HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

Introduction

Management development  is the  general concept  explaining the different ways by which organizations  assist  their workers   in developing their personal as well as  organizational experience, either  as leaders  in management position  or with  an anticipated  management job.  Establishing the skills and experience of managers through the options in the management development is essential in effective functioning of any organization.  This owes to the fact that the manager or leader could be very influential to the organization though the oversight provided by him in the whole organization.

 

Managers in any organization are very important for the purpose of employee motivation, engagement, and creating a workplace that is productive.   Additionally, managers are an essential in determining employee retention or high turn over.  Therefore, management development is a significant factor which if used effectively could be offer positive outcome. Management development also offers an opportunity to teaching the culture of a particular organization. The regulations, norms and expectations of an organization are unique features of a leader.  The emphasis   in management development practices is to make it easy for managers perform their jobs more effectively (Cannell, 2004, P22). In organizational development, the efficiency of management is identified as one of a determinant for the success of any organization. Hence, investing in management development could have a positive   value for organizational development.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze this aspect of management development in two organizations, i.e Evans, a British corporation   and Watanabe Industries in Japan.

 

Overview of the Companies

 

Evans

 

Evans is   a large engineering organization that is headquartered in Midlands, Britain.  In the past times, most of its manufacturing locations were predominantly located in the local Britain where it enjoyed consistent growth.  Part of this growth was met from the fact that it was the single most influential supplier of the motor industry in Britain, an industry which was also thriving at this time.  In the last ten years, the organization has consistently diversified itself and does not   presently depend on the suppliers to British motor industry alone but has ventured into other foreign markets.  In reflecting its diversification structure, the company has established a strategy of diversification and has divisionalised itself.  Currently, the company has five major divisions, which basically reflect its products range of motor components. Other products range include: industrial machinery, computer products, aerospace and instrumentation.

 

Watanabe Industries                    

Watanabe industries which is an organization based in Japan has similar features like those of Evans.  It has also diversified itself in recent years.  The organization is constituted of some 30 main businesses or entities much like those of Evans that are basically based on product families.  However, this diversification is different with that of Evans in the sense that though it operates its components   distinctly, it still manages itself as a whole corporate entity.  This enables it to take full benefit in every turn of being a big organization.   Through  management development,  the company seeks to valve in economies of scale  and also enjoy the synergistic benefits  of being  big corporation  which is composed  of different  opportunities and parts

 

Lessons which Evans can learn from Watanabe Industries

 

While Evans operates itself as divisionalised entities, Watanabe operates as a corporate whole. This aspect enables it to take full advantage in every turn of being a large corporation.   Through this aspect, the company seeks to tap in economies of scale and also enjoy the synergistic benefit of being a large corporation that is though constituted of different opportunities and parts.

 

Evan’s Problems

Lack of Managerial Training

 

At Evans, many of the individuals who are posted in as managers may not harbor managerial training at all. On the other hand, there are those who were just placed as managers after just taking short cases such as project management, communications, and time management and so on. Trained managers are an essential aspect for the smooth running of a business.  This can positively influence the performance of that organization.   Good management system is depended upon the degree of training and experience and also the approach used by the managers. In particular, Evans should invest in training its management staff since it appears that that is one of the largest weaknesses which the company has. Training these managers will help the company achieve high level of quality products and services in a specified timeframe (Lorette, 1996, p1).

The necessity of management training in any organization is immense. This owes to the fact that skilled managers provide an organization with many advantages   that are both immediate as well as long term.   Helping the managers to expand and becoming the best they could be will help Evans organization    into becoming the best in the market.  Various ways that could be used by the company in training these managers include: single day classes held in the company workshops to multiday seminars and conferences.  In essence, there are various options which the company could employ to help the staff in the management level to excel in their jobs.  The significance of management training can not be overemphasized.

One of the obvious advantages which could assist in highlighting the relevance of managerial training is the increment in skills which these managers will develop after these training sessions.  By training the management team, the company would be providing them with a wide base of   leadership knowledge, techniques and skills. The skills and team acquired will be passed down  to team members  that are trickling down  through the business  and increasing the efficiency  of each department in the organization by offering techniques of problem solving  so as to curb  problems before they actually occur (Checkpoint, 2011, 1).

High Employee Turn over

At Evans, there is a high turn over rate among graduate employees who were recruited.  Some of these are expert engineers who are hard to replace. High turn over rates causes a substantial rate of problems in a firm including but not limited to increment in recruitment costs, lower productivity, increases training costs and reflects poor morale amongst the employees.  There could be no set law or turn over which determines when high turn over starts to have a negative impact on business performance. This owes to the fact that all things are depended on the type of labor market in which the business competes. While it may become easy to identify  and train new workers at low cost,  it is actually not  possible to sustain  high  quality and customer service  in the case of high turn over  rate (Riley, 2010, p1).

