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ASSIGNMENT
SEMESTER – 1
MBO027
Human Resource
Management
SUBMITTED BY:
SIDHARTH RAMTEKE
MBA
ROLL NO.-
520918813
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
The researchers began by manipulating the lighting of the test group. When
lighting for the test group was increased, their productivity increased--but the
productivity of the control group increased, as well. This result was somewhat
unexpected, since the lighting at the workstations of the control group had not
been altered.
The researchers then decreased the lighting at the test group’s workstations.
Surprisingly, both the test group and the control group continued to improve
their productivity. There were no decreases in productivity until the light was
reduced to the point where the workers could barely see. The researchers
concluded that light did not have a significant impact on the motivation of
production workers. This led General Electric, a light bulb manufacturer, to
withdraw their funding.
The next experiment utilized a mainstay of scientific management: incentive-
based, piecework system. The researchers expected, according to the
conventional wisdom of the day, that this would inspire the employees to
dramatically increase their pace. However, rather than working as fast as they
could individually, the workers calibrated themselves as a group. Employees who
worked more slowly than average were derided as “chiselers.” Employees who
attempted to work faster than the group were called “rate busters.” In other
words, any significant deviation from the collectively imposed norm was
punished.
These results were, of course, a major blow to the position of scientific
management, which held that employees were only motivated by individual
economic interest. The Hawthorne studies drew attention to the social needs as
an additional source of motivation. Taylor’s emphasis on economic incentives
was not wholly discredited, but economic incentives were now viewed as one
factor--not the sole factor--to which employees responded.
Q.2 Trace the growth of Trade Union Movement from Factories Act 1881
to Factories Act 1948.
The growth of trade unions in India started way back in 1850 when the economic
conditions of labor was poor, The industry was dominated by the Capitalism, and
the industrialists were more concerned about the productivity. Long working
hours, Low wedges, poor living conditions and exploitation by the management
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
was common in the industry. Slowly in many parts of the country the workforces
united and Factories Act 1881 was incorporated with a ban on Child labor, and
conditions in working hours and improved working conditions.
In next phase many trade unions were incorporated in the country under the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in other parts of the country like West Bangal,
Ahamdabad, Punjab and others. All India trade union federation was formed.
After independence this took the shape of Indian Factory Act 1948 with
regulation on working conditions, working hours, and other facilities at
workplace.
Ranking method
The ‘whole man’ is compared with another ‘whole man’ in this method. In
practice, it is very difficult to compare individuals possessing varied
behavioral traits.
This method speaks only of the position where an employee stands in his
group. It does not tell anything about how much better or how much worse
an employee is when compared to another employee.
When a large number of employees are working
Ranking becomes more reliable and easier under the paired comparison method.
Each worker is compared with all other employees in the group; for every trait
the worker is compared with all other employees. For instance, when there are
five employees to be compared, then A’s performance is compared with that of
B’s and decision is arrived at as to whose is the better or worse. Next, B is also
compared with all others. Since A is already compared with B, this time B is to be
compared with only C, D and E. By this method when there are five employees,
fifteen decisions are made (comparisons). The number of decisions to be made
can be determined with the help of the formulae n (n-2). Ranking the employees
by the paired comparison method may be illustrated as shown in the Table 10.7.
For several individual traits, paired comparisons are made, tabulated and then
rank is assigned to each worker. Though this method seems to be logical, it is
not applicable when a group is large. When the group becomes too large, the
number of comparisons to be made may become frighteningly excessive. For
instance, when n=100, comparisons to be made are 100 (100-2) = 100 (98) =
9800.
As compared to A B C D E
A + – + –
B – + – +
C + – + –
D – + – –
E + – + +
Under this system, the rater is asked to appraise the employee according to a
predetermined distribution scale. The rater’s bias is sought to be eliminated here
because workers are not placed at a higher or lower end of the scale. Normally,
the two criteria used here for rating are the job performance and promotability.
Further, a five point performance scale is used without any mention of
descriptive statements. Workers are placed between the two extremes of ‘good’
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
and ‘bad’ performances. For instance, the workers of outstanding merit may be
placed at the top 10% of the scale. The rest may be placed as – 20% —good,
40% —outstanding, 20% —fair and 10% —fair. To be specific, the forced
distribution method assumes that all top grade workers should go to the highest
10% grade; 20% employees should go to the next highest grade and so on.
