HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Individual assignment

NAME: Yafet Takele

ID: 1079/21

Section: M-2DRB4

Submitted to – Mr. Tekalign Gedi

November 30, 2022

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

The development of HRM

The correct period of the origin of HRM is debatable subject but its activities have been performed since
ancient times. It appears to have its origins in the United States in the 1950s but it did not gain wide
recognition until the beginning of the 1980s and in the U.K. until the mid to late 1980s.

1. Early Phase:

The concept of organisation was well understood by Moses around 1250 B.C. The Chinese, as early as
1650 B.C. had originated the principle of division of labour. Around 1800 B.C. the minimum wage rate
and incentive wage plans were included in the Babylonian Code of Hammurabi. In India, Kautilya
mentioned various concepts such as job analysis, selection, and development and performance
appraisal in his book Arthasastra.

2. The Industrial Revolution:

The foundation of industrial revolution was laid between 1850 to 1875. This period was characterized by
the development of machines and technology made rapid progress. The result was an increase in job
specialization and the enterprises started grouping but the working and living conditions of the labours
were poor and their working hours were long.

The employers were only interested to meet production targets rather than satisfy workers’ demands.
As a result of the prevailing poor working conditions and low wage rates the adversarial relationship
between employers and labours was established. This lead to gradual evolution of systematic attention
towards welfare of workers and laid the foundations of the HRM.

3. Scientific Management:

In early 1900s, Frederick Winslow Taylor advocated scientific management. This was an instrument
which brings the logic of efficiency to management.

The salient features of this approach are:

(i) Scientific selection of person on the job;

(ii) Systematic analysis of job;

(iii) Breakdown the job into small mechanical elements then rearrange into their most efficient
combination;

(iv) Employees must be trained carefully by supervisors so that they performed the task as specified by
prior scientific analysis;

(v) A fair piece rate system of wage;

(vi) Overqualified workers should be excluded from the job;

(vii) There should be close cooperation between managers and non-managers.

Taylor believed that the above techniques could be used by management to increase efficiency and
output in the work place. This approach was accepted by workers and managers because it placed a

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strong emphasis on the mutual benefit of productivity; the organisation produced more and increased
its profits, while workers made more money and lived.

D. C. Wilson and R. H. Rosenfeld, 1990, have listed some of the key reason for the gradual decline of
scientific management:

(i) Workforce became a critical factor in the organization;

(ii) Increasing complexity of markets and products;

(iii) Political, social and cultural changes; and

(iv) Organizations became large and more complex

4. Classical Organization Theory:

Another contribution to management thought was popularized by Henry Fayol in 1929 in the form of
Classical Organization Theory. He listed fourteen principles. These must be flexible, and adaptable to
large variety of changing and special conditions.

These are:

(i) Division of labours

(ii) Authority

(iii) Discipline

(iv) Units of command

(v) Units of direction

(vi) Subordination of individual interest to the general interest

(vii) Remuneration

(viii) Centralization

(ix) Hierarchy of authority

(x) Order

(xi) Equity

(xii) Stability of sense

(xiii) Initiative

(xiv) Esprit de corps

5. Human Relation Movement:

Human relations means the relations between person to person and in respect of organization, the
relations between management and employees. The success of organization depends upon harmonious
relations between employers and employees. This lead to turn in higher productivity of the organization.

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The Hawthrone experiments conducted by Elton Mayo and his colleagues at the Western Electric
Company concluded that the employee productivity was affected by social and psychological factors.
Supervisors and managers should develop effective human relations skills in counseling employees.

It emphasized the necessity for management to recognize the need of employees for recognition and
social acceptance.

The message was that interpersonal relationships should be fostered for the fullest realization of the
potential of individual and groups. Accordingly some concepts such as social system, informal.
Organisation, group control of behaviour, equilibrium and logical and non logical behaviour entered in
the field of human relations.

The good human relations can be created by constant contact with the employees, empathy and
understanding of their problems and needs, their good will and cooperation. In short, worker should be
treated as a human being. As per views of Barnard in year 1938;

(i) Natural Groups – Employees tend to form natural groups in the organization to satisfy their social
needs.

