The document is a cover sheet and table of contents for a 14 page assignment on developing a strategic human resources plan for Jameson Irish Whiskey to enter the Chinese market over the next two years. It provides background on Jameson as the top selling Irish whiskey in the world and outlines that China is a rapidly growing market for alcohol. The strategic HR plan will address strategic resourcing, reward management, performance management, and learning and development to recruit and retain qualified employees in China, where there is a lack of talent meeting foreign companies' needs. The best fit HRM model will be applied to the Chinese market context.

1. Graduate Business School
Assignment Cover Sheet
Student name: Sumeet Duhan
Student number: 2804324
Course: MSC INTL Business Stage/year: 1
Subject: Strategic Human Resource Management
Study Mode: Full time Yes Part-time
Lecturer Name: Jackie Kennedy
Assignment Title: Jameson Irish Whiskey
No. of pages: 14
Disk included? Yes No
Additional Information: (ie. number of pieces submitted, size of assignment, A2, A3 etc)
Date due: 25th Nov 2011
Date submitted: 25th Nov 2011
1|Page

2. Jameson Irish Whiskey
TABLE OF CONTENT
Page no
1. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………2
2. Executive Summary……………………………………………………….………………..….2
3. Strategic HR Plan……………………………………………………………………….……..3
3.1Strategic Resourcing………………………………………………………………….……….3
3.2 Reward Management………………………………………………………………….……...5
3.3 Performance Management and Performance Appraisal………..…………………………….6
3.4 Learning, Training and Development…………………………………………………….…..8
4. Application of SHRM Model………………………………………………………………….9
4.1 Best-Fit HRM………………………………………………………………………………...9
4.1 Schuler‟s Employee Behavior Model……………….…………………………………..…....10
4.2 Merits and Demerits of Best- Fit HRM………………………………………………………10
5. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………..11
6. Reference………………………………………………………………………………………12
7. Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………...14
2|Page

3. INTRODUCTION
Jameson is produced by French distiller „PernodRicard‟ it is a single distillery Irish whiskey.
Jameson was established at Street Distillery in Dublin in 1780 by John Jameson established.
Jamesonnowadays distilled in Cork, but vetting still takes place in Dublin. Jamesonhas annual
sales of around 31 million bottles, which makes Jameson the best selling Irish whiskey in the
world. In 19thcentury John Jameson along with his son started producing a million of gallons
annually when they started selling it internationally. In 2010 Jameson sold over cases of whiskey
in US alone. Today Jameson is the third largest selling single distillery in the world.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
China is the one of fastest growing markets in the world weather it automobile, food or alcohol.
China‟s alcohol market is increasing rapidly it has rose rapidly from last year i.e. 2010 with rise
of almost 37 % since 2010. Increase in sales clearly indicates the constant increase in demand for
quality spirits. After studying market statistics and comparing figures with long consideration I
decided to launch Jameson in China to help Jameson reach its annually also to become became
Alcohol Industry by penetrating new markets like China (PRWEB 2011).
HR Director of Jameson will formulate the companies HR Plan in coming two years to enter
china market. For this HR will undertake various step including strategic resourcing, reward
management, performance management and learning, training and development.
As we all know there is rapid growth in the size and status of the Chinese Market so therefore
this will bring huge demand for human capital. Almost every multinational company in China
faces common HR challenges as China lacks qualified talent to meet foreign employers demand.
McKinsey Global Institute 2006 study shows thatvery little percentage almost less than 10
percent of the new Chinese University graduates have the skills required by multinational
companies. Sowe can easily make out thatforeign firms in China often face problems in training
and retaining employee in China. (www.chinabusinessreview.com)
3|Page

