Human Resource Management and Performance - Case Study Example

Introduction Change is intrinsic part of life which can be easily observed through evolving database of knowledge that is accrued over time and utilized through its application in all areas of mutual interest. This ongoing process is continuously being simulated to garner more information and knowledge to satisfy the curiosity and meet the emerging challenges of the changing time. Nonaka, eminent social scientists has emphatically stated that ‘tacit knowledge cannot be codifies and is hard to formulize and communicate’ (1991). It becomes especially important in the context of academia that thrive on the concept of uniqueness and innovative practice that is difficult to emulate or replicate. That is the reason, the precepts and concepts of knowledge, have become important tools for not only widening the scope of utilization of the existing resources but they have become imperative to understand the mysteries of nature and initiate paths of discovering new frontiers of socio-economic and scientific development. It has therefore, become imperative to promote closer relationship between the academia and the business processes. Importance of relationship between the academia and firms Eminent social scientist, Murmann says that UK and France lost their industrial leadership positioning in the ‘dye industry’ in the early nineteenth century and pre WWI era to Germany, primarily because they failed to anticipate the changes and improve and improvise their knowledge of the industry. Germany had realized the importance of close network of academia, industry and government and worked towards forging ties that resulted in acquiring more knowledge about dye innovation and better government policies and regulations provided them with enviable competitive edge over Britain and France. ‘Where the industrial-academic-government network was large and close-knit (Germany), collective action on behalf of the dye industry tended to succeed; where the network was small and distant (Britain and United States), collective action was likely to fail’ (Murmann, 1967). Biotechnology is another major area that has seen significant spill over of its research in different field of industrial growth like pharmaceuticals, medical instruments, agriculture, brewery etc. The huge implication of research in biotechnology for diversified fields has seen successful linkages between the universities and industries in the recent times (Zucker, Darby & Armstrong, 1998). The academia has become extremely important for knowledge based industries which thrive on change and fostering closer ties facilitates advantage over their rivals in the business environment through assets accrued from intellectual property rights and patents. ‘Academic research … holds quality and excellence as ends in themselves’ (Goldberg, 1996). Research, therefore, is vital academic tool that facilitates knowledge based socio-economic and business decisions that are essential part of the development of the business processes. Indeed, the researchers have shown that for innovation is intrinsically interconnected with novel ideas and the networking of organizations exposes industries to the huge stack of new ideas and creates platform for transfer of knowledge (Lundvall, 1992; Carlsson, 1997; Chesbrough, 2003; Malerba, 2005; Powell and Grodal, 2005). The relationship between the industry and the university has become a very essential ingredient of development and highly relevant in the contemporary times primarily because of the fact that the in the ‘knowledge based view of the firm’, creation of knowledge has become more important than value (Grant, 1996; Kogut and Zander, 1996). Aims and objectives of tie-up The key objective that drives the industries to forge alliances with the academia is the ever expanding knowledge base that is intrinsically linked to the academia or universities. The increasing use of knowledge made huge impact on the lives of the people, facilitating interchange of information while at the same time, using it as one of the most powerful tool to influence paradigms of socio-political relationship across the globe. The implicit and explicit use of knowledge thus, became strong motivators for change. The industries, especially knowledge based industries, constantly need to keep updated with innovation in their product and services so that they are able to maintain an edge over their rivals. Stand alone research and development of the industries is not sufficient for them to keep abreast with the wide scope of assets in the form of intellectual property. Building relationship with universities gives them the leverage of high quality brain picking and research in the pre-determined areas of socio-scientific arena. Another crucial factor of the relationship is the human resource capital that they are able to use from the premium universities of higher studies, that considerably impacts their performance outcome. The human capital is of significant importance because of the highly competitive environment of global business. The professional courses of the various managerial and technical universities and colleges are designed to cover the core areas of business and equip them with necessary skills and knowledge so that are able to exploit the emerging challenges of the fast changing business environment. Areas of interests for forging fruitful relationship Universities and academia is the major seat of learning and have increasingly become essential for the development of economy (Love and McNicoll, 1988; Bleaney et al., 1992). They seem have formed direct and indirect linkages with organizations and industries which have resulted in considerable impact on the socio-economic development of the society at large. Indeed, it can be said that ‘learning is a social construction process’ (Brown and Duguid, 1991). Institutionalization of knowledge in well defined categories like medicine, science and technology, history, geography, theology etc. became important arms of the knowledge base in the development process of the changing times. Indeed, the expansion is knowledge is inherently linked to the context and the prevailing conditions and therefore the universities and the firms need to develop fruitful relationship. There are three major areas where the industries are keen to network with the academia: research; human resource management; and consultancy. Research Research is an intrinsic part of development. The academic format of research has long since been conducted as means to develop theories and theoretical models that could