Human Resource Management Strategies and Practices in eBay

This study material explores the HRM strategies and practices in eBay, including the impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan, job designing strategies, hiring and firing strategies, and good HR practices. It also discusses various HR models and their values for the firm.

Human Resource Management

Table of Content.
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Discussion on the ways of modifications or change in HR strategies ........................................1
Impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan of eBay..............................................5
Use of HR model and its values for the firm...............................................................................5
Using Storey's 27 points of difference between human resource management and personnel
management as a benchmark in context with the firm................................................................7
Job designing strategies of eBay................................................................................................10
Analysation of job design in Ebay Company:...........................................................................10
Hiring and firing strategies of ebay during this period .............................................................11
corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify your stand.......11
Recommendation to employee regarding HRM practices.........................................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................12
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Human resource management may be defined as the practices of recruiting, hiring,
employing, and deploying as well as managing human resources within an organisation. Human
resource management are responsible for forming and implementing various policies of workers
within an organisation. Human resources are considered as a crucial part of company and an
asset to it. People involved in human resources are the one who directly carries out the
operations of a company. Aims of human resources is to make effective use of different
employees working with an organisation, reducing the risk that are may affect the organisation,
and maximise the returns on investment. The project includes analysation of eBay which is a
multinational e-commerce organisation based in San Jose, California which provides consumer-
to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales via its website. eBay was founded in 1995, and
currently operating business in about 32 countries (eBay, 2022). The project contains various
HRM models and analyse the impact of environmental factors on culture as well as HR plan. IT
describes HR model and state its value. In addition, it analyse strategies of job designing and
various strategies of hiring and firing. Furthermore, it includes examples for justification in
relation to the good HR practice and literature.
MAIN BODY
Discussion on the ways of modifications or change in HR strategies
Models of Human resources explain role of human resources within an organisation.
Human resource model allows to explain the roles of HR and add values to the organisation. A
few human resources models in context with eBay are as follow:
Fombrun Model: The Fombrun model of human resource management emphasis on
various management functions and the interrelations between them that occur within an
organisation such as development, rewards, appraisals etc. The model explains nature and
significance of difference activities of human resources (Eisape, 2019).
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Illustration 1 Fombrun Model
The Harvard Model: The Harvard model includes six important components of HRM
that are stake holders interests, situational factors, HRM policy, HR outcomes, long term
consequences, and feedbacks.
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Illustration 2: The harvard model

The Guest Model: The guest model focuses on assumptions of HR manager, to begin
strategies with. The Model demands certain practices whose execution is responsible for a
certain outcome. The model emphasize on six components: human resources strategies,
practices, outcomes, behavioural outcomes, results of performance and financial consequences.\
The Warwick Model: The Warwick model centres around five elements, that are macro
environmental forces, micro environmental forces, business strategy content, HRM context, and
HRM content. This model identifies and classifies the important environment that influences
HRM.
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Illustration 3: Guest model of HRM

Changes in the strategies of HR policies
Changes are required in an organisation for its effective growth asChanges in the
strategies of HR policies well as for the involvement of its employee. eBay acquired changes in
its HR policies to run smooth business in every situation such as the pandemic one, the changes
undergone are (Collings and et. al., 2021):
Work from home flexibility: Lots of employees raised concern regarding their working
in pandemic period, so eBay provided them flexibility to work from home.
Technology dependency: To manage data of employees, novel technologies are required
to manage informations related to their attendance, leave, and other related things (HILL, 2022).
Leave policies: eBay announced new paid family and medical leave policies that offer up
to 12 paid weeks of full pay paternal leaves and 24 weeks of full pay maternity leaves. In
addition, eBay increased its disability leave to first 12 week of disability to fully paid (Fei, Jiang
and Xing, 2020).
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Illustration 4: The warwick model

