This paper aims to critique Pfeffer and Veiga’s article “Putting people first for organisational success”, published in the Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 13. No. 2 in 1999. The premise of this article is that organisations’ success is fundamentally based on the quality of people and the ability of the organisations to invest in their management. While this concept might seem axiomatic, reality begs to differ. Companies, either due to lack of conviction or as a part of ineffectual attempts to increase the bottom line, often ignore the piling empirical evidence that point to a strong correlation between financial success and its commitment to people focussed management practices. In other words, actually believing in the phrase “ people are our most important asset” (Pfeffer & Veiga 1999, p.37).
With organisations moving towards a ‘lean and mean structure’ , the authors believe that unthinking outsourcing and downsizing are only short term remedies to increase profit (Pfeffer & Veiga 1999, p.37) . The article centres around seven practices of successful organisations that emerge based on research across industries and nations.
Provide employment security.
Selective hiring
Self-managed teams and decentralisation as basic elements of organisational design
Comparatively high compensation contingent on organisational performance
Extensive training
Reduction of status differences
Sharing information
The above practices outlined by the authors challenge the most commonly held beliefs about management. They further go on to debunk the ideas that to employ these practices, it is necessary to work in the right sector while maintaining the size of the organisation and that it is essential to have a global presenc...
... middle of paper ...
...don't keep secrets. 42 (2), pp. 55--57.
Pfeffer, J. 1998. The human equation. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
Pfeffer, J. and Veiga, J. F. 1999. Putting people first for organizational success. The Academy of Management Executive, 13 (2), pp. 37--48.
Snell, S. A., Youndt, M. A. and Wright, P. 1999. Establishing a framework for research in strategic human resource management: Merging resource theory and organizational learning. Human resource management: critical perspectives on business and management, 371.
White, B. and Moraschinelli, E. 2009. The Pursuit of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Profile of the Starbucks Corporation.
Xerri, Brunetto and Shacklock. 2009. [online] Available at: http://www98.griffith.edu.au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/31861/60353_1.pdf;jsessionid=50A07A53A53BFEE962A2809F44EFC3FE?sequence=1 [Accessed: 9 Apr 2014].
Bohlander, George, and Scott Snell. Managing Human Resources. 15th. Mason, OH: South-Western Pub, 2009. 98-147. Print.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2014). Fundamentals of human resource management (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Noe, Raymond A., et al. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Print.
Internal resource is the first consideration that can lead to sustainable competitive advantage and Resource –Based View (RBV) is a theory that usefully helps a firm focus on internal resources (Kraaijenbrink, Spender & Aard, 2010). According to RBV (Valuable, Rare, hard to imitate and non-substitutable), companies have different tangible and intangible resources, these resources can be transformed into unique ability, this special ability cannot flow between firms and rival firms and difficult to reproduce. These unique resources and abilities are the source of enterprise sustainable competitive advantage. In this part, Starbucks and Apple are worth to be analyzed by RBV.
These emerging theories have enabled managers to appreciate new patterns of thinking, new ways of organising, and new ways of managing organisations and people. Over the years these different theories have enabled the study of trends that have taken place in the management field. The major management viewpoints- which include the classical, behavioural and contingency approaches- have assisted in the formation of the contemporary twenty-first century management theory and techniques (S. C. Certo & S. T. Certo, 2006). Although, there are significant differences among all these approaches, they seem to be unified by the efforts of improving an organisation’s efficiency in terms of proper human resources management. Furthermore, the dissimilarities seen in these approaches are due to the ever-changing organisations and environments which demand new management practices and techniques be applied to maintain the efficiency of an organisation.
The importance of economic indicators to the strategic planning process in any organization is the ability to benchmark economic conditions that contribute to improve profitability, business growth and market size. Leadership sets up the mission “to establish Starbucks as the most recognized and respected brand in the world.” In doing so, they have created a set of industry-leading, comprehensive coffee-buying guidelines addressing coffee quality, financial transparency, social and environmental responsibility. Starbucks strategy is also expanding market in globally to provide high quality coffee in convenient and visibility locations. They are continuing to innovate and extend the business with imaginative new ready-to-drink beverages and expanded packaged coffee offerings (Starbucks Corporation, 2007).
