HR Function Strategic Role, Trade Unions and HRM Practices: Evidence From Uruguay

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 (1) ◽  
pp. 12014
Author(s):  
Alvaro Cristiani ◽  
José María Peiró
Sociologija ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biljana Bogicevic-Milikic ◽  
Nebojsa Janicijevic

This paper intends to investigate whether the speed of a transition process influences the degree of HRM developments in transition economies. We therefore focused our investigation on the HRM practices in two transition countries - Slovenia and Serbia, which used to be constitutional parts of the former Yugoslavia and used to share the same political and cultural background for many years. The analysis was focused on the following areas of HRM: the role of the HR function, HRM strategy involvement, training and development, performance measurements and rewards, employee relations and the role of trade unions. The research findings show that the HRM policies and practices in Serbia and Slovenia, regardless of the shared background, diverge in all analyzed aspects. The results obtained confirm that the transition process, per se, may explain almost all differences between HRM practices in Serbia and Slovenia.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7587
Author(s):  
James W. Westerman

The Human Resource (HR) function is often viewed by those in organizations as a process function and a cost-center, which results in an enhanced risk of outsourcing and automation. However, HR is also uniquely positioned to engage firms in cross-functional transformational change efforts, as its work is embedded in every business function within an organization. Sustainable HR and the triple bottom line (TBL) present opportunities for HR to build a strategic role within organizations. This essay provides strategic and tactical models, with specific steps for implementation, to assist HR in re-assert its role in driving the competitiveness of the firm through Sustainable HR.


2019 ◽  
Vol 103 ◽  
pp. 397-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charmi Patel ◽  
Pawan Budhwar ◽  
Alissa Witzemann ◽  
Anastasia Katou

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 29
Author(s):  
Indrasari Tjandraningsih

<p class="p1">The non-strategic role and position of women workers in trade union organization, even in the women-dominated sector, is hardly changed even though the number of women members of trade unions is increasing. Various programs have been carried out to increase the strategic role of women in trade union organizations but so far have not shown significant results. Based on interviews with officers of gender equality programs for trade unions, union leaders and women and men members and literature studies this paper offers an idea of the need for a non-exclusive approach and actively and proportionally involving men in awareness-raising and gender equality programs for trade unions. This idea is based on the fact that in trade unions gender-related program is always left to or only involves women. The strategy in the gender equality awareness and improvement program that only involves women causes the program’s effectiveness to be low because half of the causes of the problem is not involved.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 4-6

Purpose The researchers wanted to find out a number of things. First, they wanted to assess the influence of strong unions on approaches to HRM. Second, they wanted to know if the strategic HR function had a positive effect on both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. Third, they tested the theory that the economic context had a significant influence on HRM practices. Companies in liberal market economies (LMEs), for example, were expected to adopt more performance-centered HRM, but for companies in coordinated market economies the reverse was likely to be true (CMEs). Design/methodology/approach Cristiani et al collected their data from the Cranet 2009 survey, the world’s largest comparative analysis of HRM practices. They sent out a questionnaire to senior managers responsible for HRM at private multinational companies. The authors sampled 3,406 firms across 14 countries. They placed six OECD nations in the LME group (Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the USA) and ten in the CME group (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands). Findings The data revealed that the strategic HR function had a positive effect on the adoption of both person-centered and performance-centered HRM. The study also demonstrated that a more powerful union presence encouraged the use of person-centered approaches, whereas it discouraged performance-centered ones. The data suggested that the variety of capitalism (VoC) moderated the relationships between the strategic HR function role and performance-centered HMR, but the same impact on person-centered approaches was not found. Originality/value Proof of the moderating effect of the VoC shows that HR professionals – especially at multinationals - need to align their practices with the larger context in which their company is operating. The most valuable finding for businesses was the impact of a strong union presence on which HRM practices were likely to be accepted, or rejected.


Author(s):  
Emma Parry ◽  
Shaun Tyson

HR practitioners are often expected to be both efficient administrators of the employment relationship and to act as a strategic partner to the business. Some authors have suggested that the use of e-HRM may be one way of achieving these dual aims as technology can both improve the efficiency of HR processes and help the HR function to become more strategic by freeing up time from the burden of administration and by providing reliable information on which to make strategic decisions. The authors investigated the potential of technology to transform the HR function into one that is both efficient and strategic by focusing on a single process area, recruitment. Through the use of three detailed case studies we showed that the use of e-recruitment can potentially have an impact on both the strategic role and efficiency of the resourcing team.


