mba assignment - ashehad mb0027 -human resources management

8/7/2019 MBA Assignment - Ashehad MB0027 -Human Resources Management

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MBA SEM I Assignment

Student Name: Ashehad Faizy

Roll No: 540910773

Subject Code: MB0027

Subject Name: Human Resources Management

Q1. Write a short note on Hawthorne Studies.

A.

Frederick Taylor, who died in 1915, did not live to see the employee motivation studies that were

conducted at Western Electrics Hawthorne plant, near Chicago, Illinois, from 1927 to 1932. However,

the founder of the scientific school of management would have no doubt been interested in the results.

The Hawthorne studies undercut a core pillar of Taylorism--the notion that workers were motivatedpurely by economic gain. Researchers from Western Electric and Harvard University led the Hawthorne

studies. (General Electric originally contributed funding, but they withdrew after the first trial was

completed.)

The studies were intended to examine the influence of environmental variables on a group of

production workers. The group of workers was divided into two subgroups: a test group, which would

undergo environmental changes, and a control group. The members of the control group would work

under normal, constant environment conditions.

The researchers began by manipulating the lighting of the test group. When lighting for the test group

was increased, their productivity increased--but the productivity of the control group increased, as well.This result was somewhat unexpected, since the lighting at the workstations of the control group had

not been altered.

The researchers then decreased the l ighting at the test groups workstations. Surprisingly, both the test

group and the control group continued to improve their productivity. There were no decreases in

productivity until the light was reduced to the point where the workers could barely see.

The researchers concluded that light did not have a significant impact on the motivation of production

workers. This led General Electric, a light bulb manufacturer, to withdraw their funding.

The next experiment utilized a mainstay of scientific management: incentive-based, piecework system.

The researchers expected, according to the conventional wisdom of the day, that this would inspire the

employees to dramatically increase their pace.

However, rather than working as fast as they could individually, the workers calibrated themselves as a

group. Employees who worked more slowly than average were derided as chiselers. Employees who

attempted to work faster than the group were called rate busters. In other words, any significant

deviation from the collectively imposed norm was punished.


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These results were, of course, a major blow to the position of scientific management, which held that

employees were only motivated by individual economic interest. The Hawthorne studies drew attention

to the social needs as an additional source of motivation. Taylors emphasis on economic incentives was

not wholly discredited, but economic incentives were now viewed as one factor--not the sole factor--to

which employees responded.

Q2. Trace the growth of Trade Union Movement from Factories Act 1881 to Factories Act 1948.

A.

The growth of trade unions in India started way back in 1850 when the economic conditions of labor

was poor, the industry was dominated by the Capitalism, and the industrialists were more concerned

about the productivity.

Long working hours, Low wedges, poor living conditions and exploitation by the management was

common in the industry. Slowly in many parts of the country the workforces united and Factories Act

1881 was incorporated with a ban on Child labor, and conditions in working hours and improved

working conditions.

In next phase many trade unions were incorporated in the country under the leadership of Mahatma

Gandhi in other parts of the country like West Bengal, Ahmadabad, Punjab and others.

All India trade union federation was formed. After independence this took the shape of Indian Factory

Act 1948 with regulation on working conditions, working hours, and other facil ities at

workplace.

Q3. Elaborate the HR planning System

A.

Human Resource planning can be defined as a process by which an organization ensures that it has theright number and kinds of people, at the right place, at the right time, capable of effectively and

efficiently completing those tasks that will help the organization achieve its overall objectives or in other

words HRP can be defined as planning for the future personnel needs of an organization, taking into

account both internal activities and factors in the external environment.

Need and Importance of HRP:

Human resource Planning translates the organization objectives and plans into the number of workers

needed to meet these objectives. The need and importance of HRP is as follows:

- HRP helps in determining the future manpower requirements and avoids problems like overstaffing or understaffing in the organization.

- HRP helps in tackling with the factors like competition, technology, government policies etc. thatgenerates changes in the job content, skill requirements and number and types of personnel

required.

- Now a days there is a demand of exceptional intellectual skills while the existing staff becomesredundant, the HR manager has to attract and retain qualified and skilled personnel and also

required to deal with issues like career development, succession planning for which he takes the

help of HRP.


