MN7834 Strategic Human Resource Management

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT
The Masters Programme
Study Session: August – October 2015
Elective Module: MN7834 Strategic Human Resource Management
Assignment Question
You are a HRM manager in a manufacturing firm faced with declining sales. Your
CEO’s response is to say “we must cut all expenditure on training”. Write a
report for her/him outlining the advantages and disadvantages of following this
strategy
[You are allowed to make any assumptions you like about the organisation
providing these are clearly stated in the essay. You are advised to state these
at the beginning; they do not count in the word limit]
Approaching the question
Students are reminded that while some questions may very evidently refer to a
particular unit they are all designed to span issues across the entire module. A
full answer to the question will require reflection on the issues that you have
encountered throughout the module. It is important to bear in mind that
answering the question is the main priority and not for example outlining in
great detail all the concepts entailed in the question.
You will need to refer to the appropriate academic literature in developing your
argumenta, beginning with Section 7 of the module book, on Managing Training
and Development.
Further, as the question suggests, you should employ as much relevant
empirical material as possible, and make use of your own experience where you
can.
This assignment question should be answered as a report from you as the HRM
manager to the CEO structured around the advantages and disadvantages and
with a clear conclusion with references in the standard academic format where
appropriate.
The structure is given by the question: two sections, section one on advantages
of reducing training and section two on disadvantages, with an overall
conclusion and recommendation that follows the conclusion and is evidencebased.
2
The first section will be most affected by assumptions made about the
organization. It could include consideration of:
(a) the costs of training,
(b) the yield or lack of it from existing training,
(c) the way it forces the firm to a) recruit already skilled people, b)
encourage on-the-job training and people to develop themselves,
(d) the signal it gives to employees that the firm does not care about them
and does not value them as assets or is not keen on their developing
themselves.
The magnitude of all these effects will depend on what assumptions are made
about the current state and history of training.
The second section on the disadvantages of training could outline the
advantages of training beyond the bare minimum e.g., beyond that required to
ensure health and safety regulations are complied with and these could include:
(a) the enhancement of organization-specific knowledge for competitive
advantage, particularly where this has a broad perspective that includes
helping employees to learn a wide range of skills rather than equipping
people simply to complete a restricted job,
(b) the consequences of having a more multi-skilled work force, including
reducing unit labour costs, being able to more adaptive, and getting
ideas from all workers,
(c) formal training is likely to increase the yield and speed of on-the-job
training.
If the organization is already a high trainer then consideration of the effects of
a drastic cut on morale etc. may be relevant.
Exemplar Reading
Textbooks
Redman T. and Wilkinson A. (2005). Contemporary Human Resource
Management: Text and cases. Harlow: Prentice hall, Chapters 5 and 7.
Others
Antonacopolou E. (2001). ‘The paradoxical nature of the relationship between
training and learning’, Journal of Management Studies, 38, 3: 327–350.
Birdi, K., Clegg, C., Patterson, A., Robinson, A., Stride, C., Wall, T., Wood, S.
(2008). ‘The impact of human resource and operational management
practices on company productivity: A longitudinal study’, Personnel
Psychology’, 61, 3 : 467-501.
Felstead, A. et al. (2007). ‘Grooving to the same tune? Learning, training and
productive systems in the aerobics studio’. Work, Employment & Society, 21,
2: 189–208.
Felstead, A., Green, A. and Mayhew K. (2000). ‘Britain’s Training Statistics: a
cautionary tale’. Work, Employment & Society 13, 1: 107–115.
Felstead, A., Green, F and Jewson, N (2013) ‘An analysis of the impact of the
2008-09 recession on the provision of training in the UK’, Work, Employment
and Society, 26(6): 966-984.
3
Keep E. (1989). ‘Corporate training strategies: the vital component?’ In J.
Storey (ed.), New perspectives on HRM. London: Routledge.
Lloyd, C. (2005). ‘Competitive strategy and skills: working out the fit in the
fitness industry’, Human Resource Management Journal, 15, 2: 15–34.
Wong C. et al. (1997). ‘Management training in small and medium-sized
enterprises: methodological and conceptual issues’. The International
Journal of Human Resource Management, 8,1: 44–65.
Assessment Criteria
In addition to the criteria outlined above and in the Programme Handbook,
students are expected to demonstrate:
1. an understanding of the various types of training and development,
2. an understanding of the various objectives that training and the costs
and benefits attached to training,
3. a knowledge of the empirical research on the effects of training on
organizational performance and commitment,
4. a knowledge of how training aids the successful implementation of other
human resource and operational practices e.g. appraisal, team working
and lean production,
5. the ability to arrive at a balanced overall conclusion and articulate
justifications for this in a succinct convincing way,
6. the ability to use relevant empirical evidence to support the arguments
they make, and examples from their own experience where possible,
7. the ability to go beyond the coverage and discussion in the SHRM module
book in the evaluation they present.
Please also ensure that you have read the advice on assignment writing and
referencing which is available at
http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/existingstudents/assignwritingguidelines.pdf. The
essay should be fully referenced throughout and contain a bibliography.
Word limit: 3,000 words.
Students are not allowed to submit assignments that deviate from the word
limit by more than 10% (either above or below). The statement of the
assumptions will not count within the word limit.