What Is Human Resource Management Essay

Words: 3963
Pages: 16

1.0 Introduction

Human resource management can be defined as “the effective use of human resources in an organization through the management of people-related activities.” (Harvard Extension School, 2013) According to Boxall (2007), “HRM is the management of work and people towards desired ends.” Human Resource Management (HRM) is the core function of all organizations. It ensures that’s companies have the necessary talent required to operate effectively. Strategic HRM according to Ulrich(1997), p.89, states “SHRM is a process of linking HR practices to business strategies.” So from the above definitions it can be seen that SHRM contains HRM but SHRM is at a higher level. Also it must be noted if there is HR in an organization; it
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HRM policies would be developed and implemented to meet employees’ needs for influence, but within the limitation of having to be consistent with the overall business strategy and management philosophy.” Figure 3 below shows the Harvard Model.

Figure 3 above shows the Harvard Model
Source:(paulooliveiramartins.(2012). HarvardModel. Available:http://paulooliveiramartins1967.blogspot.com/2012/11/unit-1-harvard-model.html)

Karen Legge(1995) questioned the need for HR professionals to contribute effectively by questioning the objectives of personnel management. Her concept of HR is the matching approach based upon a classical, rational approach to strategy that assumes a top down, unitary planning process which is simplistic and not congruent with reality. She says it’s not as easy as theorists before makes it sound, for example Ulrich. She understood that change in HRM and the strategy of the business should be closely aligned to HR policies, however the company should be highly diversified in order to benefit from the changing market, but having HR strategy aligned closely to the business organization strategy can cause inflexibility in the real world. Her model describes two types of HR managers these are; Conformist innovators and Deviant innovators. Conformist innovators are the personnel specialist whom identifies the