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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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