SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

COURSE MGMT 332 - HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

COURSE LECTURER - NYANCHA, H

By

PHILORIAN M. MPENDAYE
IDENTITY NUMBER 2011101022

Questions: (1) Distinguish between Personnel Management and Human

Resource Management.

(2) Describe in detail the Evolution of Human Resource

Management.

1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

Question One 1

1.0 Introduction 1

2.0 Differences between Human Resource Management and Personnel Management 1

3.0 Conclusion 4

Question Two 5

1.0 Introduction 5

2.0 Evolution of Human Resource Management 5

3.0 Conclusion 9

BIBLIOGRAPHY 10

i
Question One: Distinguish between Personnel Management and Human Resource
Management.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Nzuve, S. N. M (1988:1) defines personnel management as “that part of management concerned

with people at work and with their relationships within a firm. Its aim is to bring together and
develop into an effective organisation the men and women who make up an enterprise and,
having regard for the well-being of the individual and of working groups, to enable them to make
their best contribution to its success”. Personnel management is often referred to as personnel
administration, industrial relations, employee relations, managing human resources, or
management of human resources (Nzuve, S. N. M., 1988:1). It is fundamental to all
organizations include attracting and fostering of capable human resources and using these
resources achieve maximum personnel’s goals and the goals of the organisation.

According to Armstrong, M (1999:4) human resource management is “a strategic and coherent

approach to the management of an organizations most valued assets-the people working there
who individually and collectively contribute to the achievement of its goals”. Other scholars such
as Bratton, J and Gold, J (2007:7) define human resource management as “a strategic approach
to managing employment relations which emphasizes that leveraging people’s capabilities that
being achieved through a distinctive set of integrated employment policies, programmes and
practices”. Human resource management is distinctive approach to employment management
which seeks to obtain competitive advantage through the strategic development of a highly
committed and skilled work force, using on array of culture, structure and personnel technique.

2.0 DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND

PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT

Many researchers have been arguing the difficulty of distinguishing clear differences between
personnel management and human resource management. Some authors believe that the
difference is just a change of label as Torrington, D. P (1989) says and there is no different in the
content of human resource management. On the other hand, there are researchers such as Guest,

1
D. E (1987) who argues that human resource management is differentiated from personnel
management. However, human resource management is concerned with performing the same
functional activities traditionally carried out by personnel function, but human resource
management approach performs these functions in a qualitatively distinct way when compared
with personnel management (Storey, J., 1989). These differences between personnel
management and human resource management are briefly analysed below:

Armstrong, M (2006) argues that “the personnel management approach tends to attach much
importance to norms, customs and established practices, whereas the human resource approach
gives importance to values and mission”. The personnel management approach also concerns
itself with establishing rules, policies, procedures, and contracts, and strives to monitor and
enforce compliance to such regulations, with careful delineation of written contract. The human
resource management approach remains impatient with rules and regulations. Human resource
managers tend to relax rules based on business needs and exigencies, and aim to go by the spirit
of the contract rather than the letter of the contract. The human resource management approach
remains integrated to the company’s core strategy and vision. It seeks to optimize the use of
human resource for the fulfillment of organizational goals.

Personnel management typically relies in the treatment of employee motivation in which Tiwari,
M. D (2013) argues that “the personnel management approach holds employee satisfaction as the
key to keeping employees motivated, and institutes compensation, bonuses, rewards, and the
simplification of work responsibilities”. From the personnel management point of views,
employee satisfaction provides the motivation necessary to improve job performance. Whereas
human resource management holds that improved performance leads to employees’ satisfaction.
With human resource management, work groups effective strategies for meeting challenges and
job creativity are seen as the primary motivators. The human resource philosophy holds
improved performance as the driver of employee satisfaction, and devises strategies such as work
challenges, team work, and creativity to improve motivation (Legge, K., 2004).

Another dimension of the difference between personnel management and human resource
management is the proactive nature of human resource management compared to the reactive

2
nature of personnel management. Legge, K (2004) says that “personnel management remains
aloof from core organizational activities, functions independently, and takes a reactive approach
to changes in corporate goals or strategy whereas human resource management remains
integrated with corporate strategy and takes a proactive approach to align the workforce toward
achievement of corporate goals”. The fact is while the personnel management approach concerns
itself with a reactive performance appraisal process, human resource management approach has a
more comprehensive and proactive performance management system that aims to correct
performance rather than make a report card of past performance.

