MPA 14
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
IGNOU MPA 14 Solved Free Assignment
MPA 14 Solved Free Assignment July 2023 & January 2024
SECTION-I
Q. 1. Write a note in brief on important models of Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM).
Ans. There are a number of models of SHRM, which are discussed as:
As per Guest’s model of 1987, there are four key elements or goals of SHRM.
They are: (1) Integration (2) Commitment (3) Flexibility, and (4) Quality.
The other major paradigm is functionalism, which draws upon functionalist sociology propounded by Comte.
It follows the positive tradition adopting biological concepts to sociology.
The High-Performance Working Model
It involves the development of a number of interrelated approaches which together impact favourably on the performance of the firm in areas like productivity, quality, and levels of customer service, growth, profits, and delivery of increased shareholder value.
The United States department of labour has defined the characteristics on a high-performance work system.
➤ Careful and extensive recruitment, selection and training;
➤ Formal system for information sharing with individuals who work in the organisation;
Clear job design;
➤ High-level participation process;
➤ Monitoring attitudes; and studying behaviour;
➤ Regular performance appraisals;
➤ Properly functioning grievance redress system; and
➤ Promotion and compensation schemes that provide for recognition and financial reward for high performing members of the workforce.
High Performance Working
➤ High-performance working involves the adoption of high-performance design methods. These require certain steps in a logical sequence; as stated below:
➤ Management clearly defines what it need by way of new methods of working and articulation of results expected;
➤ Management extends success parameters in that it continually sets goals and standards for enhanced success;
➤ Multi-skill acquisition is encouraged. Encouragement and training are provided for employees to acquire new skills;
➤ Equipment is selected that can be used flexibly and allows easy handling for optimising the socio-technical system (aspect of organisation);
➤ Establishment of self-managed teams or autonomous work groups for better human relations;
➤ Adoption of supportive rather than autocratic style (this is most difficult part of the system to introduce) of leadership to support innovation and initiative on the part of employees;
➤ Support systems are provided that help teams function effectively as operating units;
➤ The new system is introduced with care through employee involvement and communication programmes for employee empowerment;
➤ Training is based on objective assessment of training needs;
➤ Payment system is designed with employee participation to ‘fit’ employee needs as well as those of the management;
➤ Payment is related to team performance (team pay) but with provision for skill-based pay for individuals; and
➤In some cases, ‘peer performance review’ process is used which involves team members assessing one another’s performance as well as the performance of the team as a whole.
The High-Commitment Management Model
High-commitment management may be described as a form of management that aims at eliciting commitment so that behaviour is primarily self-regulated rather than controlled by sanctions and pressures applied by the management and relations within the organisation are based on high levels of trust.
Ways to achieve high commitment are:
➤ Development of leadership through training, with premium on commitment as highly valued characteristic at all levels in the organisation;
➤ A high level of functional flexibility abandoning potentially rigid job descriptions;
➤ Reduction of hierarchies and de-emphasis of status differentials;
➤ A heavy reliance on team infrastructure for disseminating information (team briefing) designing and distributing work (team working) and problem solving (quality circles);
➤ Understanding job design as an area of management craft to provide intrinsic satisfaction to workers;
➤ A policy of no compulsory lay-offs and permanent employment guarantees with the possible use of temporary workers to withstand fluctuations in the demand of labour;
➤ New forms of assessment and payment systems; more specifically, merit pay and profit sharing; and High degree of involvement of employees in the management of quality.
The High-Involvement Management Model
This model is more democratic in approach, and it involves treating employees partners in the enterprise whose interests are respected and who have a voice in matters concerning or relating to them.
There is focus on communication and participation and the members of their teams. This establishes full mutual understanding of what is desired by both the management and workers and also establishes the means of managing and developing employee potential to ensure target accomplishment through better involvement across the region. Specifically, the following structural and functional attributes are desired:
➤ ‘On line’ work teams;
➤ ‘Off-line’ employee involvement activities and problem-solving groups;
➤ Job rotation;
➤ Suggestion programmers; and
➤ Decentralization of quality efforts.
High-involvement work practices have a clear and demonstrated effect on productivity.
The effect is ‘large’ enough to be of economic consequence and significance to the organisations that adopt these ‘new practices’.
