Case study of the supply chain department of square pharmaceuticals ltd. & human resource management practices

1. Human Resource Management
Practices:
A Case Study of the Supply Chain
Department of Square
Pharmaceuticals Ltd.

2. Introduction
 Human Resource Management (HRM) is a relatively new concept in
Bangladesh.
 They realized that HRM is not just to hire people. Apart form hiring, HRM
has lots of functions which help an organization to gain competitive
advantage (Islam, 2006).
 Effective HRM practices support business goals and objectives.
 It can improve the performance of an organization by improving customer
satisfaction, innovation and productivity. So from HR planning, recruitment
and selection to training, performance appraisal, compensation, all practices
of HRM are now considered as equally important as any other aspects of the
organization such as marketing, financing, etc.

3. Supply Chain Management
 Supply chain management (SCM) is the oversight of materials, information,
and finances as they move in a process from supplier to manufacturer to
wholesaler to retailer to consumer.
 Supply chain management involves coordinating and integrating these flows
both within and among companies.
 It is said that the ultimate goal of any effective supply chain management
system is to reduce inventory (with the assumption that products are
available when needed).
 Supply chain management flows can be divided into three main flows:
i. The product flow
ii. The information flow
iii. The finances flow

4. Sqaure Pharmaceuticals
 SQUARE today is a name considering Pharmaceutical world, as well as
synonym of quality- be it toiletries, health products, textiles, Agro Vet
products, information technology and few more.
 But in the year 1958 ,the company was originally started with
Pharmaceuticals.
 Now that small company of 1958 is a publicly listed diversified group of
companies employing more than 12,000 people.
 The current yearly group turnover is more than 300 million USD.

5. Sqaure Pharmaceuticals: SCM
 The product flow includes the movement of goods from a supplier to a
customer, as well as any customer returns or service needs.
 The information flow involves transmitting orders and updating the status of
delivery.
 The financial flow consists of credit terms, payment schedules, and
consignment and title ownership arrangements.
 Square Pharmaceuticals Ltd consists of several individual departments such
as accounting & finance, marketing, sales, administration, human resource,
supply chain, etc.
 All these departments are linked with one or more departments within the
organization.

6. Sqaure Pharmaceuticals: SCM (contd)
 All the departments of the organization that need their necessary things
send a requisition to the supply chain department with the consent of
the department head.
 Then the supply chain department obtains the consent of the Executive
Director, Administration (EDA) and contacts with different suppliers.
 It collects the quotations from the different-suppliers and decides from
which supplier it will purchase the goods.
 The supply chain department not only deals with the local suppliers but
also with the foreign suppliers.

7. Problem
 SPL does not have any specific human resource planning program for
the supply chain department.
 It does not follow any formal labor demand forecasting and still did not
take any initiative to determine the labor supply properly.
 So it still cannot measure whether there are more or less employees
than what it actually needs.
 While going through the recruitment and selection process we found
that after the vacancy circulation lots of people submit their CVs. So it is
very difficult to sort these large numbers of CVs and identify the person
who can compete in the further steps of selection to fulfill the job
requirement.

8.  While providing the job description to the new employee the supply
chain department itself changes the job description to fit it with the
employee & and did not inform the HR dept.
 no specific employee development processes.
 The employees of the supply chain department are evaluated only by
self and the supervisor for performance appraisal. But the employees
are not evaluated by other parties such as the suppliers, peers, etc

9. Human Resource Planning
 Human Resource Plan and Forecasting :- The human resource plan for the supply
chain department is the same as that for all the other departments of SPL. The HR department
prepares the plan at the end of the year. It collects the information from all the departments of
the company about how many people they will need in the next year.

10. Recruitment and Selection
 Human resource recruitment is the practice or activity carried out by the organization with the primary
purpose of identifying and attracting potential employees. Selection is the process by which companies
decide who will or will not be allowed into organizations
 Recruitment Objectives
SPL needs such people for the supply chain department who can meet the needs of the organization to
maintain the core business activities. Thus it searches for such people who are capable of doing the
procurements and also maintaining the relationship with the supplier as a representative of SPL. Thus the
objective of SPL is to hire a dynamic and outstanding person in the supply chain management area.
 Recruitment Policies
Recruitment for the supply chain department in SPL is a job of the human resource department. The
human resource department finds a pool of candidates and along with the supply chain department selects
the best person for the job.

11. Recruitment Process for Supply Chain Department
 The Assistant General Manager (AGM) of the department fills up a
requisition form with the job position, requirements, criteria, job
description, and number of positions. It also clarifies why the
department needs a new person.
 Then the requisition is verified and approved by the HR Manager.
 The HR department publishes a circular in the newspaper for both the
executives and non-executive level posts. It also publishes a circular in
job searching websites on the Internet (i.e. bdjobs) for the executive
level posts.

12. Selection Process
 The HR department does a primary sorting of the CVs and sends them to the supply
chain department for final selection of CVs.
 Then the HR department calls the candidates for a written examination. The HR
department and the supply chain department make the question papers and
conduct the exam. Both the HR department and the supply chain department check
the exam scripts.
 The selected candidates from the written exam are called for an interview with the
HR department and the supply chain department. Before going for the interview
candidates fill a management application form with their personal information and
salary expectations. Sri Lankan Journal of Management
 Sometimes the salary negotiation is done at the interview. The candidates selected
from this interview are formally of selected for the job.
 After that the selected candidates are sent for a medical check up. If everything is
fine in the medical report then the appointment letter is given to the candidates with
a set of instructions about the code of conduct of the organization (Personal
communication, 2006)

13. Induction and Probation Period for New Employees
 Induction refers to the process of helping people to make the transition
into a new workplace, a new role or area of responsibility.
 From six months after joining the employee goes through a probation
period. Within this time training is given to the employee. The
employee tries to learn about his job. After six months an evaluation of
this employee is conducted by the AGM. If the result is not satisfactory
then the probation period is extended to another three months. After
three months again a performance evaluation takes place. Then if the
result is satisfactory the employee becomes permanent. But if the result
is not satisfactory the employee's job is terminated by the department
with the consent of EDA

14. Training
 Induction Training :- they are taught their job related activities.
 Classroom Training :- The supply chain department sends the list of the
employees who will need the training and the topics that the training
should cover to the HR department. Then the HR department contacts
SPL's faculties to conduct the training
 Off-the-Job Training
 On-the-Job Training

15. Employee Development
 Development is the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that
improve an employee's ability to meet changes in job requirements and
in client and customer demands
 formal education program,
 job enlargement,
 job enrichment,
 job rotation, transfer,
 promotions,

16. Reward and Compensation System
 Pay Structure :- Basic Salary + Home Rent + Transport + Medical
Allowance
 Other Benefits:-
Employees get five bonuses in a year.
Fund facility
For the provident fund the company itself cuts 10 percent from the basic and the employees
need to submit 10 percent from his own income.
retirement plan
profit sharing scheme for the employees.
health care benefits at a discounted rate from selected hospitals and health care centers of
Square.
employees can have their food from the office canteen free of cost.