Human Resource Management and Personnel Management Essay Example for Free

Human Resource Management and Personnel Management Essay Introduction 1. This report discusses the historical development of Human Resource Management (HRM), identifies the role and purposes of HRM, and also to distinguish between personnel management and HRM. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) defines personnel management as the part of management concerned with people at work and with their relationships within an enterprise. It aims to bring together, and develop into an effective organisation, the people within an business, having regard for the welfare of the individual and of working groups, to enable them to make their best contribution to its success. HRM may be defined as a strategic and coherent approach to the management of an organisations most valued assets: the people working there who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its objectives for sustainable competitive advantage. The Nature and Development of Personnel management 2. HRM obtained acknowledgment in the late 1970s in the USA, as a label for the way companies such as IBM were managing their people. These companies applied the principles outlined by David Guest (1989) to gain a competitive edge over their competitors. These four principles are listed below. a) Strategic integration -the ability of organisations to integrate HRM issues into their strategic plans, to ensure that the various aspects of HRM cohere and for line managers to incorporate a HRM perspective into their decision making. b) High commitment people must be managed in a way that ensures both their genuine behavioural commitment to pursuing the goals of the organisation and their attitudinal commitment, reflected in strong identification with the organisation. c) Flexibility HRM policies must be structured to allow maximum flexibility for the organisation, so it can respond to ever changing business needs: for example, by encouraging functional versatility in employees and by creating an adaptable organisational structure with the capacity to manage innovation. d) High Quality The notion of quality must run through everything the organisation does, including the management of employees and investment in high-quality employees, which in turn will bear directly on the quality of the goods and services provided. Personnel management can be traced back to second half of the nineteenth century when Victorian workers were hit hard by the industrialisation, and urbanisation of Britain. Companies such as Cadbury and Rowntree, initiated programmes for their employees managed on their behalf by industrial welfare workers, the philosophy behind these people was that in the welfare tradition, the work and responsibilities of the personnel officer was directed to the employees, rather than to the strategic concerns of the organisation and its management. The programmes included facilities such as company housing, health care, education for workers families and so on. The motivation for these measures included, that they reflected a wider social reform, led by political and religious groups. In the USA groups like Quakers were abolishing slavery, and striving to increase business performance by the moral and social enhancement of their employees. Moreover, as more motivation to convert to these programmes, improved health and education for the workers and their families meant that these employers would have a better reputation with employees and consumers, employees would be more committed and motivated, also there would always be great demand for a job within the company. This can be linked to Maslows theory on the hierarchy of needs, in which he states that workers are motivated by five different needs. Physiological- pay, holidays (lower order need) Safety Health and safety measures, pensions (lower order need) Social formal and informal groups, social events (lower order need) Self-esteem power, promotion (higher order need) Self-actualisation challenging work, developing new skills (higher order need) These programmes and jobs would provide something for each of the lower order needs, therefore increasing motivation throughout the workforce. Furthermore, consumers would feel morally better as they were buying products that were helping the working classes. This could be considered very similar to the ideas linked with the popularity of fair trade products in modern day society. The demise of the working class was outlined at this time when the British government had problems recruiting troops for the Crimean and Boer wars, as many people failed the medical, and the health of the nations labourers was brought into the limelight. The need for negotiation, conflict resolution and the management of relationships between labour and management occurred in 1871 with the legislation of trade unions. This was recognised politically, with formation of the aptly named Labour Representation Committee in 1900, which was renamed in 1906 as the Labour party, which was largely funded by the trade union development. In 1911, the National Insurance Scheme created the first welfare provisions for workers in the result of illness, or unemployment. The establishment of the Ministry of Labour to address wider issues and representations quickly followed this in 1916. In the 1930s and 40s management theorists changed attributes of their theories, as scientific management which was in current use came under scrutiny for dehumanising employees. This is when the HRM approach began to appear, being backed by Maslow, Herzberg, and McGregor who shifted their attention to the higher order needs, as shown above on Maslows hierarchy of needs. The new key to motivation of the workforce involved job satisfaction, which it was then believed, could not be achieved just from maintenance factors like pay and working conditions. The governments influence on industrial relations, and the workforces continued until the mid 1970s in conjunction with social reforms in health and education. After this time the UK government did not interfere in collaborated relationships between the employer and employee, with the exception of trade union reform. In spite of that the latter half of the twentieth century saw extreme legislation in all sectors of employment. It was during this era that the industrial relations tradition suggests