Strategic HRM and Business Decision-Making
The human resource (HR) is of particular importance for business success, and the need for the alignment of human resource management (HRM) with business strategy is highlighted nowadays by HRM specialists (Armstrong 2007; Boxall & Purcell 2013; Ulrich, Brockbank & Johnson 2009). Basically, the strategic perspective is supposed to help HRM to contribute to the achievement of the company’s goals together with other departments. As a result, without the strategic integration of HRM, a business cannot be effectively managed.
New Concepts and My Practice
My current practice lacks direct links to HRM; in my current position, I can only apply the new knowledge by making suggestions that might be heard by our HR Department. In particular, I would promote the use of surveys as a form of HR practices assessment that would complement the existing normative one; such a complementary approach is considered to be a positive practice nowadays (Guest 2011). However, given my goal of starting a hospital and managing it, the knowledge of making HRM strategic is going to be of great use for me in my future professional practice. Even if I am not going to supervise HR activities personally, I will be able to assess our practices, but to this end, I will need to update my knowledge continually since HRM studies proceed to develop.
Prior and New Knowledge
I had not been completely ignorant with respect to HRM prior to this module, but now my knowledge has a more practical turn. In particular, I have discovered multiple means of making HRM measurable and, therefore, more attainable and realistic. Here, the articles by Guest (2011) and Paauwe (2009) have been most informative. Also, I find that this module has been linked to previous ones (for example, globalization), which helps me to construct a more or less cohesive picture of the modern business, which is a complex concept. In fact, I think that this integration of modules corresponds to the way different processes and activities of a company are supposed to be aligned with one business strategy to strive for the achievement of a certain goal.
Important Issues
A significant aspect of the current module consisted of the discussion of ethical and cultural issues in HRM, and one of the most important parts of the discussion included the notion of the corporate social responsibility (CSR). The term is viewed differently by different organizations, but basically, it requires being responsible: taking into account the impacts that a company can have on various stakeholders (including HR), which implies the need for mitigating possible negative effects and promoting positive ones (Shen 2011). I have always considered it important for a company to be a responsible citizen, and during this module, I studied the value that ethical conduct has for business in greater detail. The fact that CSR can be profitable and is always beneficial for a company has fortified my view.
Core Skills
My participation in the activities of this module has been contributing to the development of my communicative and research skills. The coursework allowed me to practice problem-solving and offered an opportunity to show my creative abilities. In general, I find this module both interesting and useful, and I plan to apply the knowledge and skills developed throughout it.
Reference List
Armstrong, M 2007, A handbook of human resource management practice, Logan Page Limited, London.
Boxall, P & Purcell, J 2013, Strategy and human resource management, Palgrave: London.
Guest, DE 2011, ‘Human resource management and performance: still searching for some answers’, Human Resource Management Journal, vol. 21, no. 1, pp.3-13.
Paauwe, J 2009, ‘HRM and performance: achievements, methodological issues and prospects’, Journal of Management Studies, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 129–142.
Shen, J 2011, ‘Developing the concept of socially responsible international human resource management’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 1351-1363.
Ulrich, D, Brockbank V & Johnson D 2009, ‘The role of strategy architect in the strategic HR organization’, People & Strategy, vol. 32, no. 1, pp. 2-31.