Job performance as the criterion apart, another equally important factor in this
method is promotability. Employees may be classified according to their
promotional merits. The scale for this purpose may consist of three points –
namely, quite likely promotional material, may/may not be promotional material
and quite unlikely promotional material.
One strong positive point in favor of the forced distribution method is that by
forcing the distribution according to predetermined percentages, the problem of
making use of different raters with different scales is avoided. Further, this
method is appreciated on the ground that it tends to eliminate rater bias. The
limitation of using this method in salary administration however, is that it may
result in low morale, low productivity and high absenteeism. Employees who feel
that they are productive, but find themselves placed in a lower grade (than
expected) feel frustrated and exhibit, over a period of time, reluctance to work.
Group appraisal
how the value of these people changes over time. The acquisition cost of
employees is compared to the replacement cost from time to time. The value of
employees is increased by investments made by the company to improve the
quality of its human resources such as training, development skills acquired by
employees over a period of time through experience, etc. When qualified,
competent people leave an organization; the value of human assets goes down.
In this method, employee performance is evaluated in terms of costs and
contributions of employees. Human resource costs include expenditure incurred
by the company in hiring, training, compensating and developing people. The
contributions of human resources is the money value of labour productivity. The
cost of human resources may be taken as the standard. Employee performance
can be measured in terms of employee contribution to the organization.
Employee performance can be taken as positive when contribution is more than
the cost and performance can be viewed as negative if cost is more than
contribution. Positive performance can be measured in terms of percentage of
excess of employee contribution over the cost of employee. Similarly negative
performance can be calculated in terms of percentage of deficit in employee
contribution compared to the cost of employee. These percentages can be
ranked to ‘Zero Level’ as shown in the Table below.
This technique has not developed fully and is still in the transitionary stage.
Assessment centre
This method of appraising was first applied in German Army in 1930. Later
business and industrial houses started using this method. This is not a technique
of performance appraisal by itself. In fact it is a system or organization, where
assessment of several individuals is done by various experts using various
techniques. These techniques include the methods discussed before in addition
to in-basket, role playing, case studies, simulation exercises, structured in sight,
transactional analysis, etc.
Where subjective performance measures are used, there is scope for rater’s
biases influencing the evaluation process. To avoid this, some employees use the
field review method. In this method a trained, skilled representative of the HR
department goes into the ‘field’ and assists line supervisors with their ratings of
their respective subordinates. The HR specialist requests from the immediate
supervisor specific information about the employees performance. Based on this
information, the expert prepares a report which is sent to the supervisor for
review, changes, approval and discussion with the employee who is being rated.
The ratings are done on standardized forms.
The variation in payment of salaries depends on the variation of the nature of the job
performed by the employees. The ranking method is simple to understand and practice
and it is best suited for a small organization. Its simplicity, however, works to its
disadvantage in big organizations because rankings are difficult to develop in a large,
complex organization. Moreover, this kind of ranking is highly subjective in nature and
may offend many employees. Therefore, a more scientific and fruitful way of job
evaluation is called for.
Classification Method
According to this method, a predetermined number of job groups or job classes are
established and jobs are assigned to these classifications. This method places groups of
jobs into job classes or job grades. Separate classes may include office, clerical,
managerial, personnel, etc. Following is a brief description of such a classification in an
office.
(a) Class I - Executives: Further classification under this category may be Office manager,
Deputy office manager, Office superintendent, Departmental supervisor, etc.
(b) Class II - Skilled workers: Under this category may come the Purchasing assistant,
Cashier, Receipts clerk, etc.
(c) Class III - Semiskilled workers: Under this category may come Stenotypists, Machine-
operators, Switchboard operators, etc.
(d) Class IV - Semiskilled workers: This category comprises Daftaris, File clerks, Office
boys, etc.
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
The job classification method is less subjective when compared to the earlier ranking
method. The system is very easy to understand and acceptable to almost all employees
without hesitation. One strong point in favor of the method is that it takes into account
all the factors that a job comprises. This system can be effectively used for a variety of
jobs.
The weaknesses of the job classification method are:
* Even when the requirements of different jobs differ, they may be combined into a
single category, depending on the status a job carries.
* It is difficult to write all-inclusive descriptions of a grade.