that the work and the responsibility of the personnel officer was to mediate and even arbitrate between the sides in industrial disputes, to facilitate collective bargaining, negotiation and compliance with the current industrial relations laws. As a response to the escalating speed of organisational expansion and alterations, the control of labour tradition suggests that the work and responsibility of the personnel officer is to support management by regulating the range of workplace activity. This includes job allocation, performance, absenteeism, pay, communication, training, and so on. The CIPD have endeavoured to establish personnel management as a career, by providing a programme of learning resulting in a qualification. However, many personnel managers do not posses this qualification and this is rarely seen as an obstruction within the career. It is safe to say that all personnel managers will use remnants of the welfare, industrial, and the control of labour traditions to become part of the professional tradition that is occurring today. The Role and Tasks of the Personnel Function 3. Personnel specialists can take various roles like line mangers, advisors, service providers, auditors, Co-ordinators and planners and in todays modern world of rapidly developing technology, ethics, and growing organisations in any business there is need for specialist advice on personnel matters, whether it is internal or external. This is because the practise of personnel management needs to be consistent, impartial, proficient and on course with organisational goals, as there are constant developments in this field that require expertise in the area of personnel management. The need for this specialist has several contributing factors including the need to comply with changing regulation and legislation, for example the personnel specialist may be used to recruit staff to avoid sex or racial discrimination. Constant changes within the labour market have also meant that policies need to be designed by someone with current knowledge on the matter. Moreover, trade unions, industrial tribunals, and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) have a continuous role in employee relations; therefore having some one who is familiar with the legislation amongst other things that is used would be very useful. However, since there the existing role of the personnel manager is so diverse there are different models derived by different theorists. A popular model is that suggested by Tyson and Fell (1986). The three roles that they suggest are: * The clerk of works model all authority for actions is with line managers. Personnel policies are formed after the actions that created the need. Policies are not integral and are short term and ad hoc. Personnel activities are routine and involve day-to-day administration. * The contracts manager model Policies are established, often implicit, with heavy industrial relations emphasis. The personnel department will use fairly sophisticated systems especially with regard to employee relations. The personnel manager is likely to be a professional or experienced in industrial relations. They should take on the role of policing the implementation of policies, but does not create them. * The architect model Explicit corporate personnel policies exist as part of the corporate strategy. HR planning and development are important concepts. The head of the function is likely to be on the Board of Directors, and is therefore seen as a professional, making an important contribution to the business. Policies are often formed to assist in the personnel function to make sure that people are treated equally, and that laws and regulations are met. These can include equal opportunities, disciplinary policies, and safety policies. The policies are based upon legislation put in place by the Government and the EU in certain areas like safety. The values and philosophies of the business about how the employees should be treated and what kind of behaviour will enable them to work most effectively on the organisations behalf. The needs and wants of employees, and the organisations need to attract and retain the kind of employees it wants by its reputation of practice as an employer. The Shift in Approach Which Has Led to the Term HRM 4. Throughout history the social change has been reflected in personnel management, and which also changes in conjunction with the social needs. This is shown by the implementation of legislation and rules, to stop discrimination and aid safety measures, as the social climate becomes more morally aware of the workforce. In the late nineteenth century it would not have been unheard of for people to die at work, even into the twentieth century there were still accident that occur to labourers working in primary industries, but this became more shocking, as with the development of technology it was publicised by the media and made safer by improvements, as a company realised that its image was very important. A political and economic change is also evident through out history, for example in the 1970s when the government would no longer interfere with some matters between employer and employee relations, this is because it was realised that full employment was not as important as controlling inflation and other economic factors. Also HRM has become common through out the business world and is thoroughly integrated into the organisational structure of a business. This is because it has been found that companies use this approach in different strengths to achieve a competitive edge over their rivals. Today companies like Marks Spencer, McDonalds, and even public sector businesses like British Gas are using various strengths of HRM. Recommendations 5. To draw conclusion, it is my recommendation that Phoenix Tannoy Ltd. consider establishing a HR department as it is shown in history that the use of HRM does give a competitive edge over rivals, by motivating employees. The reality is that by moving to a HR department Phoenix Tannoy will motivate its workforce by implementing policies and procedures that benefit all the staff. Motivated staff are then more committed to the organisation, and motivated into doing the best they can to help the business achieve its goals. Moreover, a HR department would remove the depersonalised face of the personnel department and make the company less bureaucratic.

