Strategic And Operational Roles Of Human Resources

822 Words4 Pages
Strategic and operational roles of human resources Introduction There are many definitions of the ‘concept of management’ advanced by different scholars and authors. Kootz and Weihrich define management as “the process of designing and maintaining an environment in which individuals working together in groups efficiently accomplish selected aims” (Reddy, 2004, p. 3). One of the most important considerations of management today is to create and maintain organizational competitive advantage through effective human resources management. Management of human resources is the primary function of human resources managers in organizations. Various management models, which have evolved over time, influence the strategic and operational roles of human resources managers in organizations, as discussed in the following section. Evolution of management models and roles of human resources In any organisation, the management makes sets of choices about how work needs to be done, how organisational objectives are defined, and how to motivate efforts, allocate resources and coordinate activities. These sets of choices made by managers in different organisations are known as management models. Management models are several decades old. Prior to and during the beginning of the twentieth century, managers in most notable organisations focused on scientific and technical matters (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 15). They adopted mechanistic models which paid attention to ongoing, routine tasks in organisations. From around 1930, the trend moved towards bureaucratic models which focused on dividing organisations into hierarchies while establishing strong lines of control and authority (Fitzgerald, 2002, p. 15). In these models, managers developed detailed and comprehensive standard operating procedures for all routine tasks in organisations. Due to their dehumanising effects, these
Open Document