* The method oversimplifies sharp differences between different jobs and different
grades.
* When individual job descriptions and grade descriptions do not match well, the
evaluators have the tendency to classify the job using their subjective judgments.
Factor Comparison Method
A more systematic and scientific method of job evaluation is the factor comparison
method. Though it is the most complex method of all, it is consistent and appreciable.
Under this method, instead of ranking complete jobs, each job is ranked according to a
series of factors. These factors include mental effort, physical effort, skill needed,
supervisory responsibility, working conditions and other relevant factors (for instance,
know-how, problem solving abilities, accountability, etc.). Pay will be assigned in this
method by comparing the weights of the factors required for each job, i.e., the present
wages paid for key jobs may be divided among the factors weighed by importance (the
most important factor, for instance, mental effort, receives the highest weight). In other
words, wages are assigned to the job in comparison to its ranking on each job factor.
The steps involved in factor comparison method may be briefly stated thus:
* Select key jobs (say 15 to 20), representing wage/salary levels across the organization.
The selected jobs must represent as many departments as possible.
* Find the factors in terms of which the jobs are evaluated (such as skill, mental effort,
responsibility, physical effort, working conditions, etc.).
* Rank the selected jobs under each factor (by each and every member of the job
evaluation committee) independently.
* Assign money value to each factor and determine the wage rates for each key job.
* The wage rate for a job is apportioned along the identified factors.
* All other jobs are compared with the list of key jobs and wage rates are determined.
An example of how the factor comparison method works is given below:
Table: Merits and Demerits of Factor Comparison Method
Merits
Demerits
* Analytical and objective.
* Reliable and valid as each job is compared with all other jobs in terms of key factors.
* Money values are assigned in a fair way based on an agreed rank order fixed by the job
evaluation committee.
* Flexible as there is no upper limitation on the rating of a factor.
* Difficult to understand, explain and operate.
* Its use of the same criteria to assess all jobs is questionable as jobs differ across and
within organizations.
* Time consuming and costly.
Point method
This method is widely used currently. Here, jobs are expressed in terms of key factors.
Points are assigned to each factor after prioritizing each factor in the order of
importance. The points are summed up to determine the wage rate for the job. Jobs with
similar point totals are placed in similar pay grades. The procedure involved may be
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
explained thus:
(a) Select key jobs. Identify the factors common to all the identified jobs such as skill,
effort, responsibility, etc.
(b) Divide each major factor into a number of sub factors. Each sub factor is defined and
expressed clearly in the order of importance, preferably along a scale.
The educational requirements (sub factor) under the skill (key factor) may be expressed
thus in the order of importance.
Degree Define
1. Able to carry out simple calculations; High School educated
2. Does all the clerical operations; computer literate; graduate
3 Handles mail, develops contacts, takes initiative and does work independently; post
graduate
Assign point values to degrees after fixing a relative value for each key factor.
Table: Point Values to Factors along a Scale
(Bank Officer)
4 Find the maximum number of points assigned to each job (after adding up the point
values of all sub-factors of such a job). This would help in finding the relative worth of a
job. For instance, the maximum points assigned to an officer's job in a bank come to 540.
The manager's job, after adding up key factors + sub factors' points, may be getting a
point value of, say 650 from the job evaluation committee. This job is now priced at a
higher level.
5 Once the worth of a job in terms of total points is expressed, the points are converted
into money values keeping in view the hourly/daily wage rates. A wage survey, usually, is
undertaken to collect wage rates of certain key jobs in the organization. Let's explain
this:
Table: Conversion of Job Grade Points into Money Value
Point range Daily wage rate (Rs) Job grades of key bank officials
1. TRANSFERS
The employees are transferred from one department to another according to
their efficiency and experience.
2. PROMOTIONS
The employees are promoted from one department to another with more
benefits and greater responsibility based on efficiency and experience.
4. Retired and Retrenched employees may also be recruited once again in case
of shortage of qualified personnel or increase in load of work. recruitment such
people
save time and costs of the organisations as the people are already aware of the
organisational culture and the policies and procedures.
5. The dependents and relatives of Deceased employees and Disabled
employees are also done by many companies so that the members of the family
do not become dependent on the mercy of others.
