One-way linkage often leads to strategic plans that the company cannot successfully
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Indian Journal of Industrial Relations Vol. 35, No. 1 (Jul., 1999) , pp. 1-26 (26 pages) Published By: Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources https://www.jstor.org/stable/27767631 Abstract This paper outlines the issues in relation to the strategic human resource management (HRM) process in organisations from three industries that have experienced a high degree of change during the last decade. In this study, strategic HRM is defined as the process in which organisations achieve the linkage between HRM function and the strategic management process. A brief overview of the debate concerning strategic HRM is outlined, followed by a discussion on the research methodology and design. A qualitative research methodology is adopted as it provides an in-depth understanding of the factors necessary for the implementation of strategic HRM. Results suggest that the success in the implementation of strategic HRM can be explained by (i) the ability to get HRM policies in place; (ii) the role of the senior HRM executive; (iii) the support of top management; (iv) the strategic mindset; and (v) the new roles and competencies. In conclusion, a strategic HRM model is proposed for future research and research limitations are also highlighted. Journal Information The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations: A Review of Economic and Social Development (IJIR) is devoted to dissemination of knowledge for effective management of human resources and harmonious industrial elations. A quarterly in English, the journal enjoys high academic reputation in India and elsewhere and is widely subscribed by government institutions, universities and private sector organizations. A refereed journal its readership consists of academic scholars, policy makers, practicing managers and student community. Salient Features: In to its 46th year of uninterrupted publication and up to date Listed in EBSCO, GALE/CENGAGE Learning, Proquest/CSA Data Bases Research based articles and communications from eminent persons Reviews of latest titles form India and elsewhere Theme based special issue program with eminent persons as Guest Ed Publisher Information Indian Journal of Industrial Relations is published by The Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, a premier organization in research, training/seminars and publications. The Centre's efforts in the last forty-five years have helped in bridging the gap that exists between the practitioners and social scientists. It has earned a name for itself in India and abroad. The Centre has completed over 175 research projects, conducted over 3000 training programs and published over 65 titles based on its own research studies. The research projects have been sponsored by the Government departments, public sector undertakings, industrial companies and international organizations. Research studies and workshops have been taken up by the Centre to strengthen Grass Root Democracy's contribution to health and education, as well as women and labour, both in the organized and unorganized sectors. What is strategic planning?Strategic planning is a process in which an organization's leaders define their vision for the future and identify their organization's goals and objectives. The process includes establishing the sequence in which those goals should be realized so that the organization can reach its stated vision. Strategic planning typically represents mid- to long-term goals with a life span of three to five years, though it can go longer. This is different than business planning, which typically focuses on short-term, tactical goals, such as how a budget is divided up. The time covered by a business plan can range from several months to several years. The product of strategic planning is a strategic plan. It is often reflected in a plan document or other media. These plans can be easily shared, understood and followed by various people including employees, customers, business partners and investors. Organizations conduct strategic planning periodically to consider the effect of changing business, industry, legal and regulatory conditions. A strategic plan may be updated and revised at that time to reflect any strategic changes. Chief information officers use strategic planning to determine how IT can be best used to further an organization's business goals.Why is strategic planning important?Businesses need direction and organizational goals to work toward. Strategic planning offers that type of guidance. Essentially, a strategic plan is a roadmap to get to business goals. Without such guidance, there is no way to tell whether a business is on track to reach its goals. The following four aspects of strategy development are worth attention:
What are the steps in the strategic planning process?There are myriad different ways to approach strategic planning depending on the type of business and the granularity required. Most strategic planning cycles can be summarized in these five steps:
Identify. A strategic planning cycle starts with the determination of a business's current strategic position. This is where stakeholders use the existing strategic plan -- including the mission statement and long-term strategic goals -- to perform assessments of the business and its environment. These assessments can include a needs assessment or a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis to understand the state of the business and the path ahead. Prioritize. Next, strategic planners set objectives and initiatives that line up with the company mission and goals and will move the business toward achieving its goals. There may be many potential goals, so planning prioritizes the most important, relevant and urgent ones. Goals may include a consideration of resource requirements -- such as budgets and equipment -- and they often involve a timeline and business metrics or KPIs for measuring progress. Develop. This is the main thrust of strategic planning in which stakeholders collaborate to formulate the steps or tactics necessary to attain a stated strategic objective. This may involve creating numerous short-term tactical business plans that fit into the overarching strategy. Stakeholders involved in plan development use various tools such as a strategy map to help visualize and tweak the plan. Developing the plan may involve cost and opportunity tradeoffs that reflect business priorities. Developers may reject some initiatives if they don't support the long-term strategy. Implement. Once the strategic plan is developed, it's time to put it in motion. This requires clear communication across the organization to set responsibilities, make investments, adjust policies and processes, and establish measurement and reporting. Implementation typically includes strategic management with regular strategic reviews to ensure that plans stay on track. Update. A strategic plan is periodically reviewed and revised to adjust priorities and reevaluate goals as business conditions change and new opportunities emerge. Quick reviews of metrics can happen quarterly, and adjustments to the strategic plan can occur annually. Stakeholders may use balanced scorecards and other tools to assess performance against goals. A balanced scorecard focuses on four key parts of a business's strategic plan: financial, customer, internal business processes, and learning and growth.Who does the strategic planning in a business?A committee typically leads the strategic planning process. Planning experts recommend the committee include representatives from all areas within the enterprise and work in an open and transparent way where information is documented from start to finish. The committee researches and gathers the information needed to understand the organization's current status and factors that will affect it in the future. The committee should solicit input and feedback to validate or challenge its assessment of the information. The committee can opt to use one of many methodologies or strategic frameworks that have been developed to guide leaders through this process. These methodologies take the committee through a series of steps that include an analysis or assessment, strategy formulation, and the articulation and communication of the actions needed to move the organization toward its strategic vision. The committee creates benchmarks that will enable the organization to determine how well it is performing against its goals as it implements the strategic plan. The planning process should also identify which executives are accountable for ensuring that benchmarking activities take place at planned times and that specific objectives are met. How often should strategic planning be done?There are no uniform requirements to dictate the frequency of a strategic planning cycle. However, there are common approaches.
