Department of Management Studies

Jagannath University

Assignment on: Future Challenges of Management in Organization in Bangladesh

Course Title: Principal of Management
Course Code:

Presented to
Mizanur Rahman
Professor
Department of Management
Jagannath University

Presented by

Md. Muntashir Mamun

Roll No: M20190202368

Date of Submission 15th August 2020

 Letter of Transmittal

15 August, 2020

Mizanur Rahman

Professor

Management Department

Jagannath University

Subject: Submission of Assignment on “Future Challenges of Management in Organization in

Bangladesh”.

Dear Sir,

This is my great pleasure to submit the assignment.

I have worked hard and put our best effort to make this assignment successful. It has been an
enlightening experience for me while preparing this task.

I would like to express my gratitude to you. I will be glad if you find this assignment useful to have
an apparent perspective on the issue.

Sincerely Yours,

Md. Muntashir Mamun,

Roll No: M20190202368
Department of Management Studies
 INTRODUCTION
What is Management?

Management is the coordination and administration of tasks to achieve a goal. Such

administration activities include setting the organization’s strategy and coordinating the
efforts of staff to accomplish these objectives through the application of available
resources. Management can also refer to the seniority structure of staff members within an
organization.

Different types of managers

There are many different types of managers across the whole spectrum of a company’s
or entity’s hierarchy.

Top-level managers

The board of directors, president, vice-president, and CEO are all examples of top-level
managers.

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These managers are responsible for controlling and overseeing the entire organization.
They develop goals, strategic plans, company policies, and make decisions on the
direction of the business.

Middle-level managers

General Managers, branch managers, and department managers are all examples of
middle-level managers. They are accountable to the top management for their
department’s function.

Middle-level managers devote more time to organizational and directional functions

Low-level managers

Supervisors, section leads, and foremen are examples of low-level management titles.

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Future Challenges of Management

Challenges facing in practices of Managers –

Environmental Challenges: Environment is the sum total of conditions that surrounds us at a

given point of time and space. It is comprised of the interacting systems of physical, biological and
cultural elements which are interlinked both individually and collectively. It influences the growth
and development of this specific organization. Managers or HR professionals of any organization
cannot meet the objectives without understanding and being aware of environmental challenges.
Pervasive environmental challenges faced by the manager and HR departments are governmental
challenges, organizational challenges, international human resource management, etc.

Management System: A management system is the framework of processes and procedures used
to ensure that an organization can fulfill all tasks required to achieve its objectives. The benefits of
an effective management system include more efficient use of resources, run the organization in a
cost effective way, improved risk management, and increased customer satisfaction as services and
products consistently deliver what they promise.

Changing Market: Changes in the purchasing pattern of consumers may affect the demand for
labor. Changes in the economy can also affect human resource planning. In a recession, a business
is likely to reduce its workforce as demand for its products falls.

Social Issues: In some companies, employees are represented by a labor union. Managing human
resources in a union management requires knowledge of specific laws, contract administration, and
the collective bargaining process. Human resource management practices must contribute to
organizational effectiveness. Thus, it is important to understand the types of approaches used to
determine the effectiveness of HRM. Effective HRM are based on external standards
(benchmarked) and include only the necessary procedures, steps, processes, and people.

The Quality of Work Life: Now employees and managers are more concerned about the quality of
work life where they are performing every day. Actually it means the total organizational life of the
human resource. These are adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions,
opportunities to use and develop human capacities, opportunity for continued growth and security,
social integration in the work organization, constitutionalism etc.

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Organizational Culture: Organizational culture is the behavior of humans within an organization
and the meaning that people attach to those behaviors. It is the collection of values, beliefs,
assumptions, myths, norms, goals, mission, vision etc. Basically the unique personality of an
organization is referred to as its culture. When groups of people work together, organizational
culture is an invisible but powerful force that influences the behavior of the members of that group.
Organizational culture is composed of seven characteristics that range in priority from high to low.
These characteristics are innovation (risk orientation), attention to

detail (precision orientation), emphasis on outcome (achievement orientation), emphasis on people

(fairness orientation), teamwork (collaboration orientation), aggressiveness (competitive
orientation), and stability (rule orientation).

Leadership Development: As one of the biggest challenges for human resource management,
leadership development needs to be a critical strategic initiative. HR professionals are faced with
being expected to provide the essential structures, processes, tools, and points of view to make the
best selection and develop the future leaders of the organization.

Work force Diversity: Basically now-a-days the workforce is changed in comparison to last ten to
fifteen years. Some of the changes have been occurred in the recent past years and some are still in
process. Today the lifestyles and the requirements are changing day by day. Now the employees
want a balance between work life and family life. The traditional employees wanted to earn more
money by working hard even by overtime. But now employees are less willing to work for a long
period of time, or on overtime or on weekend days.

