CULTURE AND HRM

Usefulness of Culture in Analyzing Management of HR

Usefulness of Culture in Analyzing Management of HR

Introduction

Organizational culture and Human Resource Management (HRM) are two concepts very closely interlinked. The concept of HRM (or in simple terms the way workforce is managed) emerged more than twenty years ago. Human resource provides a crucial competitive advantage as this is something distinct which cannot be identically acquired by the competitor(s). This philosophy reinforces, that an organizational culture may at times influence the management of quality human resource. In lay man language culture is defined as “the way we do things around here” and is often inspired from top (i.e. the senior/strategic management). It pretty much clears the argument that to a great extent it depends on the type of culture present in an organization that defines the management of human resource.

Increasing globalization and companies having global presence, has exposed the organizations to different cultures (Cpim.org, 1990). This has made personnel management more and more difficult. Business organizations today are extremely conscious as to how people perceive the culture of their organization. It is this perception of culture that influences the mindset and preference of future potential employees. This concept will be illustrated by examples we see as a part of our daily business lives. There are several types of organizational cultures which prevail in modern day organizations and each type has a different perspective in analyzing the impact it has on the management of human resource. The question, in essence, is not how useful the culture is in analyzing the culture of an organization, but whether it is or is not useful in analyzing the way human resource is managed in modern day businesses.

Discussion

To be able to analyze the impact the concept of culture has on the way human resource is managed, it is necessary to understand the possible type(s) of cultures that prevail in an organization. Following are the various types of organizational cultures that prevail in an organization and the impact they have on the management of human resource (Managementstudyguide.com, 2008).

Normative culture

The norms and standard operating procedures of an organization are predefined as per existing guidelines. Employees have to strictly hold on to the organizational policies. Employees do not dare to cross their jurisdiction and challenge the policies under laid by the management. This type of culture follows the Human Resource theory by Douglas McGregor who states that a theory X manager sees his workforce as someone, who dislikes work, are not creative, have to controlled and directed and need to be supervised at every step. If such a culture is adopted in an organization it is self evident that the human resource would be managed in an autocratic way. In business organizations today we do see such culture where workers are seen by mangers in a Theory X way. The culture or “the way we do things around here” revolves around strict and close supervision where each and every employee is suffocated by strict rules and procedures with little ...