10 Actionable Ways How to Get Traffic to Your Website

If you’re wondering how to get traffic to your website, here are ten of the most effective techniques you can try! A guest post is simply content that you publish on someone else’s blog or site. This enables you to reach new audiences, and make connections with those who hold a higher position of authority in your niche or industry.To get started with guest posting, you’ll need to reach out to blogs that appeal to the type of audience you’d like to target. Instead of just sending along a full article, provide the blogs editors with a summary of your intended topic, and give them a chance to approve it first. This improves your chances of getting published successfully (and saves you from wasting valuable time).2. Repost your old contentWhen you run a blog, the temptation is to focus solely on creating new posts and getting them in front of as many people as possible. However, if you’re trying to figure out how to get traffic to your website, it†™s also smart to pay attention to your older content.In short, the greater the time a blog post was published, the less attention it will naturally receive. To fix this, you can repost old content to capture more readers over time. For example, new traffic can come from audience members who weren’t around (or didn’t see them) the first time they were published.Note that it’s important to be careful how you go about doing this. Reposting articles carries a risk of getting hit with ‘duplicate content’ penalties from search engines, so you’ll need to follow some proven best practices. We recommend the Revive Old Post plugin if youre thinking of employing this tactic.3. Employ the ‘skyscraper’ techniqueAnother excellent way to increase the traffic coming to your site is to focus on the quality of its content. High-quality pages and posts are more likely to be shared, and they encourage people to read more and return in the future.T he ‘Skyscraper Technique’ is a popular and effective way of creating traffic-boosting content. In a nutshell, it involves finding an existing piece of content with a lot of backlinks  and creating something similar but better. Your piece might be longer and more comprehensive, better quality, or more up-to-date – basically, anything encouraging people to link to yours instead of other posts on the same subject.For more advice on how to do this, you’ll want to check out Brian Dean’s full guide to the Skyscraper Technique. Remember, though, your posts still need to be original, especially if you want to avoid duplicate content penalties.4. Update your content regularlyWe’ve already discussed how older content on your site may not get the attention you’d like. Fortunately, it’s possible to learn how to get traffic to your website through your past posts, not just the shiny new ones.To do this, you’ll want to update some of your older content. This lets you extend the lifespan of your best posts. Plus, it’s excellent for your site’s Search Engine Optimization (SEO), as ‘fresh’ and relevant content tends to get a boost.So take a look at your archives, and find posts that can benefit from a makeover. You may need to update old references and links or take into account any changes since the original publication. It’s also smart to create ‘evergreen’ content – i.e. posts that will remain just as relevant regardless of the timespan.5. Add important metadata to your posts and pagesSearch Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of tweaking your site’s content so it’s better understood by search engines. This makes SEO a key driver of traffic, as it affects how often your content is recommended in relevant searches.However, SEO isn’t just about using keywords in your blog posts (although this is an important technique too). It’ s also about optimizing the behind-the-scenes ‘metadata’. This includes each post’s SEO title and meta description, as well as image ‘alt text’ and other details important to search engine bots, even if human visitors never see them.SEO-focused plugins such as  Yoast SEO help you optimize this information. In addition, the Yoast developers offer a handy guide to understanding the most important types of metadata.6. Add a forum or knowledge base to your siteSo far, we’ve mostly been talking about changes you can make to your existing site and blog. If you really want to learn how to get traffic to your website, though, you’ll want to consider expanding whats offered.Just to name two examples, you can consider adding a forum and/or a knowledge base to your website. A forum can be particularly effective at improving traffic  because it encourages people to do more than just passively consume content. You can build an entire community a round your site – an excellent way to keep people coming back.As for knowledge bases, they let you answer your audience’s most important questions, and provide a vehicle for self-help. Publishing concise QA articles can even help you get featured in Google’s ‘answer boxes’  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ another significant driver of traffic.7. Post regularly on social mediaOften, the answer for how to get traffic to your website relies on increasing your visibility and reach. Instead of waiting for new people to find your site, you can go out and meet them wherever they are. In other words, become active on a few key social media platforms.By posting regular updates and sharing your blog content, you can get the attention of new audiences. Plus, social media is an excellent vehicle for promoting engagement. If you have a WordPress blog, you can share your posts easily using the Revive Old Posts plugin  we mentioned earlier: Revive Old Posts Auto Post to Social Me dia Author(s): revive.socialCurrent Version: 8.4.4Last Updated: October 3, 2019tweet-old-post.zip 78%Ratings 1,969,075Downloads WP 3.5+Requires This tool lets you automatically share an update on one or more social platforms whenever you publish a new post. It enables you to more easily stay active on your social accounts, and drive traffic towards your site at the same time.8. Start a podcastPodcasts are big business, and for good reason. People love them because of their portability. By providing this type of content, you offer your audience flexibility in how they consume it.What’s more, you can feature your podcasts on sites like SoundCloud and iTunes. This lets you reach larger audiences, and point them back towards your site. You can also target specific types of listeners with content geared towards their specific interests.Starting up a podcast takes a little work, but is a surprisingly beginner-friendly venture from a technical standpoint. Consider uploading yo ur episodes to dedicated podcast streaming platforms, as well as featuring them on your own site. You can find plenty of podcast plugins to make that easy.9. Create a YouTube channelYour options for how to generate traffic go beyond the site itself. We’ve already talked about social media, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention YouTube as well.To say video content is huge is an understatement. In fact, it’s projected that by 2020, more than 80% of consumer internet traffic will involve watching online videos.Therefore, starting up a YouTube channel for your site accomplishes two things. It enables you to offer content in a format people are heavily invested in, and build an audience to send back to your main site.We have our own YouTube channel here at ThemeIsleActually creating a YouTube channel is simple, but to get the maximum benefit from it, you’ll want to optimize it for search engines and promote it extensively. You can also add your YouTub e videos  to your website – providing more value to your existing audience.10. Take advantage of email marketingLast on our list of ideas for how to get traffic to your website is to start using email marketing. This involves building up a list of your readers’ or customers’ email addresses  and sending out periodic messages.Email marketing is an incredibly useful tool in a variety of ways. It helps you build a stronger relationship with your core audience, and lets you easily market new products or promotions. You can also share news and interesting information with your subscribers, and let them know about new content right away. All of these can have a significant effect on your traffic levels.We’ve written before about how to get started with email marketing, and how to attract more subscribers to your list. Remember – if you’re using this as a tool to increase website traffic, you’ll want to include at least one prominent lin k back to your site in each email. You may even want to track those links, to see how effective your campaigns are at driving traffic.Email marketing is affordable to get started with, as you can find lots of free and cheap email marketing services.Thats how to get traffic to your website!Implementing the above suggestions may take a little work, but the resulting influx of new visitors should be well worth the effort.Do you have any questions about how to implement any of these tips? Let us know in the comments and well try to help! Follow these 10 actionable #tips to get more visitors to your #website

The organisation of the sales force

The organisation of the sales force The value of the sales force in any business organization is indispensable. The sales people play a critical role as they convince consumers to purchase products of an organization.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The organisation of the sales force specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More However, it is important to organize the sales force in a manner that supports an organization on various fronts. Specifically, the organization of the sales force should support the pursuit of an organisation’s goals. Structuring follows a well laid down strategy. The structuring of any department is done based on the strategies, objectives, and goals of an organization. Objectives of structuring include getting results from customers, developing new businesses, retaining or increasing current business and increasing customer loyalty. Primarily, sales strategies seek to present solutions to problems that arise from advertising, rei nforce the importance of advertising, creating product value, dominating the supply channels and embracing innovation (Katzenbach and Smith, 2003). Sales management strategies differ depending on various circumstances. As an illustration, an organization may decide to use supply pricing vs. demand pricing. Alternatively, a differentiated or commodity approach may be used. Other approaches such as cross-platform versus single medium, innovative versus traditional, numbers-oriented versus results oriented, etc are used. The realization that a number of variables influence sales implies that structuring the sales departments is a complex task. Customer-Oriented sales force structure One approach that is useful in organizing sales people is based on customer orientation (Kleinman, 2009). This implies that organisations may decide to structure the sales force in a way that lays emphasis on the customer. In this regard, an organization may develop a product-oriented or customer-oriented s tructure.Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Therefore, an organization using this approach may organize the sales staff depending on the type of customers. In this scenario, an organization would have retail sales teams, agency sales teams, national sales teams, etc. Organizing the sales team by category is another form of customer-oriented structuring. As an illustration, magazines and newspaper sales departments are organized in terms of categories. More precisely, there are such categories as retail, automotive, jewellery, etc. However, in most cases, large sales departments are organized as verticals or categories. The advantage of using this structure lies on the notion that it enables the salespeople in each group to develop into experts in the respective categories. This structure allows the sales people to be more knowledgeable regarding customer businesses a nd more informed on trends in the industry. An organization’s compensation system influences the structuring of the sales teams into categories. By way of illustration, most organizations pay their sales staff by commission. The commissions are directly related to the volume of sales. It is thus evident that such a system rewards individual performance. Consequently, organizations that offer individual rewards do not encourage the use of category marketing. Category marketing is not preferred in organizations as some categories stand to benefit more than others as different products sell at different rates. The customer-oriented sales structure has a negative part as customers coming from different regions may force sales representatives to spend more resources and time travelling to meet. Product-Oriented sales force structure The products a firm deals in influences the organization of sales staff. By way of illustration, the nature of a product may force a radio network to have different sales teams. Such teams would include a daytime sales group, a prime sales group, a sports sales group, a late night sales group, etc. Regarding a newspaper network such as the Sunday Times, there are multiple products including the Sunday Times magazine and the Sunday paper, hence, the sales staff may be structured based on the product and later by category. Categories are determined based on the product teams.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on The organisation of the sales force specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The span of control is an important factor that influences the structuring of sales teams. The span of control has six variables. The variables include sales manager experience, sales person experience, necessary interaction, sales person personality, job scope and task complexity (Ingram, 2008). In reference to the span of control, important questions centre on the number of people who report to a manager. In this regard, job complexity should be considered. Task complexity depends upon such factors as deal, number of categories and proximity of the customer. It is noticeable that some sales tasks are relatively simple as small transactions are involved, for example, transacting a classified advertisement is possibly handled using a telephone conversation. However transacting cross-platform deals is not easy. This view is held since the latter transaction demands more negotiation sessions while the former may not require more than one session. It is thus clear that the second deal requires more preparation. In addition, the location of customers influences the structuring of the sales force. As an illustration, if retailers are close to a newspaper office, then the sellers do not need to travel long distances. Apart from job complexity, job scope affects the structuring of the sales people. In regards to the scope of job, such aspects as the buying cycle, the nature of c ustomer and nature of product are examined. It is important to note that some sales tasks have a limited focus. Such seals as those involving radio advertising may require little preparation or none at all. On the other hand, other some sales may require cross-platform selling which may involve the use of several advertising media. These are sales tasks that have a higher level of complexity and require advanced preparations. It is thus evident that complex jobs demand extra work and may influence the structuring of sales people. This underscores the point that the more complex a product is, the more complex advertising is, and thus this affects the structure of the sales team. More precisely, complex sales require more support staff (Ingram, 2008).Advertising Looking for essay on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Regarding necessary interaction, it is worth noting that some jobs require minimum while other call for maximum attention. Sales work demand different levels of interaction between a sales representative and a manager. Some jobs may require constant contact while others do not. As an illustration, a sales representative dealing in a short business cycle where there are high-level negotiations, interaction with the manager is frequently done within short periods. Such would not be the case when a sales person is handling straightforward products that do not require negotiations (Ingram, 2008). The level of experience a sales person holds is crucial in the structuring of the sales force. Those people who have lengthy experience in sales do not need to keep constant contact with management regarding what to do. Thus, a sales executive dealing with experienced sales representatives are allowed a broader scope of control (Ingram, 2008). The approach is useful when dealing in products tha t are produced using sophisticated technologies. The structuring also depends on whether products are interrelated or not. Precisely, every sales team is assigned a responsibility of selling specific products. Geographic-oriented sales force structure The geographic-oriented sales approach presents another way of organizing the sales force within an organization. In this approach, an organization segments its target market into regions (Katzenbach and Smith, 2003). After the segmentation, each region, district, country or any other geographical division is assigned a sales representative or a group of sales representatives. Dividing a market into regions and assigning the divisions to sales representatives is valuable as such helps in improving communication and interaction between organizations and sales representatives. Additionally, the notion that a sales representative is engaged within a specific region supports the view that costs are reduced since travelling is limited. It s hould also be noted that assigning specific people to deal with regions helps such personnel to understand the preferences of customers within the areas of operation. Such an understanding is invaluable since the sales people are able to convey the customer preferences and views to the producers. Based on the information gathered and forwarded to the management by the sales people, the organisations in question have the opportunity to respond by producing products that meet the customers’ specifications. In the process, an organisation benefits from increased sales. Despite the establishment above that organisations gain from geographic-based sales force, it is worth noting that disadvantages abound. As an example, it is difficult to have a homogenous group in any region. This implies that the demand for products in a region is never uniform since customers are spread across various classes. As such, using the geographic-based approach is not helpful in understanding the diff erent classes of consumers because the sales staff may be tempted to lump the consumers of a region into one group. Combination-based sales force structure The fourth approach to organizing the sales force is combination-based. Just as the name suggests, it is possible to put the three approaches together in order to help structure or restructure the sales force (Katzenbach and Smith, 2003). This approach is predominantly preferable in cases where organizations offer different products to various groups of people in a big region. Alternatively, the approach is useful when a business entity focuses on various customers or products within a specific location. By way of illustration, in a bid to underscore a product’s strategic value or to position the product strategically and avoid other products distracting the sales people, an organization should structure the sales force based on the particular product while sales groups of other products are organized bearing in mind the g eography. In embracing this approach, an organization stands a chance to avoid facing the disadvantages associated with the other three approaches. However, it is notable that this approach requires the recruitment of a big number of sales people and as such, the approach is suitable for large enterprises. Using a combination of the sales approaches is very important. Such an approach would ensure that all needs of the different customers are taken into consideration irrespective of the location. Important observations Central to the idea of organizing sales teams is the pursuit of organizational goals as indicated in the introductory part of the paper. This follows from the premise that the way an organization structures its sales force has a bearing on the performance of a business entity. It is expected that the right marketing structure is necessary if any a business is to realize its goals. Right from the initial stages, organizations focus on setting up their sales teams in a manner that is aimed at maximizing sales, improving customer experience and encouraging repeat purchases. Every important manager should take responsibility regarding the association between a consumer and the business. Towards achieving this goal, the manager makes an effort to ensure that customer concerns are addressed by keeping close contact. It would thus emerge based on this observation that the marketing arrangement is intended to foster customer contact and improve a business’ fortunes. It is noticeable that in small businesses, marketing is in most cases structured as a supportive service for sales. This implies that employees report to those individuals that head the sales department. This approach may work well although the marketing strategy is likely to suffer, as other activities involving market research are likely to be relegated to the periphery. However, by structuring an entity with combined sales personnel, a business is in a position to minimize such ris ks. The choice of the structure used in organizing the sales force lies with organizational managers. However, irrespective of the structure an organization chooses, the role of communication is important. This is because, feedback from customers is sought in order to improve services or products. In addition, market research is crucial as it facilitates gathering of competitor intelligence that is useful in helping the sales teams to hone their skills. Conclusion The sales management team is responsible for organizing the sales force. As this essay establishes, the management has the option of organizing the sales force geographically, based on the products sold, based on customer focus or combining these models. Using the geographical structuring approach, sales representatives occupy specific geographical divisions. Although, this approach is cheap as it lowers expenses, it may pose problems since geographical sales representatives do not have a good opportunity to understand ful ly all products offered. Secondly, the use of the product-based approach allows the structuring of a sales force based on special expertise. This approach is useful as it allows only specialized sales people to deal in certain products or respond to needs of special customers. Further, the approach facilitates learning and enables the sales personnel to develop their knowledge on the products in question. Using the customer-oriented approach, an organization gets the chance to align its sales with customer requirements. Based on the paper it emerges that each approach has its benefits and setbacks. In a bid to mitigate the drawbacks that characterize each approach, it is proposed that organizations consider using a combined approach to organizing the sales force. However, only big organizations have the necessary resources to use the combined approach and as thus, it may not be a solution to small organizations. Before choosing the model to embrace in business, it is important for a ny organisation to establish the goals it seeks to achieve. After taking the first step, it is valuable to align the structuring approach with the goals being pursued. Additionally, the size of the business and the costs likely to be incurred should be considered while making the choice of the right structure. As the paper establishes, each approach has its strengths and weaknesses and it is thus important to weigh them. In conclusion, taking the combined approach is preferable although the model may be out of reach for the small organisations. Reference List Ingram, T.N. et al. (2008). Sales Management: Analysis and Decision Making. Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York: M.E. Sharpe. Katzenbach, J.R. Smith, D.K. (2003). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Kleinman, D. (2009). All Star Sales Teams: 8 Steps to Spectacular Success UsingGoals, Values, Vision, and Rewards: Easy Read Comfort. New York: Read.

