Human Resource Development - Essay Example

This essay seeks to compare two academic articles that involve the elements of HD and HRD. Summarizing the central arguments of the by using HRD theories and research methodologies, this paper reaches the conclusion of the importance of training and development, culture, and values, not just within the corporate context but also in the global perspective. This is done by reviewing the development of HRD theories and practices, as well as the introduction of argument justifications. The central part of the paper talks about workforce or individual development which is considered to be relevant in the field of HRD. Introduction The first academic article was received last September 30, 2010 and it talked about the importance of human resource development (HRD) in the organization and the broader concept of human development (HD). The author suggested that professional values, convictions, and commitments are important elements in order to achieve organizational superiority. HRD as a framework is not just a technology rather it is a continuous process with specific learning objectives (Nadler, 1984). This learning objective is the label that has been attached to every process (Valsiner, 2003, p.7). Through this process, human capital will improve in performance which is at the same time an advantage both to the individual and to the organization. However, the new approach for HRD involved the global instead of organizational perspective that goes beyond workplace organization such as employment training and policies, education, health, and other national resourcefulness (McLean, 2006, p.284). This is the broader concept of HD that will develop individual performances which can be done through training, mentoring, coaching, and many more. The second academic article was received last August 25, 2010, and it is all about evaluation of the effects of merged organizations. The author used the National Health Services (NHS) in the United Kingdom as its focused organization. This research is interesting considering that merging activities among public organizations is very rare because of increasing accountability and transparency. Definitely, these activities are helpful particularly to the private sector; however, not all of them have been successful. Comparative analysis of two academic articles is the main thrust of this paper. Workplace or Individual development in learning organization is the common argument of these two articles. The development of HRD theory and practice will also be discussed. Comparative Analysis First Article. According to Alkire (2002, p.182), “One fundamental reason for serious account of dimensions is to give secure epistemological and empirical footing to the multidimensional objective of human development.” This is the reason why there are several dimensions mentioned in the first article. HD framework is important for HRD considering that the latter is expected to handle the human capital of the organization, and it is the responsible department that will oversee the development of individuals (Laird, et al., p.7). This concept is also justified through Sen’s capability approach, Finnis’ notion of human flourishing and dimensions of development. As described by Alkire (2002, p.184), Sen’s capability approach is one of the developmental approaches that refers to freedom as to what the individual prefers. Sen resisted further that his approach is all about the many capabilities an individual possessed which can be used in the development process. The Sen’s and Finnis’ approaches are somewhat related in terms of values and reasons for actions. The human flourishing approach of Finnis is all about the basic values that “provides standards for choice and action because the integral directiveness of basic practical principles enables us to identify intermediate moral norms that exclude ways of choosing that are incompatible with a will towards integral human fulfillment” (George, 2004, p.271). The argument in the article constituted on how these frameworks become important to HRD department. Sen’s capability approach, Finnis’ notion of human flourishing, and dimensions of development are important for HRD considering that the services are not just for the individual or the organization alone but also to the whole humanity. According to Adam Smith (n.d.), “The capabilities of individuals depended on their access to education” (cited in Sharma, 2009, p.6). The focused of HRD is not just all about the corporate sector or individual development but global perspectives are also included. Education is one of the global approaches in expanding human capital. See for instance, education is helpful in dealing with the rapid face of technological development wherein advance knowledge is more preferred than the traditional (International Labor Organization, 1998, p.7). On the other hand, values are considered as one of the important elements in justifying the role in the society. Just like HRD’s new approach, values for professionals and HRD in particular is not bound for the organization alone but it needs to serve for the good of the public. “When HRD is based on a set of shared values that meshes with the vision, mission, and strategy of the organization, a culture that is energized and continually driving toward excellence can prevail” (Sims R. & Sims, S., 2007, p.338). Second Article. According to Flynn (2007, p.190), “The use of merger to solve the problem of failing institutions comes from private practice in which failing company is bought by a successful one and turned around.” This is the traditional coping mechanism of private organizations while public organizations are increasing pressure as their means of overcoming difficulties. However, this solution is not applicable to all situations because according to available statistics, “acquirers have less than 50-50 chance of being successful of their merger/acquisition ventures” (Pritchett, 1985, p.140). The failures have variety of reasons but the most common is created by culture clashes. It is expected that people in the organization will suffer from uncertainty and insecurity in dealing with the new structure. This is one of the crucial points in merging for it involved the human capital that is why cultural issues must be carefully considered and be given importance. People should be monitored, their viewpoints, perceptions, and personal observations must be considered, and transparency as well as accountability should be increased. Based on literature, knowledge which is not shared because of power differentials is among the working practices within the organization that need to be changed. “If the HRD director sees accountability for knowledge transfer across the organization, and recognises the need to ‘create bridges across boundaries,’ they would work with business areas and functions to facilitate people coming together” (Mayo, 2004, p.153). The transfer of information across boundaries is a great challenge particularly in the merging of public organizations because their people have not yet developed the values of being transparent. Training and development as part of HRD practice is the element that bring the thoughts of two articles together (Laird, et al., 2003, p.3). This area of interest is worthy considering that employees as the human capital are one of the important assets of the organization. This asset is subject to development that will serve as the purpose of human resource development framework (Sharma, 2009, p.6; Elwood, et al., 1996, p.7). However, the new approach of HRD does not only focused on corporate sector but also in a