HRM in Context Assignment Sample
Abstract
Human Resource Management (HRM) practices have played a crucial role in achieving organizational goals and maintaining sustainability in several areas related to business. On the other hand, Marks and Spencer has always paid close attention towards its HRM practices which has ultimately helped the company to retain a good reputation and brand image in the global market. Marks and Spencer has also focused on improving its HRM activities in order to deal with various challenges in an effective way without undergoing much difficulty and it has proven to be an extremely efficient way of handling severer challenges in the long run.
Introduction
Human Resource Management (HRM) is considered as one the most important aspects of an organization which is responsible for managing all the organizational operations in a proper way in order to extract maximum output. In this report, a detailed discussion will be made in order to analyse the current situation in which Marks and Spencer is operating in the international market.
Analysis of the situation
It may be asserted that socio-cultural factors play a significant role in the expansion of any business where changing market trends play a vital role in increasing the sales of the products by launching a diversified portfolio of products for meeting the demands of the customers. Managing the HRM practices always increases the potential of an organization to become sustainable which leads a company towards achieving greater organizational success (Aust et al., 2020). Marks and Spencer has been always focusing on improving its technological factors and the technology transformation programs have proven to be extremely helpful for the company in attaining sustainability by using 100% sustainable sources of cotton (Refer to Appendix 1). On the other hand, HRM practices of the company have enabled Marks and Spencer to form partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) for making the HRM of the company more efficient through PeopleSoft interaction hub (Marksandspencer.com. 2021).
Additionally, Marks and Spencer has also adopted the digital first initiative which is a customer centric technology service and is expected to provide the customers all the products in a more enhanced way. Moreover, Marks and Spencer also aims to provide its customers an overall enhanced customer experience which will certainly provide the company a competitive advantage in the market with the help of this digital fist technology. Green Human Resource Management (GHRM) aligns the organizational goals with sustainable development goals which become an essential factor for enhancing brand image and brand reputation in the global context (Ojo and Raman, 2019).
Figure 1: Growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the UK
(Source: Ons.gov.uk. 2021)
The UK has a stable economy and the country has a high Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth yet the increasing inflation rate has emerged as a threat for Marks and Spencer to carry out its business activities efficiently. Furthermore, the HRM policies of the company have given emphasis on the waste management system as well as on adopting a green policy to reduce the amount of waste products. On a broader note, the political, legal and ethical factors have also helped the company in expanding its business through the implementation of proper HRM practices and policies without breaking any law.
Potential solutions
Marks and Spencer has focused on developing its technological capabilities which may benefit the company in overcoming the challenges which have risen due to high inflation rate in the UK to retain its position in the global market. The role of HRM changes significantly according to different situations through which an organization passes and changes in the HRM policy and framework aids in gaining competitive advantage (Van et al., 2021). Apart from this, the company has always paid attention in maintaining a healthy work environment for its employees where an inclusive approach is maintained by providing equal opportunities in terms of employment and any type of discrimination is absolutely avoided (Refer to Appendix 2). On a broader note, Marks and Spencer has adopted a circular approach in confronting major issues such as combating climate change by reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to this, Marks and Spencer has been sending zero waste to landfill which has become possible due to the production of environment friendly as well as long lasting products (Marksandspencer.com. 2021). Furthermore, the company has given emphasis on reducing the amount of food waste across all the operational stores of Marks and Spencer by forming partnership with charity houses and all these steps have helped the company in enhancing its reputation in the market as a responsible organization.
Findings
Marks and Spencer has adopted an innovative approach to further strengthen its HRM activities for generating better outcomes and in this regard the company has given significant emphasis on data privacy and rights of the workers. Enhancing the HRM practices through improving the workforce ultimately increases the innovative power of an organization which increases the potential of the organization to face any adverse situation in the long run (Kaabi et al., 2018). Additionally, Marks and Spencer have also formed effective partnership with other reputed companies to promote a safe and healthy ready-made garment industry (Refer to Appendix 3).
Figure 2: Annual report of Marks and Spencer (2021)
(Source: Marksandspencer.com. 2021)
It may be mentioned that the HRM department of the company plays a crucial role in preparing the annual report where all the necessary tax adjustments are done in great detail with proper effort to avoid any sort of mistake in calculating the annual revenue. The company has generated a total of £10.2 billion in which 22.5% of the revenue has been generated through selling clothing online in the UK. The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy of the company is designed in such a way that any type of harassment to the employees in the workplace may be avoided by maintaining organizational transparency.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it may be clearly concluded that Marks and Spencer has paid attention towards the important factors for maintaining a good reputation in the global context through implementing necessary changes in the HRM practices of the company. The HRM department of the company has been dealing with all the challenges in an effective way and have been taking all the necessary steps for the development of the company.
Recommendations
The following are the important recommendations:-
- The company should focus on carbon neutral global operations to reduce the levels of pollution in order to maintain sustainability
- The company should pay attention towards enhancing its HRM operations to boost the process of recruitment and training
- Marks and Spencer should give emphasis on people and planet along with making profit by evolving the HRM framework of the company
- The company should collaborate with more charitable organizations for utilizing food waste properly
References
Aust, I., Matthews, B. and Muller-Camen, M., 2020. Common Good HRM: A paradigm shift in Sustainable HRM?.Human Resource Management Review, 30(3), p.100705.
Kaabi, A.A.A., Elanain, H.A. and Ajmal, M.M., 2018. HRM practices and innovation performance with the mediating effect of knowledge sharing: Empirical evidence from Emirati ICT companies. International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 24(1), pp.41-61.
Marksandspencer.com. 2021.Welcome to Marks & Spencer. [online] Available at: <https://www.marksandspencer.com/> [Accessed 9 September 2021].
Ojo, A.O. and Raman, M., 2019, April. Role of Green HRM practices in employees’ pro-environmental IT Practices. In World Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (pp. 678-688).Springer, Cham.
Ons.gov.uk. 2021.Gross Domestic Product: chained volume measures: Seasonally adjusted £m – Office for National Statistics. [online] Available at: <https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/grossdomesticproductgdp/timeseries/abmi/pn2> [Accessed 9 September 2021].
Van Lancker, E., Knockaert, M., Audenaert, M. and Cardon, M., 2021. HRM in entrepreneurial firms: A systematic review and research agenda. Human Resource Management Review, p.100850.
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