Gb520: Unit 2 Case Study

Kimberly Buffington Page 1

1 April 2014

GB520: Strategic Human Resource Management

Unit 2

Traditional Versus Strategic HRM and Its Effectiveness for Organizational Success

Case Analysis Question: What is Strategic Human Resources Management and how does it link the people with the strategic needs of the business?

Brief Analysis

Strategic human resource management is the process of linking the human resource function with the strategic objectives of the organization in order to improve performance. (Bratton) Business owners have long understood that the primary asset they can leverage in their business is in the human resources of their business. Quite simply great ideas originate in people and are developed through people. Over the last 150 years in America, much progress has been made in the area of maximizing the human assets in business. In the always evolving world of human resources there is room to investigate how best to link the people (human assets) to the strategic needs of the business. By connecting with current information from innovative companies on the front lines of human resource development, we can analyze the new path that is emerging in order to grow business by leveraging all assets to the fullest.

Major Issues

In the 1850’s in America, the management revolution began. The management movement focused on leadership, setting direction and supervising work. With this model, the system came first then the people. (Bersin) The last 50 years brought a change in the model. Companies like Toyota led the way to a people before system view of human resources.

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This model allows for everyone in the human resource pipeline to contribute ideas and suggestions that create greater success for the company. The idea being that the people - the human resource - create the business and all share in the responsibility of growing the business. (Bersin) This change was a significant one because human resource continued to...