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- A proper and realistic human resource plan is needed to ensure equal employment andpromotional appointments to the candidates for weaker sections, physically handicapped and

socially and politically oppressed citizens.

- HRP provides valuable and timely information for various designing and execution of personnelfunctions like recruitment & selection, transfers, promotions, layoffs, training and development

and performance appraisal.

- It helps the organization to anticipate imbalance in human resources, which in turn willfacilitate reduction in personal costs.

- HRP facilitates planning for future needs which will help in better planning of assignments todevelop managers and to ensure the organization has a steady supply of experienced and skilled

employees.

Factors affecting Human Resource Planning:

HRP is a dynamic and ongoing process. The process of updating is not very simple, since HRP is

influenced by many factors, which are as follows:

- The type of organization determines the production process and number and type of staffneeded.

- The human resource needs of an organization depend on the strategic plan adopted by it. Fore.g. the growth of a business calls for hiring of additional labour, while mergers will need a plan

for layoffs.

- Organization operates under different political, social environment and has to carefullyformulate the HR policies and so the HR manager has to evolve suitable mechanism to deal with

uncertainties through career developments, succession planning, retirement schemes etc.

- HRP also depends on the time periods and accordingly the short and long-term plans areadopted. And this time span is based on the degree of environmental uncertainties.

- The type and quality of information used in making forecasting is an important factorinfluencing HRP.

-

Accurate and timely human resource information system helps in getting better qualitypersonnel.

- HRP is required to ensure that suitable candidates should be appointed at the right kind of job.Limitations of Human Resource Planning:

- It is very difficult to ascertain future manpower requirements of anorganization, as future is always uncertain.

- It is more relevant to the countries that face the problem of scarcity of human resources. It is atime consuming and costlier process.

- It is beneficial in the organizations that adopt a professional approach and at the same time areconscious about the changing environment.

- HRP is beneficial where adequate skilled manpower is available.- HRP is also made difficult in the organizations that have a very high labour turnover.


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Q4. Discuss the Multiple Person Evaluation Methods.

A.

The techniques of evaluating one employee in comparison to another in organization are ranking,

paired comparison and forced distribution.

Ranking method:

This is a relatively easy method of performance evaluation. Under this method, the ranking of an

employee in a work group is done against that of another employee. The relative position of each

employee is tested in terms of his numerical rank.

The longstanding limitations of this method are:

- The whole man is compared with another whole man in this method. In practice, it is verydifficult to compare individuals possessing varied behavioral traits.

- This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his group. It does not tellanything about how much better or how much worse an employee is when compared to

another employee.

- When a large number of employees are working , ranking of individuals becomes a tauntingissue.

- There is no systematic procedure for ranking individuals in the organization. The ranking systemdoes not eliminate the possibility of snap judgments.

In order to overcome the above limitations a paired comparison technique has been advanced by

organizational scholars.

Paired comparison method: Ranking becomes more reliable and easier under the paired comparison

method.Each worker is compared with all other employees in the group; for every traitthe worker is

compared with all other employees.

Though this method seems to be logical, it is not applicable when a group is large. When the groupbecomes too large, the number of comparisons to be made may become frighteningly excessive.

Forced distribution method: Under this system, the ratter is asked to appraise the employee according

to apredetermined distribution scale. The ratters bias is sought to be eliminatedhere because workers

are not placed at a higher or lower end of the scale.Normally, the two criteria used here for rating are

the job performance andpromo ability. Further, a five point performance scale is used without any

mention of descriptive statements. Workers are placed between the twoextremes of good and bad

performances.

One strong positive point in favor of the forced distribution method is that by forcing the distribution

according to predetermined percentages, the problem of making use of different ratters with different

scales is avoided. Further, this method is appreciated on the ground that it tends to eliminate ratter

bias.

The limitation of using this method in salary administration however is that it may result in low morale,

low productivity and high absenteeism. Employees who feel that they are productive, but find

themselves placed in a lower grade (than expected) feel frustrated and exhibit, over a period of time,

reluctance to work.


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Other methods of appraising performance include: Group Appraisal, Human Resource Accounting,

Assessment Centre, Field Review, etc.