Some external sources of recruitment are:
1. PRESS ADVERTISEMENTS
Advertisements of the vacancy in newspapers and journals are a widely
used source of recruitment. The main advantage of this method is that it
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
3. EMPLOYMENT EXCHANGES
Government establishes public employment exchanges throughout the
country. These exchanges provide job information to job seekers and help
employers in identifying suitable candidates.
4. LABOUR CONTRACTORS
Manual workers can be recruited through contractors who maintain close
contacts with the sources of such workers. This source is used to recruit labour
for construction jobs.
5. UNSOLICITED APPLICANTS
Many job seekers visit the office of well-known companies on their own. Such
callers are considered nuisance to the daily work routine of the enterprise. But
can help in creating the talent pool or the database of the probable candidates
for the organisation.
Guided Interview
qualitative data, which is why the number of interviews usually is limited, and
quantitative conclusions cannot be drawn.
2. Training. Is training ever finished? Can you possibly overtrain? NO and NO.
For whatever reasons, too many people feel "My people have already been
trained" or "I've got good people...they only need a little training." But training
never ends. Schedule "tune- up" training sessions. These should be led by you or
by a supervisor with help from specific employees who show a particular
strength in the skills taught. I know this takes time, but these types of training
sessions will continually enhance the performance of your people and the
productivity of your business.
Employers felt "working conditions" was a nine (or next to last) in terms of
importance. What did the employees say? Number two! Working conditions are
very important to the way employees feel about where they work.
Cosmetically, does your office look nice? Are there pictures on the walls, plants
and fresh paint among other features that generally make people feel good
about their environment? Does their work space have enough room or are they
cramped in a "sardine can?" What about furniture? Is the desk the right size,
chair comfortable? Is there file space and do they have the miscellaneous office
supplies needed for maximum performance? Is the temperature regulated
properly so they don't feel they're in the Amazon jungle one minute and the
North Pole the next?
A great place to hand out leadership roles is to allow your people to lead brief
meetings. Utilize your employees' strengths and skills by setting up "tune up"
training sessions and let one of your employees lead the training. The best time
to do this is when new people start.
Or, assign a meeting leader after someone has attended an outside seminar or
workshop. Have them lead a post show, briefing the other employees regarding
seminar content and highlights.
Have your employees help you lead a project team to improve internal
processes.
5. Team Spirit. Have a picture taken on your entire staff (including you!), have
it enlarged and hang it in a visible spot. Most people like to physically see
themselves as part of a group or team.
When running contests in your area, try to create contests and affiliated activity
that are team driven. People driving to reach goals together definitely enhance
team spirit solely because they must lean upon others and be prepared to be
leaned on.
One very effective idea for me has been building a collage of creative ideas with
the "Team" theme. All employees are responsible for submitting a phrase
referring to TEAM on a weekly rotation. Each of these ideas (such as TEAM: Total
Enthusiasm of All Members or There is no I in Team) is placed on a wall, creating
a collage of Team-oriented phrases. Don't have one person responsible for
this...do it as a team.
6.Social Gatherings. Scheduled offsite events enhance bonding which in turn
helps team spirit, which ultimately impacts your positive work environment.
Halloween costume parties, picnics on July 4th, Memorial Day or Labor Day, and
Christmas parties are only some of the ideas that successfully bring people
together for an enjoyable time. Some others that I've used with equal success
are softball games (against other companies or among employees, depending on
staff size), groups going putt-putt golfing or movie madness.
7. Stress Management. There are many articles and books available on the
subject. Make this reference material available to your people. Make sure they
know it is available and encourage them to use it.
Be as flexible as you can with breaks during the course of the day.
Maintaining quality of work life for its employees is an important concern for the
any organisation. The grievance handling procedure of the organisation can
affect the harmonious environment of the organisation. The grievances of the
employees are related to the contract, work rule or regulation, policy or
procedure, health and safety regulation, past practice, changing the cultural
norms unilaterally, individual victimization, wage, bonus, etc. Here, the attitude
on the part of management in their effort to understand the problems of
employees and resolve the issues amicably have better probability to maintain a
culture of high performance. Managers must be educated about the importance
of the grievance process and their role in maintaining favorable relations with
the union. Effective grievance handling is an essential part of cultivating good
employee relations and running a fair, successful, and productive workplace.
Positive labor relations are two-way street both sides must give a little and try to
work together. Relationship building is key to successful labor relations.
