Page 172 - DCOM102_DMGT101_PRINCIPLES_AND_PRACTICES_OF_MANAGEMENT

Principles and Practices of Management

Notes Downsizing: New Technologies have decimated many lower-end jobs with frustrating regularity.
Increased automation has reduced employee head counts everywhere. The pressure to remain
cost-effective has also compelled many a firm to go lean, cutting down extra fat at each managerial
level.
Collaborative work: Technological change has resulted in hierarchical distinctions being blurred
and more collaborative teamwork where managers, technicians and analysts work together on
projects. Team based incentive plans have also made it necessary for all classes of employees to
work in close coordination with each other.
Telecommuting: The rapid advances in technology have led to the relocation of work from the
office to the home. Telecommuting has become the order of the day-where employees work at
home, usually with computers and use phones and the Internet to transmit letters, data and
completed work to the home office.
Internet and Intranet Revolution: In HR, internets and intranets are being used to handle
training, benefits administration, performance management and out placement functions, in
recent times. The cumulative impact of new technology is so dramatic that at a broader level,
organisations are changing the way they do HRM.

Notes The primary focus of TQM is on continuous improvement or ongoing incremental
change. There is a constant search for achieving things in a better way. However, many
organisations operate in a dynamic environment characterised by rapid and constant
change. Reengineering would yield fruitful results only when the company tunes its HR
practices in line with its radically transformed business processes. HR can contribute to
reengineering processes by its effect on building commitment to reengineering, team
building, changing the nature of work, and empowering jobs. HR can play a great role
improving commitment of employees by hiring competent people, offering the right
incentives and installing effective two way communication practices. HR can hire people
who can work in process-oriented teams sharing their skills and expertise freely. It can
also offer additional training to employees so as to improve their 'team-related' skills and
make them capable of handling multiple, cross-functional, enriched tasks in a competent
way.

Caselet Nothing should be Accepted as a 'Given'

he contexts in which human resources are managed in today's organisations are
constantly, changing. No longer do firms utilise one set of manufacturing processes,
Temploy a homogeneous group of loyal employees for long periods of time or
develop one set way of structuring how work is done and supervisory responsibility is
assigned. Continuous changes in who organisations employ and what these employees
do require HR practices and systems that are well conceived and effectively implemented
to ensure high performance and continued success.
1. Automated technologies now-a-days require more technically trained employees
possessing multifarious skills to repair, adjust or improve existing processes. The
firms can't expect these employees (Gen X employees, possessing superior technical
knowledge and skills, whose attitudes and perceptions toward work are significantly

Contd...

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