Critique and debate key and contemporary arguments about the theory andpractice of HRM and how ethical expectations are met in practice whilstassessing its contribution to the organisation.
2.Evaluate and analyze workplace scenarios relating to relevant businessstrategies for professional, ethical, effective, and efficient HRM withincurrent organizational contexts.
Read the Case Study
Answer the Questions that follow
1.Prepare carefully and in a timely way: the assignment requires careful reflection and wide reading..
2.Ensure you have fully understood the assignment requirements and ask relevant questions of your tutor ingood time before the submission date.
3.The text of your answer needs to link theory and practice at all times.
4.Use tables / charts / diagrams to help the depth of your analysis within the word limit that are tailored to thecircumstances of the case Study (below).
5.All citation and referencing should be in a consistent Harvard format. Please use the Harvard Referencingguidelines available via the UoB Library portal.
Electrical Network Holdings [ENH] is a FTSE100 company responsible for the commercial and domestic electricity distribution system and infrastructure across the UK. It employs around 50,000 people (principally in the high skilled sectors of construction; engineering; research and development) and is headquartered in the newly designated City of Wrexham a former mining / urban area of high deprivation (economic and social) with poor aspirations and health (life expectancy for men and women is 15% below the national average). ENH’s CEO (shortly to retire) is a ‘go getter’ who is sharply focused on ‘shareholder value’ and has been instrumental in double digit profit returns for the last 5 years, largely due to the monopoly position ENH enjoys in relation to energy companies selling electricity to customers and also his ‘lean’ operations strategies. He is highly regarded by private equity investors on whom the company depends to fund replacement of the physical network much of which is over 50 years old. Government is determined to break up this ‘monopoly’ by introducing new ‘challenger’ network companies before the next General Election (due in 2024). You are also aware that the public perception of the company is very mixed due to:
very high CEO pay awards (based on an algorithm involving share price, profit and turnover);
the lack of ‘green credentials’ (much of the electricity produced is derived from liquid petroleum gas imported by sea) and reliance on an old distribution network based on unsightly overground ‘pylons’ (cable towers);
there has been a recent ‘activist’ demonstration near a power station on the outskirts of the city berating ENH’s adherence to fossil fuel-based power generation;
a new City Council determined to produce an aspirational community of high employment, based on sustainability and a circular economy and is ambivalent about ENH because it does not employ significant numbers of workers who live in the immediate area of Wrexham. It has invested heavily in reviving a local FE College.
The newly appointed Chairman of ENH has undertaken a ‘whirlwind tour’ of operations at ENH and he has discovered:
that the HR function appears based on the ‘Ulrich’ model and the CEO intends to ‘outsource’ the whole of HR to make (further) substantial operational savings;
the workforce have negative views of HR (referring to it as “(H)uman (R)emains” and are relieved that savings here will protect ‘real jobs’ at ENH.
You as Director of HR, are two years into post and a well-educated FCIPD but are not currently on the Board of ENH because the CEO does not accept that HR deals with anything other than basic operational employee matters and the pay of employees. You are understandably concerned about the overall ‘direction of travel’ of the company. You have met with the new Chairman (at your request) who was impressed with your outline views. He has asked you to produce a report to support his Vision for ENH at the next Management Board.
This Report [no more than 2,500 words =/ – 10%] needs to use evidence-based logic to be persuasive to Board members. The Board does not have one view but a range of opinions ranging from “ENH is just a business like any other ~ profit is everything” to “ENH needs to embrace 21st century CSR… and still make a profit”… so, the Report needs to demonstrate a sense of ‘audience’ that is convincing to the Board membership overall.
Questions:
Your Report should address the following Questions:
Q1. Compare the Ulrich HR Model of HRM with the ‘McKinsey’ HR Model. Which do you believe to be the ‘best fit’ with the workplace of today and why?
Q2. How should ENH demonstrate becoming more ‘ethical’ as a company?
Q3. How would you propose to improve employee engagement in the poor relationship that appears to exist between parts of the workforce and HR?
Investigate a limited range of relevant literature around the HR issue.
Evaluate literature to a basic level around current theories and practice of effective HRM and the basic strategies used to promote greater employee performance in organisations.
Present a business report to a basic professional level.