The Human Resource Function of a Retail Store Research Paper

The Human Resource Function of a Retail Store - Research Paper Example Human sources managers should consider training sales staff. Training is a career and development process which would improve the skills of staff with great but untapped potential (Krafft & Mantrala, 2010). They would contribute to the increase of the sales of the retail stores and counter the standards set by the new retail players in the industry. Training would also increase the overall performance of the stores and match the quality and convenience demands from the retail customers. Career and development process in the form of regular training ensures that sales staffs in the retail stores acquire the necessary skills to improve the overall quality of the retail products and services from the stores. Human resource managers should introduce flexible working arrangements in order to manage the cost of labor. Flexible working arrangements is the best way to minimize hiring extra retail staff especially for busy holidays and periods such as Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter holidays. The new role ensures that employees do not work for long-hours without getting paid notes Krafft & Mantrala (2010). An eight-hour shift would work for a retail store to utilize the entire workforce by the end of the rotation. It is difficult to meet the labor costs during seasonal fluctuations with many staff members, but a temporary working arrangement would ensure that the store keeps selling. Customers are demanding quality and convenience from service and products. Human resource managers have a duty to employ highly visible employees who can keep track of the consumers..Employees should not only have relevant skills for the job, but also ability to keep a sane appearance and code of conduct. Customer need for convenience and quality from retail stores must be met. Again, human resources would benefit from a well-designed strategy that adapts to fair hiring practices for all retail staffs. Meeting high variation in customer demand is a challenge for human

Purpose of Schooling from the Past to the Present Essay

Purpose of Schooling from the Past to the Present - Essay Example Jefferson also had a strong belief that without and educational background people would never really have any idea of what true freedom was. Jefferson is quoted as saying, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in civilization, it expects what it never was and never will be" (Padover 1952). Therefore the belief from education to the past and currently in the present still exists to be that without an education people will only dream of what they want to be in life and what they would love to achieve. In order for great things to happen one has to have knowledge of their past and a good knowledge of their future through the gift of education. In colonial times the main structure of education was situated around learning English, Reading, Writing, History, and Arithmetic due to the fact that these five areas are and have always been considered to be the most prudent areas to have knowledge about in life. Also, there were public schools just as there are today and there existed private schools as well but in colonial times the only children that could have the possibility of attending where all white and came from very influential and prosperous families (Mapp 1991). Many studies have also found that poor children did not have the ability to attend any type of formal schooling due to the fact they did not have the clothes or supplies to be able to afford going and also due to great fear of not fitting in. Not only this but it was also in part on the fact that their parents needed them more on the farms working for monetary compensation to sustain the family than taking the time to receive a proper education. Therefore thes e children studied through apprenticeship (Pulliam & Patten 1999). Furthermore, those that did venture into elementary school only took time to learn the basics of schooling in order to function decently in society but their knowledge was very limited. Basically the learning process consisted of a lot of memorizing and those who did not study and learn where often whipped, which is similar to the style of punishment today in schools with the principal paddling students who act up in class. However, in colonial times the punishment for disruption was much harsher than it is today. The first textbook came from New England and was titled, "The New England Primer" and formed a part of America's contribution to young people's education. This text was used from 1609 all the way up until the mid 19th century to teach religion and reading (Pulliam & Patten 1999). For instance, for every letter of the alphabet that a child learned they also learned a religious scripture as well. Such as for the letter a, they learned "In Adams fall, We all sin." (Pulliam & Patten 1999). This shows that in the colonial period schools were greatly influenced by religion and when compared to today we can see a stark difference because religion in the public school system has all but been taken out of the teaching curriculum. Benjamin Franklin also had a great role in the educational process during the late colonial period as well, in fact possibly just as influential as Thomas Jefferson was to the learning process of the various time periods. As the times progressed in the learning envir onment for Americans the more the attitude grew that necessary

Diagrams about business change Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Diagrams about business change - Research Paper Example In addition, appropriate technology should match the organization’s people and processes (Macmillan, 2007). Moreover, businesses can only achieve absolute benefits of technology if they consider application of technology as a source of business opportunities and not a source of expense for the business (Harigopal, 2006). Considering information technology as a solution allows businesses to explore the potentials of information technology. Currently Four Winds Hospital requires a business solution that will enable it combine and integrated business opportunities. When fully implemented, the system will enhance efficiency in the organization. This will be realized through improved ability to handle and process information. Currently the hospital faces difficulties involving processing of customers and operation information. When fully implemented, the company will increase its operations by more that 50%. This will result from enhanced ability to handle customers and increased o peration related data. UNIT 3 ASSIGNMENT (Responses Should Run 3-5 Pages in Length) Q#7 Assess one specific activity to be performed within the process change. From the assessment, identify the task being evaluated. Where would that activity be performed within the organization? Who would perform the task and who would manage, measure, and evaluate task completion? Make sure you separate out the information requested (don’t place the information in a large block paragraph). Most health organizations face difficulties relating to prescription. The proposed system is expected to provide a solution to the problem through an automated prescription system. The organization need to have specific implementation procedures for the specific systems required in the organization. For the organization to be up to date with the modern technological development, it requires to eliminate paper work that relate to current systems and operations (Marion, & Joan, 2004). Although the organizati on might not achieve the required benefits from the system in the short-term, it stands to achieve long-term benefits following successful implementation (Burke, 2010). The benefits achieved by the organization from a successful implementation of the system will be part of organization’s return on investment. People form important components of an information system, people are not only important in the design of an information system but they also contribute in the implementation process. For the organization to implement the new information system successfully, it needs to consider the people required to run the new system. The organization will therefore consider the available staff before considering hiring new members of staff. If its existing staff can implement the new system successfully, then the organization needs not hire new staff. However if the available staff are not capable of implementing the system, the organization require additional staff members. The orga nization should therefore ensure that it has the required staff before setting on the implementation process. Although the organization will require staff members with variety of qualifications, the organization should consider a project manager as a significant member of staff. The hospital should therefore, begin by recruiting a project manager to advice the organization accordingly on matters

Human Resource Management Practices in Indian Companies

Human Resource Management Practices in Indian Companies Abstract Concepts associated with the resource-based view of the organization are increasingly finding their way into the strategic HRM debate. Human Resource consists of all the individual employees who contribute to the operations of an organization, whether they are employed fulltime, part-time, on a temporary or permanent basis. Human resource Management is more concerned with the people aspect in management. Since management involves getting activities completed well with the help of other people and every organization is made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high levels of performance, and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitments to the organization are essential to achieving organization are essential to achieving organizational objectives. This study examines how a developing country, and in particular, some selected Indian companies, construe Human Resource Management and whether it is used as a strategy in managing their organizations. It reflects on how organizations in India are influenced by variables that are different from those of their Western counterpart. In the process, this study analyses the meaning of Human Resource Management, the important of corporate culture and corporate strategy in shaping the organization. A questionnaire analysis of selected Indian companies was carried out, enlightening patterns of similarity and differences arising in its organizations. Following analysis, it was found that India. Is still on the verge of change and is still not capable of fully motivating its people. The process of liberalization and globalization necessitates for focus on the big population and means to utilize it to its fullest potential. Therefore, unless development agencies, government and non-government organizations are involved to penetrate the human resource development strategies, its real benefits will not build up. Consequently, the execution of human resource management requires an insight in to the understanding of its importance to Indian organizations. Hence, the evolution of Indian approach to human resource management will depend on an increase in the applicability of the American, European and Japanese approach to human resource management implemented in these organizations. Acknowledgement Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 1.1 Main Theme of The Topic The birth of the â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management† (Strategic HRM) possibly took place less than 20 years ago with an article titled â€Å"Human Resources Management: A Strategic Perspective† (Devanna, Fombrum, Tichy 1981). In such a short time, however, an explosion has occurred in writing and research on Strategic HRM. In 1996 both Academy of Management Journal and Industrial Relations devote special issues to the topic of HRM practices and firm performance and in 1997 International Journal of Human Resource Management presented a special issue on Strategic HRM and firm performance. ‘The almost exponential growth of interest in understanding the strategic role that HRM can play in firm performance implies a mindset of â€Å"more, more, more† with regard to research on Strategic HRM. However, before we observe the basic call for more, more, more, perhaps we need to step back and reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to be. Human