Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example

?Running Head: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Strategic Human Resource Management: Comparison and Contrast of Approaches Submitted by: XXXXXXX Student Number: XXXXXX Tutor’s Name: XXXXXX Date of Submission: XX – XX – 2011 University of XXXXXX Introduction: Human resource management of an organization deals with a number of management decisions which have a major impact and influence on the people of the organization. The human resource management when dealt with in a strategic manner with strategic plans and well thought out and strategically devised practices, then this is referred to as Strategic Human Resource Management. The main aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the various approaches of strategic human resource management. Strategic International Human Resource Management: Strategic Human Resource Management focuses on the areas and ways in which the human resource management proves to be beneficial to the organization. Miller (1989) defines SHRM as, “Strategic Human Resource Management encompasses those decisions and actions, which concern the management of employees at all, levels in the business and which are directed towards creating and sustaining competitive advantage”. Walker 1992, however has provided a simple explanation of strategic human resource management, and he explains that aligning the human resources activities with the strategic decisions of a business refers to the strategic human resource management. It has been becoming evident for several businesses that the inclusion of strategy into the human resource practice leads to better overall performance of the organization. According to Ulrich, 1997, the implementation of strategic human resource management simply implies that there are greater opportunities to align the HR goals and also the strategies and philosophies with the main objective of the corporate. It is essential to note that the terms ‘integration or fit’ refers to the alignment and involvement of the strategic human resource management within the organization and based on the needs of the organization. Wright &McMahan explain fit as, “… the pattern of planned human resource deployment and activities to enable a firm to achieve its goal”. It is also essential to understand the two types of fits as explained by Inyang, 2010, “Scholars of SHRM identify two kinds of fit: horizontal fit and vertical fit. Horizontal fit refers to the congruence among various HRM practices (Baird & Meshoulam, 1998), and vertical fit refers to the alignment of HRM practice with strategic management process of the firm (Schuler & Jackson, 1987)”. Several approaches have been developed to strategic international human resource management and each of these has their own advantages and disadvantages. The following section will detail the various approaches and aims to compare and contrast these approaches. Approaches to Strategic International Human Resource Management: There are four main approaches to strategic international human resource management. These include: a) Strategy Focused Approach: Some authors are of the view that human resource management and strategic HRM are the same. Authors believe that the nature of HRM is strategic (Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2007). However this view has not been clearly accepted by a number of authors and it is believed that strategic human resources and HRM although might be similar in a few aspects are not the same. This approach focuses on the strategy based view. b) Decision Focused Approach: Authors like Tichy et al express that there are three main levels of management. These they explain include, the long term, i.e. strategic, medium term, i.e. managerial and the short term, i.e. operational (Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2007). Authors believe that the functions of human resources that are completed at strategic level together form strategic international human resource management. However there have been arguments that the managerial or also the operational level of human resource functions are more so the HRM activities than the strategic human resource management activities (Greer, 2000). c) Content Focused Approach: Here authors have identified that in every HRM model there tends to be some of the elements which are strategic in nature and this they refer to as strategic human resource management. Here authors explain that strategic human resource management can emerge since a few of the functional aspects of the human resources management can also be synced with the organization and its strategy. d) Implementation Focused Approach: In this approach the authors identify that every organization has a set of competitive objectives for which the company develops strong business strategies. Here if similar strategies need to be implemented and applied to human resource management then it is referred to as strategic human resource management (Greer, 2000). Each of the above mentioned approaches clearly include different views of the organization and also take into account different aspects of the organization which help give rise to the strategic human resource planning. Here it is important to note that although most of these are interlinked the main difference among them is the nature of the approach. Each approach takes into account various elements of business and on how the strategic international human resource management is developed within the organization (Dessler, 2010). It is also important to note here that these approaches are based on six main elements which include, a) The transformation of the human resource staff and structure, b) improving the overall administrative efficiency, c) creating a sync between human resource and strategic planning process of the organization, d) creating a fit between the human resources practices and the business strategy itself, e) taking into account the impact of the human resources on the business and also f) development of relationship with the line management. These elements clearly indicate all the areas that together help in the development of Strategic International Human Resource Management. Although all the approaches might be different and might undertake different areas to develop the human resource management, the main crux of all the approaches is clearly the above mentioned six elements (Dowling, Festing, & Engle, 2007). Conclusions: In conclusion, it is clear that there have been several approaches to the development of the concept of Strategic International Human Resource Management. Each of these contributes to the overall success of the company and also to the development of the human resource management in an international and strategic sense. References Dessler, G. (2010). Human Resource Management. Prentice Hall. Dowling, P. J., Festing, M., & Engle, A. (2007). International Human Resource Management: Managing People in a Multinational Context. South-Western College Pub. Greer, C. R. (2000). Strategic Human Resource Management: A General Managerial Approach. Prentice Hall. Inyang, B.J., 2010, ‘Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM): A Paradigm Shift for Achieving Sustained Competitive Advantage in Organization’, International Bulletin of Business Administration, Issue 7 (2010), p. 23-36 Ulrich, D. (1997). ‘Human resources champions’ Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Read More