Human Resource Management with a Malaysian perspective on the logistics industry

This essay analyzes HR practices and policies regarding retention and attracting new talent in DHL Supply Chain (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd(DHL) in the light of global environment. Stakeholder analysis and SWOT would also be conducted explaining the role of HR professionals in the formulation of strategies which help the company to gain a competitive edge in the market.

Human Resource
Management
Running head: Human Resource Management

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“Essay on Human Resources Management with a Malaysian perspective on the logistics
industry”
Task -1
Malaysia has been one of the progressive economies in South- East Asia. Due to its intelligent
and highly skilled workforce and a business friendly government, it attracts foreign direct
investment and has been the most preferred country for the global organizations to set up their
offices. More than 5000 companies from 40 countries are conducting their business operations in
Malaysia and this trend continues to grow (World Business Culture, 2018).
Due to its strong infrastructure, political stability , sound economic management , well
established health and education system and most importantly its population that is multilingual
and multiethnic which is the biggest reason for its cohesive global economy, the country is able
to shift its focus from agricultural and primary commodities to an export driven economy( BBC
News,2018).
So, in this essay, the HR practices and policies regarding the retention and attracting new talent
in DHL Supply Chain (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd(DHL) would be analyzed in the light of global
environment . Furthermore, stakeholder analysis and SWOT would also be conducted explaining
the role of HR professionals in the formulation of strategies which help the company to gain a
competitive edge in the market.
DHL Supply Chain (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. Is a subsidiary of Deutsche Post AG. And operates in
the sector of supply chain logistics solutions such as distribution, warehousing, business process
outsourcing, supply chain management, outsourcing, consulting and value added services. It is
based in Shah Alam Malaysia (DHL, 2018).
In the logistic sector, the regulation of labor and employment relationship has been affected due
to globalization in Malaysia. Due to globalization, the supply of talent is low as compared to its
demand and the gap is a challenge for the HR professionals in DHL. It has to emphasize on
attracting more talent and employees to expand its operations to compete with the global firms

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entering into the market. It should focus on human capital rather than financial capital to survive
in the market. It is the human resources which convert the raw materials into the desired products
or services as required by the consumers. Without human capital, financial capital is of no use to
the company. Since the talent of the organization can be source gain a competitive edge in the
market, so it can influence crucial outcomes such as customer satisfaction level, survival and
profitability (Okeudo,2012).
The challenges faced by DHL due to globalization in the context of Human Resources are lack of
availability of low cost capital. Since the global firms are attracting the skilled human resources
by paying high salaries to retain them, it becomes a challenge for the organization which
operates in the local environment to pay high salaries to its work force because of certain
limitations. Furthermore, the technological progress is higher in the organizations with
international exposure, so they attract workers which are skilled due to better growth
opportunities. This places a limitation for DHL because it operates in the local business
environment in attracting and retaining talent (Karia and Wong, 2013).
So, to resolve this issue, certain HR policies, strategies and practices can be followed by DHL to
attract and retain more talent. Some of them are:
1. Partnership with middle and frontline management: The role of the frontline managers is
to formulate and execute various employment practices so that the performance of workforce can
be raised. So the frontline and middle level management should create a positive partnership
with the employees so that they feel confident, secured and satisfied for their jobs which in turn
will increase their performance and hence the growth of the company. Their responsibility is to
procure, develop and retain the human capital for the various divisions of the company. By using
modern technology, the managers can train, counsel and assist the workers so that their
performance can be enhanced and they feel satisfied with their jobs (Cappelli, 2013).
2. HR role model by Dave Ulrich: Dave Ulrich defined the various roles of HR in 1997.
His model explains the role of HR under two axes viz. people /processes and strategic
/operational focus. The Strategic Partner and the Change Agent explains the strategic focus of
the roles of HR. The crucial activity of the strategic partner is to integrate the activities of HR to
the strategy of the company and also to evaluate strategies regarding the human resource. The

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responsibilities of change agent are directed towards people and are focused on implementing the
change in the organization and making it capable to deal with the change (Thill, Venegas and
Groblschegg, 2014).
The administrative expert and employee champion depict the operational aspects of the role and
responsibilities of HR. The administrative expert ensures the effectiveness design and delivery of
the HR procedures. The employee champion takes care of the routine problems and necessities
of the employees. Until the human resource strategy is properly formulated and executed by the
Change Agents and Strategic Business Partners, the success of DHL will be at risk. For example
in Indian logistic sector, the roles and responsibilities of business partners and change agents is
to execute the strategies related to human resource to assist them in the achievement in the
goals and objectives of the business (Jhawar, Garg and Khera, 2014) .
Furthermore, Talent planning should also be associated with strategic planning and it should be
addressed by the HR executives on a regular basis. DHL should adopt strategies which empower
its leaders to generate growth opportunities by efficiently managing the work force.
3. Timey evaluation of the workforce: The human resource personnel should periodically
review the efficiency of the work force at the corporate level. It should evaluate whether the
work force is skilled enough to enable the organization to have a competitive edge over its global
competitors. Further, the human resource professional should analyze the present requirements
and estimate the skill shortages arising in the future through strategic skill planning. For

