Planning and Management of Human Resources

Abstract

The economic and business environment of India has changed after 1990. It has resulted in an increase in business activities in all the sectors of the economy. Indian enterprises are making efforts to expand, diversify and internationalize their activities through restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic alliances. Intense competition in the domestic and international market has led Indian firms to undertake initiatives such as quality management, supply chain management and enterprise resource planning, which make training and retaining employees a critical function of the management. Maruti Suzuki, a leading automobile company in India, has also been forced to strengthen its service network and strengthen its R&D. As a result, it requires to hire more people in the country (see Exhibit 20.1). The evolution of the term ‘personnel management’ to ‘human resource management’ and to ‘talent management’ signifies the importance given to people in an organization. Management of human resources is becoming strategic and is a source of competitive advantage for organizations to be successful. The case of ICICI Bank shows the importance of human resource management. Several fast-growing sectors in India, such as IT, finance and banking, pharmaceutical, automobile, designing, retailing and other high tech sectors, are facing shortage of manpower. The companies operating in these sectors need to be innovative in their approach to human resource management.