Estonian Business School

Thesis Research Proposal

The impact of strategic human resource management policies on employees’

motivation and performance: A case study of Un-plasticized Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
and plastic pipe Industry in Pakistan

Student Name: BilalAhmed

Tallinn 2022
Introduction

Pakistan has a very vibrant and forward-looking PVC and plastic pipe industry. At the time of
independence in 1947, there was hardly any pipe manufacturing industry in the country. Today
Pakistan has about 1150 PVC small, medium and large pipe manufacturing units and employing
more than half a million people directly or indirectly. PVC and plastic pipe manufacturing
industry contribute to essential industries such as agriculture, water distribution, ducting
electrical and drainage in both government and private sectors. These manufacturing companies
operate mostly in 3 provinces Punjab, Sind and Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa.
Strategic human resource management (SHRM) plays a vital role in any industry’s success and
it can play phenomenal role in growth of PVC and plastic pipe manufacturing industry in
Pakistan. In Pakistan several research works had conducted in different industries considering
SHRM and its impact on organization success and employees’ performance but PVC and
plastic pipe industry is completely ignored, therefore, it is worthy to conduct a research work
on this industry.

Purpose of the Study:

Purpose of this phenomenological study is to explore and understand the impact of strategic
human resource management policies on employees’ performance and motivation in PVC and
plastic pipe manufacturing industry and the impact of employees’ performance and motivation
on organization financial and non-financial performance.

Study Objectives
The following objectives of the study:
 To examine the impact of strategic human resource management policies (selection,
training, planning development, job analysis, recruitment, motivation, and performance
appraisal) effect on the performance and motivation of employees in PVC and plastic
pipe manufacturing industry.
 To investigate the impact of employees’ performance and motivation on organizational
financial and non-financial performance.
Literature Gap:

The human resource management and performance of firm have a subject of the extensive
debate in last few years. The researcher had studied the effect of strategic human resource
practice on the performance of different industries in Pakistan such as pharmaceutical, textile
construction and telecommunication, however, PVC and plastic pipe industry has been
completely ignored. Although few researches targeted plastic manufacturing industry and has
measured the relationship between performance of firm and SHRM, but several researcher
linked the organizational aspect, such as information system and strategy. But some researchers
had examined the effect of SHRM policies on performance of Organizations in the in different
regions. Currently mostly Organization considered SHRM as most important resource and that
has guaranteed their existence in the market and getting sustainable advantage in human
resources. Hence, the new business science aims basic role of SHRM on the organizational and
staff performance.

Research Question

RQ1: What factors of SHRM can influence the perceived performance and motivation of
workers in PVC and Plastic pipe manufacturing industry in Pakistan?

RQ2: How employees’ performance and motivation can impact on organizations’ financial
progress and non-financial performance?

Methodology:

There are three types of research approaches namely, qualitative research method, quantitative
research method and mixed research approach (Creswell, 2014). This research will be
conducted using quantitative approach to address the research question and data will be
collected from PVC and plastic manufacturing firms in Pakistan through Survey
(Questionnaire) using online survey tools such as Google forms or surveymonkey.com

Data Collection:

Data collection is one of the most important part it takes long time and effort to find most
suitable and relevant data to complete research. Data will be collected through structured
questionnaires from a sample of the respondents from PVC and plastic manufacturing firms in
Pakistan. Several tests will be used to analyze the reliability and validity of the research
instrument. Finally, multiple regression analysis will be used to test the proposed research
hypotheses. The CEO, Managing Director, General Managers, Owner, Managers, Assistant
Manager, Technicians and Senior Staff and on ground staff of PVC and Plastic pipe
manufacturing industry will be the targeted audience of inquiry.
Research Design

The Research Design provides the graphical representation, explaining the role of strategic
human resource management policies on employees performance and motivation and impact of
employees performance and motivation on organizational financial progress and non-financial
performance: A case study of PVC and plastic pipe Industry in Pakistan (Strategic Human
Resource Policies, Human Resource Planning, Selection and recruitment, Development, and
training and Organizational performance, Efficiency, Effectiveness, Job performance, Loyalty
of employees etc.) take place. This study will explore for other possible influences as well as
the final consequences. We will adopt purposive sampling technique to select the given
respondent section.

Project Schedule:
According to the plan research project will be start right away after the approval with
introduction and literature review, which will be completed in by the end of February 2022,
and data will be collected in the first week of March 2022. By the 15 th March methodology
part will be concluded, and on 31st March 2022 conclusion and discussion part will be
concluded and remaining days before preliminary defense will be allocated to the corrections
and amendments suggested by the supervisor.
Bibliography:

Sihtasutus Archimedes. (2018). Blog - Sihtasutus Archimedes. [online]

Available at: http://archimedes.ee/en/blog/ [Accessed 5 Apr. 2020].
Crossman, A. (2012). Understanding Purposive Sampling. [online] ThoughtCo.
Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/purposive-sampling-3026727 [Accessed 4
Apr. 2020].

Instructure.com. (2020). FMR Hair et al (eds. also)(2016) Ch.6 Conceptualization and

research design.pdf: Research Design IntMA-1. [online] Available at:
https://ebs.instructure.com/courses/1857/files/109488?module_item_id=46416

Crossman, A. (2011). Pilot Study in Research. [online] ThoughtCo.

Available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/pilot-study-3026449