 

In the case of the needed expertise in the company, where recruitment process is costly, or where a particular vacancy is not filled easily,  the labor turn over results into problems  for an a business entity. This particularly true in Evans situation where the company is losing staff and expertise. Evans Corporation could opt to improve its employee retention by providing its employees with both financial and non financial incentives, improving the efficiency of its recruitment process so that employees who are unsuitable are left out during the recruitment process and finally undertaking research to find out the reason as to why employees are leaving out of the company at a faster rate.  This research could be done through exit interviews or surveys or the cause of low morale among the employees. The company should also adopt working practices that are more flexible so as to retain the employees and also fit in the changing trends of employment patterns. For instance, in USA Today emphasis is being placed concerning the requirement by employees in adhering to “flexible hour’s contract” and part time contracts.  This is particularly to enable women who are in the workforce have time to attending to their families as well.

 

On another perspective, Evans could also turn this turn over into their own advantage.   This is a chance for this organization to bring new employees on board. Such employees may be harboring updated market knowledge or simply fresh ideas. Moreover, it will provide a chance for this company to hire experienced and trained expertise and managerial staff rather than training existing lower employees with low skills and which is costly.

 
Lack of Competencies among the Management in Relation to   Marketing and Entrepreneurship

 

A review of Evans management system indicates that the management lacks marketing and entrepreneurship competencies. Iandoli, (2007) explains that  entrepreneurs competency  is the capacity of entrepreneurs  or  organization leaders   in effectively facing any critical situation  by making sense of any environment  problems  and also by activating  both relational  and internal specified resources (p17).  Bird (1995) also adds his voice in this perspective  by articulating that entrepreneurial competencies  are personal traits such as motives, specific  knowledge,  features,  self images, social roles and images  which leads to the  success of the organization (p65).  The management at Evans could instill these competencies to the managers through such aspects as training. However, other competencies are tacit, depended upon personal characteristics, and are established during an individual’s life, career or experience (Brownell, 2006).

Researchers have articulated that entrepreneurial and marketing competencies are very much essential to an organizational development and success. Various of such competencies are required at different stages   in the business development (Lewis and Church hill, 1983).  Man et al (2002) observes rightly that entrepreneurial competencies are more crucial especially during the start up phase, while managerial competencies are more of crucial at the developmental phase. Business environment (Lau and Man 2005), external stimuli for instance uncertainty (Autio et al, 2011, p15), circumstances, (Capaldo et al, (2006), social environment (Mitchelmore and Rowley, 2010). Other factors include: internal stimuli, individual characteristics (Brownell, 2006, p322), and family background for the organization.

As Morris, Davis and Allen (1991) points out, the natural bond between entrepreneurship and marketing is the creation of value, (p248)  Schumpeter (1934) postulated five types of behavior that identified an entrepreneurial venture. These included: the introduction of the novel production method, new goods, opening of new markets, opening of the new supply sources as well as industrial reorganization.  Other researcher has also identified the necessity of marketing expertise among the management of an organization in the process of entrepreneurship. Nilson, (1986) explains that among the most significant factors for an organizational success in any growing organization is the    marketing sales and quality of services.  Macmillan and Low (1988) also recommend for considerations to these aspects especially if there is already a defensible market for the companies’ products and this could secure a market niche. The authors also observe that business entrepreneurs ought to exploit specific opportunities which necessitate various competencies. Some of these competencies required include capital, human resources, marketing, sales and technical information (P160).

Low Level of Expertise and Experience on the part of managers

A review of Evans organization pointed out   that there was narrow expertise and experience even among the senior managers. In fact the culture of promotion to managerial posts in this organization was through ‘functional chimneys’. Moreover, the inter-functional mobility level was found to be limited.  Expertise may be regarded as technical knowledge which is hard to acquire and requires extensive experience in gaining a good understanding.  To another perspective, it can be written down or acquired through learning. The technical knowledge part of the expertise therefore has no strong element that is unequivocal in combination with tacit elements (Lambe, 2012, p1)

On the other hand, other skills may be difficult to acquire and requires extensive practice over time to make it perfect.   While majority of the skills are trained, the expertise skills could not be acquired just through training. Rather, the expertise skills are developed through both training and practice.  Unlike technical knowledge, the skills could not be made explicit, but requires to be communicated through a mixture of demonstration, coaching, training and practice (Lambe, 2012, p2)

If Evans is clear that it wants to effectively achieve its short term and long-term needs, then it might considers hiring new expertise in particular areas and also training the existing ones. The  advantages in recruiting is that   acquiring the already  existing  expertise  is faster when compared to internal  training which may take up some time.  In recruitment, the organization could be in a better position to choose the best mix from one of the recruits to suit the company needs. The new recruits could bring value to the company.