Moreover, Storey, J (1989) argues that “in the personnel management models, the role of line
management is very much an appearance of the observation that all managers manage people. It
can be said that all managers in a sense carry out personnel management”. Furthermore, it carries
the acknowledgment that most specialist personnel work still has to be implemented within line
management’s department where the labour force is physically located (Legge, K., 1978). In the
human resource management models, human resource management is vested in line management
as business managers are responsible for coordinating and directing all resources in the business
unit to pursuit of bottom-line result (Legge, K and Storey, J., 1987). This creates that the bottom
line appears to be specified more correctly than in the personnel management models.

However, personnel management is an independent staff function of an organization, with little

involvement from line managers, and no linkage to the organization's core process whereas
human resource management, on the other hand, remains integrated with the organization's core
strategy and functions (Tripathi, P. C., 2002). Although a distinct human resource department
carries out much of the human resource management tasks, human resource initiatives involve
the line management and operations staff heavily. Personnel management also strives to
reconcile the aspirations and views of the workforce with management interest by institutional
means such as collective bargaining, trade union-based negotiations and similar processes. This
leads to fixation of work conditions applicable for all.

Furthermore, personnel management is more administrative in nature, dealing with payroll,

complying with employment law, and handling employment related tasks (Tiwari, M. D.,

3
2013:93). Human resource management is responsible for managing a workforce to contribute to
the success of an organization. Human resource management is described as much broader in
scope than personnel management tasks, while seeking to create and develop terms of workers
for the benefits of the organization. A primary goal of human resource management is to enable
employees to work to a maximum level of efficiency.

Personnel management is considered an independent function of an organization. It is typically

the sole responsibility of an organization’s personnel department (Tiwari, M. D., 2013). Human
resource management, on the other hand, tends to be an integral part of overall company
function. Personnel management is typically the sole responsibility of an organisation’s
personnel department. With human resource management, all of an organisation’s managers are
often involved in some manner, and a chief goal is to have managers of various departments
develop the skills necessary to handle personnel related tasks.

3.0 CONCLUSION

It is clear from the literature that human resource management represents a shift in focus and
strategy and is in tune with the needs of the modern organization. Human resource management
concentrates on the planning, monitoring and control aspects of resources whereas personnel
management was mainly about refereeing between the management and employees (Doaei, H. A
and Najminia, R., 2012). Scholars view personnel management as being workforce whereas
human resource management is resource.

Human resource management gives greater thrust on dealing with each employee independently
and gives more importance to customer-focused developmental activities and facilitating
individual employees rather than bargaining or negotiating with trade unions. Personnel
management lays down rigid job description with many grades and a fixed promotion policy
usually based on seniority and performance appraisal ratings. Doaei, H. A and Najminia, R
(2012) argue that “human resource management has relatively fewer grades and ranks, with
broadly defined job responsibilities providing much scope for applying creativity and initiative
with skills, talent and commitment the key drivers of career advancement”.

4
Question Two: Describe in detail the Evolution of Human Resource Management.

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Flippo, B. E (1966) defies human resource management as “planning, organizing, directing,

controlling of procurement, development, compensation, integration, maintenance and separation
of human resources to the end that individual, organizational and social objectives are achieved.”
Flippo, B. E says that human resource management has five major features: human resource
management involves management functions like planning, organizing, directing and
controlling; human resource management involves procurement, development, maintenance of
human resource; human resource management helps to achieve individual, organizational and
social objectives; human resource management is a mighty disciplinary subject as it includes the
study of management psychology, communication, economics and sociology; and human
resource management involves team spirit and team work.

Randhawa, G (2007:17) points out that “human resources management is a term of recent origin.
Very earlier, Kautilya’s Arthashastra written in 400 BC dealt with important aspect of human
resource management. In those days, government adopted techniques of human resource
management as suggested by Kautilya, which had procedures outlined for the selection of
ministers and other government officials, the methods to pay workers depending on work
produced and also the penalty for wastage of time”. Later on in 1931 it was Royal Commission
on Labour which recommended the appointment of labour officers to deal with the recruitment
of labour and to settle their grievances (Randhawa, G., 2007). The Factories Act of 1948 of the
United Kingdom came into being, which made the appointment of welfare officers compulsory
with the intention of safeguarding the health of workers.

