MB0043 Human Resource Managementi

7/30/2019 MB0043 Human Resource Managementi

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Master of Business Administration-MBA Semester I

Subject Code MB0043

Subject Name Human Resource Management

4 Credits

(Book ID: B0909)Assignment Set- 1 (60 Marks)

Name:

Roll No:

SMU Study Centre Code: 1503

______________________________________________________________________________

Q.1 What are the functions that HR attempts to fulfill in any organization.[10 Marks]

Ans 1: A human Relations Programme thereby attempts at enhancing employee motivation and

workplace morale through an improved three-way communications and through employee participation

in the decision making processes. Human relations seek to emphasise 'employee' aspects of work rather

than technical or economic aspects. For example while it might be in the best interest of an organization

to have

a employee skilled and completely proficient in one job/ set or responsibilities, todays organization

provides opportunities for employees to multi-skill and acquire knowledge of new yet related

jobs/responsibilities. These acts as a motivator for employees as they benefit by learning new skills /

jobs and given an opportunity can perform and excel in another job. It also seeks to make employment

and working conditions less impersonal. The human relations approach emphasises policies and

techniques designed to improve employee morale and job satisfaction. For example it is common place

in organizations to provide for / encourage employee empowerment where-in the team brings about

creative measures to reduce cost/ improve customer satisfaction. Such teams design and implement

self-driven initiatives to bring about the business result. It is believed that this is accompanied by

increased employee efficiency and reduction in employee dissatisfaction.

An understanding of emerging workplace human behaviour can be summarised as:

i) Assist the manager to develop a better realization of how his own attitudes and behaviour play a part

in everyday affairs of the team and its morale;

ii) Assist the manager to develop a keener sensitivity towards the team members and interpersonal

dynamics.

iii) Partner with the managers in helping him drive the business goals and take part ownership of work

challenges and how best to resolve them .

iv) Enable him to anticipate and prevent problems, or at least to resolve more effectively those that he

cannot avoid; and

v) Network with other teams with related dependencies and help resolve inter-team business impacting


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challenges.

This Scope of Human Relations springs up from the problems which have many different causes and

perspectives. Halloran has stated these as:

Every person brings a unique set of talents, ambitions and work experience to a job. These personal

attributes change over time, often as a result of the degree of success or failure the person experiences

in the work world. Matching so many unique sets of personal qualities to a standardized technology can

create problems.

The organizational aspects of a company, such as its size, geographic location, economic health, and

degree of automation, define the scope of work and the activity in each work division. These frequently

arbitrary, structural definitions often cause difficulties in human relations.

Innovations in technology and production methods generally require the restructuring of job roles and

responsibilities. Radical changes in basic organizational structure can cause severe strains between

employees and management and create intense problems in human relations.

Promotion of individuals to positions of greater responsibility and authority generally creates a need

for changed behaviour patterns between the new supervisors and their former peers, which in time, can

create human relations problems.

Inexperienced employees may not be able to perform their roles or tasks in work groups in a

competent manner. The time they take to adjust can not only create problems with production

schedules, but can also create particular kinds of human relations problems between them and their

coemployees and supervisors.

The variety of causes of human relations problems lead to the conclusion that no one programme or

single approach can create conditions for good human relations. Therefore, as shared earlier it in

common for organizations and individuals in organization to constantly innovate and resolve challenges

that will benefit both the organization as well as the employee.

This helps understand the key HR objectives which can be best illustrated by understanding the

functions that HR attempts to fulfil in any organization:

i) Human Resource Planning estimating the need for resources in order achieve the desired businessresults. HR plans can be both short term/immediate as well as long term / strategic. The HR team

partners with the line managers to understand the business goals and targets for the year and then

together plan the HR needs in order to meet the goals.

ii) Acquisition ofhuman resources staffing the organizations with the right mix of skills and

competencies at the right time. It also includes HR initiatives like promotions and internal job posting to


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fulfil this requirement for human resources. Staffing teams in organizations are usually a separate group

of specialists who work closely with the line managers to understand the skills and competencies

needed for the job and engage together to select the best talent for the open positions.

iii) Training and employee development focuses on managing training activities to upgrade skills and

knowledge as well as soft skills like team building and leadership. The training team is again a group of

HR specialists who propose the training program and consult with the line managers to ensure that the

program achieves the desired outcomes.

iv) Building performance management systems focuses on the right processes to set goals for

performance as individuals/teams and related measurement methods. This is a core HR activity and is

supported by the HR generalist.

v) Reward systems establishing appropriate compensation systems and reward mechanisms that

would reward the desired outcome and results in accordance with the corporate values. This again

forms a part of the HR generalists tasks. How employees progress in a organization how they are paid

w.r.t. internal and external market factors, what employee benefits are offered, are some aspect that

this function redresses.

vi) Human Resources Information Systems that would take care of the operational transactions from the

time an employee joins till the time the employee exits, like personnel files, compensation

administration, payroll, benefits administration and issuing letters and testimonials. This task is

supported by as separate HR operations team who act as a HR helpdesk and provide information to the

employees/managers.

