Course Title: Human Resource Management Course code: MBA 509 Prepared For Course Instructor Dr. M. Nazmul Amin Mojumder Human Resource Management MBA Program Prepared By Abdullah Al Masud

1. Course Title: Human Resource Management
Course code: MBA 509
Prepared For
Course Instructor
Dr. M. Nazmul Amin Mojumder
Human Resource Management
MBA Program
Prepared By
Abdullah Al Masud
FASHION INDUSTRY IN BANGLADESH
(AARONG)
NOVEMBER 27, 2017

2. 1
Letter of Transmittal
27th November,2017
To,
Dr. Nazmul Amin Majumdar
School of Business
Independent University, Bangladesh
Subject: Submission of report for MBA 509
Dear Sir,
It is our pleasure to submit our report on Fashion Retail Industry in Bangladesh (Aarong). We
are submitting this report as a part of my course MBA509- Human Resources Management
requirements.
We have done my level best to conduct this report in a professional manner. I have followed all
the criteria and guideline that you provided us to prepare this report. However, we are sure
that this report could have been a more superior one. I am hopeful that this has obviously been
a great source of learning for me to conduct similar Human Resource studies in future.
We appreciate your kind advice, cooperation, patience and suggestions regarding this report,
which will definitely help us to follow as a guideline in future endeavors.
Sincerely Yours,
Abdullah Al Masud
1630994

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Acknowledgement
Firstly, we would like to thank Almighty Allah for giving us the opportunity and ability to
prepare this successfully. With Allah’s shower of blessing, we have completed this report with
all the necessary information.
I would like to express our sincere gratitude to our course instructor Dr. Nazmul Amin, School of
Business, Independent University Bangladesh for his constant guidance, advice and
encouragement as well as passion in motivating the completion of our report.
Whilst every effort has been made to trace the owners of copyright materials, in a few cases
this has proved impossible and I take this opportunity to offer my apologies to any copyright
holders whose rights I may have infringed

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Table of Contents
Executive Summery............................................................................................................................4
Introduction.......................................................................................................................................5
History of fashion...............................................................................................................................6
Fashion in Bangladesh........................................................................................................................7
Aarong History...................................................................................................................................8
Growth and success...........................................................................................................................9
Brand and customer overview............................................................................................................9
Design, manufacturing and distribution overview...............................................................................9
Aarong's process flow......................................................................................................................10
Production.......................................................................................................................................10
Marketing........................................................................................................................................10
Export..............................................................................................................................................10
Competitors Analysis of Aarong........................................................................................................11
Question..........................................................................................................................................11
Question 1.......................................................................................................................................12
Question 2.......................................................................................................................................14
Question 3.......................................................................................................................................17
Recommendations...........................................................................................................................22
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................23
Reference........................................................................................................................................24

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Executive Summery
Aarongisone of the lifestyleretail chainsinBangladesh.Itwasestablishedin1978.Aarong operatesunder
BRAC; a non-profit NGO operates its production as a part of a social enterprise model and providesthe
market linkage through its own retail outlets.The primary objective of this report is to get hands-on
experience of humanresource managementandapplyingthe knowledge learnedintheory .Asa leading
retail chain of Bangladesh to conduct business operations Aarong needs qualified that would help the
organization to run the business.
The organization has a separate Human Resource Department (HRdepartment) to ensure inflow
of qualified human resources in the organization and to create the appropriate working
environment that utilizes employees' potential to achieve organizational goal. Human Resource
Department performs core activities which are- recruitment and selection of staffs, performance
appraisal related activities, job separation, and grievance management and administrate work
for human resource. There some very important issues which could not be included in the report
for confidential issue. HoweverI have tried my best to work with the most important Human
Resource activities, which I mentioned in the report.