broader context that involved national productivity, health, and education (McLean, et al., 2004). Furthermore, the two articles are talking about workforce or individual development; however, they have different areas of concentration. The development in the first article is in global perspective while the development in the second article has a boundary and is concerned only on individual or organizational context. The Sen’s capability approach, Finni’s notion of human flourishing, and dimensions are applicable to the whole humanity, but merging facilitated only the cultural changes within the organization. According to Oden (1999, p.263), training and development would only be effective if it constituted organizational learning because individual learning is not sufficient to change the whole organization into patterns of behavior. These values and culture are also common in the two articles. Values and culture in the first article is more specific compared to the second article because the concerned is on HRD department and not on the entire organization. In fact, it managed to create its own set of values and professional commitments in order for the members to be properly guided. HRD Theory and Practice “HRD theory includes theory of change, problem solving and decision making, leadership, motivation, communication, participatory management, decentralization, and adult education” (Swansburg, 1995, p.2). The two articles are both dealing with problem solving activities particularly in handling the culture and values of the human capital. The theory of human resource development is the focus of the articles as they addressed the concerned on how to clarify professions in different fields (Swanson & Holton, 2009, p.94). The theory of learning and training will develop a mature individual capable of facing global diversities. Eliminating power differentials and creating consistent working practices will improve the HRD department and will expand the human capital. The theory of communication is explained through the sharing of knowledge across boundaries, and will be efficient if the people in the organization will learn the working practice of transparency. In other words, organizational learning is an HRD practice that is more satisfactory and sufficient compared to individual learning particularly useful in merging organizations. Just like having the idea that individual training and development would be completed if the outcome is translated into an organizational practices, policies, and features. Strengths and Weaknesses The first article is using different approaches and arguments that will serve as a guide to the reader. It also managed to define terms that are in broad context particularly the given approaches. The arguments are clearly defined and examples are best illustrated. However, the human resource management literature review of the article is not thoroughly explained, and some of the presented theories are omitted. The article is addressing different arguments but not all of them are discussed. The relationship between HD and HRD are not clearly answered particularly in the part of conclusion. On the other hand, arguments in the second article are presented with definitions, examples, and well explained literature review. The results are also reliable considering that it is from research with complete data and methodology. However, the author did not convey a summary of findings. The arguments that have been presented about the merged activities of NHS are not clearly justified by developing a summary. Conclusion Authors of the two articles both conveyed different theory development, and the ways of developing varied from each other. The first article is concerned about problem-solving theories not just within the corporate sector or individual development but also in the global perspective. In fact, its definition of HRD involved the whole humanity and the public good. On the other hand, the second article is focused on the problem-solving process within the boundary of merging organizations. The argument lies in the public and private corporations and data from NHS. However, the intersecting point of two authors has meet when they talked about training and development, culture, and values. The arguments of the first article are justified by presenting theories while the basis of the second article is through the conduct of research. Both of them explained the importance of human development framework in the field of human resource development, and the outcome has been successful. Recommendations The moment the organization either public or private decided to merge with another organization, it should carefully consider the culture that has been created. It is expected that people will become uncertain and insecure in the new organizational structure that is why culture and values should be monitored. For practitioners, it is important that they understand the role and function of the organizations in terms of human development before adopting a new system. It would be better if practitioners developed new set of standards, policies, functions, etc. after conducting evaluation and feedbacking. HD is the responsibility of the HRD department and they are expected to create consistent work expectations from their people. References Alkire, S., 2002. Dimensions of human development. World Development, 30 (2), pp.181-205. Elwood, F. Holton II, & Trott, J.W., 1996. Trends toward a closer integration of vocational education and human resource development, Journal of Vocational and technical education, 12 (2), p.7. Flynn, N., 2007. Public sector management, 5th ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd. George, R.P., 2004. In defense of natural law. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. International Labor Organization, 1998. Human resource development in the public service of context of structural adjustment and transition. Geneva, Switzerland: ILO Publications. Laird, D. Naquin, S.S. Holton, E.F. III., 2003. Approaches to training and development. USA: Basic Books. Mayo, A., 2004. Creating a learning and development strategy: the HR business partner’s guide to developing people. London: CIPD. McLean, G.N., 2006. Organization development: principles, processes, performance. San Francisco, California: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. McLean, G.N. Osman-Gani, A.M. Cho, E. & Academy of Human Resource Development. eds., 2004. Human resource development as national policy. London: Sage. Nadler, L., Ed., 1984. The handbook of human resources development. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons. Oden, H.W., 1999. Transforming the organization: a social-technical approach. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Pritchett, P., 1985. After the merger: managing the shockwaves. California: Dow Jones-Irwin. Sims, R.R. & Sims, S. J., 2007. Human resource development: issues, challenges, and opportunities. In: R.R. Sims, ed. 2007. Human resource management: contemporary issues, challenges, and opportunities. USA: Information Age Publishing, Inc. Ch.12. Sharma, S.K., 2009. Human resource management: a strategic approach to employment. New Delhi, ND: Global India Publications Pvt Ltd. Swansburg, R.C., 1995. Nursing staff development: a component of human resource development. Boston, MA: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Swanson, R.A. & Holton, E.F. III., 2009. Foundations of human resource development, 2nd ed. San Francisco, Calinfornia: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Valsiner, J., 2003. Culture and human development: an introduction. London: Sage. Read More