Resource Management (HRM) is a term that, throughout the 1980’s and into the 1990’s has become more and more known to managers and management students. But a decade of getting used to has done too little to clarify exactly what HRM is, where it differs from traditional Personnel Management, and how important it will be for the future. The growth of HRM as a body of management thought in the 1980’s can be connected to a combination of socio-economic factors, in particular, changes in international contest, the reform of industrial sectors and organizations, and the rise of a improved confidence in the power of managers to manage. Under these conditions the contribution of human resources to the success of organizations has been emphasize through the champion of doctrines of ‘brilliance’, ‘quality’, ‘innovation’ and ‘entrepreneurship’. These developments placed the management of people firmly on the agenda and created the conditions for the emergence of a new-style theory of Personnel Management, bearing the brand HRM. Perhaps, there is an clear uncertainty that HRM can, or ever could, live up to the wider claims of its power to so totally transform the employment relationship that some of the intrinsic problems of managing a unstable set of employee issues can be resolved more satisfactorily than by approaches that have grown out of the historical development of Personnel Management. In large part such a reaction can be explained in terms of the gulf that appears to be between Personnel Management ‘on the ground’ and the rather more theoretical ‘strategic’ nature of a great deal of the discussion surrounding Human Resource Management. For Managers, already worn out by the ‘waves of change’, coping with technical innovation and economic shifts, there is a need to develop the contest necessary to manage their working futures (Morgan, 1988). Not only do they need to understand the nature of these changes, but they need also to make on an international perspective in order to manage in different cultures and with different customs. For many years there has been a general interest in the different production systems and management strategies adopted in Japan, the USA and Europe. Increasingly now attention is also focused on the people management systems, attempting to explain the differences in management technique and policies (Mansfield and Poole, 1981; Jacobs et al., 1987). There is therefore a need to understand how different cultures undertake Human Resource Management for what Doeringer (1981) calls ‘pragmatic’ reasons. That is, because there are lessons to be learned from other cultures and we need to control for cultural influences when examining solutions. To this can be added the further realistic and critical reasons that managers must now carry out their skills and technique in multicultural context, and achieve objectives internationally. In advanced economies like the United Kingdom and the USA companies, confronted by the Japanese competition and employment strategies coupled with recession and search for excellence have tended to change from Personnel to Human Resource Management or better still strategic Human resource Management. However, there are questions regarding the extent to which this has happened in the developing countries. In answering this question, one must consider the fact that Human Resource Management methods in developing countries will be highly influenced by psycho-economic variables which are considerably different from western countries. Workers are not forced enough and there is not enough stress put on their training, development, participation and the like. Resources are usually directed to serve the ruling best, then to be unfocused towards finding means and methods for better education, health, and safety for the work force. Women in most developing countries are still treated improperly and there is a lot of power distance between the employer and employee. But the future of Human Resource in developing countries is not miserable, as countries like India have started reallocating their resources towards this department and structures and systems are being set up to facilitate this. The biggest challenge for the developing world is therefore, to convert its vast human resource into chance and take them along in their march into the future. 1.2 Aims and objectives; Aims To critically evaluate strategic Human Resource Management practices In Indian Companies. Objectives: Critically assess and evaluate theories, concepts and models of SHRM given in the literature. To examine the nature of the context of HRM, the problematical nature of organizations in a developing country (like India). To examine the background to the growth of interest in India to HRM and the extent of HRM practice among Indian employers. To analyze the nature of the context of HRM, the problematical nature of organizations in a developing country (like India). Chapter 2: Research Methodology Research Design and Methodology As I have used a survey-questionnaire approach to gather data. The study is based on two stage sampling design. In the first step, Indian organizations were chosen randomly from the national capital region of India. In the second step, the organizations, top, middle and senior level managers in HR or who were line managers were randomly selected to fill in the questionnaires. From this sample of 40 managers a total of 12 questionnaires were filled in. A total of 28 questionnaires returned were either incomplete or the managers refused to oblige. The scope of the study has been limited to managers from the industries in the national capital region of India. The organizations from which the managers responded spanned the multinational companies. Research instruments Human Role Assessment Survey Questionnaire (Conner and Ulrich, 1996) was administered on the sample. Participants were asked to refer to the HR professionals in their business entity and rate the current quality of each activity. This study discusses the methodology and the approach that the researcher followed for the completion of this study. In order for the aims of the project to be fulfilled it is necessary to acquire knowledge of the practices of Human Resource Management within Indian Companies. The research was done with a phenomenological approach. It is so called because it is based on the way people experience social phenomena in the world that they live. This method has its own merits and demerits. On one hand it facilitate the understanding of how and why, it make possible for the researcher to be alive to the changes that occur during the research process, and this method is good for understanding social processes. On the other hand there are certain limitations such as, data collection can be time consuming, data analysis is difficult, and the research has to live with the hesitation that clear patterns may not emerge (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 1997). The snapshot view was taken for the companies being analyzed through questionnaires and the literature looked into the development of the HRM techniques through time in the developing countries with special emphasis on India. In order to talk to the objectives of the research, secondary information was collected from books, journals, magazines and newspapers, etc. the research tries to consider the performing areas upon which any form of strategic HRM depends, it describes the current state of the Human Resource Management and Personnel Management in India and tries to evaluate its level of operation to determine whether it is a strategic tool for shaping corporate strategy. This study is thus, descriptive as well as exploratory and concentrates more on qualitative approach. Basically there are two types of research methods, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research uses technique based on the principles of physical sciences. Statistical methods are used then to test fixed theory. Quantitative research is also prepared to provide a linear progress from problem to solution. According to Smith (1988) the scientist spends time observing the actions and groups of people. Thus the researchers simply observe without making and value judgments after which the researcher explains the observed behavior. The qualitative data is based on meanings expressed through word. . It results in collection of non-standardized data that requires classification, and is analyzed through the use of conceptualization. Quantitative research then goes from observation to theory, then to testing. However, according to motley (1986) this order is often violated and studies are attacked because they do not follow the conventional chain of events. He goes on further to criticize studies for lacking a strong theoretical basis from which to operate. Yet, quantitative researchers fail to realize the position they put themselves in when they do this. Quantitative research however comes with advantages and disadvantages. Its main advantage is that it gives out quantifiable data, which needs to be generalized sometimes. Also, its greater weakness is that it does not account for human behavior, which is not quantifiable, but significant to find the objectives of the research. In compare, qualitative methods are entirely different, reluctant to more on analysis and are less prone to try and measure every aspect of the study. Qualitative research tends to produce rich intense data, relating to small numbers of people, as opposed to vast standardized data relating to large numbers. Qualitative studies are mainly about people’s subjective interpretations of complex situations. Burrell and Morgan (1979) call this the â€Å"interpretive paradigm†. There is little need to quantifying every detail in qualitative research because it’s not worried about prediction and control (Lindlof, 1995). Nonetheless, this does not mean that qualitative research is not practical. It includes the understanding of the researcher and the subjects of the research. Researchers using the qualitative approach make systematic observations and work to say something meaningful about their chosen topic doing it in a particular way (Buttny, 1993). However, it’s arguable that qualitative methods are more effective when trying to research relationships between people in organizations (Walker, 1985 p.3) There was a limitation as qualitative data analysis is very monotonous and conclusion from such data is subject to debate and might be unfair by individual’s viewpoint (Gill and Johnson, 1997). Questionnaires (appendix 1) were used for collecting the primary data from the companies. The company were selected in India random and questionnaires were sent to them to identify the extent to which Human Resource Management is practiced and its perceived usefulness in improving the efficiency of organizations. Despite, their difference research approaches qualitative and quantitative research seen to share similar characteristics. Both of them use a structure which allows researchers to make performance. Furthermore, they both use interpretation to observe initial results of a course of research. However, qualitative differs greatly in relation to data gathering. Nevertheless, the analysis of qualitative data is highly personalized. Obviously the analysis of the researcher is extremely likely personalized. Obviously the analysis of the researcher is extremely likely to affect the outcome of the researcher. This raises the question of validity and reliability in qualitative research. The basis for these differences lies in the purpose of the research. Quantitative research is intended to be in charge of the topic being studied enabling the researcher to know the content of his or her data before it is even collected. Researchers undergoing qualitative approach of research do not worry with every measurable detail. â€Å"Fundamentally, qualitative researchers seek to preserve the form and content of human behavior and analyze its qualities, rather than subject it to mathematical or formal transformation’s (Lindlof, 1995). Basically, qualitative researchers strive for an agreement on phenomenon. According to Kaplan and Maxwell (1994) the goal for understanding a phenomenon from the point of view of the participants is largely lost when textual data is quantified. Thus its come be seen that qualitative methods rise above most of the shortcomings of quantitative methods. Qualitative research strives to bring depth to a