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Introduction
Aarong – Bengali for ‘village fair’ – is Bangladesh’s most popular lifestyle retail chain. This ethical
brand began in 1978 as a humble means to empower rural artisans to rise above poverty. Today,
with 18 retail stores across Bangladesh and over 100 fashion and lifestyle product lines, Aarong
supports 65,000 artisans with fair terms of trade. Revolutionising the retail industry with high
standards for quality and artistry, this iconic brand blends the traditional with the contemporary
in ways that never cease to win consumer appeal both at home and abroad.
In 1976, when BRAC– the world’s largest development organisation – engaged a small number
of rural women to produce crafts, their only buyers were a few scattered retailers in Dhaka.
Weeks, even months would pass between supply and payment, until BRAC intervened and
established Aarong to pay the rural women for their goods on time. Over the past four decades,
Aarong has carved out a unique market segment for handicrafts, reviving Bangladesh’s rich
heritage and impacting the lives of more than 325,000 people through 850 small entrepreneurs
and the Ayesha Abed Foundation. The foundation acts as Aarong’s production hub, where
artisans find employment and access to BRAC’s holistic support including, maternal health care,
hygiene awareness and subsidized latrines, micro-credit, legal aid, day care and education for
their children.
From clay pots to diamond jewellery, and silk and cotton fabrics to brass and leather
merchandise, Aarong’s vast range of innovative products, backed by a robust supply chain and
distribution network, makes Aarong truly a household brand in Bangladesh. Its growing presence
outside of Bangladesh – through fair-trade networks and the online shop– continues to broaden
the market for Bangladeshi crafts globally, creating more opportunities for artisans to protect
their age-old art and livelihoods.

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History of fashion
“At the beginning of the career is important for a designer to present his most representative
pieces” (Dolce, D.). Fashion refers to the development of the fashion industry which designs
clothing and accessories. The modern industry, fashion houses run by individual designers,
started during 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth, the first designer to have label sewn
into the garments. He is usually known as the first designer, with a large business employing
many tailors and seamstresses, his success lies in his dictation of fashion. He was Empress
Eugénie's primary designer where Worth used his royal connections for recognition and clients.
In February 1, 1853 Napolón III ruled about using formal dress in his court, where Worth gained
popularity for his stylish gowns, ornately decorated and constructed with finest materials. His
gowns were famous for their 'Crinolines', cage-like metal structures that held the dress out in a
stylish shape. (Lori, M.).

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Fashion in Bangladesh
Bibi Rusell is often considered as the pioneer of fashion industries in Bangladesh. During late
1990s, shestarted emerging the fashionindustries in Bangladesh,bringing renaissanceto fashion
industrial growth in the country. It was her ideas to bring the nation together and promote the
fashions retailing emerge in the country. It was her idea to revolutionize the art of fashion in
Bandladesh. Since she was a fashion icon by herself, she took the fashion retail to next level
working alongside Aarong, nurturing the fashion industry by herself, bringing a new voice in the
country, the art of fashion. She partnered with UNESCO and brought in over thousands of
weavers and artisans and raise the voice of fashion in the country
Underlyingproblemsoffashionindustry
Fashion industry is a highly competitive industry in Bangladesh and around the world. Demand
in fashion very often, making it very risky area (s) for business. Although, many companies have
strengthen their business in this industry but they have to constantly focus about changing
designs, looks, focus and keep customizing their product to continue fashion business.
Assumptions& Limitations
Bangladesh has population of around 1,600 million, and fashion retailing industry is a voice on
its own. It is an art, which is catered by every single person residing in this global village. The
industry is flourishing and creating more competition within the south Asia, looking forward for
global Bangladeshi fashion movement as years to come. It is difficult to produce human resource
report within three months making Time as one of the key limitations for the report. Fashion
renaissance started during mid-90‘s in Bangladesh, journalists cater very little on this sector,
henceforth Lack of articles and journals, is another key factor of limitations for the report.
Response & Arguments
Since the tragedy of Rana Plaza and Tazrin Garments, this sector was in jeopardy, public reaction
on this sector was very much negative and as an aftermath the stakeholders had to take many
decisions, which were later on covered by major Medias of the country. As covered in Daily Star,
Mostafizur Rahman quotes "Major stakeholders have taken many steps which I think will prove
effective in medium to long term" (Mobarok F. et al.) Topics of Discussions:  Discuss the Human
Resources Management problems and issues regarding fashion retailing industry in Bangladesh.

