Zainab Nadeem

NAME: Zainab Nadeem____________________ EMAIL:-________________ Question 1: Essay question: Globalization has exerted a significant influence on Human Resource Management practices in organizations. “Discuss the challenges and opportunities that globalization presents for HR Managers” (400 words Minimum) Use at least 4 credible sources (journal articles, books, published reports from institutes like the UN, newspapers, etc.). Please notice that random websites and blogs are not acceptable Use APA style of referencing Globalization: Globalization is mainly referred as the transfer of goods, services, technology etc. There are a lot of people who have conflicting views about the subject while some authors see globalization as a positive thing in the consumer society. It is basically the integration of the company’s operations and strategies into diverse cultures, products and ideas. Definitions: Different authors have given different views and definitions about the term globalization. Some of which are: Like David Harvey said; “globalization is the compression of time and space.” Charles U.L Hill on the other hand defined globalization as: “the shift towards a more integrated and interdependent world economy.” Other than these many other authors also shared their views about globalization as it had started influencing the industries, trade, employees etc on a larger span. Historical background of Globalization: The first era of globalization began in the mid-19th century and ended when World War 1 began. In 1990’s the trade expanded again more rapidly, partly driven by the innovations in the Information Technology (IT). One of the most dynamic traders in- were mainly the West European countries like Spain, France, Italy and Poland etc and Japan. Despite the small contraction of trade there were a lot of crisis in 2001 aswell. Type of Global Organizations in the current century: multinational transnational international O the other hand globalization has a great impact on: industries employers employees Human Resource Management: Human resource management is basically the process of hiring the employee so that they become useful to the organization. It mainly includes conducting job analysis, planning personal needs, hiring right people for the jobs etc. It is the area of administrative dealing in an organization. Human Resource Managers: The role of HR manager changes to fit the needs of an organization, nowadays mainly because of globalization. It was noted that half of the international organizations have one primary HR department with independent HR staff. The role of HR managers keep on evolving with time. There are a lot of important tasks appointed to the HR managers some of them are discussed and compared (from the tasks appointed to the HR managers earlier) below: Priorities of a HR manager: The top priority of the HR manager identified by most of the organizations is leadership development. Recruiting high quality employees is also one of the major tasks of a HR manager. Other than this employee retention is also a top concern for both international and domestic companies. HR manager also manages the lifecycle of an employee. After the recruitment it is the duty of the HR manager to interview, shortlist and select the employee. The main responsibility of a HR manager is recruiting, hiring, training, organization development, performance management, coaching, salary and benefits and leadership etc. All these tasks are handled by the HR managers and staff. HR managers must develop skills of their managers and organizers to do the activities well. Challenges that Globalization presents for HR managers: Diversity recruitment: With the rise of globalization almost every company is interacting with customers and stakeholders of different backgrounds, cultures, languages etc. in response many human resource managers seek to hire employers from the same background. Having the diverse members or employers on the team help in the contribution of diverse ideas and improving the state of an organization. This maybe a challenge for the HR managers because it is a difficult task to find people of different cultures and social backgrounds. Professional development: Another effect of globalization on the HR development is the push for professional development. Professional development is concerned with providing opportunities to the employees for future career. Professional development is important in globalization because it creates a win-win situation. The employees feel that the organization is providing them a range of skills which in turn benefits the organization. Emphasis on training: Greater emphasis on training has also resulted because of globalization. Training needs to be focused on the needs of the employees mainly. For example a company might host languages classes for the employees or the global software platform. This type of training can also benefit the companies or organization in the future. Management of laws across jurisdictions: The final effect of globalization on the human resource management is to understand and apply the laws of jurisdictions to the particular business. The application of these laws are necessary to understand the needs of the employer and the employees. Demographics and diversity: According to HR news the paper explores the advantages and disadvantages of globalization on the HR managers.HR professionals or managers must prepare for the complexities that arise with the cultures merge. There are a lot of pitfalls and challenges for the HR managers which arise due to the increase of globalization. The paper also determined that decrease in youth population in developed economics is causing shortage of skills. Although these shortages can be filled by older workers but it still causes difficulty, including health issues etc. which can be serious challenge for HR managers. Tug of war: The challenge of HR is to gain detailed understanding of the local environment. If the labor laws conflict with those of the organization than HR needs to be the voice of the individual which is a tough challenge for the human resource manager. The HR manager has to understand the variation of the laws and how to handle them. Regulations decrease as the employment method is conducted through less recruiting methods. This can be a challenge for the HR managers as it is beyond just hiring, issuing visas and training etc. Opportunities for HR managers: As it is clear from the above discussion that globalization presents a lot of challenges for the HR managers but at the same time it also provides opportunities for these people. HR managers are mainly appointed to hire, train, manage the employee work-cycle, interview and coach etc. with the increase in globalization the hiring process increases which benefits the HR managers as there are more vacancies and job opportunities. Due to the increase in globalization the role of a HR are manger increases not only in the administration sector but also in the strategic plans of the country. They are given opportunities to make plans for the company as well as train and improve the work force. Other than this the HR recruitment efforts become easier and more diverse. They can easily manage to hire people with experience and higher level of skill as there can be a lot of different choices. Apart from all this the major task of a HR manager is to understand the cultural differences. It is their duty to learn to communicate with people of different cultures. It is their duty to make sure that the people hired can fully understand the cultural differences and the diversity in the work surroundings. Although Human Resource Managers are given a lot of authorities but it is always suggested that they should also rely on their supervisor rather than handling it alone. References: Bradley, J. (n.d.). Effects of Globalization on Human Resource Management. Human resources- The Big Issues. Gachung, H. (n.d.). Impact of Globalization on the Human Resource Management function in developing countries. A case study of Kenya Public Coorperation. Plagens, S. (n.d.). Human Resource Management Best Practices. The Universality of Common Sense. Ray, L. (n.d.). Pros and Cons of Globalization on Human Resource Management. Science Journal of Management:Impact of Globalization on Human Resource Management. Sheila M. Rioux, P. (n.d.). the Globalization of Human Resources. Question 2: Paraphrase the following text (Rewrite the following in your own words): The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm examines configurations of internal resources. It explains how firms create sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing scholars turn to the resource-based view to describe and understand marketing capabilities. Marketing capabilities enable firms to establish effective strategies to respond promptly to the emerging challenges in competitive environment. IT scholars also apply resource-based view to study IT capabilities. The resource-based view is based on two fundamental assumptions about firm resources and capabilities: heterogeneity and immobility. The RBV postulates that valuable and rare organizational resources that are hard to imitate and substitute provide firms with potential sources of competitive advantage (J. Barney, 1991). According to Barney (1991), firm resources with the potential to create sustainable competitive advantage have four attributes: value, rareness, inimitability, and substitutability. Paraphrasing: The resource-based view of an organization mainly examines the application of the tangible or intangible resources. It is basically the approach to achieve competitive welfare. Marketing scholars head to resource-based view to understand and explain the marketing potential in a firm. Marketing ability allows the company or an organization to establish effective ways to deal expeditiously with the upcoming challenges in the competitive and ambitious environment. Resource based view is also applied by the IT professionals. There are two underlying presumptions about the company’s skills and resources on which the resource based view is based which are heterogeneity/diversity and immobility. Moreover, the resource-based view presumes that rare organizational resources which are hard to emulate and replace provide companies with potential sources of competitive advantage. Barney (1991) said that firm resources with ability to create sources of competitive advantage consist of four different attributes: value, rareness/ limited, distinctiveness and substitutability/ commutability. Competitive advantage is achieved when companies acquire these attributes which allows it to perform at a higher level than any other firm.