HRM Nature

1. Copyright © 2012 by Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 1- 1
Chapter 1
The Nature of
Human Resource
Management
Prepared by Joseph B. Mosca
Monmouth University
PowerPoint Program Prepared by
Joseph Mosca, Monmouth University
Copy right Cengage Learning

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Learning Objectives
1. Describe contemporary human resource
management perspectives.
2. Trace the evolution of the human resource
function in organizations.
3. Identify and discuss
the fundamental goals of human resource
management.
4. Describe the job of human resource managers
from the perspectives of professionalism and
careers.
5. Discuss the setting for human resource
management.

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Human Resources (HR)
Human resources are the people an
organization employs to carry out various jobs,
tasks, and functions in exchange for wages,
salaries, and other rewards.

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What Is Human Resource Management
(HRM) ?
 The comprehensive set of
managerial activities and
tasks concerned with
developing and
maintaining a qualified
workforce - human
resources – in ways
at contribute to
organizational
effectiveness.

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Contemporary Human Resource
Management Perspectives
 In most organizations today, the role of human
resource management has become quite
important. This results partly from a growing
realization of the importance of people as a
source of competitive advantage, but there are
more practical reasons, such as:
 Passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
made it clear that organizations had to find ways
to hire, reward, and manage people effectively
within the limits of the law.

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Scientific management,
one of the earliest approaches
to management, was concerned
with how to structure individual
jobs to maximize efficiency and
productivity.
The human relations era
was marked by an emphasis
on finding ways to keep
workers happy, since it was
assumed that “happy
workers were productive
workers.”
As organizations grew, they
created specialized units—
personnel departments—
to work with employees.
This new type of management
function was called
personnel management.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act, as
well as other legal regulations,
made the process of hiring and
promoting employees more
complex, creating a need for
HR specialists
Evolution of the Human Resource
Function

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Human Resource Management in the
Electronic Age
Electronic technology has not drastically
affected the basic approach to how we
manage human resources, but certainly
had an effect on how HRM systems are
delivered.

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Emerging Human Resource
Challenges
HR managers face an array of new
challenges including:
financial crises
how stress is becoming a major factor in
people’s lives
 Knowledge workers: employees whose
jobs are primarily concerned
with the acquisition of knowledge,
and HR managers play a role in
applying that knowledge.

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Promoting Individual Growth &
Development
Another goal for HR managers is
promoting the personal growth and
development of its employees by offering:
Education
Skills training
Career development

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HR Management as a Staff Versus
Line Function
Line managers: those directly responsible
for creating goods and services.
Staff managers: those responsible for
supporting line management’s efforts to achieve
organizational roles and objectives.
 Many organizations have blurred this distinction.

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Human Resource Management in
Smaller Organizations
 Small organizations still use operating managers
to handle their basic human resource functions.
 Small independent businesses are generally
operated in the same way as small
organizations.
 Very small organizations are exempt from many
legal regulations.

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Human Resource Management in
Larger Organizations
 As the organization grows a separate human
resource unit becomes a necessity.
 When an organization reaches 200 to 250
employees, it generally establishes a self-
contained human resource department.
 As the organization continues to grow the
human resource department grow as well into
specialized departments.

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A Systems-Based Perspective
 The human resource management subsystem
both affects and is affected by other functional
subsystems throughout the organization.
 Utility analysis is the attempt to measure, in
more objective terms, the impact and
effectiveness of human resource management
practices in terms of metrics such as a firm’s
financial performance.

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Careers in Human Resource
Management
Careers in HR continue to grow and are
expected to do so.
How to enter the HR field:
Earn a degree, seek and entry level job, and
becoming a line manager.
Some universities offer a master of science or
MBA in HR.