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Aarong History
In the 1970s, BRAC was examininganyandall possibilitiesforalternative formsof productive livelihood,
especially for women, and the proper commercialisation of arts and crafts turned out to be a promising
option. In 1976, Ayesha Abed, the wife of Sir Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of BRAC, initiated many of the
majoractivitiesof Aarongbyidentifyingandexperimentingwithvariouscraftsthatwomencouldproduce
at home such as nakshi kantha,embroideredgoods,baskets,matsanditemsmade of cane,bambooand
jute. However, the two main obstacles to turning craft production into a worthwhile enterprise were
maintaining good quality and proper marketing. In 1978, BRAC entered into a joint venture with
the Mennonite Central Committee,theinternationaldevelopmentarmof the MennoniteChurch,toopen
a shopinDhakacalledAarong –meaning'villagefair.'The Mennoniteshadalongexperienceof producing
handicraft to generate income and had established a programme called Ten Thousand Villages, which
workedwithartisangroupsaroundthe worldandsoldtheirproductsthroughcataloguesandretail shops
in the US and Canada. In the first year the Mennonites assistedwith the business side of the operation
while BRACworkedto developthe skillsof village womenandtheirproducts.During the late 1970s and
early1980s, BRAC focusedondevelopingAarong'sproductlinesandproductioncapabilities.Theybegan
to study and catalogue the designsand motifsof traditional art forms by visitingmuseums,elderlycraft
masters and private collectors. They experimentedwith indigenous formsand materials, adapting them
to possible new lines. They hired master craftsperson to help train village women and created a textile
design and service workshop in Manikganj to experiment with materials and technologies in stitching,
weaving and dyeing. BRAC also started producing historically imported items such as, men's panjabi. In
1982, the Ayesha Abed Foundation (AAF) was established by family and friends to commemorate the
memory and work of the late Ayesha Abed who died leaving behind her newborn son, Shameran,and
youngdaughter,Tamara.The foundationwascreatedtodevelopwomen'sskillsinvariouscraftsthrough
an appropriate working environment, financial and technical assistance and training. Initially it was
registeredwiththe governmenttoreceiveforeigncharitabledonationsandraise funds,butnow operates
exclusivelyasa part of Aarong. The AAFboard comprisesthe eightfamilyandfriendsof the late Ayesha
Abed.Itsbudgetis part of the Aarong initiative underBRAC.The AAFworkersare all membersof BRAC's
village organisation groups or the family of the members.
AAF's first project, the Manikganjcentre, was opened on 3 September 1983. The foundation buys
handicrafts made by the village women, other NGOs and handicraft producers. In addition to
starting the AAF, Aarong opened four retail outlets and began exporting a small percentage of
goods to fair-trade organisations during the 1980s. By the mid to late 1980s Aarong began to
emerge as a fashion brand despite the fact that Bangladesh was still new to the fashion industry.
Aarong was the first brand to start organising photo shoots along with fashion shows, exhibitions
and other forms of media-focused events. Through these groundbreaking marketing initiatives,
Aarong was able to expand its popularity and brand identity within the country. By the early
1990s, Aarong became the leading fashion house in Bangladesh and had created a one-stop
destination for middle to upper class urban shoppers. At the sametime, Aarong's product designs
brought consumer attention back to the products and styles that are indigenous to Bangladesh.
Its designers blended the traditional with the contemporary in a way that catered to consumers

10. 9
and started a revolution in trends, adopted by countless other boutiques and stores. During the
1990s, Aarong continued to build brand equity through fashion shows and media publicity
events. The emerging prominence of fashion in Bangladeshi society played a catalysing role in
doing this. Aarong also continued to expand its production capacity with the addition of three
new AAF centres. However, by the late 1990s and early 2000s, Aarong faced a financial setback
as a result of mediocre management and a lack of innovation. Between 2001 and 2004, the
company was restructured to improve everything from costing, pricing, design and marketing to
new product introductions and brand innovations. In 2004, its sales totalled almost USD 14
million. Aarong earned a profit of USD 1.96 million for BRAC which was distributed among its
agriculture, education, and health programmes, with the majority going to a special programme
for the ultra poor. In 2013, Aarong had crossed USD 50 million in sales.
Growth and success
Today, Aarong’s reach has spread beyond Manikganj to the rest of the country. It has grown into
a thriving international enterprise showcasing ethnic wear to beautiful crafts from silks,
handloom cotton, endi to terracotta, bamboo, jute and much more. From a single shop, Aarong
has grown into one of Bangladesh’s biggest retail chains, with eight stores spread across the
major metropolitan areas of the country – in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Sylhet and one in
London, UK.
Brand and customer overview
The word Aarong means 'village fair'. The customers of Aarong are not only the urban
Bangladeshi communities but also include Bangladeshis expatriates looking for products that
connect them to their roots and represent their identities as a Bangladeshi. The customers also
include foreigners visiting Bangladesh.
Design, manufacturing and distribution overview
Aarong uses decentralised manufacturing process to accomplish its goal as a social business by
employing production workers in various rural and semi-urban areas. A purely commercial
business would locate its production centres in concentrated areas where infrastructure and a
low-cost labour supply are available. Many of the products are produced in off-site locations by
workers who have very little exposure to the final products that are sold at the retail level. An
overview of the design, manufacturing and distribution process is outlined below.