4. So after keeping all these factors in mind our team suggests HR Director of BSS to consider a
total rewards strategy to retain efficient employees and to lay emphasis on training and
development of employees.Finally I will study Chinese market in detail and will tryto apply the
Best FIT HRM model to Chinese market.
STRATEGIC HR PLAN
StrategicHuman ResourceManagement , with the development of a strategic business approach for the
operation of company personnel (Patrick G, Noreen H & Michael M, 2006), is scheduled to be done here
in a way to supplement the main strategy of the business. A detailed plan is prepared for this application
is mainly focused for the next two years. Includes the main practices in human resources and how these
can be well implemented in Jameson.
Strategic Resourcing
To start with human resource management, the initial processes include recruitment and selection. The
international success of a company depends largely on human capital allocation more appropriate at the
right time and right place (Duerr M, 1986). At the beginning of a business, or when some employees
leave or other more personal needs, recruitment and selection is the initial stage. The recruitment and
selection of employees in the Chinese labor market has been especially difficult given rotation rate
increased (Wang, X., Bruning, NS & Peng, S., 2007). Resources employees have to be done at all levels
of management as Jameson is the creation of a new subsidiary and as always almost the entire recruitment
and selection of management at both operational and half is done locally. However, in case of high level
management, it is worth giving a thought whether to carry out inside or outside recruitment (Scullion H,
1994).
Depending on the business strategy to provide high quality products, the effect on recruitment and
selection procedures will be to conduct an explicit analysis of work, as is evident from the model of
Schuler Employee Behavior (1987).
Recruitment
"Recruiting is defined as seeking and obtaining potential job candidates in sufficient numbers and quality
so that the organization can select the right people to meet their work requirements" (Shen J. & V.
4|Page

5. Edwards, 2004).
Attract eligible persons, preventing the wrong people and maintaining the employer brand is the main
purpose of recruitment, it is always desirable that such a low cost way (Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor,
S., 2001). Jameson will have to come through the process of hiring a profitable and efficient.
First, the Jameson that the design of the different jobs to cover the organization and provide a
good description of the jobs and the requirements for eligibility of employees. We need to
employ staff at all levels of management rights from the management level to operational levels.
However, China is an important market attractive to companies around the world, no
competition, even for the acquisition of the large force of skilled labor. The terms and conditions
should not refuse to consider this fact because they may deter good candidates for the application
to be part of Jameson.
Much of the staffs at all levels of management can be rented from the Chinese labor market and the
Chinese staff would have a better understanding of the Chinese market.
Selection
"Selection is the process of gathering information for the purposes of evaluating and deciding who should
be employed in certain jobs" (Dowling et al., 1994).
Jameson will have to focus primarily on interviews, psychometric tests and benchmarks for the selection
of candidates. Interviews were conducted in a structured way, but nice to provide a reasonable view to the
applicant about the job and collect the details of his / her (Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor, S., 2001).
Psychometric testing is used primarily to evaluate the aptitude of the applicant. This also helps in the
analysis of personality and its importance in the organizational context. The end-use reference helps to
verify the facts and the nature of control of a person who can be anyone who is familiar with the
applicant, as the former employer or any official in any previous institutions such as schools, universities
and so on.
After implementation of these screening methods, the final decision will be based on job specifications
meet the participant. The employee selected will be sent an offer of employment with the employment
contract. The rejected candidates are thanked for their interest in Jameson as this will help create a good
image as an employer.
5|Page