Conclusion: Strategic human resource manage-ment is an universal academic discipline and its key constructs and central debates are discussed by Colbert. The model of SHRM is either prescriptive or descriptive.
The high performance working model involves high level participation process, the high commitment management model deals high degree of involvement of employees in the management of quality and the high involvement management model is mainly focus on communication and participation between managers and the members of their teams.
Q. 3. Discuss the principles of fixing remuneration.
Ans. For the determination of salary, following factors are taken into consideration:
(a) Equal Pay for Equal Work: Equal pay for equal work is an important factor in the determination of salary. Each and every organisation has compensated the opposition and not the individual.
They pay salary according to their work. Work is important in every field for the determination of salary.
Theoretically, nothing can be held against it, in practice however it is extremely difficult to define what equal work means because it is the person who works, that makes the difference.
(b) Employer’s Capacity to Pay: Employer’s capacity to pay employees is an important factor in the determination of salaries or wages. Actually it depend upon the profit-earning capacity of the employer’s.
If in the organisation, employers get higher profit, by using qualified, talented, knowledgeable employee, obviously, provided higher salaries and wages to its employee, get more profit from them.
On the other hand, if employers do not get any profit, it doesn’t like to pay higher wages and salaries to its employee. Thus, it is an important factor in the determination of salary structure.
(c) Social Criteria: Minimum salaries are determined not only on economic, but also on social basis. It has evoked much criticism. The following approaches determine the minimum wages of the employee in the organisation:
➤ Living wage approach
➤ Capacity to pay approach
➤ Productivity approach
➤ The need-based approach
➤ Job evaluation approach
➤ Relative parties approach.
All these approaches are given by the Fifth Central Pay Commission. This commission observes that living wage is desirable and the state must try to provide it as indicated in Article 43.
The concept-living wage is not a static one as it rises or falls with the differing prosperity level of the state.
(d) ‘Variations’ in Compensation: Variations in compensation means differences in compensation. Compensations are provided to the individual to attract him towards the workforce.
But variations in compensation depend upon the experience of an employee, his background, skills, duties, responsibilities and hazards involved in work.
If the work is more hazardous, or one takes more duties and responsibilities in the work place, pay scales would be higher to attract and retain good employees.
(e) Scales of Pay: Scales of pay of the employees are fairly comparable to the rates of remuneration prevailing outside the industry.
While there are economic reforms in the public sector, the government has tight control over compensation packages of the employees.
But in case of private sector compensation packages for employees is a result of intense competition among the large number of players.
In private sector salaries may be a transitory phenomenon and may be limited by its own parameters.
But in actual field there is need for a national wage policy to bring uniformity and consistency in the salary system.
For example, in Singapore, salaries in government have been benchmarked to salaries in the private sector.
Salaries of permanent secretaries in the United Kingdom are comparable with salaries of chief executive in the private sector.
(f] Level of Consumer Prices: Consumer prices should be taken into consideration while fixing pay scales and determining other conditions of service. Inflation should also be counted in periodic wage revision.
(g) Structure of Emoluments: Structure of emoluments should be so designed as to ensure recruitment of persons with necessary qualification and abilities at each level.
Fairness and equity are also taken into consideration while determining the salary structure of the employee. Job evaluation is done for the purpose of addressing the aforesaid requirements.
(h) Making Salaries Commensurate with Personal Requirement: Fulfillment of personnel requirement of an employee is very important in the determination of salaries.
Personnel requirement of an employee should be commensurate with the salaries package provided for their work.
(i) Social Consideration: Social consideration is another important factor in the determination of salary.
It makes a difference between the highest and lowest salaries, which is maintained to ensure an equitable, and a just social order.
(Legislation: Apart from the factors mentioned above, legislation plays an important role in determination of salary and wage rates.
In public sector, different laws are made regarding the minimum wages of the employee. Further employee also sometime chooses the path of strike for their minimum salary on wages.
SECTION-II
Q. 6. Discuss the approaches and the elements in the learning process.
Ans. Learning is the never ending or continuous process. From birth to death at every step individual learn something.
The more you learn, the more is the quest for acquisition of better knowledge. There are two major approaches of learning. They are:
(a) Behaviourist Approach: According to this approach learning leads to experiences, desirable or undesirable. It can lead to two kinds of conditioning.