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Aarong's process flow
Production
Aarong has more than 800 micro, small, and medium entrepreneurs in 60 districts and produces
goods through its own production centres, including the (AAF) production centres and sub-
centres. The AAF production largelyfocuses on textiles while the external independent producers
cover the non-textile items such as, pottery and jewellery expert tailoring work.
Marketing
Aarong maintains a dedicated marketing staff to assist with major marketing initiatives including
traditional printandbillboardadvertising,exhibitsandfashionshows.In2008, Aarong celebratedits30-
yearrun byparticipatinginnumerousfashionshowsandsponsoringanakshi kathaexhibitiontitledStory
of Stitchesatthe National ArtGalleryof Bangladesh.Aarongchoose the costleadershipstrategythataims
to lower its production costs by reducing costs through experiences, cost reduction in the areas of
advertising, research & development, promotion etc.
Export
Aarong's export business started in 1986, with an initial order from Traidcraft, a UK-based fair
trade organisation. Aarong is a recognised fair trade organisation and a provisional member of
IFAT, the global network of fair trade organisations. Based on Aarong's reputation as a social
business, it has successfully grown its export customer base over the last 20 years through the
addition of a number of fair trade organisations in Europe, North America, Australia and New
Zealand. In 2007, nearly five per cent of sales came from exports, approximately 85 per cent of
which were to fair trade organisations and the remaining 15 per cent to commercial
organisations. The fair trade organisations are mostly wholesalers that channel products to retail
outlets such as world shops or fair trade shops. Goods sold in this form are usually marketed
under the importers' brand; however, retailers tend to attach stories in the tagline or
promotional materials about Aarong and the social and financial benefits it provides for the
development of the underprivileged artisans. Aarong maintained a London-based franchise that

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accounted for approximately 11 per cent of the total export sales in 2007. Aarong franchised
itself in London to cater to the needs of the large Bangladeshi community living in the region.
However, the franchise was not continued after 2010 in anticipation of launching an e-commerce
website. In 1991 and 1992, Aarong opened its own retail outlets in Vancouver and London. Due
to poor management and inventory control both locations were closed in 1994; however, Aarong
remains focused on a long term strategy to enter the mainstream Western markets..
Competitors Analysis of Aarong
Competitor analysis in marketing is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current
and potential competitors. This analysis provides both an offensive and defensive strategic
context through which to identify opportunities and threats. Competitor profiling coalesces all of
the relevant sources of competitor analysis into one framework in the support of efficient and
effective strategy formulation, implementation, monitoring and adjustment.
Aarong has its own version of the competitive analysis and its function is clear: to line up your
product with other products and show where yours falls short and where yours is superior. Each
industry brings a different spin to this old favorite and user experience design has its own set of
criteria by which to judge competitors.
From the above diagram it is seen that Aarong has competitive advantage over it’s competitors
on almost every factors. Only few companies have ability to chase some sort of advantage like
Aarong. Such as Rina Latif’s product features, qualities and innovativeness, Kay-Kraft and Anjan’s
supplier, Rang’s color and Khubsoorti’s cost.
Question
1. What are the Human Resources Management problems and issues regarding fashion
Aarong in Bangladesh?
2. What sort of Human Resource Management approaches needed for ensuring ongoing
strategic competitive advantages?
3. What Human Resource Management will face Aarong in the 21st century? Critical
discussion.

