1. People management: personnel management and human resource management
HRM for MBA Students
Lecture 1
People management: personnel management and human resource management

2. Learning outcomes
A good appreciation of the ‘people management’ function in contemporary organisations
Knowledge of ‘human resource management’ (HRM) and ‘personnel management’ (PM)
An appreciation of the theoretical development of HRM
Understanding of the relationship between HRM and business strategy
An appreciation of the practical application of HRM
Recognition of the themes of HRM in the early twenty-first century.

3. ‘People are the only real source of. continuing competitive advantage
Prahalad and Hamel (1990)

4. We can define people management as:
‘all the management decisions and actions that directly affect or influence people as members of the organisation rather than as job-holders.’

5. What do people managers do?
Their role has specific objectives under four headings:
Staffing objectives
Performance objectives
Change management objectives
Administration objectives
Torrington, Hall and Taylor (2002)

6. The ‘Ulrich model’ of HRM
Human Resources should become:
a strategic partner with top management
an expert in administration
a champion for employees
an agent of continuous transformation
Ulrich (1998)

7. ‘Building organisational capability is HR’s heartland’ and HR managers ‘can help make capitalism human’
Linda Holbech (2007 )

8. Taylorism Principles of ‘scientific management’ (1911):
time and motion studies of work processes
standardisation of tools, implements and methods
increased division of labour
Taylorism + machine-paced work = Fordism

9. The evolution of people management

10. Personnel management The first Industrial Revolution: welfare role
Rise of trade unionism: industrial relations role
‘Scientific management’: training; sophisticated recruitment and selection
Thus by the 1970s the Personnel management paradigm

11. Human resource management
Loss of faith in traditional mass-production techniques
The example of Japanese quality
Technological development
Thus by the 1990s the (post-Taylorist) HRM paradigm

12. Perspectives in management
Unitarist
Conflict is ‘wrong’
Pluralist
Conflict is not ‘wrong’ but must be managed
Radical/critical
Conflict is inevitable ... and may be ‘right’

13. The Harvard model of HRM

14. ‘Ideal types’ of PM and HRM

15. HRM in practice Evidence of significant adoption of HRM practices
(Workplace Employee Relations Surveys and others)
But still two traditions or paradigms
Most organisations share characteristics of both
But HRM is in the ascendant

16. Key themes in HRM High-involvement employee work practices
Flexible organisation (core and periphery)
Micro-level work organisation (teamworking)
Sophisticated HR for recruitment
Unitarist employee relations
Change management
The learning organisation
Knowledge management
Leadership