Q.2 Discuss the cultural dimensions of Indian Work force. [10 Marks]

Ans: 2 The foundation for understanding the unique work practices at a country level can best be

understood by first understanding the cultural aspects of the countrys workforce. There are five cultural

dimensions around which countries have been clustered. The dimensions are: Power distance,

uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity and long term orientation.

Power Distance

Power distance is the extent to which less powerful members of institutions and organizations accept

that power is distributed unequally. Countries in which people blindly obey the orders of superiors havehigh power distance.

High power distance countries have norms, values and beliefs that support:

o Inequality is good; everyone has a place;

some are high, some are low


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o Most people should be dependent on a

leader

o The powerful are entitled to privileges

o The powerful should yield their power

India scores 77 on power distance, indicating high power distance as a result of the inequalities both the

level of the society as well as the at the workplace. Indian organizations typically have hierarchical

structures, position yields power and subordination is acceptable.

The dimension of high power distance at the workplace can be best understood as:

People dislike work and try to avoid it.

Manager believe that they must adopt

Theory X leadership style, that is , they must be authoritarian, and force workers to perform and

need to supervise their subordinates closely.

Organizational structures and systems tend

to match the assumption regarding leadership and motivation.

Decision making is centralized.

Those at the top make most of the

decisions. Organizations tend to have tall structures.

They will have a large proportion of

supervisory personnel

The People at the lower levels often will

have low job qualifications

Such structures encourage and promote

inequality between people at different levels.

Uncertainty Avoidance

Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which people feel threatened by ambiguous situations, and have

created beliefs and institutions that try to avoid these.

India scores 40 indicating low to average uncertainty avoidance characteristics. Countries with low

uncertainty avoidance have people who are more willing to accept that risks are associated with the

unknown, and that life must go on in spite of this.

Specifically, high uncertainty avoidance countries are characterized by norms, values, and beliefs which

accept that:


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o Conflict should not avoided

o Deviant people and ideas should be

tolerated

o Laws are not very important and need not

necessarily be followed

o Experts and authorities are not always

correct, and Consensus is not important

Low uncertainty avoidance societies such as ours have organization settings with less structuring of

activities, fewer written rules, more risk taking by managers, higher labour turnover and more ambitious

employees. Such an orgnisation encourages employees to use their initiative and assume responsibility

for their actions. Denmark and great Britain are good examples of low uncertainty avoidance cultures.

Individualism

Individualism is the tendency of people to look after themselves and their family only. The opposite of

this is collectivism which refers to the tendency of people to belong to groups and to look after each

other in exchange for loyalty. India score 48 on individualism, indicating somewhat low scores, therefore

tending towards a more collectivistic society.

Collectivist countries believe that:

o Ones identity is based on ones group

membership

o Group decision making is best, and

o Groups protect individuals in exchange for

their loyalty to the group.

Organizations in collectivist societies tend to promote nepotism in selecting managers. Collectivist

cultures important decisions are made by older and senior managers as opposed to individualist

cultures, where decision making is an individuals responsibility.

Masculinity

Masculinity refers a situation in which the dominant values in a society are success, money and othermaterial things. India score 56 tending to be closed to masculinity than feminity.

In highly masculine societies, jobs are clearly defined by gender. There are mens jobs and womens

jobs. Men usually choose jobs that are associated with long-term careers. Womens usually choose jobs

are associated with short term employment, before marriage.


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Q.3 Explain the need for Human Resource Planning system .[10 Marks]

Ans: 3 Human resource planning is the process by which a management determines how an

organization should move from its current manpower position to its desired manpower position.

Planning a management strives to have the right number and the right kind of people at the right places,

at the right time, to do things which result in both their organization and the individual receiving themaximum long-range benefit.

Human resource planning fulfils individual as well as organizational goals. Human resource planning is a

mandatory part of every organizations annual planning process. Every organization that plans for its

business goals for the year also plans for how it will go about achieving them and therein the planning

for the human resource:

To carry on its work, each organization

needs competent staff with the necessary qualifications, skills, knowledge, work experience and

aptitude for work.

Since employees exit and organization both

naturally (as a result of superannuation) and unnaturally (as a result of resignation), there is an

ongoing need for hiring replacement staff to augment employee exit. Otherwise, work would be

impacted.

In order to meet the need for more

employees due to organizational growth and expansion, this in turn calls for larger quantities of

the same goods and services as well as new goods. This growth could be rapid or gradual

depending on the nature of the business, its competitors, its position in the market and the

general economy.