➤ Classical conditioning.
➤) Operant conditioning.
➤ Information Processing Approach: Another important approach of learning process is the information processing approach. Here learning refers to the information processing system.
This approach declared that a signal information is transmitted to the receivers. And it is the responsibility of the sender to encode the information and receiver has to decode it before making use of the same, as its receipt subject to communication barriers.
Thus, this approach emphasis that in learning the signal containing data or information is filtered through the senses.
Further, such information are recognised by the receiver, decoded through the interpretive process of perception and put in action by selecting required responses.
Element in the Process of Learning: After discussing about the need of learning, outcomes of learning and approaches of learning, it is necessary to discuss the significant elements of the learning process, which plays an important role in formulating, imparting or facilitating learning. These are as:
(a) Feedback: It has been seen that any high achiever has four characteristics, that is, moderate risk taking, perceived occupational level, satisfaction with accomplishment and need for immediate feedback.
A learner cannot go on the path of effective learning if he is not informed of what has been learned, what has not been acquired, what are the advantages of the learning imparted and which steps are need for better performance.
Here a learner can get internal as well as external feedback from the fellow workers, bosses, clients etc., as to whether they are performing as being told or taught or trained for.
Such feedback are taken up by the learner in the proper stride and they should not be considered the same as their criticism.
It is equally important for the boss to be positive in his approach which given feedback to the performer and not being unnecessary negative.
(b) The choice of Whole or Part of Learning: In practical field, whole knowledge were imparted in a single shot.
But actually, the learning process depend upon the circumstances, level of participants, comprehension of participant’s, maturity and art of trainers, which determine whether whole or a part of learning is accomplished.
In the cases where complexities involved, it is difficult for go whole learning, in this case part learning is taken into consideration.
(c) Role of Memory in Learning: Learning is imparted to the human being who have been bestowed by nature to think or rethink. They have also store such information which considered important in one’s memory.
Actually, memory involves three kinds of information storage. The sensory memory receives and stores the data sensed just for a couple of seconds, and if it is not transferred to the short-term memory or primary memory.
The data sensed gets lost. On the other hand the primary memory stores their information received for about thirty seconds unless require attention is paid to the formation received.
In comparison to the short-term memory, long-term memory has limited capacity.
It also hold date on information for years together. Therefore, it is essential to adopt such mechanism and strategic whereby the learners not only understand what is being told, but also are able to retain it in the long-term memory.
As human mind involved in social, economic and personal aspects of life, it is difficult for properly understanding whatever is imparted.
Further, the individual’s mind filters the concepts told and draws owns influence for elaborating further on them in his own say.
Q. 7. What is capacity building? Discuss its objectives and significance.
Ans. Employee capacity building emerges due to the development of eco-friendly technologies, information technology, etc.
Generally, capacity buildings are the development of an organisation’s core skills and capabilities. Leadership, management, finance and funds helps to build the organisation more effective.
There are two components of capacity building organisational and human. Organisational capacity building involves both technical updating of the organisation through periodic reviews and the development of human capital through education and training.
Human capacity building is the process of assisting an individual or a group to identify key areas of development.
Capacity building involves building on the available knowledge base both in technical and human relations fields.
Human Strategies for Human Rights (HSHR) provides capacity building services on development of effective, efficient and sustainable physical working conditions for the promotion of human rights.
National AHEC leadership conference was held on August 20, 2003 at Portland. In this conference especially topic discuss on “Capacity Building Needs and Strategies”, had the following agenda:
- Developing capacity building plan;
- Building effective collaborations;
- Assessing organisation capacity;
- Assessing change management strategies; and
- Developing keyboard and management capacities. The following objectives were articulated by the:
National AHEC Leadership Conference
- Developing specific outcomes to achieve along with strategies and tactics;
- Prioritizing the areas for improvement;
- Identifying resource required to achieve identified outcomes;
- Beginning again including suitable modifications;
- Implementing, and
- Evaluating, what worked, what did not and what was learnt in the process.
The UNDP Capacity 21 Trust Fund works with different countries to build national capacities for the implementation of Agenda 21.
This agenda specially includes working with governments, civil society and also the private sector.
Capacity 21 programmer support the development of intergrated participating and decentralized strategies for sustainable development.