Ecstacy :: essays research papers

Ecstacy is one of the most addictive drugs out today. Most users of this addictive drug is either at a club or on the street. "Nearly all of the first time users 30% of those have fatal effects on the user (Cranford 12)" They end up usually in a deep coma or they die. Most users want ecstacy either because they heard of the high that they get from the use, or they are trying to impress their peers. They usually get into deep side effects. Some code names for ecstacy at a club are Game High, Tasty Treat, G Squared, and BW3. Some code names for ecstacy on the street are usually Special Tab, Hidden High, Relax Tab and Rough Ride. The street version is way more potent than the club version. The one in the clubs are usually either fake or not very strong. They usually dont give out a major dose, they usually rip off the user by saying "this is the best stuff you can buy possible." Which is a major lie to the user, but he just needs that little high to calm his need of ecstacy at a low rate. Most code names vary depending where you are in the country or world. There are totally opposite names for ecstacy in new york and L.A. Some side effects after use of ecstacy are heart rate increases, blood pressure sky rockets, and usually dosent come down for a period of time. Vision come a little distorted but the user just dosent mind that, they just need a little fix for the night to have a little fun. The vision turns to about 20-75, they can still see fine, they may ocasionally see a double vision. They feel this effect as if they are really light headed or just feeling really dizzy at moments. That need of that same effect of the first time of use, usually gets that first time user hooked on the drug. They try to get a fix everytime they feel like they need a fix. That usually happens about 12-24 hrs. after each use. Thats for a periodical user. Most users dont abuse the drug to often. " The user just needs that little bit of a high and dosent abuse but likes the effects of the major high (Richardson 15)." The user likes the feel of being in a high and dosent want to come down from that. Ecstacy :: essays research papers Ecstacy is one of the most addictive drugs out today. Most users of this addictive drug is either at a club or on the street. "Nearly all of the first time users 30% of those have fatal effects on the user (Cranford 12)" They end up usually in a deep coma or they die. Most users want ecstacy either because they heard of the high that they get from the use, or they are trying to impress their peers. They usually get into deep side effects. Some code names for ecstacy at a club are Game High, Tasty Treat, G Squared, and BW3. Some code names for ecstacy on the street are usually Special Tab, Hidden High, Relax Tab and Rough Ride. The street version is way more potent than the club version. The one in the clubs are usually either fake or not very strong. They usually dont give out a major dose, they usually rip off the user by saying "this is the best stuff you can buy possible." Which is a major lie to the user, but he just needs that little high to calm his need of ecstacy at a low rate. Most code names vary depending where you are in the country or world. There are totally opposite names for ecstacy in new york and L.A. Some side effects after use of ecstacy are heart rate increases, blood pressure sky rockets, and usually dosent come down for a period of time. Vision come a little distorted but the user just dosent mind that, they just need a little fix for the night to have a little fun. The vision turns to about 20-75, they can still see fine, they may ocasionally see a double vision. They feel this effect as if they are really light headed or just feeling really dizzy at moments. That need of that same effect of the first time of use, usually gets that first time user hooked on the drug. They try to get a fix everytime they feel like they need a fix. That usually happens about 12-24 hrs. after each use. Thats for a periodical user. Most users dont abuse the drug to often. " The user just needs that little bit of a high and dosent abuse but likes the effects of the major high (Richardson 15)." The user likes the feel of being in a high and dosent want to come down from that.

