, social and technological factors that might affect the
organization). The implications of these factors on the
organizations labour markets and what can be done about any human
resource issues can
then be considered. Demand forecasting
Demand forecasting is the process of estimating the future numbers of
people required and
the likely skills and competences they will need. The basis of the forecast
is the annual budget
and longer-term business plan, translated into activity levels for each
function and department
or decisions on downsizing. In a manufacturing company the sales
budget would be translated into a manufacturing plan giving the numbers
and types of products to be made in each
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period. From this information the number of hours to be worked by each

skill category to
make the quota for each period would be computed.
Details are required of any organization plans that would result in
increased or decreased
demands for employees, for example setting up a new regional
organization, creating a new
sales department, decentralizing a head offi ce function to the regions.
Plans and budgets for
reducing employment costs and their implications on the future numbers
of people to be
13
employed would also have to be considered.
The demand forecasting methods for estimating the numbers of people
required are described
below.

Managerial judgement
The most typical method of forecasting used is managerial judgement.
This simply requires
managers to sit down, think about their future workloads, and decide how
many people they
need. It might be done on a bottom-up basis with line managers
submitting proposals for
agreement by senior management.
Alternatively, a top-down approach can be used, in which company and
departmental forecasts are prepared by top management, possibly acting
on advice from the personnel departments. These forecasts are reviewed
and agreed with departmental managers. A less directive
approach is for top management to prepare planning guidelines for
departmental managers,
setting out the planning assumptions and the targets they should try to
meet.
Perhaps the best way of using managerial judgement is to adopt both the
bottom-up and topdown approaches. Guidelines for departmental
managers should be prepared that indicate
broad company assumptions about future activity levels that will affect
their departments.
Targets are also set where necessary. Armed with these guidelines,
departmental managers
prepare their forecasts to a laid-down format. They are encouraged to
seek help at this stage
from the personnel or work study departments. Meanwhile, the personnel
department, in conjunction as necessary with planning and work study
departments, prepares a company human
resource forecast. The two sets of forecasts can then be reviewed by a
human resource planning
committee consisting of functional heads. This committee reconciles with
departmental managers any discrepancies between the two forecasts and
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submits the fi nal amended forecast to

top management for approval. This is sometimes called the right-angle
method.
492 People Resourcing

Ratio-trend analysis
Ratio-trend analysis is carried out by studying past ratios between, say,
the number of direct
(production) workers and indirect (support) workers in a manufacturing
plant, and forecasting future ratios, having made some allowance for
changes in organization or methods. Activity
level forecasts are then used to determine,
in this example, direct labour
14
requirements, and the
forecast ratio of indirects to directs would be used to calculate the number
of indirect workers
needed.

Work study techniques

Work study techniques can be used when it is possible to apply work
measurement to calculate
how long operations should take and the number of people required. Work
study techniques
for direct workers can be combined with ratio-trend analysis to calculate
the number of indirect workers needed.

Forecasting skill and competence requirements

Forecasting skill and competence requirements is largely a matter of
managerial judgement.
This judgement should however be exercised on the basis of a careful
analysis of the impact of
projected product-market developments and the introduction of new
technology, either information technology or computerized manufacturing.

Supply forecasting
Supply forecasting measures the number of people likely to be available
from within and
outside the organization, having allowed for absenteeism, internal
movements and promotions, wastage and changes in hours and other
conditions of work. The supply analysis covers
the following areas.

Forecast of future requirements

To forecast future requirements it is necessary to analyse the demand and
supply forecasts to
identify any defi cits or surpluses. The analysis can be made with the help
of spreadsheets. It can
be set out as follows:
1. Current number employed 70
2. Annual level of turnover 10%
3. Expected losses during year 7
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4. Balance at end year 63

5. Number required at end year 75
6. Number to be obtained during year (5 4) 12

Action planning
Action plans are derived from the broad resourcing strategies and the
more detailed analysis
of demand and supply factors. However, the plans often have to be short
term and fl exible
because of the diffi culty of making fi rm predictions about human
resource requirements in
times of rapid change. The planning
15activities start with the identifi cation
of internal resources
available now or which could be made available through learning and
development programmes. They continue with plans for increasing the
attractiveness of working for the organization by developing an employer
brand and an employee value proposition, taking steps to
reduce employee turnover and absenteeism, and increasing employment
fl exibility. Recruitment plans, as described in Chapter 31, also need to be
prepared.