Capacity of 21 programmes, are country-owned, country-driven processes that basically support and influence national and local level of decision-making to build long-term capacity at all levels of the society.
Capacity 21 is operational in each of UNDP’s 5 regions: Africa, the Arab States, Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States and Latin America and the Caribbean.
Since the year of 1993, capacity 21 has worked with over 75 developing countries.
The main building blocks for capacity 21 programme has been discussed in the following:
➤ Integration of economic, social and environmental priorities within national and local policies, plans and programmes.
➤ Information about sustainable development to help people make better decisions.
➤ Participation of all state holders in programme development, implementation, monitoring and learning.
Conclusion: On the whole, capacity-building is the development of an organisation’s core skills and capabilities such as leadership, management, finance and fund, which help to build the organisation more effective and sustainable.
Capacity-building involves building on the available knowledge, which is base on both technical and human relations fields. Human Strategies for Human Rights (HSHR) playing a vital role in the employee capacity-building.
It provides capacity-building services on development of effective, efficient and sustainable physical working conditions for the promotion and protection of human rights.
the aim and objectives of Human Strategies for Human Rights (HSHR) deal on human development and human protection, so, that, it provide training and guidance.
Human Strategies for Human Rights (HSHR) works closely with individual, responsible for the management, public relations, accounting and human resource or operating activities of the organisation.
Organisation is the collectivity of the individuals, effective, efficient and representative need to have constant interaction with all stake-holders for the purpose of sharing required information, issues of interest to all, especially relating to socio-economic and polity co-administrative policies.
Thus, capacity-building is related in both technical and human relations fields. The aim and objective of capacity-building is to make organisation too strong by providing training and guidance to its employee.
Q. 8. Write a note on quality circle process.
Ans. The most important activity of quality circle is to solve work related problems. The problems are solved by using powerful problem-solving techniques.
These techniques identify the problems, collect and analyse data, examine causes and finally, suggest solutions. The problem-solving process adopted by the quality circle members are discussed below
Quality Circle Process
➤ Identification of Problem
➤ Selection of Problem
➤ Analysis of Problem
➤ Solution of Problem
➤ Pilot Study of Problem
➤ Presentation to the Management
➤ Decision Implementation
➤ Selection of a New Problem
Some of the important steps taken by the Quality Circle are discuss below:
(1) Selection of a Problem: It is the first step taken by the members of the quality circle, to solve the problem. Here they first select the problem. They starts functioning after the members are trained.
At the first meeting members of the quality circle prepare a list of all work related problems. Once list of all problems are prepared, the next step is to collect means of data.
Aftercollecting data, a ‘pare to diagram’ is drawn to know the importance of the problems. After that members are analysed problem according to their priority.
This step is necessary because by using this step the circle member do not waste their time or minor problem.
It also guides the circle members not to take complex problems in the initial stages rather tackle problems of a simple
nature.
(2) Analysis of a Problem: Once the problem has been selected, the circle members can start analysing the problems with the help of two important statistical tools, brain storms and cause and effect.
In the brain storming all members of the circle are involved to study the problem and the leader asks members to list all probable causes.
With the group’s consent, i are picked up for analysis and development of a solution.
ent, important causes
(3) Development of a Solution: When the major causes are identified circle members are organised to make solutions and the agreed solutions are implemented by the members themselves.
When the solution is arrived, then goes to the next phase that is the implementation of the solution.
(4) Implementation of the Solution: Before implementation, the problem needs some investment and it referred to the competent level of management, in which it was either given effect to the recommendation or given a feedback where the recommendation is not implemented.
At that time recommendation is taken up for consideration by the steering committee, where clarifications are obtained from the circle members before the decision is taken.
(5) Management Presentation: In this step, leader and members of the circle present their management information about what project they have been working and what recommendation they wish to make.
This management information would be more effective and powerful if the presentation way is in a systematic way.
Management presentation helps to improve the communication between management and employees as well as foster a good working relationship amongst all the employees in the organisation.
The following guidelines are used by quality circle members for presentation before the management:
- Presentation should be made through problem solving tools and techniques.
- Presentation should not exceed fifteen minutes.
- All members are introduced by the leader.
- All members are encouraged to participate in the management presentation.
- The leader closes the session by answering the questions. A good presentation will also emphasis harmony, team work and cooperation.