Q1. Trace out the growth of Human Resource Management in India.

Ans: Over many centuries India has absorbed managerial ideas and practices from around the world. Early records of trade, from 4500 B.C. to 300 B.C., not only indicate international economic and political links, but also the ideas of social and public administration. The worlds first management book, titled Arlhshastra, written three millennium before Christ, codified many aspects of human resource practices in Ancient India. This treatise presented notions of the financial administration of the state, guiding principles for trade and commerce, as well as the management of people.

These ideas were to be embedded in organisational thinking for centuries (Rangarajan1992, Sihag 2004). Increasing trade, that included engagement with the Romans, led to widespread and systematic governance methods by 250 A.D. During the next 300years, the first Indian empire, the Gupta Dynasty, encouraged the establishment of rules and regulations for managerial systems, and later from about 1000 A.D. Islam influenced many areas of trade and commerce. A further powerful effect on the managerial history of India was to be provided by the British system of corporate organisation for 200 years. Clearly, the socio cultural roots of Indian heritage are diverse and have been drawn from multiple sources including ideas brought from other parts of the old world. Interestingly, these ideas were essentially secular even when they originated from religious bases.

In the contemporary context, the Indian management mindscape continues to be influenced by the residual traces of ancient wisdom as it faces the complexities

of global realities. One stream of holistic wisdom, identified as the Vedantic philosophy, pervades managerial behaviour at all levels of work organisations. This philosophical tradition has its roots in sacred texts from 2000 B.C. and it holds that human nature hasa capacity for self transformation and attaining spiritual high ground while facing realities of day to day challenges (Lannoy 1971).

Such cultural based tradition and heritage can have a substantial impact on current managerial mindsets in terms of family bonding and mutuality of obligations. The caste system, which was recorded in the writings of the Greek Ambassador Megasthenes in the third century B.C., is another significant feature of Indian social heritage that for centuries had impacted organisational architecture and managerial practices, and has now become the focus of critical attention in the social, political and legal agenda of the nation.

Q2. What are the factors that impact recruitment in organizations? Ans: Factors Affecting Recruitment:All organizations, whether large or small, do engage in recruiting activity, though not to the same extent. This differs with: the size of the organization the employment conditions in the community where the organization is located the effects of past recruiting efforts which show the organization's ability to locate and keep good performing people working conditions and salary and benefit packages offered by the organization --- which may influence turnover and necessitate future recruiting the rate of growth of organization the level of seasonality of operations and future expansion and production programmes and cultural, economic and legal factors etc. The recruitment function of the organisations is affected and governed by a mix of various internal and external forces. The internal forces or factors are the factors that can be controlled by the organisation. And the external factors are those factors which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The internal and external forces affecting recruitment function of an organisation are: The external forces are the forces which cannot be controlled by the organisation. The major external forces are:

1. SUPPLY AND DEMAND The availability of manpower both within and outside the organization is an important determinant in the recruitment process. If the company has a demand for more professionals and there is limited supply in the market for the professionals demanded by the company, then the company will have to depend upon internal sources by providing them special training and development programs. 2. LABOUR MARKET Employment conditions in the community where the organization is located will influence the recruiting efforts of the organization. If there is surplus of manpower at the time of recruitment, even informal attempts at the time of recruiting like notice boards display of the requisition or announcement in the meeting etc will attract more than enough applicants. 3. IMAGE / GOODWILL Image of the employer can work as a potential constraint for recruitment. An organization with positive image and goodwill as an employer finds it easier to attract and retain employees than an organization with negative image. Image of a company is based on what organization does and affected by industry. For example finance was taken up by fresher MBAs when many finance companies were coming up.

4. POLITICAL-SOCIAL- LEGAL ENVIRONMENT Various government regulations prohibiting discrimination in hiring and employment have direct impact on recruitment practices. For example, Government of India has introduced legislation for reservation in employment for scheduled castes,

scheduled tribes, physically handicapped etc. Also, trade unions play important role in recruitment. This restricts management freedom to select those individuals who it believes would be the best performers. If the candidate cant meet criteria stipulated by the union but union regulations can restrict recruitment sources.

5. COMPETITORS The recruitment policies of the competitors also effect the recruitment function of the organisations. To face the competition, many a times the organisations have to change their recruitment policies according to the policies being followed by the competitors. The internal forces i.e. the factors which can be controlled by the organisation are: 1. RECRUITMENT POLICY The recruitment policy of an organisation specifies the objectives of recruitment and provides a framework for implementation of recruitment programme. It may involve organizational system to be developed for implementing recruitment programmes and procedures by filling up vacancies with best qualified people.

2. HUMAN RESOURCE PLANNING Effective human resource planning helps in determining the gaps present in the existing manpower of the organization. It also helps in determining the number of employees to be recruited and what qualification they must possess.

3. SIZE OF THE FIRM The size of the firm is an important factor in recruitment process. If the organization is planning to increase its operations and expand its business, it will think of hiring more personnel, which will handle its operations.

4. COST Recruitment incur cost to the employer, organizations try to employ that source of recruitment which will bear lower cost of recruitment to organization for candidate.

Q3. State the major career development activities found in organizations. Ans: A broad view of career is defined as an individually perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviour work-related activities and experiences over the span of a persons life. In normal parlance the term career has both an internal and an external focus. An internal focus and refers to the way an individual views his/her career and the external or objective focus and refers to the actual series of job positions held by the individual. The dynamics of career development in an organizational context has two dimensions:

How individuals plan and implement their own career goals (career planning), and

How organizations design and implement their career development programs (career management).

Career planning is a deliberate attempt by an individual to become more aware of their skills, interests, values, opportunities and constraints. It requires an individual thinking to identify career-related goals and establishing plans towards achieving those goals.

Often it is a self-driven process, which every professional (irrespective of the nature of employment) spends some time to dwell on and discuss it with peers or superiors and frame it. It is also viewed from time to time that the individual looks for possible new career options. Having a career plan builds a commitment towards achieving it and is viewed as an excellent personal goalsetting exercise for self motivation. Career management is considered to be an organizational process that involves preparing, implementing and monitoring career plans undertaken by an individual alone or within the organizations career systems. Organizations establish policies that provide for multiple career path options that an employee can choose from and pursue. This is supported with a lot of training and development activities that are agreed to with the manager and planned carefully and executed. A variety of career development activities and tools exists for use in organizations. HR managers should be familiar with these components because the managers often serve as internal consultants responsible for designing the career development systems. Some of the activities described are individual career

planning tools and others are commonly used for organizational career management. In general the most effective career development programs will use both types of activities. A variety of career development activates are available for use. Some of the more popular ones include: Self-assessment tools:- these are usually technology enabled online (on the corporate intranet) tools that form part of the performance appraisal system and allow the individual to identify areas of strengths and parallelly identify career paths that would leverage these strengths the best. E.g. Career Planning Workbooks, Career Workshops hosted by the organizations from time to time.