phenomenon that quantitative methods lack. Collection of Data Secondary Data In order to address the objectives of the research, secondary data was collected from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, embassies etc. Secondary data is information which has been collected, collated and analyzed by others for other purposes, while primary data is information collected as part of a particular research because it is considered relevant to the study and research problem (Ghauri et al, 1995:54-57, Riley et al 2000:107). In addition, the following secondary sources that can also be important for any kind of research including the researcher’s study can also come in the form of: Central and local government studies and reports, census reports, State budgets, rules on international trade regarding imports and exports, and policies on the foreign direct investment. Studies and reports of institutions and departments such as the central bureau of statistics, universities, telecommunications departments, marketing and other research institutes, chambers of commerce and foreign missions such as embassies, trade centers and consulates. Academic as well as organizational journals and newsletters pertinent to the problem area. In many countries, different branch organizations publish journals on statistics regarding their own industry, the development of a particular discipline or problem area. Textbooks and other published material directly or indirectly related to the problem area. And lastly, theses and reports written by other students in our own university and in other schools and universities are the best guide line for the student. Many schools keep an up-to-date record of all these written in different disciplines. This is perhaps the most important secondary source at the earlier stages of our research process. They provide us with insight not only into our problem area, but also into the other sources mentioned above. The reason for using secondary data is because it’s very advantageous in terms of saving time and money. It also not only helps me to prepare and understand the research problem better, but it also extends the base for which scientific conclusions can be drawn. Another advantage of consulting secondary data is that it suggests suitable methods or data to handle a particular research problem. According to Churchill (1987:181) ‘Do not bypass secondary data. Begin with secondary data, and only when the secondary data exhausted or show retreating returns, proceeds to primary data.† In addition to secondary data, primary data is equally essential for more insight into the company being researched on. There are several choices regarding the means of collecting primary data. Usually, this includes observations which entails listening and watching other people’s behavior in a way that allows some type of analytical interpretation used to collect first-hand information in a natural setting to interpret and understand the observed behavior or situation more accurately; surveys (questionnaires) and interviews which are the most popular data collection method in business studies. Primary Data The researcher also collected primary data in addition to the secondary data in forms of case studies, unstructured interviews, and participant observation with few respondents. Other includes observations, surveys (questionnaires) and interviews by mail, phone, and personal contact. Surveys and questionnaires are the most popular data collection method in business studies. The most valid research method for the major part of the study was considered to be the interview. Interviews can be differentiated according to the level of structure and standardization adopted: a structured interview being one where a predetermined and standardized or a formal set of questions is adhered to, an unstructured interview does not follow any prearranged process; a semi-structured interview will normally contain an element of both. The advantage of a semi-structured interview is that it enables a disciplined approach to be taken without constraining or inhibiting the responses by the rigidity imposed by a totally structured interview (Elliott and Christopher 1973). Chisnall (1986) stressed that the interaction between the interviewer and the respondent contributes greatly to the success of the interviewer. ‘The intellectual atmosphere of an interview is at least as important as the mechanics of the interview processes. However with this study, the researchers also focused on using questionnaires which are said to be descriptive and analytical as my form of primary data to gain information related to India , initially in Indian organization to identify the extent of which Human Resource Management is practiced and its perceived usefulness in improving the efficiency of Keane and other related organizations. An experience survey approach which is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was in attempts to tap the knowledge and experience survey approach which is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was used in attempts to tap the knowledge and experience of those familiar with the general subject being investigated in addition to identifying the current phenomena. Surveys involve questions of some sort and are important for collecting people’s opinions and needs. It also helped the researcher acquire information quickly with relatively minimal expense and effort from a relatively large number of respondents. The qualitative research is often focused on social process. It is thus common in social and behavioral sciences and those who want to understand human behaviors and functions suitable for studying organizations, groups and individuals (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Furthermore, descriptive surveys are often used to obtain consumer attitudes towards a certain product and to ascertain views and opinion of employees in an organization (Reeves and Harper, 1981). These surveys will thus help researchers understand the behavior of employees in regards to motivation, job satisfaction and grievances in relation to how human resource management is acknowledged in their company and their view towards HRM practices in India generally. However, in addition to helping the researcher with their study, surveys also help these various organizations understand the expectations and requirements of their customers as well as employees, develop service or product based on the standards as well as employees, develop service or product based on the standards of their required findings: determine how well the organization are satisfying requirements both within the company and outside and finally establish goals and access how well to meet these goals. Special care was taken for designing the questionnaire: questionnaire focus, questionnaire phraseology, the form of response, and question sequencing and overall presentation. Questionnaire were designed in order to gain an in depth knowledge of Human Resource activities in organizations and for a remedy of reality. There are factors which have limited to be unaware about the real meaning of Human resource Management and so most were not very co-operative, as they thought that allowing this type of research would identify some of their weaknesses, which would in turn threaten their competitiveness. The results of the questionnaire survey will be analyzed in depth, but it is important to first point some of the methodological problems that were faced during the course of this study. However, it is safe to note that the greatest drawback under the exploratory study lies where the findings may seem credible enough to be released incorrectly as conclusions. Further downside includes the tendency to extend the exploratory phase, and inadequate representation of diversity. A few problems arose during this research due to time and distance limit. As all the questionnaires were sent to various parts of India, the time was too short and limited for data gathering, the result of which led to the waiting for more replies from such companies. The distance makes it difficult to keep in touch with the companies in order to get a response, in terms of phone calls, which would be very expensive, and the postal questionnaires are very time consuming. Similarly, there were many companies which did not respond to the questionnaires, probably since they did not see Human Resource Management as an integral issue in organizational building and strategy. Thus was quite discouraging for study being carried out. Another probable reason could have been that the companies did not bother posting the questionnaire back at their own expense, or they might not have been able to understand the purpose of the study clearly just by looking at the questionnaire and thus they did not feel like responding. In order to minimize problems of this sort, it is important for the leaders of developing countries, like India, to become more involved and encourages managers of companies to contribute to the betterment of the Human Resource Management by actively participating in the studies like this. This is important as the research is not only academically viable but also potentially useful to them. It may also be necessary to extend the time allotted for this type of study. At the time of writing up this study, there was in fact a response from only companies, and thus the results from these companies can only be analyzed. The companies that responded were from small size, thus the result of this study may possibly be gender, at the companies were selected at random. Chapter 3: Literature Review Background Theory Literature Review Background Theory 3.1 Introduction Nowadays, it is a common belief in both the business and the academic world that â€Å"the human resources of an organization can be a source of competitive advantage†, provided that the policies for managing people are integrated with strategic business planning and organizational culture (Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Quinn, Mills, Walton, 1985).There is a incredible pressure to an organization to perform their duties properly with the rate of the rapid changes taking place. Accordingly organization change such as association, new ways of handing over works, high changing rate in workforce and employee’s capabilities and priorities is observe in the past. Human resource management has become a invasive and influential approach to the management of employment in a wide range of market economies. As a result, the analysis and evaluation of HRM have become major themes in academic, policy and practitioner literatures. Good human resource management entails recruiting and hiring the best employees and getting the most out of them through effective training and supervision. Human resource management helps in identifying key skills sets, knowledge and valued required in the employee. Through manpower planning the management determines its human resource needs and implements plans to address them. Any assessment of the emergence of Human Resource Management has, at least, to take account of this changing context of employment and provide some explanations as to the relationships that exits between the contribution HRM has made to some of these changes on the one hand and, on the other hand, the impact that such changes have had on the theory and practice of HRM itself. (Beardwell and Holden, 1994: 5). An analysis of data relating to the question of a link between Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and performance reveals there is uncertainty as to the direction of the link. Can better performing organizations attribute their good performance to the quality of their HRM or is the standard of their performance due to other factors? The quality of HRM might be an outcome of performance rather than a contributing factor to that performance. There are questions about the meaning of a strategic approach to HRM. What makes an organization’s approach to HRM ‘strategic’ and is there a satisfactory method of differentiating between an approach to HRM that might be considered strategic or one that is not seen to be strategic? As organization restructure, human resources tend to decrease in quantities but increase in quality and in their value to organizational effectiveness. Investing in the development of these valued resources make sense. Most of the companies in developing countries invest in new technology, new machinery, new