The History of Human Resource Management
INTRODUCTION.
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This assignment traces the history of Human Resource Management from
the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century to present times.
The assignment discusses key periods and movements in this field and
expands on their contribution to modern Human Resource Management.
In discussing the history of Human Resources Management it is
important to offer a definition of the subject. Human Resource
Management can be described as "The comprehensive set of managerial
activities and tasks concerned with developing and maintaining a
qualified workforce - human resources - in ways that contribute to
organisational effectiveness." (DeNisi and Griffin, 2004)
A HISTORICAL REVIEW.
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The Industrial Revolution.
The momentum for the industrial revolution grew through the 17th
century. Agricultural methods were continually improving, creating
surpluses that were used for trade. In addition, technical advances
were also occurring, for example the Spinning Jenny and the Steam
Engine. These advances created a need for improved work methods,
productivity and quality that led to the beginning of the Industrial
Revolution.
Adam Smith.
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In 1776, Adam Smith wrote about the economic advantages of the
division of labour in his work The Wealth of Nations. Smith (1776)
proposed that work could be made more efficient through specialisation
and he suggested that work should be broken down into simple tasks.
From this division he saw three advantages:
- the development of skills
- time saving
- the possibility of using specialised tools.
Smith's suggestions led to many changes in manufacturing processes.
"…every individual necessarily labours to render the annual revenue of
the society as great as he can. He generally, indeed, neither intends
to promote the public interest, nor knows how much he is promoting it.
By preferring the support of domestic to that of foreign industry, he
intends only his own security; and by directing that industry in such
a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only
MacMillan, I. C. (1984) ‘Gaining competitive advantage through human resource management practice,’ in Human Resource Management, Vol. 23, Iss. 1, pp. 241-255.
Since organizations, manufactures, corporations were created, so was the need for human resource management. Human resource management could be explained as the process of managing and monitoring individuals within the operation of organizations in the most efficient and productive way. Nowadays, organizations are suffering unprecedented levels of change in the environment; however, human resource management does help the organization to sustain and expand in harsh environments through the efficient allocation of human resource. In the past, labors worked in factories and manufactures were considered low level class in the society with little or no education. However, due to the technological advance where machines and complex technologies
An organizational human resources department utilizes the hiring and firing process to meet the organization’s personnel needs. Organizational human resource departments are charged with the oversight of an organizations administration department. The practice of hiring and firing people is a process employer’s conducts on a daily basis. This process has to be done in a proper manner and not in haste. The implication that can occur from the improper hiring and firing process could and can have a positive or negative impact on an organization. Therefore, employers must carefully evaluate their decision to hire/fire individuals and its impact on the organizations’ workplace environment and others employees. Human Resource Management is important for an effective organization. In today’s organization, HRM is valuable to the organization because of increase legal complexities and its known for improvement in productivity. However, management should realize that poor human resource management could result in an outburst of hiring process followed by firing or layoffs. According to (Satterlee 2013, p. 194), “Hiring the best candidate who is also a good fit for the organization is crucial for the success of an organization, because a poor hiring decision will have repercussions across the entire organization”. Satterlee made a valid point because poor hiring could have an impact on the bottom line performance of the firm. In other words, HRM is the contributing factor to the success of the organization including motivating and maintain the staffs. The purpose to the motivation is to ensure that all employees grow to a full potential. According to (Sims 2006, p. 5), “HRM efforts are planned, systematic approaches to increasing organizati...
There are numerous empirical studies which show that human resource practices have influenced the results of the company. These studies are varied in the type of business, sector, country and other possible variables. For example, Choo et al (2010), in a study examined the impact of globalisation on strategic human resources, with reference to the mediating role of a company’s CEO. Parker and Caine (1996), for its part, focused on both an historical review of the HR planning process, with evidence from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, together with some research into the best approach for HR planning in the 1990s. It is very useful from an historical context, though the outcomes are dated.
The importance of Human Resource management is associated with the beginning of mankind. As the knowledge of survival had begun including safety, health, hunting and gathering, tribal leaders passed on the knowledge to their youth. However more advanced HRM functions were developed as early as 1000 B.C and 2000 B.C. Since the modern management theory took over, the working environment was transformed into a more friendly and safe work place. The workers were termed as most valuable resources. While some companies took the human side of employment seriously, there were others who did not find it mandatory. Hence they faced huge labor unions and factory shut downs (Henning, 2001).
