Problems of Human Resource Management and Organizational Productivity in UK Businesses

Research Proposal
(Problems of human resource management
and their impact on organizational productivity
within UK business)

Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................2
Chapter 1..........................................................................................................................................2
1.1 Chapter overview...................................................................................................................2
1.2 Background information........................................................................................................2
1.3 Problem statement and rationale of the research...................................................................2
1.4 Aims, research questions, and objectives .............................................................................2
Research Objectives.....................................................................................................................3
Research Questions......................................................................................................................3
1.5 Methodology..........................................................................................................................3
1.6 Scope and limitation..............................................................................................................3
1.7 Significance of the study for the various reader....................................................................4
1.8 Summary................................................................................................................................5
1.9 Work structure.......................................................................................................................6
Literature Review............................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................................15
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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1
1.1 Chapter overview
This research report will focus on the problems of human resource management (HRM)
and their impact on organizational productivity within UK business (Armstrong and Taylor,
2020). This chapter will cover background information of research, problem statement and
rationale, research aim, objectives and questions, methodology, scope and limitation,
significance of study as well as work structure.
1.2 Background information
HRM is basically the management of people within the organisation in an effective and
efficient manner for achieving better outcomes. It deals with recruitment, training, conflict
resolution, safety of employees as well as with manpower retentions of an organisation with a
purpose of improving productive contribution of human resources. Employees are the most
important assets of the organisation, so development of personal with organisational
development is crucial factor. HRM plays an important role to manage the people of the
organisation. So much cost involves in hiring process so employee resignation or termination
badly effect the organisation. Organisation need to adopt the changes prevail in business
environment to maintain their existence. When other firms provide more salary, than employee
will attract towards them and leave the current organisation. Productivity of retail industry is
affected by problems of HRM, because if trained employee leaves the retail organisation, then it
will decrease the production level and overall decrease the productivity of the organisation. HR
department need to monitor the performance of each employee, and inspire them for work. There
are so many changes prevail in business environment and employee resist change as they are
habitual of current working style, in this situation HR will motivate the employees by telling the
benefits of adopting changes.
Profile of Marks and spencer
Marks and Spencer is the retail company founded by Michael Marks and Thomas
Spencer in 1884. Its headquarters in London, England and has approx 1037 stores in UK and 472
stores in all over the world. 78,000 employees are working in M&S currently. The company has
objective of building the business sustainably by consistent, regular and profitable growth. There
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basic aim is to keep the brand in the minds of the customers by providing quality goods and
services. Their brand can be improved by providing quality services, developing trust and
innovation of the product. They want to invest in digital technology so that they can develop
their business plan according to technological changes.
1.3 Problem statement and rationale of the research
The identified problem for the existing research is concerned with the aspect of human
resource management as it has been analysed that there are some of the problems which are
associated with HRM process that are to be faced by an organisation. Due to which the
productivity of the company gets hampered as it is not possible for the employees of the
company to face those problems and gain competitive advantage over them. In terms of personal
perspective, investigators will learn about various research methods to collect information so that
they can implement effectively in their further research. Further, the studies by Kroon et al.
(2009) and Ogbonnaya et al. (2017) show that HRM processes and activities may cause stress,
work overload, and exhaustion which leads to enormous negative impact on employee wellbeing,
and in turn productivity. The researcher's professional outlook will also be met during the
conduct of this research as they learn about the problems faced by human resource management
and some of the ways they can mitigate those issues that they can apply in its job role.
1.4 Aims, research questions, and objectives
The studies aim is to identify the problems of human resource management and their
influence on the productivity of UK retail industry related to M & S.
Research Objectives
 To explore the concept of HRM in context of UK retail business
 To examine the current HRM practice M&S meant to increase employee wellbeing,
productivity, and retention of well skilled employees and, thereby, increase the
performance and productivity of the business.
 To discern the problems faced by HRM and their impact on the productivity of M&S.
 To identify ways for reducing problems faced by M&S’s HRM.
Research Questions
 What is the concept of HRM in context of UK retail business?
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