Human resource planning key learning poi

IMPLEMENTING HRM

PLAN

All too often, 80 per cent of the time spent on strategic management is
devoted to designing
strategies and only 20 per cent is spent on planning their implementation.
It should be the
other way round. It is necessary to plan with implementation in mind.
Because strategies tend to be expressed as abstractions, they must be
translated into programmes with clearly stated objectives and
deliverables. It is necessary to avoid saying, in effect:
We need to get from here to there but we dont care how. Getting
strategies into action is not
easy. Too often, strategists act like Mr Pecksmith who was compared by
Dickens (1843) to a
direction-post which is always telling the way to a place and never goes
there.
The term strategic HRM has been devalued in some quarters; sometimes
to mean no
more than a few generalized ideas about HR policies, at other times to
describe a shortterm plan, for example, to increase the retention rate of
graduates. It must be emphasized
that HR strategies are not just programmes, policies, or plans concerning
HR issues that
the HR department happens to feel are important. Piecemeal initiatives do
not constitute
strategy.
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The problem with strategic HRM as noted by Gratton et al (1999) is that

too often there is a
gap between what the strategy states will be achieved and what actually
happens to it. The
factors they identifi ed as contributing to creating this say/do gap between
the strategy as
designed and the strategy as implemented include:
the tendency of employees in diverse organizations only to accept
initiatives they perceive to be relevant to their own areas;
the tendency of long-serving employees to cling to the status quo;
complex or ambiguous initiatives16
may not be understood by employees
or will be perceived differently by them, especially in large, diverse
organizations;
it is more diffi cult to gain acceptance of non-routine initiatives;
employees will be hostile to initiatives if they are believed to be in
conflict with the
organizations identity, eg downsizing in a culture of job-for-life;
the initiative is seen as a threat;
inconsistencies between corporate strategies and values;
the extent to which senior management is trusted;
the perceived fairness of the initiative;
the extent to which existing processes could help to embed the
initiative;
a bureaucratic culture, which leads to inertia.
An implementation programme that overcomes these barriers needs to be
based on:
a rigorous preliminary analysis of the strategic needs of the business and
how the strategy will help to meet them;
HR Strategies 61

a communication programme that spells out what the strategy is, what it
is expected to
achieve and how it is to be introduced;
the involvement of those who will be concerned with the strategy, eg
line managers, in
identifying implementation problems and how they should be dealt with;
the preparation of action plans that indicate who does what and when;
project managing the implementation in a way that ensures that the
action plans are
achieved.

PRIMARY

RESEARCH ON IMPLEMENTING

HR

STRATEGIES

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25

Strongly disagree
disagree

10

neutral
agree
strongly agree

15

17

BIG COMPANIES
Name

Size

IBM

400000
TABLE 1 BIG COMPANIES SIZE

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CONCLUSIONS- (300 WORDS)

SUMMARY
ENTREPRENEUR
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES IN HRM
EXAMPLES
PLANNING HRM
IMPLEMENTING HRM PLAN

18

UNDERSTANDING
STAND
The author agrees partially with the statement by Torrington et al but must be
under the circumstances where

JUSTIFICATION
Through the primary and secondary research, the author has the right to take this
stand as seen that in BL the HR strategies do not fully support the theoretical
flowchart of HR planning.

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REFERENCES
Brockhaus, SH 1980, 'Risk Taking Propensity of Entrepreneurs', Academy Of
Management Journal, 23, 3, pp. 509-520, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost,
viewed 25 March 2016.
Clarkson, N. (2015). Richard Branson: Why delegation is crucial for success.
[online] Available at: https://www.virgin.com/entrepreneur/richard-branson-whydelegation-is-crucial-for-success [Accessed 24 Mar. 2016].
KEARINS, K., LUKE, B. and CORNER, P., 2004. WHAT CONSTITUTES SUCCESSFUL
ENTREPRENEURSHIP? AN ANALYSIS OF19
RECENT AUSTRALASIAN AWARDS
EXPERIENCES. Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Academy of
Management, 10(2), pp. 41-55.
Kunert, K, Okole, B, Vorster, B, Brewin, N, & Cullis, C 2012, 'A general model for
training the next generation of biotechnology entrepreneurs based on recent
experience of USA-UK-South Africa collaborations', Journal Of Commercial
Biotechnology, 18, 3, pp. 62-66, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 10
July 2015.
Maslow, A. H. (2012). A Theory of Human Motivation, Start Publishing LLC, USA.
Premalatha, UM 2010, 'An Empirical Study on the Impact of Training and
Development on Women Entrepreneurs in Karnataka', IUP Journal Of Soft Skills, 4,
3, pp. 49-64, Business Source Premier, EBSCOhost, viewed 10 July 2015.
Verganti, R. 2011, Steve Jobs and Management by Meaning, HBR, viewed 24th
march 2016, Available at URL: https://hbr.org/2011/10/steve-jobs-andmanagement-by-m

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

20

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APPENDIX A PRIMARY RESEARCH INTERVIEW WITH

BANGLALINK HR DIRECTOR
1. What are HR strategies in BL?
a. Ans.
2. What are HR planning process in BL?
3. How do you implement the HR plan?
4. How do you motivate HR?
5. Do you apply Maslows theory and if so, how?

21

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APPENDIX B SURVEY
1. I
agree that
HR
strategies
are easy
to plan
but hard
to
implement
Strongly
disagree

22
disagr
ee
6

neutra
l
10

agree
15

strongly
agree
25

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total
59