Impact of environmental factors on culture and HR plan of eBay
HRM consist of different activities that are planned for a group of people such as
procuring, maintaining, processing, and utilizing. There are several factors that may have an
impact over culture as well as on the plan of human resources of firm. Impact of such
environmental factors on culture and Human resources plan of eBay are:
Political factors: Political factors may have an impact over business growth. After
pandemic, the situation of work is changed. A majority of work within eBay is managed within
virtual environment. Government has made several policies regarding work for COVID
precautions. Plan of human resources in an organisation also create changes to make a plan in
accordance to it.
Economical factors: Economical factors have an impact over the financial status of the
organisation. Due to pandemic period, economical condition of country faced a recession. Such
recession had a impact over demand and purchasing power of consumers. eBay developed a
culture to create demand of their products among people.
Social factors: There is an increase in awareness of people regarding their health after
pandemic, this directly have an effect over business. Changes in perspectives of people and the
employees have bought a change in their preferences. As employees now are preferring work
from home and a flexibility in their working hours.
Technological factors: Technology advancement create an impact over culture of the
organisation. After pandemic situation, advancement in technology and software is in demand to
manage effective working of employees virtually. Advance technology improves speed of work
and quality of work and helps an organisation to track the working, attendance, and leave of the
people working.
Other factors: Increase in the competition in market, increases the demand of skilled
employees. It creates an impact on culture and plan of HR in eBay. Organisation needs to make
changes that can help them to look for skilled employees. HR needs to create such strategies, that
allow them to attract new trained, skilled and qualified personnels and retain the working
experienced ones.
Use of HR model and its values for the firm
Out of four HR models, the Warwick human resource management model is the one that
maps the connect between external factors and environmental factors. The Warwick model was
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developed by Hendry and Pettigrew, who were researches at Warwick university. The model
explores that how human resource management adapts to change in such factors. The model
more specifically, identifies and classifies the environmental influences that are affecting human
resource management. The model supplies the context and content in which human resource
management take place. Human resource management practices are more effective when these
factors are taken into account (Pattanayak, 2020). The elements and sub elements of Warwick
model are:
Outer context (macro environmental forces): Includes factors like Socio- economic,
technical, political-legal, and competitive factors.
Inner context (firm specific or micro environmental forces): includes factors like
culture, structure, politics/leadership, task technology, business outputs.
Business strategy context: include factors like objectives, product marketing, strategies
and tactics.
Human resource management Context: include factors such as role of individual,
definition, organization, and human resource outputs.
Human resource management content: include factors such as human resources flows,
work systems of organisation, reward systems, and employee relations.
The Warwick model is helpful for eBay due to multiple valuable reasons, that are:
Warwick model helps in making out the connections in ebay between inner context or micro
environment factors like culture, structure, politics, task technologies, business outputs and outer
context or macro environmental forces like socio economic, technical, political-legal and
competitive factors.
 The model allow eBay to acquire changes in the organisation in order to be in
competitive field in market.
 It is important to adopt changes in a business.
 This model is the one which helps the firm to plan certain business strategies.
 The model helps the firm to adapt learning and align internal and external factors together
for getting success.
 The Warwick model identifies and classifies the important environmental factors that are
influencing human resource management.
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 Alignment of internal and external context in an organisation will achieve performance
and growth of the firm.
Using Storey's 27 points of difference between human resource management and personnel
management as a benchmark in context with the firm
Management in employees: It can be described as maintaining satisfied workforce.
Personnel management is a part of management which is associated with the employees at work
and their relationships with and within organisation. Personnel management is considered as
planning, compensating, organising, and integrating people for their contribution in organisation.
Human resource management: Human resource management is the practice of hiring,
recruiting, managing, and employing the employees of organisation. Human resources are
responsible for making and improving policies of work within an organisation. They help people
at workplace to manage in order attain mission. It helps the firm to hire new skilled employees to
attain goals of the company (Aini, Solihin and Muda, 2021).
Believes and assumption: Personnels management and human resources management
are crucial for every organisation especially the one like eBay. These two terms consist of
different believes and assumptions that are important for an organisation. Personnel management
is rule separating while human resource management looks for various rules and regulations
within an organisation. Behaviour of personnel management is based on customers whereas
behaviour of human resource management is based on values and missions. Guide to
management in personal management is procedures whereas in human resource management it is
business need. Conflicts in personnel management is institutionalized whereas in human resource
management it is de emphasized.
Aspect of strategies: Human resource management is quite different from personnel
management on the basis of aspect of strategies. Personnels management is related with labour
management and human resources management is related with customers.
Line management: personnel management is different from human resource
management in aspects of line management. Personnel managers are required to adopt
transactional leadership whereas human resources managers are required to adopt
transformational leadership. Communication in personal management is direct whereas it is
indirect in human resource management. Hire standardisation is considered in personnel
management whereas it is considered low in human resource management.
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Key levers: selection of employees is separate in personal management whereas it is
marginal in human resource management. Personnel management provide pay on job basis
whereas human resource management provide it on the basis of performance.
E.Analyse the job design strategies of the chosen firm
Analysation of job design in Ebay Company:
Job analysis of design is a term in which, the process of analysing the occupation or job into it's
component of organizational structure, work activities, skills and information regarding content.
Whereas job design is takes care of performance of the organisation, division of work and task
completion
Enlargement of Job: Job enlargement is a approach in which adding the more task, additional
activities with the same level of job role and require similar skills and content of work is
different with adding more responsibilities to a employer, It helps a Ebay manager to increase
satisfaction of employer, increases quality of work and decreasing the cost of employees (Haffer,
Haffer and Morrow, 2021).
Ebay used this approach for increment of work and engaging of employers.
Enrichment of Job: Job enlargement is focuses on adding task, where job enrichment works on
to motivational dimension, Where leader of a organisation can motivates to the employers to
achieve their goals and task. It is basically similar to the job enlargement. Ebay can used this
approach as to motivated the employees towards their goals (Demerouti, Peeters and Heuvel,
2019).
Rotation of Job: Job rotation is a approach, where moving of employees one job to the other job
in the same organization, where no additional skills are required, employees have gain variety of
skills through different experiences this can makes more interest of employs into the
organization. Under this the employees move from one job to another in order to add some
change or variety while performing the task. Along with it, this it has some drawbacks too that is
the cost can get increased. Ebay used this approach as to replacement of employees while
absence, to provides the potential of new roles. It can also use this approach as reducing
monotony (Ho and et.al.., 2020).
Simplification of Job: Job simplification is the approach where, Ebay manager broke the job
into smaller parts for increases the productivity of employees and also reduces the work pressure,
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to achieving the goal or task. This approach is basically to create a more focused on achieving
the task.
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Illustration 5:
Using Storey's 27 points of difference between human resource management and
personnel management as a benchmark in context with the firm