2010 ◽  
pp. 1566-1573
Author(s):  
Emma Parry

The use of technology within human resource management has grown considerably over the last decade with the majority of organizations now using some form of HR information system (HRIS). For instance, in Europe, Watson-Wyatt (2002) found that 70% of the organizations surveyed used the Internet or Intranet to deliver HR services to employees with most respondents planning to enhance substantially their e-HR capabilities over the two years after the survey. In the UK alone, survey research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in 2005 showed that 77% of organizations used an HRIS. Research from Cranfield School of Management in 2003 found an even higher proportion of companies using HRIS at 82%. An HRIS can perform a number of functions from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that an HRIS can undertake increases. The use of HRIS can provide a number of benefits to the HR function, line managers, and the wider organization. On one level, the use of technology has been shown to lead to faster, more accurate and more efficient processes, and reduced HR costs. Technology can also be used to provide HR information and to enable managers and employees to perform simple HR tasks themselves. On another level, the use of HRIS to reduce the administrative and transactional burden on the HR function can lead to a change in the structure of HR and allow the function to play a more strategic role in the organization. The reasons behind an organization’s introduction of an HRIS may vary considerably from the need to facilitate efficient processes or cut costs, to improve communication and customer service, or the desire to create a shift in the role of the HR function from one that is mainly administrative to one that is more strategic. This chapter will discuss the potential impacts of technology on HRM in terms of the possible rationale behind the introduction of an HRIS. The chapter will draw on the past literature on HRIS as well as on case study research conducted by the author in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Parry, Tyson, Selbie, & Leighton, 2006) to examine the possible components of a business case for HRIS and the benefits that such systems can potentially offer to an organization.


Author(s):  
Emma Parry

The use of technology within human resource management has grown considerably over the last decade with the majority of organizations now using some form of HR information system (HRIS). For instance, in Europe, Watson-Wyatt (2002) found that 70% of the organizations surveyed used the Internet or Intranet to deliver HR services to employees with most respondents planning to enhance substantially their e-HR capabilities over the two years after the survey. In the UK alone, survey research by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development in 2005 showed that 77% of organizations used an HRIS. Research from Cranfield School of Management in 2003 found an even higher proportion of companies using HRIS at 82%. An HRIS can perform a number of functions from the simple storage and communication of information, to more complex transactions. As technology advances, the range of functions that an HRIS can undertake increases. The use of HRIS can provide a number of benefits to the HR function, line managers, and the wider organization. On one level, the use of technology has been shown to lead to faster, more accurate and more efficient processes, and reduced HR costs. Technology can also be used to provide HR information and to enable managers and employees to perform simple HR tasks themselves. On another level, the use of HRIS to reduce the administrative and transactional burden on the HR function can lead to a change in the structure of HR and allow the function to play a more strategic role in the organization. The reasons behind an organization’s introduction of an HRIS may vary considerably from the need to facilitate efficient processes or cut costs, to improve communication and customer service, or the desire to create a shift in the role of the HR function from one that is mainly administrative to one that is more strategic. This chapter will discuss the potential impacts of technology on HRM in terms of the possible rationale behind the introduction of an HRIS. The chapter will draw on the past literature on HRIS as well as on case study research conducted by the author in conjunction with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (Parry, Tyson, Selbie, & Leighton, 2006) to examine the possible components of a business case for HRIS and the benefits that such systems can potentially offer to an organization.


2018 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-565
Author(s):  
Sagi K. Mathew ◽  
John Burgess

Summary The purpose of this article is to highlight the role that Izzat played in the unfolding industrial disputation that emerged at the Toyota plant in Bangalore between 1999 and 2007. Isolated instances contributed to a build-up of employee and community resentment at what was perceived as an attack on Izzat. Behind the events is the attempt to transpose Japanese “lean production and management systems” into an Indian subsidiary where local industrial and cultural conditions were not suitable for the imposition of such practices from headquarters to a subsidiary. The result of the analysis contributes to the understanding of workplace industrial relations (IR) in India and the centrality of Izzat. Within India, the significance of trade unions; the respect of employees; the importance of family and community; the importance of seniority; and the role of respect and honour are factors that multinationals often fail to understand in the design and implementation of their production and HRM systems. The study contributes to the debate over the transferability of standardized HRM policies and practices. MNEs should play a proactive role in supporting the employees of subsidiaries to adjust to and accommodate new paradigms in workplace industrial relations. The aggressive production and HRM practices at the Toyota plant were not compatible with the norms and cultural institutions of the Indian workforce. One of the key implications of this research is that foreign production, organizational and industrial relations systems and practices cannot be transplanted into host-country environments without the due recognition of key cultural conditions, notably Izzat in India.


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