6. Reward Management
“Reward management is concerned with the formulation and implementation of strategies
and policies that aim to reward people fairly, equitably and consistently in accordance with their
values to the organization” (Armstrong M. & Hay Group., 2007). It is also essential to manage
the reward system as it has the ability to attract and retain staffs, affect the profit and most
importantly the motivation of the employees thereby affecting their behaviour and performance
leading to attainment of the organizational goals (Torrington D., Hall L. & Taylor S., 2001).
In the past time, reward was considered to attract, retain and motivate staff (CIPD, 2010). Now a
days, salaries play the important role to attract people to a certain job, benefits kept them on the
job and bonuses motivated them to work better and harder. According to Bratton and Gold
(2003) reward management is a core facet of the employment relationship (sandersaar 2010).
In China, many companies are throwing lot of money on their most skilled and desirable
employees to retain them and often employees are promoted beyond their skill level. Many
companies do not pay sufficient attention to training, career development, and pay for
performance. Besides this companies should consider a total reward strategy, which consider not
only bonuses and salaries, but also benefit packages, training and career development
opportunities, other long and short term incentives.
As the competition is very high because of the tight market so an efficient reward system should
be developed. After providing all the training then as a company you cannot lose a potential
employee.
Scope of Reward Management
1. Pay:It describes to the salary that an employee get. I have to make sure that employees
receive salary according to their responsibility and capability and also keep an eye on our
competitors what they are paying??
6|Page

7. 2. Incentives:It defines that giving the reward to an employee whose efforts outcomes in
higher performance than expected performance. Incentives will motivate and encourage
employees to perform better again and again.
3. Benefits: It refers to indirect rewards such as pension premium, insurance cover that an
employee gets as a part of the organization. Presently, employees are giving more
preferences to extra benefits that come with salary package. Before joining any
organization they review the overall package.
The pay levels of the efficient and skilled employees will be higher in China because of the fear of skilled
employees, high gross domestic product rate and also company needs to retain employees so it might pay
more.
Jameson has to continue their employees motivated at all times to crop high performance of the overall
organization. In the Maslow‟s need hierarchy and the hygiene factor in the Herzberg‟s two factor theory,
the extrinsic reward like pay can be a motivator like the physiological needs, even though this is not a
motivator but still avoids dissatisfaction. However, both monetary and non-monetary rewards will be used
to motivate the employees.
Performance Management and Performance Appraisal
Performance Management System
Performance management system is the process whereby the performance of individual of
individuals are controlled and motivated through the establishment of a support structure
(Torrington D., Hall L. & Taylor S., 2001). In short, it leads to the achievement of the
organizational needs in an efficient manner. The line manager will be responsible to do the
performance management and will have to fulfillvarious duties. These include setting standards
and objectives and communicating these to the employees, supporting the in meeting the
expectations through coaching, mentoring and other ways, assessment of their performance and
7|Page

8. giving feedback and advice for continuous improvement of their performance. The HR manager
will be supporting the line manager in framing and carrying out these responsibilities.
Jameson will be executing a series of processes for performance management. Primarily,
performance objectives will be set on the basis of business strategies and other departmental or
individual objectives in a well described manner. Then, with the set objectives the results will be
analyzed and then feedback will be given to the employees stating their performance and
opinions. Through positive and negative feedback the continuous improvement will be
facilitated. The next process is linking reward to the performance based on the contribution of
every individual. The last and the final stage involves making essential changes onto the
objectives and the operations as Jameson will be continuously changing the strategies in
harmony with the changing environmental situations in China. Moreover, meetings would be
done continuously discussing the performance over the last six months or the year based on the
feedbacks and sharing ideas for the future improvement and development.
Performance Appraisal System
Performance appraisal system is one of the unique methods to measure the performance of the
employees. There are different aspects on which performance can be measured such as behavior,
personality,and job performance and communication skills. This is usually measured on yearly
basis with each line manager appraising the performance of their employees. This usually
requires the manager and the staffs to take part in a performance review meeting.
Moreover, the appraisal system is expected to deliver in so many fields as suggested by the
Employment Studies Institute (IRS 2001). Systems may focus on development, reward,
identifying future potential, motivation or identifying poor performers. According to the IRS
survey (IRS 2003), 40% of the private sector companies used appraisal for both development and
pay. This will be conducted in the simplest of forms, ranking method as a mean of competency
based system and keeping of the performance standard and objective (Redman T & Wilkinson A,
2006).
8|Page