Group appraisal: In this method, an employee is appraised by a group of appraisers. This groupconsists

of the immediate supervisor of the employee, other supervisors whohave close contact with the

employees work, manager or head of thedepartment and consultants. This method eliminates

personal bias to a large extent, as performance is evaluated by multiple rates. But it is a very time

consuming process.

Human resource accounting: HRA is a sophisticated way to measure (in financial terms) the

effectiveness ofpersonnel management activities and the use of people in an organization. It isthe

process of accounting for people as an organizational resource. It tries toplace a value on organizational

human resources as assets and not as expenses.The HRA process shows the investment the

organization makes in its peopleand how the value of these people changes over time.

Assessment centre: This method of appraising was first applied in German Army in 1930. Laterbusiness

and industrial houses started using this method. This is not a techniqueof performance appraisal by

itself. In fact it is a system or organization, whereassessment of several individuals is done by variousexperts using varioustechniques. These techniques include the methods discussed before in addition

to in-basket, role playing, case studies, simulation exercises, structured in sight, transactional analysis,

etc.

Field Review Method: Where subjective performance measures are used, there is scope for ratters

biases influencing the evaluation process. To avoid this, some employees usethe field review method. In

this method a trained, skilled representative of theHR department goes into the field and assists line

supervisors with theirratings of their respective subordinates. The HR specialist requests from the

immediate supervisor specific information about the employees performance. Based on this

information, the expert prepares a report which is sent to the supervisor for review, changes, approval

and discussion with the employee who is being rated.

Q5. Write a note on different theories for Managing Compensation.

A.

The basic purpose of wage and salary administration is to establish and maintain an equitable wage

and salary structure. Its secondary objective is the establishment and maintenance of an equitable

labour cost structure i.e., an optimal balancing of conflicting personnel interests so that the satisfaction

of employees and employers is maximized and conflicts are minimized.

Certain theories were propounded for determination of wages but these could not stand the test of

time. A few theories are discussed below:

Subsistence theory: This theory, also known as 'Iron Law of Wages', was propounded by David Ricardo

(1772 - 1823). According to this theory, wages tend to settle at a level just sufficient to maintain the

workers and his family at minimum subsistence levels. The theory applies only to backward countries

where laborers are extremely poor and are unable to get their share from the employers.


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Standard of living theory: This theory is a modified form of subsistence theory. According to this theory,

wages are determined not by subsistence level but also by the standard of living to which a class of

laborers become habituated.

Residual claimant theory: Francis A. Walker (1840 - 1897) propounded this theory. According to him,

there were four factors of production/ business activity viz., land, labour, capital and entrepreneurship.

Wages represent the amount of value created in the production which remains after payment has been

made for all these factors of production. In other words, labour is the residual claimant.

The wage fund theory: According to this theory, after rent and raw materials are paid for, a definite

amount remains for labour. The total wage fund and the number of workers determine the average

worker's share in the form of wages.

Demand and supply theory: According to this theory, wages depend upon the demand and supply of

labour.

Marginal productivity theory: This is an improved form of demand and supply theory. Wages are

determined by the value of the net product of the marginal unit of labour employed.

Purchasing power theory: According to this theory the prosperity, productivity and progress of industry

depend on there being sufficient demand to ensure the sale of its products and pocketing of reasonable

profits. A large part of the products of industry is consumed by workers and their families and if wages

are high, demand will be good. However, if wages and the purchasing power of the workers are low,

some of the goods will remain unsold output will go down, which will result in unemployment.

The bargaining theory of wages: John Davidson propounded this theory. According to him, wages are

determined by the relative bargaining power of workers or trade unions and of employers. When a

trade union is involved, basic wages, fringe benefits, job differentials and individual differences tend to

be determined by the relative strength of the organization and the trade union.

Q6. Write the advantages and limitations of Job Evaluation Method.

A.

Job Evaluation Methods:

There is three basic methods of job evaluation: (1) ranking, (2) classification,(3) factor comparison.

While many variations of these methods exist in practice, the three basic approaches are described

here.

Ranking Method: Perhaps the simplest method of job evaluation is the ranking method. Accordingto

this method, jobs are arranged from highest to lowest, in order of their valueor merit to theorganization. Jobs also can be arranged according to the relativedifficulty in performing them. The jobs

are examined as a whole rather than onthe basis of important factors in the job; and the job at the top

of the list has thehighest value and obviously the job at the bottom of the list will have the lowest

value. Jobs are usually ranked in each department and then the department rankings are combined to

develop an organizational ranking.