Often organizations might need to replace

the nature of the present workforce as a result of its changing needs, therefore the need to hire

new set of employees. To meet the challenge of the changed needs of

technology/product/service innovation the existing employees need to be trained or new skill

sets induced into the organization.

Manpower planning is also needed in order

to identify an organizations need to reduce its workforce. In situations where the organization is

faced with severer revenue and growth limitations it might need to plan well to manage how it

will reduce its workforce. Options such as redeployment and outplacement can be planned for

and executed properly.

Q.4 Elucidate the classification of wages in the Indian System.[10 Marks]


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Ans 4: The term wage is usually associated with contractual employees whose pay is calculated

according to number of hours worked/units produced. The word salary applies to the remuneration that

is paid for a fixed period and does not depend upon the number of hours worked.

The India wages are classified as below:

1. Minimum Wage

2. Fair Wage and

3. Living Wage

Minimum wage

A minimum wage has been defined by the Committee as the wages which must provide not only for

the bare sustenance of life, but for the preservation of the efficiency of the worker. For this purpose, the

minimum wage must provide for some measure of education, medical requirements and amenities. In

other words, a minimum wage should provide for the sustenance of the workers family, for his

efficiency, for the education of his family members, for their medical care and for some amenities. It is

very difficult to determine the minimum wage because worker. However, the principles for determining

minimum wages were evolved by Government and have been incorporated in Minimum Wage Act,

1948, the important principle being that minimum wages should provide not only for the bare

sustenance of life but also for the preservation of the efficiency of the workers by way of education,

medical care and other amenities.

Fair Wage

According to the Committee on Fair Wages, it is the wage which is above the minimum wage but

below the living wage. The lower limit of the fair wage is obviously the minimum wage, the upper limit

is set by the capacity of the industry to pay. Between these two limits, the actual wages should

depend on considerations of such factors as:

i. The productivity of labour

ii. The prevailing rates of wages in the same or neighboring localities

iii. The level of the national income and its distribution

iv. The place of industry in the economy

Living Wage

T his wage was recommended by the Committee as a fair wage and as ultimate e goal in a wage policy. It

defined a Living Wages as one which should enable the earner to provide for himself and his family not

only the bare essentials of food, clothing and shelter but a measure of frugal comfort, including

education for his children, protection against ill health, requirements of essential social needs and a

measure of insurance living wage was to provide for a standard of living that would ensure good health


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for the worker, and his family as well as a measure of decency, comfort, education for his children, and

protection against misfortunes.

Ascertaining wages and deciding who to pay what is a activity undertaken in the beginning when a

organization is setup. Thereon it is annual reviews to make corrections per the countrys economic and

market/ industry trends. The management considers the state of the labour market and takes intoaccount of what he can affort to pay and value of the worker to him. The workers willingness for

employment at the rate offered implies that they agree to work at that rate, though they have had no

part in fixing it.

1. Collective Bargaining: It is still in the initial stage in India. Although it is a desirable development

in the relation between management and labour, it cannot be imposed upon either side by

compulsion and should evolve naturally from within.

2. Voluntary Arbitration: In this both parties agree to refer their dispute to mutually agreed

arbitrator and his award becomes binding on the parties.

3. Wage Legislation: Wages are fixed according to law in some industries. The central govt and the

state govt may fix minimum under the minimum wage act of 1948 for industries in which

workers are exploited or too unorganized to protect their own interests.

4. Conciliation: The industrial disputes act, 1947, provides for consideration in the case of the

disputes between employers and worker. If an agreement reached in the course of conciliation

proceedings, it become binding on the parties and takes effect from the date agreed upon or

from the date on which it signed by two parties. In case no agreement is reached, the

conciliation offices send a full report of the proceedings. On receipt of the report, the govt. may

decide to refer the case to the industrial tribunal for awards.

5. Adjudication: Labour court and the industrial tribunals are setup under the industrial act, 1947.

On studying the award one gets the impression that the adjudicators are attempting to justify

their decision in social and ethical terms. At the same time, there is a desire to satisfy both

parties to the dispute, therefore, economic factors such as capacity to pay , unemployment,

profit, condition of the economy or welfare of industry concerned, are given due prominence.

6. Wage Boards: The boards are appointed by the Govt and usually consist 7 members two

representatives of the management, 2 of labour, 2 independent members and one chairman.

Board is expected to take into account the needs of the specific industry in a developing

economy, the special feature of industry, the requirements of social justice, and the necessity ofadjusting wage differential in such a manner as to provide incentives to workers for advancing

their skills. Its recommendations may be accepted by the Govt. either completely or partly, and

may be statutorily imposed on the industry in question, or may be rejected.


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In a nutshell, wages are influenced both by social and economic factors. In one case, economic may be

play important role, whereas in another, social factors may be predominant. Thus, wages are product of

the social and economic factors.

