NATURE OF FUNTIONAL PLAN AND POLICIES

[ HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN

AND POLICIES ]
To achieve effectiveness, it is very important for the management to
choose the right

way in which the strategies are implemented. As functional strategies are a

part of corporate

and business strategies, thus it is very critical for the company to design
these strategies in a

proper manner and within the framework of the strategies and plans set at
the higher level.

Functional strategies constitute various sub-functional plans and policies

which are equally

important namely

a) Marketing plan and policies

b) Financial plan and policies

c) Operations plan and policies

d) Human resource management plan and policies

e) Information Technology plan and policies

HUMAN RESOURCE MANGEMENT PLAN AND

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POLICIES :
Human resource management plans and policies deal with the personnel
system,

organizational and employee characteristics and industrial relations.

Management of Human

Resource has undergone major and drastic changes in post-liberlisation

environment in India.

An example of how changing have affected the HRM within the organisation
can be seen in

case of AV Birla group. The company went for massive shift in its HRM policy
with business

strategy of takeover, expansion of capacity, value addition etc. in the year

2000. Along with

this, the company also underwent for restructuring a system for the close
coordination

between various departments.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PLAN AND POLICIES

i. Personnel system: implementing strategies like in casPlans and policies

related to personnel system deals with

manpower planning, selection, development, compensation,

communication

and appraisal. Mostly companies depend upon the personnel system for

e of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

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(HPCL). When oil sector deregulation came, it found itself to be not fit for
the

competitive market. So, the company reformulated its HR system and came
up with a transparent appraisal system.

ii. Organizational and employee characteristics: This includes factors such

as

corporate image, quality of management, staff and workers, working

conditions etc. The true value of the organisation’s strategy implementation

lies in the creation of an appropriate and right environment.

iii. Industrial relations: The plans and policies under this deals with the
issues

related to union-management relationship, collective bargaining, safety and

welfare of employees, employee satisfaction, morale, etc. Industrial

relations

holds immense importance as it deals with the rules and regulations set by

government.

INTEGRATION OF FUNCTIONAL PLANS & POLICIES

In order to implement strategies more efficiently and effectively, the

organisations have to integrate its

functional plans and policies. It is very significant for the companies to

integrate the functional plans

and policies for better internal consistency and to develop organizational

capabilities.

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There are several ways to integrate these plans and policies. Some of the
mechanisms are given below:

1) Information system: In large organisations, the departments are linked

together to work

effectively as one department depends upon the information of other

departments to work

smoothly. Thus it is important that the various departments are linked both
horizontally and

cross-functionally which can be achieved through different information

systems. For instance,

Max Healthcare uses a hospital information system to connect all

geographically dispersed

locations.

2) Direct contact: One to one interactions between employees of various

departments working

on a project can help the organisation to achieve coordination within the

various departments.

During the development of the Spectra two-wheeler at TVS Suzuki, direct

contract was

established between employees from marketing. R&D, manufacturing,

engineering, sourcing

and finance.

3) Task forces: Task force is an organizational unit that is created to

accomplish a particular

function or to resolve a special problem. A task force consists of members

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from various

departments that work for a particular project or task.

4) Full-time integrator: Some time in a matrix type structure a department

or a position solely

responsible for inter-department coordination is formed which is known as

Full-time

integrator. A full time integrator does not report to any functional

departments but works to

integrate the departments.

5) Teams: A team is the strongest horizontal linkage mechanism that is a

permanent task force.

Teams help organisations to build high degree coordination over a long

period of time between

the departments.