The Strategic Role of Human Resources Management in Promoting Corporate Social Responsibility in Business Organisations in Zimbabwe

In order to compete effectively in the current global economy, modern companies need to successfully address three competitive challenges: technological, global and sustainability. Human resource management practices play an important role in supporting companies to address these competitive challenges. The focus of this paper is to analyze the current sustainability of Pratt & Whitney Canada, and to determine which human resource management practices enhance their competitive advantage both presently and in the future.

Business environment is facing a rapid change that reminds the business management to focus on its core competencies to survive and sustain in the competitive environment. The core competencies can be developed by strategic human resource management. According to Armstrong (2006) employees are the valued assets for a company. The strategic human resource management is mainly developed in accordance to the fact that human resources need to be managed strategically for the company to enjoy sustainable competitive advantage.

More recent papers like “Strategic corporate social responsibility management for competitive advantage” by Milton de Sousa Filho, et al. suggest also attraction of valuable employees as a source of competitive advantage apart from enhancement of company’s image and reputation.

This artifact was a seminar paper written as a literature review to address topics, theories, issues, and trends in HRD in the course Seminar in Human Resource Development. This artifact considers strategic human resource management (SHRM) practices in terms of what human resource (HR) practitioners are doing and how it affects the organizations they are doing it in and the field of human resource development (HRD). Definitions of SHRM are represented as; a human resource system designed for the mandates of business strategy and a planned model of human resources activities to allow the organization to achieve its goals. It reports SHRM information found in literature and relates it to the study of HRD. I selected this artifact because it compares and contrasts SHRM approaches of HRD and analyzes each of their strengths and weaknesses. Additionally, the artifact evaluates and clarifies the importance of SHRM to HRD and its purpose and goal within an organization.

One of the current trends in strategic human resources management (strategic HRM), is research regarding whether a company’s human resources department should put more effort in the strategic or organizational aspect of the company. Should a company focus more towards one aspect than on the other? In order to find answers to this question, researchers are using different theories, methodologies, evidences, gabs in research, and conclusions. The purpose of this literature review is to collect knowledge about the current thinking and research of the function of strategic HRM to improve the overall performance of a company.

The practise of Human Resources is moving from the traditional forms of managing people to a more strategic form whereby the Human Resources function is closely linked with organisational performance and success. This strategic form of human resources has increased the need for the Human Resource professional to understand the linkages between Corporate Strategy, Human Resource Strategy and Employee Integration.

Schuler (1997) summarises Strategic Human Resource Management as expressing how people are to be treated and valued in the workforce as well human resource management's responsibility for articulating the processes which encourage behaviour which is consistent with the organisation's business. In this context strategic human resource management also includes the development of guidelines for the implementation of people-related programs and, the more complex area of co-ordinating and facilitating change.

Current approaches to CSR are fragmented and/or disconnected from business goals. Many firms still consider CSR as another generic public relations problem in which media campaigns and CSR reports are used to paint the company as a positive ethical, social and or environmental advocator and supporter. For example, the annual reports discuss a firm’s sensitivities to CSR issues, but completely lack the entire story and offer no further forward commitments from the firm. Further, the ratings and rankings measurements are self-appointed by the firm, not always accurate to validate the work and direct impact to what they are measuring, and the criteria base varies widely and weighed differently in the final scoring. Worst of all the data lacks impartial auditors for validating the data to ensure the ratings have been accurately met, and data is statistically significant and a good proxy for what it is supposed to reflect. This has resulted in reactive initiatives designed to appease vocal

I have selected to compare the laws in South Africa and Kenya. My analysis includes an explanation of the laws in each country highlighting differences and similarities. I have then explored how these laws relate to the functions of Strategic Human Resource management. I have noted throughout how the laws in these countries have an impact on all areas of Strategic Human resource functions of recruiting and interviewing, performance appraisal and job enrichment, compensation and benefits, employee development, health and safety and strategic management.

The term Human Resource Strategy is well defined as - “Human Resource management (HRM) is a strategic approach to managing employment relations which emphasises that leverage people 's capabilities is critical to achieving sustainable competitive advantage, this being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and practices.” [ Bratton and Gold,4e,p3]

How has strategic human resource management as a field evolved over the years? What are the practices that are likely to bring forth better performance with regards to strategic human resource management? Strategic human resource management deals with strategies used by business enterprises and companies as means of the improving and measuring performance. It is important to understand these strategies as it helps determine what would be required for employers to get good results from their enterprises and employees to feel comfortable and also feel motivated to work efficiently. Strategic human resource management (SHRM) emphasizes the need

This paper reviews and explains why organisations are increasingly taking a more strategic approach to managing their human resources function and integrating this function with the corporate strategy development of the organisation. The paper is divided into three key parts:

Aim: This research will help us understand the role played by Strategic Human Resources Management in Organizational success, what role a HR manager plays in improving organizational efficiency and how it differs from traditional Human Resources Management.

Through Strategic Management Process we could find the inter-relations between HR functions and rest of the Organisation function . There are mainly three kinds of company exist in today’s economy , viz. Public , Private and Non Government Organisation . While the significant amount of public’s need is being catered by the Public Organisation , but the Private Organisation aims to maintain the substantial amount of Profit which usually takes the Government contracts to execute the project, so that they could later incorporate the revenue generated in the later stage of their respective business expansion through various means , for eg. hiring skilled labour force, joint ventures . On the other hand , NGOs mainly focuses on fulfilling the public needs by keeping an eye on the Government/Public companies whether the required amount of Corporate Social Responsibilities are being adhered upto the desired level of commitment.

Within this essay an in depth analysis will be conducted on the difference between Human Resource Management and Strategic Human Resource Management using contemporary perspectives. Human Resource Management (HRM) is the process of managing human resources in a systematic way. It is a practice devised to maximise the performance of employees and is concerned with the application of management principles to manage organisational personnel while paying attention to the policies and systems of the entity (Delaney & Huselid, 1996). Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) is a function of management which entails development of policies, programmes and practices related to human resources, which are aligned with business strategy so as to achieve the strategic objectives of the organisation (Patrick M. Wright, 1992). Its primary purpose is to improve the performance of the business and maintain a culture that encourages innovation and works continuously to gain competitive advantage. In this essay the Resource-Based View, High Performance Management and High Commitment Management perspectives of Strategic Human Resource Management and Traditional and Collaborative