Whether an organization consists of five or 25,000 employees, human resources management is vital to the success of the organization. HR is important to all managers because it provides managers with the resources – the employees – necessary to produce the work for the managers and the organization. Beyond this role, HR is capable of becoming a strong strategic partner when it comes to “establishing the overall direction and objectives of key areas of human resource management in order to ensure that they not only are consistent with but also support the achievement of business goals.” (Massey, 1994, p. 27)
A Review and Assessment of Its Critiques, Journal of Management, SAGE. Viewed on5th April 2011, at http://jom.sagepub.com/content/36/1/349.full.pdf+html
Shah, A. J., Hawk, T. F., & A, T. A. (2011). Starbucks' Global Quest in 2006: Is the Best Yet to Come. In A. A. Marcus, Management Strategy: Achieving Sustained Competitive Advantage (pp. c468-c495). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Noe, Raymond A., John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, and Patrick M. Wright. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010. Print.
Koehn, N.F., Besharov, M.A., & Miller, K. (2008). Starbucks Coffee Company in the 21st Century. [Case study]. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing.
Numerous styles of management exist that the executive can adopt in leading the organization, such as autocratic, participative, as well as democratic. The management should adopt a style that incorporates the views and values of its workforce within the organization. The staff in an organization is the best assets that an organization can have. It is not enough for an organization to have the most qualified, experienced and professional workers in the field, rather it requires a dedicated team of workers willing to sacrifice and give their all to the success of the organization. The skills that an organization has, such as its corporate strengths, help in shaping its values and cultures, as well as boosting the esteem of its workers to enable them become more productive. Lastly, the organization needs to cherish the shared values within its midst. These elements bind the workforce and management of a company
One of the main problems that Starbucks is facing at the present time is the ability to maintain national competitive advantage (Monash South Africa, 2014). Due to their local demand conditions, Starbucks tries to satisfy all customers by trying “to inspire and nurture the human spirit – one person, one cup and one neighborhood at a time” (Starbucks Corporation, 2014). Local demand conditons consist of a company trying satisfy needs of their closest customers and expanding their competitive advantage by upgrading their strategic management policies (Monash South Africa, 2014).
Management in organizations today are trying to capture both quality and productivity (bottom line results) from their employees, and are spending millions of dollars in time, capital, and human resources. However, without the proper paradigm shift in leadership roles, which must include a new appreciation on the importance of principled centered leadership that recognizes that people are the highest value in any organization, the investment no matter how great will not accomplish their goals. Managers today have to become more effective in leading and managing their employees. They have to start with a new mind set, change their frame of reference, change how they see the world, how they think about people, and how they view management and leadership. This will bring about quantum improvements in their organization. (Covey) Today's authoritarian style puts managers at a higher level of importance than that of his employees, he makes the decision, gives the commands, and workers conform and cooperate, perform and contribute as requested to receive the rewards of pay and other benefits. When managers accept that the "old way" of doing things is not fundamentally the right way, and they shift to a new style that puts principle-centered leadership first, a unique relationship will develop. They will see that people have more creative energy, resourcefulness, and initiative to contribute when they feel valued and their accomplishments are valued. When managers begin to work with the whole person and embrace principles of fairness and kindness and make better use of their talents, than people have a sense of doing something that matters, something with meaning.
For this organizational analysis, I decided to analyze Starbucks. I chose Starbucks because they are the leading innovators in socially impactful business activities and personally, I love Starbucks coffee! Obviously, the point of this paper is not to talk about how good their products are, but to analyze how their organization is structured and identify potential for improvement. I have never worked at a Starbucks, but I have two friends that work at the location inside of Hy-Vee in Cedar Falls. After countless hours of research, talking to my friends about day-to-day activities, and actually going to Starbucks on numerous occasions over the past few years, I knew this was the organization that I would love to analyze.