plant to increase productivity because better models have been developed but we need to develop our own ‘better models’ in human resource area A strategy is a course of action. It shows how the enterprise will move from the business it is now to the business it wants to be in, given its opportunities and threats and its internal strength and weaknesses. Strategic human resource management means formulating and executing HR systems that produce the employee competencies and behaviors the company requires to achieve its strategic aims. The high-performance work system is designed to maximize the overall quality of human capital throughout the organization, and provides a set of benchmarks against which today’s HR manager can compare the structure, content, and efficiency and effectiveness of his or her HR system. Increased in international competition due to newly emerging multinationals and divisional organization has given new scope of management particularly Human Resource Management .India has also woken up to the reality that human resources management is key factor for the better performance of an organization . Its is an ultimate goal an ambition to organization to perform their duty perfectly can only seen in developed countries like UK and USA . The organizational change and development have become a part of working life. 3.2 Meaning of Human Resource Management HR include all the individual employees who contribute to the operations of an organization in any means of form either temporary or permanent basis. (Thompson and Mabey ,1994) It process of getting work done with help of people in efficient manner . It includes planning ,organizing, leading and controlling to make work done till the end task. To manage an organization the common factor taken in consider are goal, limited resource and people. The basic infrastructure of any business is the human capital. Human resource management, therefore, is one of the most important and recognized functions in the industry today. There is more pressure on HR to deliver, develop, and retain employees recognizing the importance of human capital. In today’s world of technological advancement, human resource is the only factors, which differentiate the true potential of an organization. Human resource management is the process of coordinating an organization’s human resources, or employees to meet organizational goals. Some of the challenges today in human resource management are maintaining a diverse workforce, dealing with major technological changes, keeping up the government regulations, and handling corporate restructuring, and downsizing, Human resource professional deals with areas such as: Employee recruitment and selection Performance evaluation Compensation and benefits Professional development Safety and health Forecasting labor relations The smooth version of HRM emphasizes the importance of high commitment, workplace learning and enlightened leadership. Most normative HRM models, whether US or British, assert that the organization’s Human Resource are valued assets, not a variable cost, and emphasize the commitment of employees as a source of competitive advantage (Legge, 1989) By contrast, the difficult version of HRM emphasizes the calculative, quantitative and strategic management aspects of managing the workforce in a balanced way (Store Human Resource Management Practices in Indian Companies Human Resource Management Practices in Indian Companies Abstract Concepts associated with the resource-based view of the organization are increasingly finding their way into the strategic HRM debate. Human Resource consists of all the individual employees who contribute to the operations of an organization, whether they are employed fulltime, part-time, on a temporary or permanent basis. Human resource Management is more concerned with the people aspect in management. Since management involves getting activities completed well with the help of other people and every organization is made up of people, acquiring their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high levels of performance, and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitments to the organization are essential to achieving organization are essential to achieving organizational objectives. This study examines how a developing country, and in particular, some selected Indian companies, construe Human Resource Management and whether it is used as a strategy in managing their organizations. It reflects on how organizations in India are influenced by variables that are different from those of their Western counterpart. In the process, this study analyses the meaning of Human Resource Management, the important of corporate culture and corporate strategy in shaping the organization. A questionnaire analysis of selected Indian companies was carried out, enlightening patterns of similarity and differences arising in its organizations. Following analysis, it was found that India. Is still on the verge of change and is still not capable of fully motivating its people. The process of liberalization and globalization necessitates for focus on the big population and means to utilize it to its fullest potential. Therefore, unless development agencies, government and non-government organizations are involved to penetrate the human resource development strategies, its real benefits will not build up. Consequently, the execution of human resource management requires an insight in to the understanding of its importance to Indian organizations. Hence, the evolution of Indian approach to human resource management will depend on an increase in the applicability of the American, European and Japanese approach to human resource management implemented in these organizations. Acknowledgement Chapter 1: Introduction 1. Introduction 1.1 Main Theme of The Topic The birth of the â€Å"Strategic Human Resource Management† (Strategic HRM) possibly took place less than 20 years ago with an article titled â€Å"Human Resources Management: A Strategic Perspective† (Devanna, Fombrum, Tichy 1981). In such a short time, however, an explosion has occurred in writing and research on Strategic HRM. In 1996 both Academy of Management Journal and Industrial Relations devote special issues to the topic of HRM practices and firm performance and in 1997 International Journal of Human Resource Management presented a special issue on Strategic HRM and firm performance. ‘The almost exponential growth of interest in understanding the strategic role that HRM can play in firm performance implies a mindset of â€Å"more, more, more† with regard to research on Strategic HRM. However, before we observe the basic call for more, more, more, perhaps we need to step back and reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we need to be. Human Resource Management (HRM) is a term that, throughout the 1980’s and into the 1990’s has become more and more known to managers and management students. But a decade of getting used to has done too little to clarify exactly what HRM is, where it differs from traditional Personnel Management, and how important it will be for the future. The growth of HRM as a body of management thought in the 1980’s can be connected to a combination of socio-economic factors, in particular, changes in international contest, the reform of industrial sectors and organizations, and the rise of a improved confidence in the power of managers to manage. Under these conditions the contribution of human resources to the success of organizations has been emphasize through the champion of doctrines of ‘brilliance’, ‘quality’, ‘innovation’ and ‘entrepreneurship’. These developments placed the management of people firmly on the agenda and created the conditions for the emergence of a new-style theory of Personnel Management, bearing the brand HRM. Perhaps, there is an clear uncertainty that HRM can, or ever could, live up to the wider claims of its power to so totally transform the employment relationship that some of the intrinsic problems of managing a unstable set of employee issues can be resolved more satisfactorily than by approaches that have grown out of the historical development of Personnel Management. In large part such a reaction can be explained in terms of the gulf that appears to be between Personnel Management ‘on the ground’ and the rather more theoretical ‘strategic’ nature of a great deal of the discussion surrounding Human Resource Management. For Managers, already worn out by the ‘waves of change’, coping with technical innovation and economic shifts, there is a need to develop the contest necessary to manage their working futures (Morgan, 1988). Not only do they need to understand the nature of these changes, but they need also to make on an international perspective in order to manage in different cultures and with different customs. For many years there has been a general interest in the different production systems and management strategies adopted in Japan, the USA and Europe. Increasingly now attention is also focused on the people management systems, attempting to explain the differences in management technique and policies (Mansfield and Poole, 1981; Jacobs et al., 1987). There is therefore a need to understand how different cultures undertake Human Resource Management for what Doeringer (1981) calls ‘pragmatic’ reasons. That is, because there are lessons to be learned from other cultures and we need to control for cultural influences when examining solutions. To this can be added the further realistic and critical reasons that managers must now carry out their skills and technique in multicultural context, and achieve objectives internationally. In advanced economies like the United Kingdom and the USA companies, confronted by the Japanese competition and employment strategies coupled with recession and search for excellence have tended to change from Personnel to Human Resource Management or better still strategic Human resource Management. However, there are questions regarding the extent to which this has happened in the developing countries. In answering this question, one must consider the fact that Human Resource Management methods in developing countries will be highly influenced by psycho-economic variables which are considerably different from western countries. Workers are not forced enough and there is not enough stress put on their training, development, participation and the like. Resources are usually directed to serve the ruling best, then to be unfocused towards finding means and methods for better education, health, and safety for the work force. Women in most developing countries are still treated improperly and there is a lot of power distance between the employer and employee. But the future of Human Resource in developing countries is not miserable, as countries like India have started reallocating their resources towards this department and structures and systems are being set up to facilitate this. The biggest challenge for the developing world is therefore, to convert its vast human resource into chance and take them along in their march into the future. 