2.0 EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

The evolution of human resource management can be traced back to Kautilya’s Artha-Shastra
where he recommends that government must take active interest in public and private enterprise
and the period of booming European economy of the 1900s (Roethlisberg, F. J., 1939). The

5
economy created the necessary environment for effective people management in the emerging
labour market. The economies were preparing for the First World War and its aftermath where
industrial production required a mass of skilled, well organised and disciplined labour force. The
challenges revolved around mobilisation of resources including people, which led to the
evolution and development of four stages in managing labour. The stages were mainly identified
by looking at the changing titles of officers responsible for managing the workforce and different
roles that were emerging over time. Therefore, although personnel management literature often
states particular dates or decades of transformation from one phase to another (Chruden, H and
Sherman, A., 1984; Cuming, M., 1985), as a matter of principle, such dates or decades are more
for convenience and reference purposes than being actual historical events. This work provides a
picture of the chronology of the evolution and development of human resource management as
discussed below:

Kautilya, P provides a systematic treatment of management of human resources as early as 400

B.C. in his treatise titled Artha-Shastra (Mishra, S. P., 2010). There prevailed logical procedures
and principles in respect of labour organizations such as Guild System 1 and cooperative sector.
The wages were paid strictly in terms of quality of work turned out and punishments were
imposed for unnecessarily delaying the work or spoiling it. Kautilya, P provides discussion on
staffing and personnel management embracing job descriptions, qualifications for jobs, selection
procedure, executive development, incentive systems and performance evaluation. The guild
system was followed by cooperative sector consisting of craftsmen and traders and purporting to
promote their professional interests.

Mishra, S. P (2010) cited from Kautilya, P as there was numerous professional societies formed,
which were guided by the principles of division of labour. Later on the professions emerged to
be hereditary and the relationships between the employer and employees were marked by justice
and equity. The conditions prevailed till the enactment of the factory Act of 1881 in which
according to the Act, the workers employed in the factories were allowed a week off-day and

1
Guild System is an association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect
mutual interests and maintain standards. In historical terms especially in medieval times, guild system
refers to an association of men sharing the same interests, such as merchants or artisans formed for
mutual aid and protection and to maintain craft standards or pursue.

6
provisions were also made for inspection as well as limiting the hours of work for women
workers to eleven per day (Mishra, S. P., 2010). The Act further provided that the minimum age
of children for employment should be seven hours and that the maximum working hours for
them should not exceed seven hour a day and that too in the day shift.

During 1900s was a time of increasing technological and economic breakthroughs arising from
continued advancement in scientific knowledge through creativity and innovations (Itika, J. S.,
2011). The advancements had serious impact on economic growth and demand for goods and
services in Europe and in Germany in particular for the preparations of World War I
(Roethlisberg, F. J and Dickson, W. J., 1939). More goods were demanded, and the massive
production of goods could be done more efficiently than ever before, under one industrial roof.
Managing the increasing workforce in the emerging complex industrial production systems was
an ever-more difficult challenge. The search for solutions, which included how to organise
employees and ensure that their welfare was provided for, led to the need for better people
management techniques. Welfare services such as a canteen and other needs required some kind
of officer whose sole purpose was to take care of workers. This is the genesis of employees’
welfare services in organizations and the famous title of welfare officers we have in some
organisations even today (Eilbert, H., 1954; Chruden, H and Sherman, A., 1984).

During the period between 1920s and mid 1930s are generally regarded as decades of personnel
administration. The growing size of organisations and pressure to improve productivity called for
the need to recruit, select, train, keep records, appraise, motivate, control, and improve
production of job entry level of employees and those in the job as part of job orientation (Itika, J.
S (2011). Also, during these periods the trade unions emerged. Authors who have given the
history of human resource management say that human resource management started because of
trade unions and the First World War. The administrative tasks were best handled by welfare
officers because of their experiences in welfare matters. Since the roles of welfare officers
changed in nature and scope and became more demanding in terms of knowledge, skills and
behavioural attributes, the whole situation suggested that the title of welfare officer was not good
enough to describe what was actually happening. To address these new dimensions of a welfare
job, the title had to change from welfare officer to personnel administrator (Cuming, M., 1985).

7
The Royal commission in 1931 recommended the appointment of a labour welfare officer to look
into the grievances of workers. The Factories Act of 1948 was enacted in which under the
provisions of Section 49 of the Act, it became obligatory for the employers to employ a welfare
officer in a factory employing 500 or more workers.

However, the evolution and development of personnel management covered the period during
and after World War II. In the 1940s and 1950s, there was an ever growing role for personnel
administration to cope with the rising challenges and demands of the job which included craft,
supervisory training and labour disputes that were threatening employees and organisational
efficiency (Itika, J. S., 2011). These new dimensions in employee management were exacerbated
by developments in academia, professional managers interested in academics and consultants
where efforts were devoted to study behavioural factors in job performance. Such developments
include human relations’ school, which was pioneered by Elton Mayo and Kurt Lewin, who
emphasised on improving the work environment and work groups as a strategy to improve
productivity (Rush, H., 1959; Robbins, S., 1990; Torrington, D., et al., 2005). Treating
employees as human beings rather than working tools was emphasised in the management of
human resources. The period marked a shift of emphasis from managing an individual employee
to managing groups or teams in the organisation (Davis, L. E., 1980).