be used in the different business situations to optimise the performance and productivity. Though, the basic purpose of the research has remained the same but the rapidly changing environment of global business and advancing technology have made it necessary that the format of the academic research must undergo certain changes and encompass close interaction between the two principals (management and academia research and business enterprises) so as to emphasize and resolve the conflicts and exploit the vast potential that are part of the changing paradigms of the highly competitive businesses across the world. Research in the scientific and technical areas, especially biotechnology, promotes discovery and invention of new products that provide the firms and individuals with great business and financial advantage through patents and ownership rights, which are crucial measure of success. (Griliches, 1990; Darby & Zucker, 2001). The concept of patenting knowledge in the form of new products has added a zing to the research and greatly facilitated the commercialization of knowledge, thus providing huge impetus for the researchers and industries to foster tie-up. The networking of different organizations significantly influence innovation and learning processes (Cohen and Levinthal 1990; Powell 1990; March, 1991; McEvily and Zaheer 1999). The emerging new trends in the business have changed the socio-economic dynamics of the society. They have become more competitive and at the same time more complex with the challenges of the diverse demands that have emerged as a result of global values. The scientific and managerial research helps the academic world and the business community to meet the challenges of the times with more creativity and improve and improvise the performance outcome, within the parameters of organizational goals and objectives. The research is also important to evaluate the existing modules of the business administration, strategic design and analysis of products and services etc. so that more innovative approach is encompassed in the business processes to meet the challenges of global and domestic competition. Human Resource Development Researchers and social scientists have asserted that the human resource of a firm is its most important source of providing competitive advantage (Lado & Wilson, 1994; Guest, 1997; Barney & Wright, 1998). The human capital theory emphasises positive co-relation of the performance outcome of the firm with the skill and capabilities of the employees (Flamholtz and Lacey, 1981; McKelvey, 1983). Human capital has therefore gained prominence in the strategic human resource management of the firms. Close tie up of business enterprises with premium universities and other centres of academic excellence has become highly profitable. The academia covers the various core areas of business such that the students are evolved into human capital who develop creative approach and improvise and improve the business processes to compete effectively with the changing business trends. The in-house interviews in the professional colleges have become intrinsic part of curricula value additions that are able to provide the industry with highly qualified professionals who are equipped to meet the challenges of the time. Consultancy Consultancy is yet another important area of close relationship between the two. The business houses and industries have great advantage of cashing the tacit knowledge of the professors and scientists to enhance their strategic goals and objectives. The industries have massive need to consult the academia in solving their problems and provide them with the ‘best and most appropriate solution to the problem’ (Denis and Lomas, 2003). The role of university is significant because it must facilitate transfer of knowledge in order to promote socio-economic development of the society and the best way to transfer it is to forge linkages with the industries and institutions that inherently work for the development (Caplan, 1979; Lavis et al., 2003). Barriers to relationship development The increasing trend of commercialization of the academic aspect of higher education, especially with relation to the professional education in the field of management, science and technology has become a serious concern. Privatization of professional education is laudable so far as improving the access to skilled and knowledge based exposure is concerned but in the wider interests of the academia, the institutions must forego the need to cater to select business houses/ communities and take up research programmes which would serve the present and future generation of business communities. There is urgent need to reassess the basic objectives of the research and introduce criteria that would take into account the mutual interests of the two communities, vis-à-vis academia and business enterprises. The independence of the academic institutions in the academic research is a decisive factor for the institutions to maintain value based research programmes that would correctly reflect the changing paradigms of the business environment and help facilitate better options to address the emerging challenges in the dynamics of new business equations. Another very important barrier is the very low number of qualified scientists and researchers who can be credited with high quality of research and analysis. The dearth of scholars who can be trusted with the in-depth research into the areas that is pre-determined and pre-defined by the industry is one of the most critical barriers for industries. Apart from quality research, confidentiality and trust are important ingredients in the industry-academia relationship as they form the essential asset for the industry in the highly competitive business environment. Conclusion The recent studies in the management and academic research have shown that new formats of research are both original and highly competent to address the diversity of the business programmes and business modalities. The inclusion of practicalities of the business processes and business situations, in the management and academic research, are proving to be the mantra of success for meeting the challenges of the changing times. The traditional format of research which originates as a result of curiosity and hitherto producing theoretical outcomes of fictitious business situations, is now being conducted under the new format that takes into account the real life situations and practical applications and repercussions of actions and reactions of business decisions. 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