9. 360-DEGREE FEEDBACK
With this approach we use the different type of sources from which feedback can be collected
about any individual. Feedback is collected from every aspect on the way that the individual
carries out their job like from line manager, subordinates, peers, internal customers, external
customer, senior managers and from individual themselves.
This feedback gives a better way to capture the complexities of performance stated by Atwater
and his colleagues (2002). Edward and Evan(1996, p.4) states that “no organizational action has
more power for motivating employee behavior change than feedback from credible work
associates”. With this individual understand how they may be seen different by different
organizational groups, and how this may contrast with their own ideas of their strengths and
weaknesses. So this feedback approach provides great information for the development of self-
awareness.
Hence 360 degree feedback will be a truly powerful tool to measures the performance of the
employees and also makes them aware of their strengths and weaknesses.
Learning, Training and Development
According to Foot & Hook (2009), learning and development is one of the main aspects in better
performance. Training and development mostly done to increase the employee‟s motivation, to adopt
latest methods and technologies, to increase effectiveness in processes, to reduce employee turnover, gain
employee‟s knowledge, innovation in strategies/products etc. (McNamara, 2010).
As we know that China is large pool of labor and we can get cheap labor here and no need to spend high
on the training and development of employees (Landy F. & Conte J., 2007). At the same time Jameson
will be keen to develop its productivity and to achieve its accomplished growth therefore training and
development is essential to bring the man force into real quality. The series of knowledge, aptitude and
competencies of the employees are developed through the training and development programs and
9|Page

10. different stages are involved in this program. Firstly, Jameson has to find the training needs of its
employees relating to the attitude, knowledge and skills they must possess. Secondly, the requirements
should be screened and only the suitable requirements for the operations of Jameson should be considered
for the enhancement by training. Then after that the objectives and plans for training should be set and the
training techniques should be designed.
For the design purpose, divide the employees into four categories based on how learning occurs as per the
Honey and Mumford learning styles; the „Activist‟ who look for challenge and immediate experience;
„Reflector‟ who are thoughtful and slow at approaching to conclusion; „Theorists‟ who are logical
thinkers and conclude from experience; and „Pragmatist‟ who look for and try out new ways and makes
quickly decision. The evaluation is taken out for the future improvements in the learning, training and
development after these activities have been carried out. This assessment helps to maintain a mastery of
these programs and their results and impact analysis. Jameson to get information from people involved in
the training program as students, educators, administrators, managers and customers, including obtaining
credit information so that future improvements can be made.
Jameson also focuses on being a learning organization with staff learning seen as a competitive strategy.
Employees convinced to learn and develop their skills and knowledge together through the environment
created. This ongoing learning method help Jameson renewed through organizational learning.
APPLICATION OF HRM MODEL
The two major approaches to Human Resource Management described by Purcell are Best Fit HRM and
Best Practice HRM model (1999). Out of these, the Best Fit HRM model has been applied and the human
resources practices are been implemented in line with this model. The Best Fit HRM model is applied to
Jameson considering the fact that this approach centers on how the HR practices and other functions
achieve the overall business strategy and on the connection between the HR practices and the
organizational strategy (Berghe L. & Verweire K., 2004). There is a vertical linkage between the business
strategy and the HR functions in this approach.
Best Fit HRM
The Best Fit approach assigned to when organization use HRM to their selective strategies and
accommodate to organization‟s condition and environment such as workforce character and business
10 | P a g e