Q.5 Ms. S. Sharma is the General manager HR of a private educational group. She is planning for thepromotion policy for the faculty members. The norms are also ruled by the government policy and

criteria. Moreover the options to promote are limited. Suggest Ms Sharma the alternative way to

vertical promotion. What are the challenges in implementing that option? [10 Marks]

Ans5: In Vertical Promotion, employees are promoted from one rank to the next higher rank in the same

department or division. This is based on the belief that this leads to effective utilization of experience

gained in the same department. It also gives an opportunity to the employees to go up while increasing

their specialization in their area of operation. However, it has got one disadvantage. The vacancies may

be very few in a department.

Me Sharma can promote Faculty member to a Professor, but In this Case a biggest challenge for Me

Sharma is, a Lecturer working in a particular Department may not become a Professor or the Head of

the Department unless his superiors die/retire/resign. This makes the person frustrated. Besides, this

type of promotion limits a person's contact with other departments and does not permit him to

enhance his knowledge/expertise with each year's experience.

Because his experience would be one or two year's knowledge multiplied by 10 to 15 years rotation. If

he does not get his promotion at the right time since the room at the top is limited he will also start

disliking his job / organisation. As a result, he becomes counter-productive.

As we can suggest to Ms. Sharma to consider the Horizontal promotions as an alternative way to vertical

promotion. Under this policy, an employee may be transferred from a position in one department to a

position of higher rank in another department or to the same rank in a different department if the

transfer gives him an opportunity to acquire greater knowledge and wider experience. E.g. if a Senior

Lecturer cannot get promotion in a particular Department for obvious reasons, he may be transferred as

Registrar of the University or as Controller of Examinations or Director of Distance Education. However,

there is one difficulty. Unless the person is quite dynamic and intelligent, he may find the new

assignment a tough one and irksome. To some, it may be a cause for frustration.

However, for many, Horizontal promotion even if it is only a paper promotion is a challenge since it

allows them job rotation.

Q.6ABC is an organization that wants to revise the HR policies. Before doing that it want tohave some details about the following:

are not doing well?

Suggest the suitable method to collect the employee opinion and explain the method. [10 Marks]


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Ans 6: The suitable method to collect the employee opinion is The survey Questionnaire Method. In this

method is generally used to collect employee opinions about the factors which affect morale and their

opinion about the leadership.

Morale or employee satisfaction surveys are generally consucted with a view to

1 Finding our what the employees think about the company

2 Finding out what, in the company going well and what is not

3 Solicit feedback on managerial effectiveness

4 Determining the clarity of company vision/objectives and the top management cmmitment to it

and

5 Finding out what employee is most unhappy about.

The questionnaire is usually a scientifically developed instrument and well tested for validity andreliability. These include multiple choice, dichotomous (yes or no) and open ended questions.

Conducting the Survey:

Organizations often engage outside consultants to conduct the entire survey. There are a lot of reasons

to do this:

Make the survey credible wherein employees share correct feedback.

As they are experts, they help determine the type of questions to be used depending on the

objectives of the survey.

The survey itself is carried out anonymously, the employee is not required to divulge his/her name

and personal information

Analysis and generation of survey report is a specialized activity

In some cases the companys representatives may give the employees the questionnaires in a stamped

envelope, planning them on a table and permitting the employees to get them if they wish to, or having

a fellow employee distributed them. The stamped envelopes are frequently addressed to some

management consultant or college professor who tabulates the results. The consultants then analyses

the data to generate a number of reports. The reports can be generate for each department, for

manager with more than 20 team members, for the company, etc.. The management usually shares the

findings with all the employees, highlighting the strengths and the areas for improvement. Action plans

for improvement are also shared so employees are aware of the managements commitment towards

improving workplace morale and employee engagement.

The survey is usually conducted once a year. The important part of this initiative is the action that is

taken after the survey results come on. Each department head meets with his team of managers and


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they together analyse the report and data for the department and identify areas of low scores.

Brainstorming exercises then help identify what actions can improve employee morale in these areas.

Sometime action-planning teams are formed from among the employees and they drive the action

areas.

For example: If the report identifies that rewards and recognition is a concern area for the team, thenthe taskforce on establishing way and means to improve reward systems and recognition methods. The

taskforce would recommend a rhythm for quarterly and monthly rewards and identify categories for the

rewards (like quality, productivity, highest sales, customer appreciation). More and more reward

systems encourage employee to nominate their peers rather than the managers identifying and giving

awards away. All nominations are reviewed finally by a panel and the most deserving nominee is

awarded.

Organisations track Survey scored year on year. Most organizations tie the scores to managerial

effectiveness and use it as a measure to assess managers for promotions, potential for future senior

roles etc.

Documents

MB0043 Human Resource Managementi