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Question 1
What are the Human Resources Management problems and issues regarding fashion Aarong
in Bangladesh?
Generally there are some factors which are correlated with each other at retail sector. For
example, excellent servicewith higher customer satisfaction.The more trained professionalsales
associates the more increase of sales rate at retail sector. Proper and efficient training means
efficient workforce, the more customer satisfaction the higher sales rate etc.
While working at Aarong HR a common question is always faced by me that why the training
process is lengthy and whether there are needs for the training and so on. But after completing
internship program there are some facts I figured out that
 The training is needed or not
 there efficient outcome against input of the process
 The training was not conducted for Sales associates
 The sole purpose for the training sessions
 It is effective and efficientfor both training teams and the SA who are going through the training
process. The factors drives to conduct me a research on training efficiency and sales associate’s
service efficiency and the outcomes are discussed at nest parts of this analysis report.
The recruitment process is the integral part of Human Resource and for this Aarong need to make
sure about the various recruitment strategies which should match with the organizational and
the cultural goals. There is a strong relationship with the organizational goals and objectives with
the various recruitment processes. Aarong has to recruit types of people who will adjust
themselves with the environment and values of the company. In order to fillup vacancies, Aarong
HR department provides advertisements on its websites, various job websites and posters. Due
to technical problem sometimes CVs cannot be obtained or posted properly on the websites.
Beside it takes a considerable amount time to sort out large amount of CVs received for Sales
Associatepost. HR department of Aarong inform the interview time to the candidate over phone.
Often many candidates lose the opportunity to get job as the numbers mentions in the CVs
cannot be reached and they are not informed about the interview. Sometimes it is difficult to
draw qualified pool of candidates as candidates lack in qualification or due to negotiation
problem for salary and benefits. Moreover, Aarong needs more area based employees. Sales
Associates who belong to nearest area to the outlets are required. It is, however, difficult to find
out area based employees. Candidates are often reluctant to work at the out let nearest to their
residents. While preparing appointment letters there is often lack in the availability of
information. Sometimes at the time of preparing appointments for sales associates, necessary

14. 13
information from the CVs or other documents cannot be found. Thus it delays the preparation of
many confirmation letters. Again for confirmation letters, performance evaluation reports during
probation period come late and evaluators sometimes mistake in rating. Aarong emphasize a lot
on performance appraisal and try to ensure fair procedure in the evaluation procedure. However
the human resource department of Aarong has to face lots problem during evaluation the
performance of staffs. All the departments do not fill up the performance evaluation form within
the time frame and thus time management problem occurs. Sometimes the performances of
staffs are not rated properly, the ratings are not added and sometimes there are lacks of
explanation. Again, the performance evaluation forms are not filled up properly and are
submitted without the sign of the respective head of the department. For correcting these
mistakes performance evaluation forms are resend to the respective departments and consume
a considerable amount of time. Misinterpretation of appraisal procedures by line managers and
supervisors also creates a great problem. These factors often make the performance evaluation
a costly and lengthy procedure.

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Question 2
What are the Human Resources Management problems and issues regarding fashion Aarong
in Bangladesh?
A retail strategy indicates how the firm plans to focus its resources to accomplish its objectives.
It includes:
Retailer’s Target Market: The Target Market is the markets segments toward which
retailer plans to focus its resources and retail mix. Aarong target market is mainly upper
class people but they are trying to make available their product for every class of people.
The Format the retailer plans to use to satisfythe target market’s needs: The retail format
is the retailer’s mix (nature of merchandise and services offered, pricing policy,
advertising and promotion program, approach to store design and visual merchandising
and typical location). Aarong is serving as department store to fulfill the customer needs.
Department stores are retailers that carry a broad variety and deep assortment, offer
some customer services, and are organized into separate departments for displaying
merchandise.
Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A sustainable competitive advantage is an
advantage over competition that can be maintained over a long time. Aarong has
developing sustainable competitive advantage by following ways: 
Customer Loyalty: Customer Loyalty means that customer are committed to shopping at
the retailer’s locations. Having dedicated employees, unique merchandise and superior
customer service all help solidify a loyal customer base. Creating loyal customers is an
important method of sustaining an advantage over competitors. Aarong have the CRM
Program which is introduced in 2007 to make their customer loyal. Aarong loyal customer
continuously buying from Aarong and influence others in their buying decisions. Some
ways that retailers build loyalty are by
Developing clear and precise positioning strategies
Creating an emotional attachment with customers through loyalty programs. 
Positioning: Positioning is the design and implementation of a retail mix to create an
image of the retailer in the customer’s mind relative to its competitors. Positioning
emphasizes that the image in the customer’s mind .Aarong has creating image for
handicraft and take steps to empower the women. Aarong is emphasis on fashionforward
and limited services.
Loyalty Programs: Loyalty Programs are the part of overall customer relationship
management programs. Aarong have the CRM Program which is introduced in 2007.
Customer Loyalty Programs are work hand in hand with CRM. Members of loyalty
programs are identified when they buy because they use some types of loyalty card. The
purchase information is stored in a huge database known as a data warehouse.

