HR and Managerialism
This guide is based on Human Resource Management in a Business Context,
and includes links to extra articles, notes, tips and exercises.
The new managerialism
Schuler (1990) emphasized that the HR function had an opportunity to shift from being an 'employee advocate' (associated with personnel management) to a 'member of the management team'. Schuler's view was that this required HR professionals to be concerned with the bottom line, profits, organizational effectiveness and business survival. In other words, human resource issues should be addressed as business issues.
In fact, line and general managers have been instrumental in the adoption of HRM - often pushing changes through despite the resistance of personnel specialists (Storey, 2001: 7). Radical changes in business structures and supportive - largely right-wing - governments encouraged a renewed confidence in the power of managers to manage. The balance of power moved away from workers and their representatives with the collapse of traditional heavy industries. High levels of unemployment allowed managers to pick and choose new recruits. Existing employees felt under pressure to be more flexible under the threat of losing their jobs. As a result, managers were able to design more competitive organizations with new forms of employment relationships.
The chapter concludes with a discussion on the influence of management gurus in the development of HRM
Tips for students using the book
How
does a management guru exercise such an influence? See
on the HRMGuide.co.uk site.
Answering the question on Page 27. There is a clear overlap between
these core roles and the 'traditional' functions listed in table 1.1. But the emphasis has
changed. How?
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