human resource

management (HRM)
Definition

Administrative activities associated with human resources planning, recruitment,

selection, orientation, training, appraisal, motivation, remuneration, etc. HRM
aims at developing people through work.

The Harvard Map or model outlines four HR policy areas:

1 Human resource flows - recruitment, selection, placement, promotion,

appraisal and assessment, promtion, termination, etc.
2 Reward systems - pay systems, motivation, etc.
3 Employee influence - delegated levels of authority, responsibility, power
4 Work systems - definition/design of work and alignment of people.

Which in turn lead to the 'four C's' or HR policies that have to be achieved:

• Commitment

• Congruence

• Competence

• Cost effectiveness

See pages 41-42 for more.

Activity 2:5 Beer et al themselves did not consider that the four 'Cs'
represented all necessary criteria. Why not? What else could be considered?

HRM policies and their consequences

Beer et al (1984) proposed that long-term consequences (both benefits and costs
of human resource policies should be evaluated at three levels: individual,
organizational and societal. These in turn should be analyzed using the four Cs.

See pages 42-43 for more

Tips for students using the book

Activity 2:6 Although central to the Harvard Map, 'stakeholder theory' has a
much wider scope than HRM and has largely been developed outside the HR
literature. At first sight, it is a simple notion - those parties or groups that have
an interest in the firm. But more critical attention reveals a concept that is not
easy to define and that is also exposed to a number of political, ethical and other
agendas. How would right- and left-wing politicians regard stakeholders?
Similarly, senior managers and trade unionists, etc.

More articles in this section

• Defining human resource management

• Maps and models of HRM

• The Harvard map of human resource management

• Hard HRM

• Guest's Model of HRM

• Alternative HRM Models