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Location: Location is the critical factor in consumer selection of a store. It is also a
competitive advantage that is not easily duplicated. Aarong select their location in the
center of the town with parking facilities and other facilities. For example Aarong in
Sylhet. Human Resource Management: Retailing is a labor intensive business. Employees
play a major role in providing services for customers and building customer loyalty.
Aarong recruit their employees directly from head office. Their recruitment of employees
is totally centralized. They use different recruitment policies to select Sales and
Management personal.
Distribution and Information Systems: All retailers strive for efficient operations. They
want to get their customers the merchandise they want, when they want it, in the
quantities that are required, at a lower delivered cost than their competitors. Aarong
Distribution and Information Systems is totally controlled by their Head Office.Their Head
Office provide product in all their outlets.
Unique Merchandise: It is difficult for retailers to develop a competitive advantage
through merchandise because competitors can purchase and sell the same popular
national brands. Aarong product design and quality etc make their product unique than
other retailer. Aarong has develop a private level brand.
Vendor Relation: Aarong all product supply from their head office to all outlets. Aarong
head office maintain a superior relationship with their vendors that’s why they can sent
product to all outlets timely.
Customer Service: Retailers also build a sustainable competitive advantage by offering
excellent Customer Service. But offering good service consistently is difficult. Customer
Service is provided by retail employees and human are less consistentthan merchandises.
Aarong provide excellent Customer Service that’s why their customer is more loyal and
buy frequently their product. Aarong provide training to their employees for providing
better customer service. Aarong main theme is to provide better customer service. Their
top management always think about their customer and how they can serve their
customer better than competitors.
Growth strategies of Aarong Four types of growth strategies retailer may pursue.
Following are these Market Penetration: Aarong follow market penetration i,e. they use
their current resources to attract existing customer. The sales person often try to persue
customer to purchase other products with their regular purchase (cross selling).
Market Expansion :Aarong has this strategy.They recently started jwelary item to capture
the women needs.
Retail format Development: Retail format development can be when a retailer adds
merchandise categories.Aarong often add new categories.

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Diversification: Aarong recently added cold clothing item to attract new and existing
customer. They are currently in talks with Farhana Begum to sign her unique Coffe table
design, which turns into a Carom Board.
STRENGTHS &
WEAKNESSES
AARONG
MANAGEMENT
CAPABILITY
Good
MERCHANDISING
CAPABILITY
Excellent
FINANCIAL RESOURCES Excellent
STORE MANAGEMENT
CAPABILITIES
Excellent
OPERATIONS Good
LOCATIONS Excellent
CUSTOMERS Good

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Question 3
What Human Resource Management will Aarong face in the 21st century?
This paper report on the human resource management in 21st century: challenges for future. The
managers today facea whole new array of changes like globalization, technologicaladvances and
changes in political and legal environment. Change in information technology. The great
challenge of HRM is to attract, retain and talented employees .HRM is the function within an
organization that focuses on recruitment of management of and providing direction for the
people who work in the organization.
Technology has changed everything with great extent, the methods of production, the process
of recruitment, the training technique and new equipment etc. Now it’s up to HR personnel’s to
work with their functions as shown below to best manage the workforce .With the 21st century
in motion human resource management will face some of the old struggles and HR will be forced
to facemany new challenges.Themain objective of HR is to recruit, retain, train, retrain and keep
workers satisfied. Indeed, these responsibilities can be challenging in the 21st century, especially
with changing roles, a multi-generational workforce, and globalization.
Parallel with the change in the global arena, the qualification of the workforce has been
changed. The changes of the workforce required a shift from traditional personal management
to human resource management. With the evolution of HRM, this field has gain a more
strategic perspective in both academic literature and practice. Human resources have started to
be seen as an inimitable and most valuable factor for organizations to gain competitive
advantage. With this perspective, HRM department has gain more importance and become
strategic players in the organization. Today, the new HRM requires being strategic partner in
the organization by aligning all the HR functions with the mission, vision and strategies of the
organization.
In these pieces of paper we have discussed those foremost challenges which are confronting
today Organization. To overcome these challenges the HR mangers will have to build a standard
structure that allows managing all different workforce alternatives. This waythe organization
maintains their competitive advantages. Recommendation and conclusions are given at the last
of this paper.
Challenges of 21st Century:
Following are some challenges being faced by the HR department.
Attracting & selecting the best candidate
It has become very tough to find suitable talent as this a process where every candidate will