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Its simplicity, however, works to its disadvantage in big organizations because rankings are difficult to

develop in a large, complex organization. Moreover, this kind of ranking is highly subjective in nature

and may offend many employees. Therefore, a more scientific and fruitful way of job evaluation is called

for.

Classification Method: According to this method, a predetermined number of job groups or job classes

are established and jobs are assigned to these classifications. This method placesgroups of jobs into job

classes or job grades. Separate classes may includeoffice, clerical, managerial, personnel, etc. Following

is a brief description ofsuch a classification in an office.

(a) Class I - Executives: Further classification under this category may be Office

manager, Deputy office manager, Office superintendent, Departmental

supervisor, etc.

(b) Class II - Skilled workers: Under this category may come the Purchasing

assistant, Cashier, Receipts clerk, etc.

(c) Class III - Semiskilled workers: Under this category may come Stenotypists, Machine-operators, Switchboard operators, etc.

(d) Class IV - Semiskilled workers: This category comprises Daftaris, File

clerks, Office boys, etc.

The job classification method is less subjective when compared to the earlier ranking method. The

system is very easy to understand and acceptable to almost all employees without hesitation. One

strong point in favor of the method is that it takes into account all the factors that a job comprises. This

system can be effectively used for a variety of jobs.

The weaknesses of the job classification method are:

* Even when the requirements of different jobs differ, they may be combined into a single category,

depending on the status a job carries.

* It is difficult to write all-inclusive descriptions of a grade.

* The method oversimplifies sharp differences between different jobs and different grades.

* When individual job descriptions and grade descriptions do not match well, the evaluators have the

tendency to classify the job using their subjective judgments.

Factor Comparison Method: A more systematic and scientific method of job evaluation is the factor

comparison method. Though it is the most complex method of all, it isconsistent and appreciable.

Under this method, instead of ranking completejobs, each job is ranked according to a series of factors.

These factors includemental effort, physical effort, skill needed, supervisory responsibility, working

conditions and other relevant factors (for instance, know-how, problem solvingabilities, accountability,

etc.). Pay will be assigned in this method by comparingthe weights of the factors required for each job,

i.e., the present wages paid forkey jobs may be divided among the factors weighed by importance (the

mostimportant factor, for instance, mental effort, receives the highest weight). Inother words, wages

are assigned to the job in comparison to its ranking on eachjob factor.


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Merits of this method:

* Analytical and objective.

* Reliable and valid as each job is compared with all other jobs in terms of key factors.

* Money values are assigned in a fair way based on an agreed rank order fixed by the job evaluation

committee.

* Flexible as there is no upper limitation on the rating of a factor.

Demerits of this method:

* Difficult to understand, explain and operate.

* Its use of the same criteria to assess all jobs is questionable as jobs differ across and within

organizations.

* Time consuming and costly.

Point method: This method is widely used currently. Here, jobs are expressed in terms of keyfactors.

Points are assigned to each factor after prioritizing each factor in theorder of importance. The points

are summed up to determine the wage rate forthe job. Jobs with similar point totals are placed insimilar pay grades. Theprocedure involved may be explained thus:

(a) Select key jobs: Identify the factors common to all the identified jobs such as skill, effort,

responsibility, etc.

(b) Divide each major factor into a number of sub factors: Each sub factor is defined and expressed

clearly in the order of importance, preferably along a scale.

Merits and Demerits

The point method is a superior and widely used method of evaluating jobs. It forces ratters to look into

all keys factors and sub-factors of a job. Point values are assigned to all factors in a systematic way,eliminating bias at every stage. It is reliable because ratters using similar criteria would get more or less

similar answers. It accounts for differences in wage rates for various jobs on the strength of job factors.

Jobs may change over time, but the rating scales established under the point method remain

unaffected.

On the negative side, the point method is complex. Preparing a manual for various jobs, fixing values for

key and sub-factors, establishing wage rates for different grades, etc., is a time consuming process. This

may be too taxing, especially while evaluating managerial jobs where the nature of work (varied,

complex, novel) is such that it cannot be expressed in quantifiable numbers.

mba assignment - ashehad mb0027 -human resources management

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