HUMAN RESOURCE STRATEGY

Human Resource Strategy



Human Resource Strategy

Introduction

In recent days, there is a considerable change in the function of human resources management from focusing on managing people to involve them in formulating and implementing business strategy to accomplish objectives. These changes has become in the business environment due to the revolution in information technology, globalization and competition. These environmental changes have been imposed on the organization need to quick deal and adapt with its overall practices and strategies in the most area such as marketing, productivity, employment structure, and human resources. Human resources management tends to invest in the employees as partners to keep business growth and sustain competitive advantage. The linkage between HR management and organization strategy may improve the performance of the employee (Donald, 1997, Pp. 28).

This report has been divided into two parts. The first part will analyze the key factors and work practices to be implemented in the innocent drinks company, and challenges should consider to sustain competitive advantage. It will also define the high performance work practices (HPWP), supported by evidence from the innocent case study. It will assess one model of the (HPWP) can be used in the case study.

The second part will discuss the talent management. It explains how talent management is related to strategic HRM and how it is beneficial.

Competitive advantage factors

Innocent is competing in a dynamic and complex environment. It would seem that every business may take into consideration the external factors such as political, economic, legal and many others to keep growth and gain competitive advantage. According to Porter (1985) competitive advantage can be defined as “When a firm sustains profits that exceed the average for its industry”. Cost leadership, differentiation advantage identified by Porter as the main types of competitive advantage. Innocent has focused on the healthy fresh smoothie drinks to people spend much hours working and have no time. Innocent had adopted lower cost strategy to add value through activities to meet buyer's satisfaction, and take position within its industry. It may consider the internal resources and capabilities of the firm as the main bundle to sustain Competitive advantage for long run (Hartel, 2007, Pp. 36).

Resource based view of the firm could be a framework to identify how internal resources have been effected in competitive advantage. RBV depends on two beliefs. First, the resources should be heterogeneous with business strategy. Second, these strategic resources may immobile among organizations. According to RBV, Swain (1999) stated that human capital resource such as skills, knowledge, can be the main driver in future plans within business strategy to sustain competitive advantage. According to RBV, human resources and capabilities of Innocent should be met to create competences.

There are four characteristics should be identified in human resource to sustain competitive advantage, create value, rare, immobility, and non-substitutability (Wright et al, 1994).

Value

In order to provide sustained competitive advantage, human resource should add value to the firm. Wright et al. (1994) argued that supply and demand for labor must be heterogeneous to contribute in ...