Moreover, other contributions on the evolution of human resource management are from the
work of Abraham Maslow on the human hierarchy of needs and the power of employee’s
motivation on productivity (Maslow, A., 1970). Chris Argyris and Frederick Herzberg wrote
about the concept of employee’s satisfaction and the significant impact this concept has had on
the organisational practices in improving the quality of work in organisations (Deci, E. L., and
Ryan, R. M., 1985). The organisation development school driven by Bennis and Schein provided
equally useful inputs to personnel practices particularly in areas of effective communication and
the need to reduce conflict in the work place (Davis, L. E., 1980; Walton, R. E., and McKerzie,
R. B., 1991). Therefore, to suit the fashion of the time, there appeared to be a difference between
‘administration’ and ‘management’. Likewise, there is a difference between ‘administrator’ and
‘manager‘, where the former appears to be dealing more with routine activities, the latter deals

8
with more strategic issues. There is however an on-going debate in academia on the semantics
and the actual substance of personnel jobs.

Lastly, during the 1990’s the emphasis was on human values and development of people and
with liberalization and changing type of working people became more and more important
thereby leading to human resource management. Several functions of human resource
management were performed such as human resources planning; job analysis design; recruitment
and selection; orientation and induction; training and development; performance appraisal;
compensation planning and remuneration; motivation, welfare, health and safety; and industrial
relations that helped organizations to prevent industrial disputes in the form of protests, strikes,
demonstrations, lockouts and retrenchments hence ensure smooth working.

3.0 CONCLUSION

Human resource management as a discipline and practice in the management of people in an

organisation has evolved and developed into different areas. These disciplines and practices have
gone through a process of trial and error, theory building and testing of various concepts by
practicing managers and academics (Farnham, D and Pimlott, J., 1979; Storey, J., 1989;
Armstrong, M., 1995). The underlying forces behind the evolution and development of human
resource management have been (and still are) mainly environmental, and the quest for
knowledge of better ways of acquiring and utilising labour.

The changing organisational environment in the marketplace pushed managers to improve

efficiency in the production and service delivery processes by increasing their ability to use the
best practices of people management at the time (Itika, J., 2011). That is, employee management
techniques or methods that would improve production, reduce service delivery costs, and at the
same time ensure sustained availability of competent staff in the organisation. Resultantly, as a
general rule, human resource management principles are modified to suit local conditions or in
some extreme cases some organisations are trapped in a personnel administration era.

9
BIBLIOGRAPHY

Armstrong, M (2006). A Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice: Tenth Edition.

Kogan Page Publishers Limited. London, United Kingdom

Chruden, H and Sherman, A (1984). Managing Human Resources. South Western Publishing.
Ohio, United States of America

Cuming, M (1985). The Theory and Practice of Personnel Management. Heinemann. London,
United Kingdom

Deci, E. L and Ryan, R. M (1985), Intrinsic Motivation and Self Determination in Human
Behaviour. Plenum. New York, United States of America

Farnham, D and Pimlott, J (1992). Understanding Industrial Relations. Cassell. London, United
Kingdom

Itika, J. S and Emans, B (2011). Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. Mzumbe

University Press. Morogoro, Tanzania

Legge, K (2004). Human Resource Management: Rhetorics and Realities. Palgrave Macmillan
Publishers Limited. Basingstoke, United Kingdom

Robbins, S. (1990). Organization Theory: Structure, Design and Applications. Prentice Hall
Publishing Company. Englewood Cliffs, United States of America

Roethlisberg, F. J and Dickson, W. J (1939), Management and the Worker. Harvard University
Press. Cambridge, United States of America

Rush, H. (1969). Behavioural Science: Concepts and Management Application. National

Industrial Conference Board. New York, United States of America

Sherman, A. (1998), Managing Human Resources. South Western College Publishing.

Cincinnati, United States of America

Storey, J. (1989). From Personnel Management to Human Resources Management: New

Perspectives in Human Resources Management. Routledge. London, United Kingdom

Torrington, D., Hall, L and Taylor, S (2005). Human Resource Management. Pearson
Education. Essex, United States of America

Tripathi, P. C. (2002). Human Resources Development. Sultan Chand and Sons (P) Limited.
New Delhi, India

Walton, R.E and Mckerzie, R. B (1991). A Behavioural Theory of Labour Negotiations. IRL
Press. Ithaca, United States of America

10