19. 18
differ from others in one or the other sense. Even the managers will take decisions as per their
perceptions thus possibility of bias cant be ruled out. Every managers decision is influenced by
his values, beliefs,political and social views. So 21st century poses the challenge of selecting and
attracting the best candidates by keeping the competition in mind. The managers need to know
that highquality, skilled talent can be worth its weight in gold and all the organizations are after
them to join them but nobodys able to find them. While gold in the 19th century was found in
abundance but today's high-quality, skilled talent is not.
Promoting organisation culture
An organisation is full of diverse people; which is good in a way as different minds will lead to
innovation and new ideas but managing the culture with so many diverse minds and putting
across the cultural values is a tough task. Since organizational culture is an important factor in
attracting the new talent therefore HR manager has to put in a lot of hard work and efforts to
develop a successful organization structure. Managing these people with diverse cultures like
different religious, cultural, moral background is a challenging task for the HR Managers in 21st
Century. Due to acquisition and mergers taking place it becomes important for the HR Manager
to develop the work culture because the whole organization is to be restructured after mergers.
Organizations now are adopting more flat and simple structure. Globalization will impact HR
managers by requiring new skills such as language capabilities because the manager will have to
speak to other nationals while recruiting them.
Career developmentofthe employees
With the coming of globalisation, there have come many technological developments and
changes. Innovation is the key to survive in the business. And workforce being an important
factor in the organisation has to trained and developed along with the changes in the business
environment. Training should not be restricted to improving skills and knowledge alone; rather
it should concentrate on the overall career development of the employee, which is a major
challenge for the HR manager.
Adopting human investment perspective
The HR manager will have to adopt more active than the reactive approach. He needs to focus
on using business strategies in human resources policies and practices for satisfying consumers
and employee‟s needs. Need of the hour is to develop a workforce that reflects the diversity of
consumers and clients. Thus role of HR managers is expected to change radically in the next

20. 19
decade. HR manager should be equipped with specific develop an international
workforce, they willhave to keep the written records of other cultures and keep the management
informed of the cost for not paying attention to all these major issues.
Making new retention& motivation strategies
competencies to support these roles. Thus, as mentioned above also, the mangers will have to
spend nearly all of their time managing cross-functional work teams. The managers will have to
As the organizations have opened up to hiring worldwide, it has become necessary for the
managers to have better retention policies. A multinational company comes with its own set of
rules and policies,but they have to adopt new rules and policies keeping in mind the work culture
of the country they are operating it. Only then they‟ll be able to satisfy the employees of that
country and thus it will reduce the attrition rate. If the employees are motivated and like their
job, they are less likely to leave. The managers will have to walk that extra mile to motivate
today‟s employees.
Conflict management
21st century bringswithitlong workinghours,target pressures,highcompetition,etc.whichcanleadto
stressand conflictsinthe organisation.The HRmanager‟sburden increasesashe will have tomake sure
that workis done timelyandaccuratelybutat the same time he will have to find waysof reducingstress
and conflictbefore itcan cause any seriousdamage.Simultaneously,he hasto balance his work life and
personal life as the stress and long working hours canalso have a toll on him.
Managing virtual workplace and e-commerce
Electronic commerce means to perform the trading activities through internet. The on-line
business has become a challenge for the workers. The managers are finding it hard to hire &
develop human resources who have the ability to attract, motivate, retain, and to serve as
maximum customers as possible. The virtual business world has forced the business houses to
decentralize their functions as flexible work arrangements take away most of the time of the
manager.
Business ethics and values
With changing work culture and structure, it has become more important to have ethics and
values in place which will also in the long run decides the sustainability of the organization in
the global market place.
Leadership Development