How Fair British Education for All

HOW FAIR BRITISH EDUCATION FOR ALL This essay will analyse how education system helps to maintain class inequality in contemporary Britain. In Britain, a good quality of public education service has been promised for all children regardless of ethnicity, race or income. Unfortunately, School League Table and recent surveys show opposite. In 1944, the government passed Education Act which allowed all children to receive secondary education. Children would be selected by ability for different types of school through an IQ test called the 11+ (in Scotland, the qualifying exam). Between 1964 and 1974, all secondaries re-organised into comprehensive schools instead of IQ test selection. In today’s Britain, there are state (92%) and private (8%) schools with level of primary, secondary and tertiary. Vocational or non-vocational curriculum is being used and leaving school age is 16 since 1972. Universities continue to grow and now 40% of 18 year olds go onto university whereas in 1960s it was 5% of school leavers. Although the vast majority (80%) of private school pupils go into the university, almost 40% of state school pupils go into the further education. This shows that class inequality exists in British education system. All sociologists accept that education is important in society as people receive 15000 hours of compulsory education. However, they have different opinions about the role of education in society. The originator of the functionalist ideology, Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) argued that education is an agent of secondary socialisation which transmits norms, values and roles (value consensus) and acts as a bridge between family and the whole social system. He claims pupils should see themselves as part of a nation by learning of certain subjects which can establish a common political identity for social solidarity, i. e. history, so pupils can see similarities between themselves and the past society. American sociologist, Talcott Parsons (1903-1979) developed Durkheim’s ideas. He argues that everybody has the same chance to succeed, therefore pupils who are most successful in schools due to their effort and ability and different talents are fitted into appropriate jobs. This is known as meritocracy. People also learn skills required by modern industrial society in order to keep nation efficient and allow people earn a living. These skills may be general skills such as literacy and numeracy or specific skills required by particular occupations. The weakness of functionalism is no explanation for how all schools, including religious and fee-paying schools, can transmit a common value system while there are many individuals with different values. They assume the education system establish fair standards for everyone so pupils can achieve their status in society. This meritocratic approach cannot be true if private and grammar schools are considered as private schools have advantage to state schools. 40% gap of entering higher education between middle class and working class children shows the reality. The other strong ideology is Marxism. The founder, Karl Marx (1818-1883), assumes that education is part of society that is vital for the ruling class (bourgeoisie) to exploit the working class (proletariat). French Marxist philosopher, Louis Pierre Althusser (1918-1990) argues that education system tells people what to believe and how to achieve it which creates false consciousness known as Ideological State Apparatus (ISA). The system also legitimates inequality. Meritocracy and hidden curriculum makes people believe that individual differences are the reasons for success and failure. In addition, Bowles & Gintis suggest that education system produces a workforce with the skills and attitudes required by employers, thus ensuring that profits continue to be made for the ruling class. They also insist there is a pattern of success or failure related to social factors such as class, ethnicity and selection does not occur on basis of ability. Although Marxism provides strong ideas, it has some weak points such as not telling how teachers are â€Å"tools† of the system and showing pupils as passive. It does not explain how the bourgeoisie control the system for their own benefits. Functionalists defined â€Å"cultural deprivation† to explain working class underachievement. It means children who lack the basic cultural norms, values, language and skills that commonly shared by most other members of society. As Basil Bernstein states that working class families speak in â€Å"restricted code† which means smaller vocabulary, less adjectives and adverbs, information is short with no details or additional explanations, while middle class families speak in â€Å"elaborated code†, with more effective communication. Therefore working class pupils have limited skills required by education such as describing, analysing and comparing whereas middle class pupils have enough mental stimulation which is crucial as teachers use elaborated code. Hart & Risley supported this thesis by saying a professional’s child knows more words than a working class family’s child and likely to be more successful in