1.2 Aims and objectives; Aims To critically evaluate strategic Human Resource Management practices In Indian Companies. Objectives: Critically assess and evaluate theories, concepts and models of SHRM given in the literature. To examine the nature of the context of HRM, the problematical nature of organizations in a developing country (like India). To examine the background to the growth of interest in India to HRM and the extent of HRM practice among Indian employers. To analyze the nature of the context of HRM, the problematical nature of organizations in a developing country (like India). Chapter 2: Research Methodology Research Design and Methodology As I have used a survey-questionnaire approach to gather data. The study is based on two stage sampling design. In the first step, Indian organizations were chosen randomly from the national capital region of India. In the second step, the organizations, top, middle and senior level managers in HR or who were line managers were randomly selected to fill in the questionnaires. From this sample of 40 managers a total of 12 questionnaires were filled in. A total of 28 questionnaires returned were either incomplete or the managers refused to oblige. The scope of the study has been limited to managers from the industries in the national capital region of India. The organizations from which the managers responded spanned the multinational companies. Research instruments Human Role Assessment Survey Questionnaire (Conner and Ulrich, 1996) was administered on the sample. Participants were asked to refer to the HR professionals in their business entity and rate the current quality of each activity. This study discusses the methodology and the approach that the researcher followed for the completion of this study. In order for the aims of the project to be fulfilled it is necessary to acquire knowledge of the practices of Human Resource Management within Indian Companies. The research was done with a phenomenological approach. It is so called because it is based on the way people experience social phenomena in the world that they live. This method has its own merits and demerits. On one hand it facilitate the understanding of how and why, it make possible for the researcher to be alive to the changes that occur during the research process, and this method is good for understanding social processes. On the other hand there are certain limitations such as, data collection can be time consuming, data analysis is difficult, and the research has to live with the hesitation that clear patterns may not emerge (Saunders, Lewis Thornhill, 1997). The snapshot view was taken for the companies being analyzed through questionnaires and the literature looked into the development of the HRM techniques through time in the developing countries with special emphasis on India. In order to talk to the objectives of the research, secondary information was collected from books, journals, magazines and newspapers, etc. the research tries to consider the performing areas upon which any form of strategic HRM depends, it describes the current state of the Human Resource Management and Personnel Management in India and tries to evaluate its level of operation to determine whether it is a strategic tool for shaping corporate strategy. This study is thus, descriptive as well as exploratory and concentrates more on qualitative approach. Basically there are two types of research methods, quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative research uses technique based on the principles of physical sciences. Statistical methods are used then to test fixed theory. Quantitative research is also prepared to provide a linear progress from problem to solution. According to Smith (1988) the scientist spends time observing the actions and groups of people. Thus the researchers simply observe without making and value judgments after which the researcher explains the observed behavior. The qualitative data is based on meanings expressed through word. . It results in collection of non-standardized data that requires classification, and is analyzed through the use of conceptualization. Quantitative research then goes from observation to theory, then to testing. However, according to motley (1986) this order is often violated and studies are attacked because they do not follow the conventional chain of events. He goes on further to criticize studies for lacking a strong theoretical basis from which to operate. Yet, quantitative researchers fail to realize the position they put themselves in when they do this. Quantitative research however comes with advantages and disadvantages. Its main advantage is that it gives out quantifiable data, which needs to be generalized sometimes. Also, its greater weakness is that it does not account for human behavior, which is not quantifiable, but significant to find the objectives of the research. In compare, qualitative methods are entirely different, reluctant to more on analysis and are less prone to try and measure every aspect of the study. Qualitative research tends to produce rich intense data, relating to small numbers of people, as opposed to vast standardized data relating to large numbers. Qualitative studies are mainly about people’s subjective interpretations of complex situations. Burrell and Morgan (1979) call this the â€Å"interpretive paradigm†. There is little need to quantifying every detail in qualitative research because it’s not worried about prediction and control (Lindlof, 1995). Nonetheless, this does not mean that qualitative research is not practical. It includes the understanding of the researcher and the subjects of the research. Researchers using the qualitative approach make systematic observations and work to say something meaningful about their chosen topic doing it in a particular way (Buttny, 1993). However, it’s arguable that qualitative methods are more effective when trying to research relationships between people in organizations (Walker, 1985 p.3) There was a limitation as qualitative data analysis is very monotonous and conclusion from such data is subject to debate and might be unfair by individual’s viewpoint (Gill and Johnson, 1997). Questionnaires (appendix 1) were used for collecting the primary data from the companies. The company were selected in India random and questionnaires were sent to them to identify the extent to which Human Resource Management is practiced and its perceived usefulness in improving the efficiency of organizations. Despite, their difference research approaches qualitative and quantitative research seen to share similar characteristics. Both of them use a structure which allows researchers to make performance. Furthermore, they both use interpretation to observe initial results of a course of research. However, qualitative differs greatly in relation to data gathering. Nevertheless, the analysis of qualitative data is highly personalized. Obviously the analysis of the researcher is extremely likely personalized. Obviously the analysis of the researcher is extremely likely to affect the outcome of the researcher. This raises the question of validity and reliability in qualitative research. The basis for these differences lies in the purpose of the research. Quantitative research is intended to be in charge of the topic being studied enabling the researcher to know the content of his or her data before it is even collected. Researchers undergoing qualitative approach of research do not worry with every measurable detail. â€Å"Fundamentally, qualitative researchers seek to preserve the form and content of human behavior and analyze its qualities, rather than subject it to mathematical or formal transformation’s (Lindlof, 1995). Basically, qualitative researchers strive for an agreement on phenomenon. According to Kaplan and Maxwell (1994) the goal for understanding a phenomenon from the point of view of the participants is largely lost when textual data is quantified. Thus its come be seen that qualitative methods rise above most of the shortcomings of quantitative methods. Qualitative research strives to bring depth to a phenomenon that quantitative methods lack. Collection of Data Secondary Data In order to address the objectives of the research, secondary data was collected from books, journals, magazines, newspapers, embassies etc. Secondary data is information which has been collected, collated and analyzed by others for other purposes, while primary data is information collected as part of a particular research because it is considered relevant to the study and research problem (Ghauri et al, 1995:54-57, Riley et al 2000:107). In addition, the following secondary sources that can also be important for any kind of research including the researcher’s study can also come in the form of: Central and local government studies and reports, census reports, State budgets, rules on international trade regarding imports and exports, and policies on the foreign direct investment. Studies and reports of institutions and departments such as the central bureau of statistics, universities, telecommunications departments, marketing and other research institutes, chambers of commerce and foreign missions such as embassies, trade centers and consulates. Academic as well as organizational journals and newsletters pertinent to the problem area. In many countries, different branch organizations publish journals on statistics regarding their own industry, the development of a particular discipline or problem area. Textbooks and other published material directly or indirectly related to the problem area. And lastly, theses and reports written by other students in our own university and in other schools and universities are the best guide line for the student. Many schools keep an up-to-date record of all these written in different disciplines. This is perhaps the most important secondary source at the earlier stages of our research process. They provide us with insight not only into our problem area, but also into the other sources mentioned above. The reason for using secondary data is because it’s very advantageous in terms of saving time and money. It also not only helps me to prepare and understand the research problem better, but it also extends the base for which scientific conclusions can be drawn. Another advantage of consulting secondary data is that it suggests suitable methods or data to handle a particular research problem. According to Churchill (1987:181) ‘Do not bypass secondary data. Begin with secondary data, and only when the secondary data exhausted or show retreating returns, proceeds to primary data.† In addition to secondary data, primary data is equally essential for more insight into the company being researched on. There are several choices regarding the means of collecting primary data. Usually, this includes observations which entails listening and watching other people’s behavior in a way that allows some type of analytical interpretation used to collect first-hand information in a natural setting to interpret and understand the observed behavior or situation more accurately; surveys (questionnaires) and interviews which are the most popular data collection method in business studies. Primary Data The researcher also collected primary data in addition to the secondary data in forms of case studies, unstructured interviews, and participant observation with few respondents. Other includes observations, surveys (questionnaires) and interviews by mail, phone, and personal contact. Surveys and questionnaires are the most popular data collection method in business studies. The most valid research method for the major part of the study was considered to be the interview. Interviews can be differentiated according to the level of structure and standardization adopted: a structured interview being one where a predetermined and standardized or a formal set of questions is adhered to, an unstructured interview does not follow any prearranged process; a semi-structured interview will normally contain an element of both. The advantage of a semi-structured interview is that it enables a disciplined approach to be taken without constraining or inhibiting the responses by the rigidity imposed by a totally structured interview (Elliott and Christopher 1973). Chisnall (1986) stressed that the interaction between the interviewer and the respondent contributes greatly to the success of the interviewer. ‘The intellectual atmosphere of an interview is at least as important as the mechanics of the interview processes. However with this study, the researchers also focused on using questionnaires which are said to be descriptive and analytical as my form of primary data to gain information related to India , initially in Indian organization to identify the extent of which Human Resource Management is practiced and its perceived usefulness in improving the efficiency of Keane and other related organizations. An experience survey approach which is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was in attempts to tap the knowledge and experience survey approach which is a qualitative information collection technique used in marketing was used in attempts to tap the knowledge and experience of those familiar with the general subject being investigated in addition to identifying the current phenomena. Surveys involve questions of some sort and are important for collecting people’s opinions and needs. It also helped the researcher acquire information quickly with relatively minimal expense and effort from a relatively large number of respondents. The qualitative research is often focused on social process. It is thus common in social and behavioral sciences and those who want to understand human behaviors and functions suitable for studying organizations, groups