UHRM3009 Understanding Human Resource Management

Introduction:

The report is about Marks and Spencer’s which one of the largest retailers in the United Kingdom. Marks and Spencer’s faced a huge financial loss in 1999-2000. So, the management took a look at its business model and realized that it does not go with the changing demand in the market. As a result, the management decided to change the organizational structure and business approach to thrive and sustain in the market. This report the author is going to study the organizational structure, corporate culture, management style and HRM role in Marks and Spencer’s.

Organizational Structure:

Mark and Spencer’s have a flat organizational structure. A flat organizational structure has restricted levels of management among management level and employees. When organizations encourage their employees to take active participation in decision-making processes, a flat organizational structure is followed. A flat organizational structure reduces bureaucracy. It also encourages employees to be diversely skilled and capable by facilitating authorization in decision-making processes. A flat organizational structure is less complex in comparison to a tall shaped organizational structure, as a result, it allows more accurate and direct communication flow in the process among the employer and employee (Osland and Turner, 2011). As a result, the decision-making process is easy which allows to fast problem-solving ability within the organization. An organizational structure indicates towards the process that it takes up to define lines of communication, strategy, authority and responsibilities (Cummings and Worley, 2014). A flat organization is broader and flatter in comparison to a pyramid or tall organizational structure as there are few levels of managers between the management and the employee. A flat organizational structure has less control over an employee and promotes higher involvement in organization’s decision-making process which also improves an employee’s sense of involvement and responsibility towards the organization (Colquitt, et al. 2011). This is also a cost-effective initiative as it cuts the salary of the middle-level managers.

Charles Handy model of business culture:

The modern management thinking has a large influence by the Charles Handy model of business culture. The theories analysis and outlook on organizational growth and leadership have facilitated in approaching a humanitarian attitude of management (DeCarlo, 2010). It has also helped in developing a realistic, futuristic and goal oriented organizational culture. Charles Handy has analyzed four cultural theories and they are- The Power Culture; The Role Culture; The Task Culture and The Person Culture. Marks and Spencer’s follow The Person Culture in their business model. After facing serious financial loss the management decided to change Marks and Spencer’s business culture based on humane culture. This model can be closely associated with Charles Handy model’s The Role Culture, where employees of the organization are encouraged to take the active part in the decision-making process. In this type of business culture, employees are judged according to their skills and capabilities and assigned job roles and responsibilities according to their skills and specialization. As result employees are assigned to jobs that they are best in it, as a result, they reluctantly accept challenges to excel it. And every individual in the organization is liable towards his job responsibility where authority comes with accountability in such business cultures.

Mark and Spencer’s Democratic Style of management:

The Marks and Spencer’s use a democratic style of management because the organization is committed to direct employee engagement and participation through democratically elected Business Involvement Groups and Works Councils. In a democratic management style, the approach is an open and collegial style of running an organization (Cameron and Green, 2015). The management of Marks and Spencer’s encourages a freedom of communication and collaboration among the workforce. Every employee has a pre-set job responsibility and the dialogue within the organization flows freely. A democratic management style is applicable where a rapid change is required with very little control over the decision making processes (Dorczak, 2011). These organizations are more efficient in acting in emergency situations and adapt to changes and modifications in the market as the decision-making process is not complex and everybody in the organization has a clear idea about his job role and responsibility. In this type of management style, employees are encouraged to share ideas and assists in the communication process, and then harmonize all available information to form the best-suited decision for the organization. The democratic style of management is the most effective management approach in the contemporary fast changing business environment as it offers a large amount of flexibility to adjust the efficiency of completing a task (Robbins and Judge, 2012).

HRM functions in Marks and Spencer’s:

The talented and diversely skilled workforce of Marks and Spacer’s is one of the most important competitive advantages that the organization possesses. Performance Management approach of Marks and Spencer’s highlight’s on developing organizational culture and employee commitment as well as reducing retention rate and building a leadership pipeline for the organization (Mone and London, 2014). This requires improving employee learning process, as a result, a performance review or appraisal takes place after every six months in the organization where employees are given ratings according to their skills and competencies for the last financial year, which are then compared with the desired skills profiles for the job. As a result, the feedback process facilitates employees to recognize their potentiality and competencies by revealing the gap in the performance.

Based on the feedback, employees of Marks and Spencer’s have a personal development plan supporting on which the employees set their career objective as a result employees have a reasonable and focused plan for career development plan within the organization by structuring training and development arrangements for improving their the technological expertise and business competencies which will assist them to progress to capable of taking part in management roles. Thus, Marks and Spencer’s training and development plan are very integrated with its business objective.

Conclusion and Recommendation:

Marks and Spencer’s basic business objective is to sustain as a leading retailer in the global market. After facing the financial crisis, the management has taken the initiative to maintain and improve global market position by introducing democratic management style and flat structured organization. As a result, it has increased employee involvement in the business process by initiating increased participation in decision making processes by the employees. The organization has also implemented a well-structured feedback plan which facilitates in effective training and development sketch emphasizing career objective. In conclusion the author wants to recommend that in flat organizational structure, the decision-making process often gets slow due to a number of key players are involved, so the management should take initiative to well define job roles and responsibilities to employees to avoid the leisurely organizational process.  

Bibliography:

Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: a complete guide to the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Colquitt, J., Lepine, J.A. and Wesson, M.J., 2011. Organizational behavior: Improving performance and commitment in the workplace. McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Cummings, T.G. and Worley, C.G., 2014. Organization development and change. Cengage learning.

DeCarlo, D., 2010. Extreme project management: Using leadership, principles, and tools to deliver value in the face of volatility. John Wiley & Sons.

Dorczak, R., 2011. School organisational culture and inclusive educational leadership. Contemporary Management Quarterly/Wspólczesne Zarzadzanie, 2, pp.45-55.

Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2014. Employee engagement through effective performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

Osland, J. and Turner, M., 2011. The organizational behavior reader. Pearson.

Robbins, S.P. and Judge, T., 2012. Essentials of organizational behavior. Essex: Pearson.