11. strategy. For example: By using the Best Fit approach, SHRM become more flexibility to response
change of organizational life cycle which is start-up, growth, maturity and renewal (Wiriadinata 2011).
The HR practices like rewarding, performance management, recruitment and selection and training and
development in Jameson will be carried out depending on the business strategy. This type of HR practices
will be aimed at fulfilling the employee standards such as skills and knowledge level required for the
development and future of a successful business. Moreover, Schuler‟s strategy or employee behavior
model has been used in Jameson as a means of putting the Best Fit HRM approach.
Schuler‟s Employee Behavior Model
Schuler‟s Strategy is a framework that was developed from the Porte‟s three generic strategies for
achieving competitive advantages that included cost leadership, differentiation and focus (Gunnigle P,
Heraty N & Morley M., 2006). Cost leadership also known as cost reduction which means that
maintaining the image as a low cost producer; Differentiation also known as product innovation which
means that the product is uncommon in some viewpoint different from the competitors and the customers
will be willing to pay premium prices for it; and Focus means that a narrow market segment is being
targeted and adopt either differentiation strategy or cost reduction. Schuler‟s employee behaviour model
is a revised version based on this Porter‟s model and it concedes HRM very crucial in achieving the
business strategy when these are properly coordinated. Furthermore, he identified various employee
behaviours that are essential in getting the organizations selected competitive strategy. In this model, the
three different HRM strategies recognized are accumulation, utilisation and facilitation and these are
connected to Porter‟s three generic strategies. Now it means that if Jameson decides to be a cost leader
then it has to select utilisation strategy in respect of the human resource strategy, accumulation in case of
focus strategy and facilitation in case of differentiation strategy.
Merits and Demerits of Best- Fit HRM
According to Schuler and Jackson, organization will enjoy higher performance if they fit their human
resource strategy to their competitive strategy.
1. Desired Competitive Strategy (eg. Low-Cost)
2. Require Operation Cost Decrease
3. Supportive Human Resource Practices(eg. Employ Part-timer)
4. HR Outcomes(eg. Labor Cost being reduced).
11 | P a g e

12. Above there are some advantages of the Best Fit could help organization become more competitive as it
“meeting the business needs”. If we take an example of Wal-Mart, to sustain its position in merchandise
field, it had chosen low cost strategy. By using Best-Fit approach, supportive HR practices such as new
fresh graduates, part-timer and apply standardize training system will be applied. With these costs is
being reduced and achieve the goal (Wiriadinata 2011).
Despite that there are some disadvantages as well of Best-Fit approach. Primarily, Overlook employee
interests. This approach emphasize on competitive advantage might neglect the needs of the employee.
For example, Wal-Mart hired the employee at lower price than the market price in order to reduce the
operation cost. But this results that it become hard to hire and retain talented employee for Wal-Mart and
affect firm‟s performance. Secondly, Lack of sophistication to strategy.Alternatively blindly just thinking
of firm‟s competitive strategy by emphasizing Best-Fit approach, HR should think beyond its present
competitive position. For example, offer high rate of paid to their skilled and talented employee is a long
term investment to the firm instead of giving less pay because lot of money firm spend on training
program for the new employees (Wiriadinata 2011).
Conclusion
Human Resource is one of the main elements in the achievement of competitive advantage.Adopting HR
practices such as recruiting, training and motivation are very rare in the achievement of the overall
business goals (Pfeffer J. & Veiga J.F., 1999) and for this purpose a strategic HR plan has been made with
the help of a most suitable SHRM model. In conclusion, when systematically applied, the strategic HR
plan could crop improved potential for gaining its competitive advantage in the Chinese Alcohol industry
of Jameson in the next five years.
12 | P a g e