3. Explain manager's role, the policy and the procedures clearly in the grievance
handling procedure.
6. Do use a positive, friendly ways to resolve the crisis than punitive steps, which
disturb the system.
13. Do listen for the main point of arguments and any possible avenue to resolve
the grievance.
14. Listen and respond sensitively to any distress exhibited by the employees.
15. Eliminating the source of the irritation or discomfort being complained of.
16. Reassure them that the managers will be acting impartially and that your
hope is to resolve the matter if possible.
17. Don't "horse trade" or swap one grievance for another (where the union wins
one, management wins one). Each case should be decided on its merits.
18. Avoid usage of verbosisms like "it will be taken care of."
20. Take all possible steps to ensure that no victimization occurs as a result of
the grievance being raised.
21. The investigator or decision maker acts impartially, which means they must
exclude themselves if there is any bias or conflict of interest.
22. All parties are heard and those who have had complaints made against
others are given an opportunity to respond.
23. Try to look upon the problem on different angles for appropriate
understanding.
24. Ensuring that there is proper investigation of the facts and figures related the
problem under concern.
26. Ask the staff member their preferred resolution option, although it is
important to make it clear that this may not be a possible outcome.
27. Be aware of the limits of authority of the person who involved in the
grievance handling procedures.
28. If the manager feels that he/she is not the appropriate person (senior
manager) to deal with the issue refer the complainant to the appropriate person
as soon as possible.
29. Try to get a better idea of whether the alleged discrimination or harassment
happened or didn't happen.
30. Tell them exactly what they are supposed to have done, to whom and
explain, why this may be seen as discrimination/harassment or as inappropriate.
32. Try the level best to involve team members to resolve the crisis at unit level
itself.
33. Avoid as far as possible the union involvement in conflict resolution situation
process.
34. Follow documentation the procedures, of all necessary steps taken to resolve
the problem/complaint.
Conclusion
Robert Blake, an eminent behavioral scientist deferential the leaders on the basic
of their concern to people and concern to task. He along with Jane mouton
conducted study on 5000 managers. He puts it on a grid called managerial grid as
follows.
High
Concern for
9 1,
8 9 9, 9
7
6
5 5, 5
4
3
People
2
1 1, 1 9, 1
Low 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 High
Concern for Results
As shown in the figure, the model is represented as a grid with concern for
production as the A- axis and concern for people as the Y – axis, each axis ranges
ASSIGNMENTS- MBA Sem-I
MB0027 – Human Resource Management
from 1 (low) to 9(High). The five resulting leadership styles are as follows:
The impoverished style (1, 1) the different leader ( evade and elude):- .
In this style, managers have low concern for both people and production.
Managers use this style to avoid getting into trouble. The main concern for the
manager is not to be held responsible for any mistakes, which results in less
innovative decisions.
Features:-
Does only enough to preserve job and job seniority
Gives little and enjoys little.
Protects himself by not being noticed by others
Examples:-
“I distance myself from taking active responsibility for results to avoid getting
entangled in problems”.
The county club Style (1, 9) the accommodating leader (yield and
Comply):-
This style has a high concern for people and a low concern for production.
Managers using this style pay much attention to the security and comport of the
employees, in hopes that this would increase performance. The resulting
atmosphere is usually friendly, but not necessarily that productive.
Examples:-
“I support results that establish and reinforce harmony”,
“I generate enthusiasm by focusing on pleasing aspects of work”.
The produce or perish style (9,1) the controlling leader (direct and
Dominate):-
People who get this rating are very much task – oriented and are hard on their
workers (autocratic) there is little or no allowance for co –operation or
collaboration. Heavily task - oriented people display these characteristics.
Examples:-
“I expect results and take control by clearly stating a course of action”
“I enforce rules that sustain high results and do not permit deviation”,
The middle of the road style(5,5) the status – Quo leader ( Balance and
compromise ):-
Managers using this style try to balance between companies
Goals and workers needs. By giving some concern to both acceptable
performances
Examples:-
“I endorse results that are popular but caution against taking unnecessary risk”,
The term style(9,9) the sound / team leader (contribute and commit):-
Examples:-
“I Initiate team action in a way that invites involvement and commitment”,
“I explore all facts and alternative views to reach a shared understanding of the
best solution”.