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Unit 2: Human Resource Planning

its impact on people? Here the impacts are quite dramatic, especially ever since computers have Notes
started invading factory space. Some experts predict that in the future technology has the lethal
power to displace employees in all industries, especially those in the low-skilled category. For
example voice recognition is helping to replace telephone operators; the demand for postal
workers has been reduced severely by address-reading devices, and cash-dispensing machines
can do 10 times more transactions in a day than bank tellers, so tellers can be reduced in number
or even eliminated entirely in the future. For example, American Express has an expert system
that performs the credit analysis formerly done by college graduate financial analysts. In the
medical field, expert systems can diagnose some illnesses as well as doctors can, and robots
capable of performing certain operations are starting to be used

TQM

Quality has become the most important word in the corporate sectors. Companies have realized
the importance of investing in processes that contribute to better quality and customer
relationships. The term 'quality' refers to a sense of appreciation that something is better than
something else. It means doing things right the first time, rather than making and correcting
mistakes. According to Edward Deming, TQM is a way of creating an organisational culture
committed to the continuous improvement of skills, teamwork, processes, product and service
quality and customer satisfaction. TQM is anchored to organisational culture because successful
TQM is deeply embedded in virtually every aspect of organisational life.
TQM is built around four main ideas: Do it right the first time, be customer centred, make
continuous improvement a way of life and build teamwork and empowerment.

Benchmarking

Benchmarking is the first requirement to effective TQM. It is comparatively new to Indian
companies. The essence of benchmarking is the striving to be the best of the best in one's area of
operations. It is a continuous process of measuring products, services and practices against the
toughest competitors or industry leaders with the aim of mutual improvement:
1. Benchmarking is a continuous process. It is not a one-shot deal because industry practices
change constantly. Complacency may be suicidal.
2. Benchmarking implies measurement of the gap between the practices of two companies
so as to uncover significant differences.

3. Benchmarking can be applied to products, services, practices, processes and methods.
Thus, benchmarking is a systematic investigation, a fruitful learning experience which ensures
that the best of industry practices are uncovered, analyzed, adopted and implemented.

Reengineering

The term reengineering (referring to radical, quantum change in an organization) comes from
the historical process of taking apart an electronics product and designing a better version.
Michael Hammer coined the term for organizations. When he found companies using computers
simply to automate outdated processes, rather than finding fundamentally better ways of doing
things, he realized the same principles could be used in business as well. Actually, reengineering
takes place when more than 70 per cent of the work processes in an organization are evaluated
and altered. It demands organizational members to rethink what work should be done, how it
is to be done and how best to implement these decisions. The focus is on simplifying the
operations and making them more efficient and more customer-focused.

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