Timetables are always subject to change. Timing should be flexible and tailored to the needs of a company. For example, a startup in a dynamic industry might revisit its strategic plan monthly. A mature business in a well-established industry might opt to revisit the plan less frequently. Types of strategic plansStrategic planning activities typically focus on three areas: business, corporate or functional. They break out as follows:
In most cases, a strategic plan will involve elements of all three focus areas. But the plan may lean toward one focus area depending on the needs and type of business What is strategic management?Organizations that are best at aligning their actions with their strategic plans engage in strategic management. A strategic management process establishes ongoing practices to ensure that an organization's processes and resources support the strategic plan's mission and vision statement. In simple terms, strategic management is the implementation of the strategy. As such, strategic management is sometimes referred to as strategy execution. Strategy execution involves identifying benchmarks, allocating financial and human resources and providing leadership to realize established goals. Strategic management may involve a prescriptive or descriptive approach. A prescriptive approach focuses on how strategies should be created. It often uses an analytical approach -- such as SWOT or balanced scorecards -- to account for risks and opportunities. A descriptive approach focuses on how strategies should be implemented and typically relies on general guidelines or principles. Given the similarities between strategic planning and strategic management, the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably.
What is a strategy map?A strategy map is a planning tool or template used to help stakeholders visualize the complete strategy of a business as one interrelated graphic. These visualizations offer a powerful way for understanding and reviewing the cause-and-effect relationships among the elements of a business strategy. While a map can be drawn in a number of ways, all strategy maps focus on four major business areas or categories: financial, customer, internal business processes (IBPs), and learning and growth. Goals sort into those four areas, and relationships or dependencies among those goals can be established. For example, a strategy map might include a financial goal of reducing costs and an IBP goal to improve operational efficiency. These two goals are related and can help stakeholders understand that tasks such as improving operational workflows can reduce company costs and meet two elements of the strategic plan. A strategy map can help translate overarching goals into an action plan and goals that can be aligned and implemented. Strategy mapping can also help to identify strategic challenges that might not be obvious. For example, one learning and growth goal may be to increase employee expertise but that may expose unexpected challenges in employee retention and compensation, which affects cost reduction goals. The balanced scorecard part of the strategy map helps managers keep track of what tasks must be accomplished to achieve strategic planning objectives.Benefits of strategic planningEffective strategic planning has many benefits. It forces organizations to be aware of the future state of opportunities and challenges. It also forces them to anticipate risks and understand what resources will be needed to seize opportunities and overcome strategic issues. Strategic planning also gives individuals a sense of direction and marshals them around a common mission. It creates standards and accountability. Strategic planning can enhance operational plans and efficiency. It also helps organizations limit time spent on crisis management, where they're reacting to unexpected changes that they failed to anticipate and prepare for. Information technology is a key part of developing an effective strategic plan. Look at these six free IT strategic planning templates that can help make IT a driving force in a business. Which of the following linkages has its human resource management functions built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes?Integrative linkage is dynamic and multifaceted, based on continuing rather than sequential interaction. Rather than an iterative process of information exchange, companies with integrative linkage have their HRM functions built right into the strategy formulation and implementation processes.
In which type of linkage can the HRM participate in the strategic management process?The strategic planning function and the HRM function are interdependent in two-way linkage. Integrative Linkage is dynamic and multifaceted, based on continuing rather than sequential interaction.
What are the four levels of linkages?administrative linkage, one-way linkage, two-way linkage, and integrative linkage. These four levels of integration exist between the HRM function and the strategic management function.
What is twoIn two-way linkage, he strategic planning team informs the HRM function of the various strategies the company is considering ƒ HRM executives analyze the human resource implications of the various strategies, presenting the results to the strategic planning team ƒ The strategic plan is passed on to the HRM executive, ...
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