school. However, it fails to consider material deprivation and structural inequalities, the organisation of school and teacher’s expectations. Nell Keddie states that working class culture is different not deficient. Blackstone and Mortimore (1994) argue that working class families have no less interest in their children’s education. Paul Willis tries to answer criticism of Marxism and shows that there is no meritocracy in a capitalist society in his study called â€Å"Learning to Labour†. The â€Å"lads† (12 pupils) had their own counter-school culture which was opposed to the values espoused by the school. The lads felt superior both to the teacher and to conformist pupils. They can see through the ideological smokescreen which means they are aware of capitalistic society is not meritocratic and they will end up having low-paid jobs so there is no need to gain qualifications. Although they believe workplace is a sense of adulthood/manhood, they still have the same attitude: the lack of respect for authority and having a â€Å"laff†. Therefore education can have unintended consequences on pupils which may not be completely beneficial to capitalism. Despite the significant findings, this study has a small-scale view as it includes only 12 boys and is gender biased so it is difficult to generalise the findings. Functionalists and Marxists try to address the problem differently, but none of them have satisfying explanations. Functionalists see the education system as providing a positive educational experience which benefits the children and society. They blame working class families or culture for the poor results of working class children. Whereas, Marxists claim that the system oppresses and harms people, and that it only benefits the powerful. Both of them ignore gender, ethnicity and labelling (Stephen Ball) which develops self-fulfilling prophecy (Rosenthal & Jacobson) means when people treat you as if you had certain attributes, you start acting that way. All these studies and recent surveys show that there is a class inequality in Britain and education system maintains it. The Sutton Trust suggests a solution: secondary schools should be more balanced and disadvantaged youngsters should be attained in order to be in better position. Tevhide Turkmen

Essay on The Internet and Intellectual Property Laws

The Internet and Intellectual Property Laws With the emergence and growth of the internet, intellectual property laws are much harder to enforce and many people are saying that they are outdated and obsolete. Intellectual property allows you to own your ideas, thoughts, and creativity as you would own a piece of tangible property. The human mind is a creative tool that comes up with ideas, designs, schemes, and inspirations of all kinds. Intellectual property views these ideas as being property. The ideas must also have commercial value and be a tradable commodity otherwise there would be no point to protect it. Intellectual property is basically the ownership of ideas. If one were to write a novel, for which the idea was conceived†¦show more content†¦For almost every company there is usually a symbol, name or word that distinguishes them from their competitors and other companies. If you were to start a company of your own and came up with your unique symbol, you would not want another company to use it. In order fo r you to keep your symbol your own you would need a trademark to protect it. A trademark would make sure that only you are allowed to use that symbol relative to whatever your product is. A trademark’s rights cover â€Å"only the use of the mark in commerce as connected to the product, not the mark itself or the product the mark represents†2. That means that there are no rights on the product that your symbol is representing; only for the symbol you use for the product, and only for that product. It is basically a marketing tool that allows customers to recognize the product. An example would be the company Nike; their checkmark logo is a very recognizable mark and when we see it we relate it to their shoes or clothes. What is used to protect intellectual property such as books and movies is a copyright. A copyright excludes others from reproducing, displaying, performing, or distributing ideas expressed in a fixed medium such as text, film, video or sound recording, computer disk, or 3-dimensional form. Even if some other type of fixed medium is similar to another one; it is still an infringement of many copyright laws. If you were to create something new, without copyright protection it wouldShow MoreRelatedHe Advantages and Disadvantages of Intellectual Property in the Digital Age.1461 Words   |  6 Pagesand disadvantages of intellectual property in the digital age. Intellectual property is an umbrella term that covers copyright, patents, trademarks, designs, and confidentiality and trade secrets. Each of these terms covers a different type of property that is made up of knowledge. Many of these terms cover physical objects, however it is the idea behind them that counts and needs to be protected. The growth of the Internet has put pressure on traditional intellectual property protections such asRead More Copyright and the Internet