and individuals (Strauss and Corbin, 1990). Furthermore, descriptive surveys are often used to obtain consumer attitudes towards a certain product and to ascertain views and opinion of employees in an organization (Reeves and Harper, 1981). These surveys will thus help researchers understand the behavior of employees in regards to motivation, job satisfaction and grievances in relation to how human resource management is acknowledged in their company and their view towards HRM practices in India generally. However, in addition to helping the researcher with their study, surveys also help these various organizations understand the expectations and requirements of their customers as well as employees, develop service or product based on the standards as well as employees, develop service or product based on the standards of their required findings: determine how well the organization are satisfying requirements both within the company and outside and finally establish goals and access how well to meet these goals. Special care was taken for designing the questionnaire: questionnaire focus, questionnaire phraseology, the form of response, and question sequencing and overall presentation. Questionnaire were designed in order to gain an in depth knowledge of Human Resource activities in organizations and for a remedy of reality. There are factors which have limited to be unaware about the real meaning of Human resource Management and so most were not very co-operative, as they thought that allowing this type of research would identify some of their weaknesses, which would in turn threaten their competitiveness. The results of the questionnaire survey will be analyzed in depth, but it is important to first point some of the methodological problems that were faced during the course of this study. However, it is safe to note that the greatest drawback under the exploratory study lies where the findings may seem credible enough to be released incorrectly as conclusions. Further downside includes the tendency to extend the exploratory phase, and inadequate representation of diversity. A few problems arose during this research due to time and distance limit. As all the questionnaires were sent to various parts of India, the time was too short and limited for data gathering, the result of which led to the waiting for more replies from such companies. The distance makes it difficult to keep in touch with the companies in order to get a response, in terms of phone calls, which would be very expensive, and the postal questionnaires are very time consuming. Similarly, there were many companies which did not respond to the questionnaires, probably since they did not see Human Resource Management as an integral issue in organizational building and strategy. Thus was quite discouraging for study being carried out. Another probable reason could have been that the companies did not bother posting the questionnaire back at their own expense, or they might not have been able to understand the purpose of the study clearly just by looking at the questionnaire and thus they did not feel like responding. In order to minimize problems of this sort, it is important for the leaders of developing countries, like India, to become more involved and encourages managers of companies to contribute to the betterment of the Human Resource Management by actively participating in the studies like this. This is important as the research is not only academically viable but also potentially useful to them. It may also be necessary to extend the time allotted for this type of study. At the time of writing up this study, there was in fact a response from only companies, and thus the results from these companies can only be analyzed. The companies that responded were from small size, thus the result of this study may possibly be gender, at the companies were selected at random. Chapter 3: Literature Review Background Theory Literature Review Background Theory 3.1 Introduction Nowadays, it is a common belief in both the business and the academic world that â€Å"the human resources of an organization can be a source of competitive advantage†, provided that the policies for managing people are integrated with strategic business planning and organizational culture (Beer, Spector, Lawrence, Quinn, Mills, Walton, 1985).There is a incredible pressure to an organization to perform their duties properly with the rate of the rapid changes taking place. Accordingly organization change such as association, new ways of handing over works, high changing rate in workforce and employee’s capabilities and priorities is observe in the past. Human resource management has become a invasive and influential approach to the management of employment in a wide range of market economies. As a result, the analysis and evaluation of HRM have become major themes in academic, policy and practitioner literatures. Good human resource management entails recruiting and hiring the best employees and getting the most out of them through effective training and supervision. Human resource management helps in identifying key skills sets, knowledge and valued required in the employee. Through manpower planning the management determines its human resource needs and implements plans to address them. Any assessment of the emergence of Human Resource Management has, at least, to take account of this changing context of employment and provide some explanations as to the relationships that exits between the contribution HRM has made to some of these changes on the one hand and, on the other hand, the impact that such changes have had on the theory and practice of HRM itself. (Beardwell and Holden, 1994: 5). An analysis of data relating to the question of a link between Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and performance reveals there is uncertainty as to the direction of the link. Can better performing organizations attribute their good performance to the quality of their HRM or is the standard of their performance due to other factors? The quality of HRM might be an outcome of performance rather than a contributing factor to that performance. There are questions about the meaning of a strategic approach to HRM. What makes an organization’s approach to HRM ‘strategic’ and is there a satisfactory method of differentiating between an approach to HRM that might be considered strategic or one that is not seen to be strategic? As organization restructure, human resources tend to decrease in quantities but increase in quality and in their value to organizational effectiveness. Investing in the development of these valued resources make sense. Most of the companies in developing countries invest in new technology, new machinery, new plant to increase productivity because better models have been developed but we need to develop our own ‘better models’ in human resource area A strategy is a course of action. It shows how the enterprise will move from the business it is now to the business it wants to be in, given its opportunities and threats and its internal strength and weaknesses. Strategic human resource management means formulating and executing HR systems that produce the employee competencies and behaviors the company requires to achieve its strategic aims. The high-performance work system is designed to maximize the overall quality of human capital throughout the organization, and provides a set of benchmarks against which today’s HR manager can compare the structure, content, and efficiency and effectiveness of his or her HR system. Increased in international competition due to newly emerging multinationals and divisional organization has given new scope of management particularly Human Resource Management .India has also woken up to the reality that human resources management is key factor for the better performance of an organization . Its is an ultimate goal an ambition to organization to perform their duty perfectly can only seen in developed countries like UK and USA . The organizational change and development have become a part of working life. 3.2 Meaning of Human Resource Management HR include all the individual employees who contribute to the operations of an organization in any means of form either temporary or permanent basis. (Thompson and Mabey ,1994) It process of getting work done with help of people in efficient manner . It includes planning ,organizing, leading and controlling to make work done till the end task. To manage an organization the common factor taken in consider are goal, limited resource and people. The basic infrastructure of any business is the human capital. Human resource management, therefore, is one of the most important and recognized functions in the industry today. There is more pressure on HR to deliver, develop, and retain employees recognizing the importance of human capital. In today’s world of technological advancement, human resource is the only factors, which differentiate the true potential of an organization. Human resource management is the process of coordinating an organization’s human resources, or employees to meet organizational goals. Some of the challenges today in human resource management are maintaining a diverse workforce, dealing with major technological changes, keeping up the government regulations, and handling corporate restructuring, and downsizing, Human resource professional deals with areas such as: Employee recruitment and selection Performance evaluation Compensation and benefits Professional development Safety and health Forecasting labor relations The smooth version of HRM emphasizes the importance of high commitment, workplace learning and enlightened leadership. Most normative HRM models, whether US or British, assert that the organization’s Human Resource are valued assets, not a variable cost, and emphasize the commitment of employees as a source of competitive advantage (Legge, 1989) By contrast, the difficult version of HRM emphasizes the calculative, quantitative and strategic management aspects of managing the workforce in a balanced way (Store

Passion in Writing for a Purpose :: essays research papers fc

Passion in writing for a Purpose   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When analyzing a written text there are a couple of things to look at. Does the author validate what they are writing? This question can be asked in order to figure out the different qualities of the essay itself. How does the author relay the massage? This is another question that can be asked from this analysis. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explains his message very clearly in his text, The World House. Dr. King provides a lot of information to back his ideas and main thesis. He uses examples when he describes what he wants you to know. He is able to relay his message to the proper audience, which happens to be everyone in the world, but specifically to the African American people when he wrote the piece. He is able to set the tone and keep it from the beginning to the end. Dr. King is able to use audience, tone and language to relay his message. â€Å"A family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interest, who, because we can never again live apart, must learn somehow to live with each other in peace.†(King, 338) The key here is to live with the people around you no matter what the differences between the people are. Whether the people in the house are of all different religions, cultures, ethnicities, and sexes, they must all be able to live together because they can not live without each other. He then mentions a citing from the Bible, where Moses is trying to free his people. â€Å"Let my people go,† says Moses, towards the pharaoh. (King, 340) This quote relates to his thesis and why he is writing this essay. Moses says this in order to let his people be free to live with everyone else and to be treated equal just like   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Keeno 2 everyone else was at the time. It was their God given quality to be able to be free without restraints. He says that we shall all be able to live together because we are supposed to. This is effective for his audience to understand because they know the Bible. Also, he is a preacher so they know that it comes from a credible source when he writes. It is an effective way to quote from the Bible in this case in order to show how he lives his life but even further to explain the power which comes from within him.