Role of Management in Improving Workplace Safety and Health

Perhaps more than any other HR activity, health and safety offer HR manager an opportunity to be more proactive than reactive. Read: The Concept of Occupational Safety and Health There are a number of strategies that can be used by organizations to ensure a healthy and safe workplace and ensure compliance with legal requirements. Some are: Design Safe and healthy systems of work Exhibit Strong management commitment Inspect Workplace for health and safety problems Establish Procedures and controls for dealing with health and safety issues Develop Training programs Set up Health and safety committees Monitor Safety policies Draw up Action plan and checklist 1. Design safer systems of work: The most direct approach to ensuring a safe and healthy workplace is to design systems of work that are safe and without risk to health. This can often only be done satisfactorily at the design, planning or purchasing stage. It may Continue reading

Agency Problem

Why conflict of interest between owners and management? The control of the modern corporation is frequently placed in the hands of professional non-owner managers. We have seen that the goal of the financial manager should be to maximize the wealth of the owners of the firm and given them decision-making authority to manage the firm. Technically, any manager who owns less than 100 percent of the firm is to some degree an agent of the other owners. In theory, most financial managers would agree with the goal of owner wealth maximization. In practice, however, managers are also concerned with their personal wealth, job security, and fringe benefits, such as country club memberships, limousines, and posh offices, all provided at company expense. Such concerns may make managers reluctant or unwilling to take more that, moderate risk if they perceive that too much risk might result in a loss of job and Continue reading

Strategic Comparison Between Honda and Toyota

In the global automobile industry, the vehicle has become an important part of every economy in terms of increased demand.  Two of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world are Toyota and Honda. The Honda Motor Company was the first Japanese automobile manufacturer which began with the construction of a motorized bicycle. Then, Honda started to develop and expand new lines of vehicle before it became successful in terms of the world market. Furthermore, it has been unceasing in its exploration of the idea of what role the motorcycle and automobile should play in society. Especially with management, the company realized the importance not only of the conventional approach of upgrading product performance, but also active efforts towards customer safety. Another successful Japanese automobile manufacturer is the Toyota Motor Corporation. The manufacturer of automobiles were sought conduce by prosperous society, operating its business with a focus on vehicle production and Continue reading

Cellular Manufacturing – Meaning, Implementation and Benefits

A cellular manufacturing layout is in direct contradiction to the traditional production line. In the production line, numerous workers are needed to service a single production line running from receiving of  raw material  to shipping of finished product. A breakdown in staffing or machinery in any part of the line nearly always resulted in the entire process being idled until the specific difficulty in the line was repaired, or re-crewed. With cellular manufacturing, production is divided among groups, or cells, of workers and production machinery. Thus, the breakdown of one cell, due to equipment malfunction or staffing problems, does not radically affect the rest of the production process. Technology and cellular manufacturing have combined to streamline the production processes of numerous established and start-up manufacturing facilities worldwide. Lean systems, such as Kaizen, and  Six Sigma, to name just two, though very often high in startup cost, provide both a short- Continue reading

Effective Ways of Handling Employee Grievances

The word employee grievance is often used in a generic form to indicate various forms and stages of an employee’s dissatisfaction while at work. While the dissatisfaction could be defined as anything that disturbs an employee, a complaint is spoken or written dissatisfaction brought to the attention of the manager or to the HR department/team member. Often employees view the HR team as the custodian of employee content/discontent and take up their grievances with the HR team. Grievance could also be voiced by a group of employees; it need not necessarily be a single employee with a complaint. What might happen if an organization does not provide some method by which a employee can voice his complaints and obtain a explanation? The employee will be unhappy, his productivity is impacted, he openly begins to share his discontent with not just his colleagues but also outsider’s, friends, relatives, maybe even customers Continue reading

Strategic Recruitment

Recruitment is a key HRM activity. Organizations to survive and grow need to attract candidates who are qualified to help them achieve their objectives.   Effective recruitment does this by locating and attracting potential candidates to job openings within the organization. Such applicants form a pool from which candidates who most closely meet the job specifications can be offered employment. Recruitment begins with the identification of human resource requirements and ends with the receipt of an application. It immediately precedes the selection process and involves attracting qualified and interested candidates from either inside or outside the organization. It is a two way process. Information is given and received by the applicants and the organization.   Recruitment is concerned with both meeting the organizations HR requirements and in helping potential candidates decide whether they meet the job requirements, are interested in the position and want to join the organization. Unfortunately, many Continue reading