In dynamic, global competitive markets, successful organizations are likely to be staffed with managers capable of adapting to constantly evolving roles, and with the capacity to achieve and sustain optimal levels of performance. The global market place has currently impacted the practice of human resources management in the United States and will continue in the next ten years.
It is discussed that after the financial collapse in 1945, the human resource management has undergone several modifications due to the tremendous strain which the modern organisations have to endure nowadays. The causes responsible for changes in human resource management are
In the late 1960’s and 1970’s the term “human resource management” gained common usage in place of the term “personnel”. By 1974 the new term, human resource management, was appearing in media headlines and was eventually shortened to just “HR.”
Guest, D.E. (1987) ‘Human resource management and industrial relations’, Journal of Management Studies 24(5), pp. 503–521.
In this assignment I will be looking at the role played by the Personnel Management to Human Resource Management (HRM) for Sainsbury's and there historic developments. I will also be looking at how the existing HR function for Sainsbury's could be developed to work more effectively with the rest of the organisation.
The report on Human Resource stresses on HR practices of one of the leaders in learning centres, “Sensus”. The centre has established reputation for a decent position since 2015, after deriving status of the best learning centre of the year. Report analyzes importance of human resource structure and its processes of planning, selection, recruitment and training in the given organization. Additionally, work rules, policies and procedures are closely examined. To identify existing problems in the company and ways of solving detected HRM issues, an attempt has been put in. An objective of given report is evaluation of accordance and efficacy of Human resource Management performance. Intention of this report is also to consider developments of
The role of Human Resources was created in the 1920s, during this time managers were in charge of doing their own hiring and firing. By the year 1930 the role of managers were growing, which didn’t leave them much room to concentrate on their own responsibilities, so most managers were happy to have another person in charge of the employ...
Human resources have become the politically correct way of addressing Earth’s most valuable resource… the human being. There is a long history of attempts to achieve an understanding of human behavior at the work place. From the early 1890, academicians and practitioners developed theories and practices in order to explain and influence the behavior of employees at the work. The Human Resource Glossary by William R. Tracey defines Human Resources as: “The people that staff and operate an organization”. The people that work within an organization are subject of common analysis for political economics, economics, corporate business and psychology. In political economics and economics, the employees are taken into consideration as one of the four production factors: Labor, while in the corporate world they are known as Human Resource or Human Capital and it is not referring to the people within an organization as physical matter, but what those people bring and contribute to organizational success. Sometimes it is called intellectual capital when it reflects creativity, knowledge, skills and motivation. The authority level that deals with it, it’s called Human Resource Management.(SITE1) The original term, Personnel Management was used to describe “the specialist management function which determines and implements policies and procedures which affects the stages of the employment cycle” (BOOK). It first appeared in the early years of the 20th Century and it had an administrative nature, dealing mostly with payroll, employment law and handling related tasks. The term of Human Resource Management is the result of the famous Hawthorne experiment of Elton Mayo of the Harvard School of Business Administration. This experiment was meant to demonstrate the connection between theory and practice of Personnel Management with Psychology. The term began to be used in the 1950s, to designate the expansion of traditional personnel management to include modern psychology. (Site 2) The term defines a managerial perspective which argues the need to establish an integrated series of personnel policies to support the organizational strategy (Buchannan, 2004). A number of authors stress the difficulties of identifying clear differences between personnel management and HRM, and maintain that the most obvious change is a “re-labeling process” (Legge, 1989) Some experts, such as Lowry (1990) and Fowler (1987), argue that there is no major difference between human resources and personnel management going further by suggesting that “HRM is the continuing process of personnel management”.
Human resource is the most valuable and unique asset of an organization. The successful management of an organization’s human resource is an exciting, dynamic and challenging task , especially at a time when the world has become a global village and economies are in a state of flux. The lack of talented resource and the growing expectation of the modern day employee has further increased the difficulty of the human resource function.
Human resource management is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business. The terms "human resource management" and "human resources" (HR) have largely replaced the term "personnel management" as a description of the processes involved in managing people in organizations. Human Resource management is evolving rapidly. Human resource management is both an academic theory and a business practice that addresses the theoretical and practical techniques of managing a workforce. (1)