Managing Human Resources

Citation

Kane, B. (1998), "Managing Human Resources", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 19 No. 8, pp. 619-621. https://doi.org/10.1108/ijm.1998.19.8.619.1

While some texts pretend to provide all things to all readers, Christopher Molander and Jonathan Winterton clearly indicate that this book is targeted at generalist MBA students rather than at HRM professionals. The focus throughout is on general issues with the manager/reader urged to think through the advantages/disadvantages of the alternatives, to seek advice from HRM staff, but to accept that final decisions belong to them as managers.

The introductory chapter will be of interest to teachers of HRM, since in it the authors outline the perspective adopted in the book. First, they summarise some of the factors they see as leading to greater global competition and suggest that a competitive edge can be won through a focus on customer satisfaction. This focus can be built and maintained through adherence to a number of elements which they believe will create an effective work culture: flexibility, integration, decentralisation, performance‐orientation, quality consciousness, cooperation, empowerment and segmentation of the labour force. The general model is of a flatter organisation structure with employees empowered to satisfy their customers and managers empowered to manage their employees. They suggest that this “HRM culture” involves a return to an earlier managerial view that the organisation is a unitary institution in which the members share certain interests and conflict is unnecessary and dysfunctional. The hearts and minds of employees must be won, they assert, adding that: “Those whose parts are not negotiable are free to work elsewhere” (p. 5).

The role of HRM staff is seen as both strategic and functional. At the strategic level, top HRM staff should work as a part of the senior management team and provide input on people‐related matters into determining strategic direction. At the functional level, they prefer to see HRM officers allocated to management divisions and performing an advisory role in relation to HR matters. Overall, it is suggested that “HR professionals are paid by managers to represent them in the most cost‐effective manner. There interests are clearly managerial. The liberalisation of the 1950s and 1960s has been replaced by a new profit‐oriented pragmatism…” (p. 15).

While this introduction may seem somewhat ideological, the rest of the book draws mainly on well‐known models and generally proposes middle of the road solutions that are suggested as “reasonable” in the light of the circumstances.

The next three chapters continue to address macro level issues. Chapter 2 introduces some elements of organisational design and development. It first outlines functional, divisional, hybrid and matrix organisational structures, generally arguing for the value of hybrid structures. This is followed by a brief overview of some of the classical organisational development (OD) work from the 1960s and 1970s.

The third chapter covers the basics of human resource planning, including objective and subjective approaches to demand and supply forecasting. The next chapter briefly summarises the history of British unionism and overviews union objectives and methods, growth and decline, structure, governance and the role of shop stewards. It also includes further discussion of the wax and wane of the pluralist and unitary perspectives, adopting a more balanced view than in the introduction.

The next five chapters deal with more micro level topics, beginning with an outline of the main stages in recruitment and selection. Included are the development of job descriptions, person specifications and advertisements as a part of recruitment, and reference checks, tests and interviews during selection. Emphasis is placed on the need for line managers to assume responsibility for their hiring decisions while at the same time the HR officer ensures that a coherent approach is followed.

The chapter on training and management development provides a fairly standard overview of the issues involved in needs analysis, choice of methods and evaluation. The following chapter on equal opportunity discusses the basis of inequalities and the major relevant pieces of legislation. Equity is seen as achieved by adopting an integrated approach across the various aspects of HRM. Performance appraisal is the focus of the next chapter, and attention is paid to the difficulties in implementing a successful scheme. The differing overt and covert motivations that various parties may bring to the table are considered as is how performance appraisal relates to management development and organisational culture. Process, objectives and the competencies needed by management are discussed and a three‐day training workshop is suggested. In the chapter on payment systems, various types of wage and salary payment schemes are described, with a particular emphasis on the advantages and disadvantages of performance related pay.

At this point, the authors introduce a chapter on the quality of working life which covers the classic theories of motivation before considering how QWL can be measured by monitoring output, employee surveys and statistics on absence and turnover. Basic approaches to job design are reviewed before a discussion of the advantages and drawbacks of multiskilling, empowerment and increased employee participation.

Collective bargaining is examined next, with structures and processes in both the private and the public sectors summarised. Stages and tactics in bargaining are briefly outlined. Following this general theme, discipline, grievances and disputes are the focus of the next chapter. The nature and form of conflict is first considered, followed by discussion of the causes and frequencies of strikes, with particular attention paid to the impact of the Thatcher reforms. Very brief coverage of discipline issues, grievance resolution and dispute procedures are included. The final chapter focuses on occupational health and safety, including accident statistics and causes, legislation and the roles of unions and employers. There is no separate concluding chapter.

Whether or not an instructor would want to adopt this book for an MBA course is likely to depend on their personal and educational philosophy, and on what they see as the role of an MBA. Those who adhere to a pluralist model of employment relations on philosophic, moral or pragmatic grounds may want to seek an alternative text. Those who would emphasise the HRM‐corporate strategy link may be disappointed, since although strategy is often referred to, there is little coverage of the various alternative models of strategy and strategic HRM. Those who believe that students should be exposed to contemporary debates among British HRM writers, including critical interpretations, will also be largely disappointed, as will those who believe that examples of what actual companies are doing should be an important component. Those who expect management texts to include coverage of the relevant aspects of current management concerns such as internationalisation or europeanisation, downsizing/rightsizing, attempts to become learning organisations, diversity management, strategic alliances and networks, and environmental sustainability may see this book as out of date.

On the other hand, managers/students will not see it as overly technical or esoteric. It is clearly written and easy to read, briefly covers the standard HRM topics and the figures and tables included are straightforward. Managers will have little trouble in identifying with the basic issues raised in the various sections. Perhaps because of the general nature of these issues and the commonsense approach to their resolution, however, not all managers or MBA students are likely to feel that they have learned a great deal from it.