(ii) Upward Communication – Two way communications system (Top to Bottom and Bottom to Top) is
the best method for receiving the feedback from the workers.

(iii) Cohesive Leadership – Cohesive leadership should ensure effective and coherent decision making
with organization.

Thus, human relations are not merely sentimental requirement of an organization but they are
perquisite to higher productivity and with better understanding and team work, maximum productivity
can be achieved at minimum cost. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the management to look after the
total wellbeing of the individual worker in the organization. A happy worker is an asset to the
organization. He turns out more work in less and less time.

6. The Behavioural Science Movement:

This movement came during early 1960s.

In 1959, Peter Drucker wrote:

An effective management must direct the vision and effort of all managers towards a common goal.

His concept was based on goal directed leadership means “management by objectives” or “MBO”.

Again in the year 1973, he wrote:

“Each member of the enterprise contributes something different, but all must contribute toward a
common goal. Their efforts must all put in the same direction, and their contributions must fit together
to produce a whole-without gaps, without friction, without unnecessary duplicating of effort.”

MBO require major effort and continual commitment, it gives rise to system of joint target setting and
performance review. Each employee or supervisor or manager is interactive with his superior and
actively involved in setting his own goals. He further wrote in year 1974.

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The greatest advantage of MBO is perhaps that it makes it possible for a manager to control his own
performance. Self-control means stronger motivation – A desire to do the best rather than do just
enough to get by. It means higher performance goals and broader vision.

MBO and self-control asks for self-discipline. It forces the manager to make high demands on himself. It
is anything but permissive. It may well lead to demanding too much rather than too little……………….

MBO and self-control assumes that people want to be responsible, want to contribute, want to achieve,
and that is a bold assumption………

But MBO and self-control is more than a slogan more than a technique, more than a policy even. If is, so
to speak, constitutional principle.

In short, MBO refers to:

(i) Establishment of goals and objectives;

(ii) Formulation of action plans; and

(iii) Reviewing and modifying human behavior.

7. Modern Movement:

Any discussion of HRM has to come to terms with at least three fundamental problems:

(i) HRM is derivative of a range of antecedents, the ultimate mix of which is wholly depend upon the
stance of the analyst and which may be drawn from an eclectic range to sources;

(ii) HRM is itself a contributory factor in the analysis of the employment relationship;

(iii) It is difficult to distinguish where the significance of HRM lies – whether it is in its supposed
transformation of styles of employee management in a specific sense, or whether in a broader sense it is
in its capacity to sponsor a wholly redefined relationship between management and employees which
overcomes the traditional issues of control and consent at work.

An early model of HRM, developed by Fombrun Tichy and Devanna (1984); introduced the concept of
strategic HRM by which HRM Policies are inextricably linked to the formulation and implementation of
strategic corporate and/or business objectives.

The key levers are to be used to seek not merely compliance but commitment. This he does by making a
classificatory matrix of 27 points of difference between personnel and IR practices and HRM practices.

‘Light Fit’ between HR Strategy and Business Strategy:

HRM assumes a more important position in the formulation of organisational policies. A more flexible
model was developed by Beer and his associates (1984) at Harvard University. The model recognises the
legitimate interests of various groups and that the creation of HRM strategies would have to recognise
these interests and fuse them as much as possible into the human resource strategy and ultimately the
business strategy.

Guest (1987), asserts that the combination proposition which include strategic integration, high
commitment, high quality and flexibility creates more effective organisations.

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The combination of these proposition leads to a linkage between HRM aims, policies and outcomes
are given below:

1. Strategic integration means the ability of organisations to integrate HRM issues into their strategic
plans.

2. High commitment is concerned with both behavioural commitment and attitudinal commitment.

3. High quality refers to managerial behaviour including management of employees and investment in
high quality employees.

4. Flexibility means functional flexibility with an adaptable organisational structure with the capacity to
manage innovation.

Reference

businessmanagementideas.com