Even though the newly recruited experts may be brought on board faster, they may not get on board so quickly. This is because; they may take up some time in tuning themselves to the meet the needs of the company. Furthermore, there would be little infrastructure to assit them function at real capability level.  Hence, they will likely to perform at some optimal levels until such a time when the organization could establish the essential infrastructure in supporting them to tune into each others needs and strengths.

The provision of training and education is also an effective strategy that Evans could employ in instilling skills and experience to its  employees at management positions. This technique would best work for that expertise that are basically based on the ingredients of technical skills and knowledge.  There is no strategy  which requires to be combined  with the  job placement and  career planning strategies, where individual  employees  are exposed deliberately  to responsibilities, roles and projects  designed  to creating an  expertise  in the essential areas  and also designed to  offer a context   where they cold apply  the technical knowledge  and skills which they are  developing  through education and formal training. Such kind of strategies also creates strong positive statement regarding the company’s commitment to its employees as well as their future.  They might also take an advantage that the expertise   is being developed from those employees who are conversant with the culture, needs and content of the company. Therefore, they should be in principle being able to use their expounded expertise with great facility and precision. Another strategy this organization they could employ is building experience among its management staff (Lambe, 2012, p12).

 

Interdivisional Career Moves

The review further noted that there were rare interdivisional moves among the managers in the organization.  It was further deemed that the company was not advantage of its complex and size.  A transfer may be regarded as a lateral move to a position that is vacant. A transfer occurring within the department will offer an opportunity for a particular employee or manager to establish his or her skills and also assume new responsibilities.  Additionally, transfers to other departments will facilitate career development through the enhancement of skills and knowledge about functions of the company departments.

 

Which aspects of Japanese practice seem to be particularly advantageous to Watanabe’s capacity for competitiveness? Why?

Recruitment of the best graduates

Report from Watanabe reveals that the company unlike Evans hires the best graduates from the best Universities in Japan in managerial positions.  Now, the benefits of hiring the best recruits as Sullivan, 2011, puts it lies in two categories: a) benefits to the individual hiring managers as well as benefits to the entire organization over time. There is nothing which could describe the business world at present than the extreme competition, development and increased change.  If companies indeed want to be successful, they would need to acquire agile individuals who are not simply capable in adapting to the fast change but also those who look forward to it.  University graduates have a combination of excitement and youth for trying new endeavors which makes them to be more willing to adapting and accepting change unlike the old folk.  In addition, they are also agile and therefore, able to shift faster and more often between unrelated tasks.

Another feature for University graduates is they are good at team work.  In fact, very few major projects could be achieved nowadays without the use of team work. Fortunately,   many graduates nowadays are effectively experienced in team work and also cross functional teams. Instead of being forced to participate in a team, the aspect of team work becomes natural to them.  Furthermore,   most of the graduates are accomplished communicators, they understand on how to communicate effectively to vendors, teammates, policy makers and clients and a diverse ways.  Some of these ways includes the use web tools, technology and social networks which even the company may be unfamiliar with.

 

Induction and Training Programs

Another source for competitive advantage for Watanabe is a culture of offering induction and training programs to new recruits.  Induction programmes for new recruits is very essential in the general shaping of the staff.  It assists a lot in increasing the worker’s morale as well as performance, and also trains them in the skills which the worker would need in undertaking his or her responsibilities (Institute of Management, 2013, p1). Continuous training on employees and recruits is the other hand is crucial for any organizations success and development. It is beneficial to both employees and employers of an organization. If employees are effectively trained, then they would become more efficient and achieve better performance (MSG, 2013).

Training is crucial for organizational development and success. It is fruitful to both employers and employees of an organization. An employee will become more efficient and productive if he is trained well.

Capability Development

Watanabe also has a culture of capability development where appointment to an employee to senior positions occurs through what it   hierarchical grades or capability development.   For an organization to achieve an enhanced performance, it ought to establish procedure of changing the extant guiding ideals, methodologies and tools so as to change the beliefs, attitudes and the creation of the new skills and competencies within that organization.

Organizational learning is aligned with the identified principles of good management. It is also more challenging in comparison to continual improvement (Anttila, 2013, p15)

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