Essay examples1425 Words   |  6 Pagesdissemination; moveable type was the fifteenth century version of Napster† (Copyright Website). Copyright laws were instated to protect authors of various intellectual properties, (literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, architectural) and give credit to the proper author. Over the years copyright laws have changed dramatically, because of the development of the internet. Before the internet in order to be caught plagiarizing someone would have to read through all sorts of literary works, to knowRead MoreBarriers to Foreign Investment in the Chinese Internet Industry1675 Words   |  7 PagesBarriers to Foreign Investment in the Chinese Internet Industry Summary: Developing an Internet business in China is not easy, even though the country has the largest Internet user population among all countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Chinese laws make foreign investment difficult, and the country -- quite unlike the United States -- has strict legal controls on information and distribution and poor enforcement of intellectual property laws. This article explains the barriers facing high-techRead MoreIntellectual Property Protection and Enforcement Essay1365 Words   |  6 PagesIntellectual property (IP) is defined as property that is developed through an intellectual and creative processes. Intellectual property falls under the category of property known as intangible rights, which includes patents (inventions of processes, machines, manufactures, and compositions of matter), copyrights (original artistic and literary works of), trademarks (commercial symbols), and trade secrets ((product formulas, patterns, designs). Intellectual propert y rights has a significant valueRead MoreData Collection And Research Methodology935 Words   |  4 Pagesfirst question asked in the research was based on the knowledge of intellectual property rights. Astoundingly only 53% of participants answered yes to having knowledge of the existence of intellectual property rights. This is quite staggering considering the potential legal issues associated with the incorrect use of someone’s intellectual property. 66% of participants answered no to understanding what the meaning of intellectual property rights exactly are in detail. The protection of use is in essenceRead MoreProtection of Intellectual Property Essay1030 Words   |  5 PagesProtection of Intellectual Property Introduction There is a lot of controversy about intellectual property and its application to software. There are many difficult, fundamental questions that arise, such as exactly what aspects of a piece of software should be protected under copyright or patent. [5] Despite the fact that applying existing laws to software is not very straight-forward, some sort of legal protection for intellectual property is necessary, as it provides a significant amount ofRead MoreEssay on Intellectual Property in the Age of the Internet1683 Words   |  7 PagesIntellectual Property in the Age of the Internet When Tim Berners-Lee created the Internet as a non-proprietor, not-for-profit information conduit, he could not have predicted how controversial digitized intellectual property would become. Prior to the Internet, intellectual property was a fairly straightforward issue. It was protected with copyright, trademark, and patent legislations, which granted exclusive rights to owners. Violations were not as abundant because distribution wasRead MoreHow Internet Has Become An Integral Part Of Our Life Essay856 Words   |  4 Pages†¢ Internet has become an integral part of our life. Within 50 past years it turned from the program of USA Department of Defense to worldwide web that helps people communicate, buy goods, study, travel, earn money etc. Internet’s birth takes us back to the extremely competitive technological contest between the US and the USSR during the Cold War. The Soviet Union sent the satellite Sputnik 1 into space on October 4, 1957. In response, the American government created in 1958 the Defense AdvancedRead MoreEthics, Intellectual Property, And Piracy1379 Words   |  6 Pagescommunication methods and the availability of the Internet have made a large world much smaller in the context of information sharing, so the importance of understanding and utilizing measures to protect intellectual property and copyrights is vital to business success, ethical understanding and acceptance. In the following, I will specifically discuss the concepts of copyright, intellectual property, and piracy. Copyrights are a form of intellectual property, and the concepts of piracy and plagiarism threatensRead MoreIntellectual Property in The US736 Words   |  3 PagesIntellectual Property Intellectual property is an incredibly complicated facet of the law. In the United States, we have many laws in place to control and limit profiting from others intellectual property. The issue is not only profiting from others intellectual property, but not purchasing the property from the originator as well. We will discuss why it is important to protect this property as well as why it is tremendously difficult to regulate all these safe guards. â€Å"Intellectual Property has