13. Referencing
Armstrong, M. & Hay Group. 2007. Reward management: a handbook of remuneration strategy and
practice 5th ed., London; Philadelphia: Kogan Page [Accessed November 23, 2011].
Armstrong, M. & Baron, A. (2005). Managing performance: Performance management in action.
London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development [Accessed November 23, 2011].
Berghe, L. &Verweire, K., 2004. Integrated performance management: a guide to strategy
implementation, London; Thousand Oaks Calif.: Sage[Accessed November 24, 2011].
Bratton, J. & Gold, J. (2003). Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. London:
Palgrave Macmillan [Accessed November 22, 2011].
Dowling, P.J., Schuler, R.S. and Welch, D., 1994. International Dimensions of HRM, 2nd ed. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth [Accessed November 22, 2011].
Duerr, M. & Conference Board., 1986. The commercial development of new products, New York N.Y.: Conference
Board [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Foot, M. & Hook, C. (2009). Introducing Human Resource Management.5th ed. Harlow: Pearson
Education Limited [Accessed November 23, 2011].
Landy, F. & Conte, J., 2007. Work in the 21st century : an introduction to industrial and organizational
psychology 2nd ed., Malden Mass.: Blackwell [Accessed November 23, 2011].
Pfeffer, J. & Veiga, J.F., 1999. Putting people first for organizational success. Academy of Management
Executive, 13(2), 37-48 [Accessed November 24, 2011].
PRWEB, 2011. As China‟s Alcohol Market Booms, Branded Spirits Ltd Is Featured at the Hong Kong
International Wine & Spirits Fair. Available at: http://www.prweb.com/releases/beverage-sales-
china/fmcg-china/prweb8945757.htm [Accessed November 22, 2011].
13 | P a g e

14. Purcell, J., 1999. Best practice and best fit: chimera or cul-de sac? Human resource management journal.,
9(3), 26 [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Redman, T. & Wilkinson, A., 2006. Contemporary human resource management: text and cases 2nd ed.,
Harlow England; New York: FT/Prentice Hall [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Sandersaar, 2010. People and Organisations. Available at: http://sandersaar.blogspot.com/ [Accessed
November 24, 2011].
Shen, J. & Edwards, V., 2004. Recruitment and selection in Chinese MNEs. International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 15(4/5), 814-835 [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Schuler, R & Jackson, S. (2007) Strategic Human Resource Management (2nd Edition), Oxford:
Blackwell publishing [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Scullion, H., 1994. Staffing Policies and Strategic Control in British Multinationals. International Studies of
Management & Organization, 24(3), 86-104[Accessed November 24, 2011].
Torrington, D., Hall, L. & Taylor, S., 2001. Human resource management 5th ed., Harlow Essex:
Financial Times/Prentice Hall [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Wang, X., Bruning, N.S. & Peng, S., 2007. Western high-performance HR practices in China: a comparison among
public-owned, private and foreign-invested enterprises. International Journal of Human Resource Management,
18(4), 684-701 [Accessed November 24, 2011].
Wiriadinata, M., 2011. “Best Practice” and the “Best Fit”. Are the approaches substitutes or complement?
Why? « Michael Wiriadinata. Available at:
http://mamikikeyu.wordpress.com/2011/07/31/%E2%80%9Cbest-practice%E2%80%9D-and-the-
%E2%80%9Cbest-fit%E2%80%9D-approaches-to-strategic-human-resource-management-are-the-
approaches-substitutes-or-complement-why/ [Accessed November 23, 2011].
14 | P a g e

15. Bibliography
IBEC, 2011. IBEC - Employer Services - HR best practice / Performance management. Available at:
http://www.ibec.ie/IBEC/ES.nsf/vPages/HR_best_practice~performance-management?OpenDocument
[Accessed November 24, 2011].
Saritha, P., Opportunities in China‟s Alcoholic Beverage Market--CBR July-September 2011. Available
at: https://www.chinabusinessreview.com/public/1107/pingali.html [Accessed November 26, 2011].
Schuler, R., Dowling, P. & Cieri, H., 2011. An Integrative Framework of Strategic International Human
Resource Management. Available at: http://jom.sagepub.com/content/19/2/419.short [Accessed
November 24, 2011].
2011. Guidelines - Performance Management Development Scheme - Trinity College Dublin. Available
at: http://www.tcd.ie/hr/pmds/guidelines.php [Accessed November 24, 2011].
The History of Jameson Whiskey. Available at:
http://www.celticbydesign.com/index.cfm/feature/2_153/the-history-of-jameson-whiskey.cfm [Accessed
November 22, 2011].
15 | P a g e