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example, in the Malaysian companies, the human resource professionals use the modern tool
such as scenario simulations, advanced analytics and other work force planning tools for
retaining and hiring talented workforce (Okechukwu, 2017).
4. Use of Data Warehousing Systems to gain an insight about employee data: A data
warehouse is data basing which supports effective decision making and it is established
separately from the operational databases. The data warehousing system contains details such as
total number of employees, the details related to the benefits provided to them, leaves granted,
payrolls and performance appraisals.
The data stored in the data warehousing systems can be used by DHL for strategic planning of
skills, training required by the employees to upgrade themselves and the vacant positions to be
filled.
5. The use of Information Delivery Systems to track the performance of the employees: The
information delivery systems can be used by the human resource professionals to access the
reports and to evaluate the progress of the employees at all the levels of the organization. With
the help of trends, metrics and Key Performance Indexes (KPI) the details of the employees can
be retrieved in the form of scorecards, dash boards and configurable information portals.
In the Japanese companies, the organizations adapt their human resource policies according to
changing global environment so that they can evaluate, attract and retain the talented employees
which will help them to survive in this competitive world (National University of Singapore,
2015).

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Task -2
“Stakeholder Analysis and Environmental Audit in the context of formulation and
implementation of HR Policies in DHL”
Stakeholders can be defined as the parties who affect and are affected by the human resource
policies in the Malaysian logistic Industry. A stakeholder can also be identified as an actor who
carries out the activities related to the policies of human resource in the logistic industry. The
stakeholder analysis in the context of impact of globalization on the Human Resource of DHL is
as follows:
1. Management: The management is the foremost stakeholder in the Human Resource
Department in DHL. Since the goal of the human resource is to improve the productivity of the
work force so that it can have a positive impact on the profitability of the company. The
management is benefitted from the productivity of the work force directly and this will help the
company to have a competitive edge over its global rivals (Maj, 2015).
2. Community: The responsibility of the Human resource department is to assist DHL by
providing and retaining talented employees so that the employment opportunities for the
community are created. Due to the emergence of the multinationals, the employees are attracted
towards those companies for better employment opportunities. So DHL has to mold its HR
policies to attract and retain the talent.
3. Employees: The direct shareholders could be the employees of DHL to whom the HR
projects provide growth opportunities and enhanced workplace structures. By providing training
to the employees, the organization is enhancing their expertise and skills which could directly
affect its productivity and their marketability.
4. Insurance companies: The insurance companies and retirement fund administrators are
direct stakeholders in the HR projects. Their task is to provide employee benefits and negotiate
the amount of coverage of the group health insurance schemes. It is the provider of plans which
suits best to the workforce of the company.

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5. Customers: The clients are the direct stakeholders in the HR projects as they consume the
goods or services of the company and encourage it to hire and retain new employees to fulfill
their demands. They are also the stakeholders as they reap the advantages of talented employees.
6. Other business in the community: The other business operating in the same community
are indirect stakeholders of the company as they contribute to the stake whether DHL will
succeed or not. They can be those international firms which have established their business in
Malaysia. Since the employees are attracted towards those firms in search of better employment
opportunities, the affect the human resource policies of DHL.
The role of Human Resource Department monitors the policies pertaining to HR personnel and
their data protection as well it conducts a dialogue with the representatives of the employees.
DHL has launched “One HR” program to rearrange the HR structures which include fair salary
structures for the employees and providing good working conditions to them. It has implemented
the policy of responsible training and strategic workforce management. It has always focused on
promoting the development of the employees by providing proper training to them (DHL, 2013).
The SWOT analysis of DHL is as follows:
Strengths in the SWOT analysis of DHL:
 Innovation: DHL is a leading brand in the field of logistics. It provides various supply
chain logistics solutions such as warehousing, managed transport, distribution, supply chain
management, consulting and business process outsourcing. It has established an innovation
center which provides a platform on which the customers and stakeholders can interact with the
experts of DHL.
 Huge Network: Due to its huge network in Malaysia, it has gained an advantage over the
other global players. Due to its effective communication and in house consultancy, it has
established greater accessibility with its consumers.
 Strong Financial position: The Company has established a strong financial background.
Due to the ample availability of resources, it has built a strong goodwill in the society. This also
helps it in expanding its business (Liu and Wen, 2012).

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Weaknesses in the SWOT analysis of DHL:
 Requirement of large investment: Since it is an investment driven industry, it has to
procure large investment with no immediate return on investment.
 Poor Marketing Skills: AS compared to its competitors FedEx and UPS, it does not incur
expenditure on its marketing and promotion. It directly affects the brand popularity and
acceptance in the market.
 Dependency on the various external agencies: It is dependent upon various local agencies
for its collaboration which has a direct influence on its efficiency.
Opportunities in the SWOT analysis of DHL:
 Developing Markets: DHL has to establish itself in the developing markets. It has to be
customer centric in its approach.
 E-Commerce: With the rising market of e-commerce, DHL is exposed to an opportunity
to tap the market.
 Growth Opportunities: DHL is a renowned company in the logistic industry and it can
acquire the various small players to expand itself.
Threats in the SWOT analysis of DHL:
 Economic Slowdown: Logistics is one the most vulnerable sectors which is hit at its
hardest when it comes to recession.
 Local Players: Due to emergence of various local couriers services, it is exposed to tough
competition. Since they operate at low prices, it has to lower down its profits to cope up with the
competition (Maack, 2012).
Hence, to conclude it can be said that SWOT analysis play an important role in the organization
in helping it to track the areas in which improvement is needed. It plays a strategic role in the
company and is part of the core business. It is important to the profile of the company as it can
help DHL to differentiate its business from its global rivals, so that it can create better
opportunities for the employees in order to retain them.

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