Managing Change: In the past decade, there have been rapid, turbulent, and often strained
developments in the relationship between employers and employees. New trends and changes have
occurred in telecommunicating, outsourcing HRM practices, family medical leave, child care, QWL
programs, spouse-relocation assistance, pay for skills, benefit cost-sharing, union management
negotiations, testing, and many other HRM areas of interest. Nearly all of these trends and changes
can be traced to the emergence of new lifestyles and an aging population. Change management
represents a particular challenge for HRM. An intensified focus on training may be needed to
develop added competencies to deal with change management. Successful organizations are
becoming more adaptable, resilient, quick to change directions, and customer-centered. Within this
environment, the HR professional must learn how to manage effectively through planning,
organizing, leading and controlling the human resource and be knowledgeable of emerging trends
in training and employee development.

Decentralized Work-sites: Organizations use decentralized work sites because telecommunicating

arrangements enable organizations to find and use qualified employees without having to relocate
business facilities. Decentralized work sites also provide cash savings to the organization, as well as
fulfilling some special needs of a diversified work force. For HRM decentralized work sites will
require training for managers in managing and controlling work, and establishing pay systems to
reflect this work arrangement.
Innovations in Technology: The world has never before seen technological changes appear as
rapidly as they are presently occurring in the computer and telecommunications industries. One
estimate is that technological changes are coming so fast that a person may have to change his entire
skill repertoire three or four times in a career. Technological innovations that can either benefit or
hurt the business. Some technological innovations can increase the productivity and profit margins.
On the other hand, if the organization cannot cope with the technological changes, then the
performance will be decreased. In this case the more concerned factors are nature of products,
production methods, cost of adopting new technology, quality control, organizational ability, etc.

Ethics: Ethics is the branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and
recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. In practice, ethics seeks to resolve questions
of human morality, by defining concepts such as good and evil, right and wrong, virtue and vice,
justice and crime. Professionalization of human resource management created the need for a
uniform code of ethics. Today more and more companies are concerned with values and ethics.
Basically an ethical workplace is important not only for the owner’s satisfaction but for employee
satisfaction as well. Many decisions related to the management of human resources are
characterized by uncertainty. Ethics can be considered the fundamental principles by which
employees and companies interact. HRM is dealing with the value of implementing ethical codes
within the business. Generally it includes obey the applicable laws and regulations, be honest, fair,
and trustworthy in all activities and relationships.

Economic and Political Conditions: The economic and political condition, both at home and
abroad has a major impact on human resource management. In a strong, highly productive
economy, organizations have greater financial resources for attracting workers with higher pay, for
implementing training and development programs, and for funding other personnel programs. In
contrast, a struggling economy plagued by high inflation and lower productivity intensifies the need
for more cost effective management of human resources.There are some of the factors which can be
predicted and some are unpredicted. But in reality, these factors are more or less uncontrollable in
nature.

Different Laws of the Country: Actually all of the business organizations conduct their business
activities by following some rules and regulations which are formulated by the Government. If the
organization fails to follow these then the Government may give punishment to that organization
and may impose a fine over the organization. As new employment legislation created the potential
for discrimination related lawsuits and penalties, personnel’s advice and oversights became even
more indispensable. Here the concerned factors are labor laws, women’s rights, rights of the disable
persons, laws for tax administration, labor relations, etc.

Changing demographics of the workforce Information and communication system

Increased use of social networking to distribute information to employees

 Bangladesh Perspective

Bangladesh has been progressing gradually towards its dream of a hunger and poverty free society.
Initially, the government of Bangladesh followed a socialist economic model. As a result, the
government and policymakers did not prioritize issues such as private sector development,
industrialization, competitiveness and human resource management (HRM). However, after shifting
its economic policies from socialism to a free-market economy in the early 1990s, Bangladesh
achieved commendable economic growth and now has an industry contribution to GDP of about
28.5 per cent (ILO, 2013; PwC, 2015). Bangladesh is predicted to become the world’s 23rd largest
economy in terms of PPT by 2050, and has been included by Goldman Sachs in the N-11 countries.
To become a middle-income country by 2021, given the country’s limited natural resources and
abundance of human resources, the efficiency and efficacy of HRM practices could be pivotal and
driving forces for Bangladesh’s economic development.

However, the current state of HRM practices is far below the level Bangladesh needs to achieve.
Most organizations are family owned and controlled by family members, and human resource
management activities tend to be viewed as just a company owner’s wish. But in recent years,
labour-intensive and export-oriented industries have begun experiencing pressure from the EU and
North American countries to maintain their labour-rights standards and to improve their factories’
working conditions (Bowen, 2014; ILO, 2013). This pressure from outside the country is
compelling organizations to change their corporate culture and HRM practices. Researchers have
indicated that improved working conditions and better wage rates could improve the productivity
and the profitability of organizations in Bangladesh. Therefore, these organizations need to develop
systematic and efficient HRM practices to be competitive globally and to cope with the changing
needs of the economy.

