Influential External Forces on HR Strategies and Practices

1. HUMAN RESOURCE What external forces are likely to affect work organisation, and shape HR strategy, policies and practices? Edited by Fabio Emanuele Noia, Link Campus University of Malta, 2006 Chapter 3 The context of Human Resource Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003 http://www.palgrave.com/business/brattonandgold/

2. Context ____________ All external forces likely to influence and shape HR strategy, policies, and practices Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

3. More competition and more organisational change ____________ Global integration (capital flows and interdependency) Collapse of communist regimes (more countries linked to capitalism system, privatization processes) Maturation of markets in developed economies (slower growth, more aggressive exporting) Technological change (computer-based technologies, faster communications) Political change (new employment laws, human rights) Social change (ageing population, changing priorities in values) Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

4. More competition and organisational change require ________________ Strategic choice Opportunities and constraints assessment Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

5. These factors impact on Human Resource at the Organisational level: Philosophy Policies Programmes Practices Procedures Relationship with workers, trade unions, government, customers, and suppliers Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

6. Changes in the labor market(s) ______________ Unemployment = An unemployed person is someone without work who is actively searching for work and is available to take up a job (International Labour Organization – ILO) www.ilo.org Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

7. General trends Low level of employment in agricolture, Fast decreasing level in manufacturing Fast increasing level in service Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

8. General trends Increase of flexibility (in production and therefore in work arrangements)- Labour Market Flexibility Increase of non standard jobs (part-time, short-time, temporary, independent contractors, …) LMS = a variety of functional techniques that organisations deploy to maximise the increased efficiency of the labor contribution to the strategic purpose of the organisation (Williams, 1993) Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

9. Atkinson ‘s (1985) flexibility model Functional flexibility (different activities and tasks) Numerical flexibility (see below) Financial flexibility (performance related pay) ____________ Internal labor market segmentation: Core workers Peripheral workers (numerical flexibility) Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

10. I know, I have three of them !!! The current economic recovery has created over 1 million jobs My wife has two on week-days and one over the week-end! Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

11. Change Technological (new, microelectronic, information, …) Political (role of State, legislation, neoliberalism …) Social (demographics, culture, work-life balance, …) Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003

12. Assignment ___________ www.ilo.org __________ Search for information on labor related trends Freely Inspired from Bratton J., Gold J., Human Resource Management, Theory and Practice, Palgrave, 2003