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The SHRM poll and a similar one in 2010 by PricewaterhouseCoopers both indicated leadership
development was a key HR concern and challenge. As companies grow and expand, developing
leaders who are promotable is important. Leadership development also connects to retention in
two ways. Employees often indicate poor manager leadership as a reason for leaving jobs.
Additionally, employees want more active leadership roles in decisions within their departments
and jobs, which may necessitate training. Unfortunately, businesses sometimes struggle to come
up with the budgets necessary for strong employee training and development programs that
emphasize leadership and growth.
Culture
Human resources plays an active role in the development of an organizational culture. Increased
diversity contributes to the challenge of building a cohesive culture. While people from different
backgrounds bring fresh ideas and perspectives, differences also contribute to the prevalence of
conflict. Cultural variance in values and rituals affects the abilities of employees to find
commonality, which is important to communication. Cross-cultural teams and diversity
management are tools used by HR to positively impact a diverse workplace.
Technical Talent
Lackof technical talent has made itdifficult for companies to fillspecializedpositions. Even during
periods of high unemployment, technical and technology-driven companies find a shortage of
employees with the training and competencies to perform in niche jobs. This has caused some
HR departments to collaborate with local colleges in the development of courses and training
programs to help them fill needed roles.
How these above mentioned challenges affect the human resources
1 .Cross cultural training of HR personnel so that they understand other cultural people
2. HR will find its role highly globalised to emerging trends in the recruitment, motivation and
retention.
3. HR should adopt the change at internet speed.
4. HR will have to be on a continuous lookout for the innovations as they say “innovation is the
key to success”.
5.The traditional managers who have significant product and customer knowledge will be rigid
to adapt to the changing situation. They can oppose the use of new technologies.
6. Differences can arise among the internal management as they can divide in groups of tech
savvy and traditional partners giving way for internal conflicts.
Finally, to conclude that it can be said that Human Resource Management practice is becoming
more and more challenging day by day. Lot of problems / challenges like retention, attraction of

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employee, dealing with different cultural people, managing work force diversity, technological
and informational changes to overcome with these challenges training (Cross cultural training
and technological and informational training) are coming in the way of Human Resource
Management. To reduce mobility of professional personnel HR people have to motivate them
from monetary and non-monetary techniques. Proper performance evaluation system and proper
career development plans should beused I the organization to reduce professional mobility. Thus,
the 21st century HR will result in the competitive advantage and can add value to the human
resources by improving the organizational efficiency which will lead the organization to survive
for a long period in the competitive environment.

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Recommendations
Human Resource Department of Aarong aims to ensure world class HR practices in the
organization. From the observation of my internship role and responsibilities of HR department
of Aarong, scope for improvement have been identified. The recommendations are given below:
 Aarong can advertise the recruitment of Sales Associates on newspaper, social media and
billboard near universities and colleges as most of the candidates for Sales Associates are
undergrad students.
 Aarong can develop online recruitment process for Sales Associates besides the
submission of hard copy of CVs. Here candidates will encouraged be to fill up online
13 recruitment forms for their application. The information from this form will be stored in a
database and can be used as needed thus reducing large amount of paper work and
manual entry of information to the database.
 At the time of providing performance evaluation form to each department they can
provide elaborate instructions on how to fill up those forms and last submission date in a
printed paper with those forms.
 HR department of Aarong can arrange training for evaluators on evaluating the
performance of staffs and filling up those forms.
 The number of employees working in Human Resources should be as the number of
people working in HR is comparatively low to the number of total employees working in
different departments and retail outlets in different parts of Bangladesh. Aarong should
consider expanding the HR department by recruiting skilled and qualified HR personnel.
 According to the current performance appraisal systememployees get promotion or
increment on their performance. However rather than giving promotion or increment,
performance bonus or increment based on employee's performance would be more
profitable for the Aarong.

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Conclusion
To fighting for upholding the dignity of the marginalized Aarong began as a humble project.
After its inception Aarong provided employment for a limited number of rural women through
silk production via and the art of nakshikantha in 1978. Today Aarong has extended its support
to rural artisans by investing in their handicrafts and created income generating opportunities
for thousands of artisans from communities. Aarong is not only a fashion house anymore with
times it has evolved itself as one of the most successful lifestyle retails in our Bangladesh
maintaining the tradition and the trends. Human Resource Department of Aarong is working with
all other department to support Aarong with thousands of employees to continue its successful
journey to become a prestigious brand that will represent Bangladesh

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Reference
http://www.aarong.com/
https://www.britannica.com/topic/fashion-industry
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fashion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Textile_industry_in_Bangladesh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aarong
https://www.facebook.com/BRAC.AARONG/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Western_fashion