However, in a “family or crony-capitalism” situation, employers have yet to realize, or be

convinced, that it would be in their best interest to adopt systematic and effective HRM practices.
Empirical research on HRM in Bangladesh is still rare, and only a few studies have been published,
usually on specific issues of HRM practices, in recognized and credible journals. Thus, the current
study could pioneer an understanding of the past, present and future of HRM in Bangladesh, which
would be immensely beneficial to students, researchers, academics, business executives and
policymakers. In addition, this study should encourage first-generation Bangladesh entrepreneurs
and corporate managers to develop systematic HRM practices and, thus, gain a competitive
advantage from the country’s available human resources.
 Present Scenario of HRM in Bangladesh

 Around 40 per cent of the organizations use formal background or reference check in the selection
process.

 About one-third of the organizations indicated outsourcing recruitment process sometimes in the
past to recruitment managerial employees.

 More than 25 per cent of the organizations do not conduct training need analysis and do not provide
training to employees on regular basis.

 Performance appraisals indicators include mostly functional achievements rather than behavioural
aspects of the jobs. However, IT and telecommunications sectors are leading to introduce structured
performance appraisal system and employee training need identification process.

 More than 55 per cent of the organizations do not have any defined employee reward and
recognition programme. However, 66 per cent organizations of first moving consumer goods,
pharmaceuticals sectors and telecommunications sectors reported to have short-term incentive
programmes.

 About 95 per cent of the organizations do not provide long-term incentives to retain employees.

 About 75 per cent of the organizations have structured mechanisms to deal with employee
grievances.

 About 30 per cent of the organizations reported to have preventive mechanisms to avoid employee
conflicts.

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Rising Trends of HRM Practices in Bangladesh

Researchers have identified changes that indicate progress in terms of strategic HRM practices.

First, the role and importance of HRM is increasing in organizations in Bangladesh. Many large
organizations have already established separate HRM departments and hired professional HRM
personnel with relevant education, knowledge and experience. A few organizations have even
upgraded the status of HRM managers and incorporated the head of the HRM department on the
corporate board. The government, with help from the World Bank, established the Bangladesh
Institute of Management, which offers specialized degrees and diplomas in HRM and related areas.
Most public and private universities in Bangladesh now also offer Bachelor of Business
Administration (BBA) and Master of Business Administration (MBA) degrees, with specialization
in HRM.

Second, shifts in recruitment and selection practices are also visible in Bangladesh. Private sector
organizations are beginning to emphasize competency-based approaches in their recruitment and
selection practices. Organizations are moving away from the traditional view of educational
qualifications and experience to one focused more on individual achievements and work-related
competencies. Employers are changing their focus from “what” to “how” to use qualifications and
knowledge criteria. In the context of huge levels of unemployment, where sometimes more than
1000 applicants vie for a single position, educational achievement is still used to reduce the number
of applications to a manageable figure.

Globalization has changed the landscape of modern workplaces, and organizations are facing
continuous automation and technological challenges in the changing nature of their business. These
technological changes have placed increased pressure on organizations to update employees’
knowledge and skills in order to compete in the global arena. The pace of industrialization in
Bangladesh also has intensified the competition for talented employees among organizations. To
cope with the competition, organizations are now realizing the importance of investing in employee
training and development activities, and are establishing separate human resource development
(HRD) departments, including specialized professionals and experts.

The introduction of performance-related pay (PRP) is explicit in private sector organizations,

mainly in multinationals and leading local organizations in Bangladesh. However, public sector
organizations are still lagging behind in implementing such practices because of legal complexities.
Most public sector organizations still consider seniority as the main criteria for pay and promotion.

As we mentioned earlier, lack of comprehensive studies on HRM practices in Bangladesh make it

difficult to discern overall scenarios, and therefore, we collected information from many different
sources.
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Conclusion

Now the members of today’s workforce have more education, higher aspirations about
participation, and more expectations about due process in the work situation. Some segments of the
work force are more likely to find collective action such as unionization acceptable than in the past.

Influences on human resources management from the external environment are many. Some of the
more salient external influences, which tend to be interrelated, are the high cost of energy, inflation,
differential industry growth, intense national and international competition, successful management
practices in other countries, government deregulation of several industries, technological
innovations, and widespread concerns about productivity and product quality.

HR professional can’t ignore these challenges rather they ought to be line to design and execute
innovative mechanisms of developing skills and competencies of human resources to prepare them
to accept the emerging challenges. All-time HR manager should be prepared for facing the
challenges when these will be arisen and all of the required mechanisms should be adopted for
reducing the effects of these challenges. After all, it’s always best to hope for the best, but to be
prepared for the worst.