Human Resource Management VS Organisational Change

Essay by satyriconUniversity, Bachelor'sB+, February 2008

download word file, 19 pages 3.0 1 reviews

1.0 IntroductionThis literature review aims to aid our understanding of the correlation between human resource management (HRM) and organisational change (OC). We look into four key areas such as: integrating HRM and OC; theories of strategic HRM; HRM's supportive vs. strategic role - should HR professionals maintain its traditional supportive role or adopt strategic roles; and lastly, how HR professionals manage resistance to change.

We identified that HRM's focus is on managing people within the employer-employee relationship. It involves the productive use of people in achieving the organisation's strategic business objectives and satisfying employee needs. HRM needs to be more then just a set of activities; it is a major contributor to the success of an enterprise because it is in a key position to affect customers, business results and shareholder value (Stone, 2005). An organisation's external effectiveness, productivity and profitability are built on the foundation of effective HR, thus the need for higher levels of sensitisation to the 'human side of the enterprise' (Chandra and Kabra, 2000).

Organisations are consistently changing and organisational changes are large-scale transitions that affect interactions, reporting relationships and responsibilities (Gilley and Maycunich, 2000). Regardless of industry, size of business, or stage of development, companies have to cope with the dynamics of flux and instability, and business success depends on the ability of an organisation to be flexible and resilient (Schomer, 2002). Several factors drive organisational change; including costs, market competition and share, financial disasters, declining revenue and profits and technology (Gilley and Maycunich, 2000). Businesses have to deal with multiple changes at the same time (Schomer, 2002).

A changing business environment has led to a strategic shift in the HR function. Strategic HRM focuses on the linking of all HR activities with the organisation's strategic objectives (Stone, 2005). In...