Job designing strategies of eBay
Analysation of job design in Ebay Company:
Job analysis of design is a term in which, the process of analysing the occupation or job into it's
component of organizational structure, work activities, skills and information regarding content.
Whereas job design is takes care of performance of the organisation, division of work and task
completion.
Enlargement of Job: Job enlargement is a approach in which adding the more task, additional
activities with the same level of job role and require similar skills and content of work is
different with adding more responsibilities to a employer, It helps a Ebay manager to increase
satisfaction of employer, increases quality of work and decreasing the cost of employees (Haffer,
Haffer and Morrow, 2021).
Ebay used this approach for increment of work and engaging of employers.
Enrichment of Job: Job enlargement is focuses on adding task, where job enrichment works on
to motivational dimension, Where leader of a organisation can motivates to the employers to
achieve their goals and task. It is basically similar to the job enlargement. Ebay can used this
approach as to motivated the employees towards their goals (Demerouti, Peeters and Heuvel,
2019).
Rotation of Job: Job rotation is a approach, where moving of employees one job to the other job
in the same organization, where no additional skills are required, employees have gain variety of
skills through different experiences this can makes more interest of employs into the
organization. Under this the employees move from one job to another in order to add some
change or variety while performing the task. Along with it, this it has some drawbacks too that is
the cost can get increased. Ebay used this approach as to replacement of employees while
absence, to provides the potential of new roles. It can also use this approach as reducing
monotony (Ho and et.al.., 2020).
Simplification of Job: Job simplification is the approach where, Ebay manager broke the job
into smaller parts for increases the productivity of employees and also reduces the work pressure,
to achieving the goal or task. This approach is basically to create a more focused on achieving
the task.
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Hiring and firing strategies of ebay during this period
There are a majority of talented peoples are present in the market which will help in company
growth. So, there is need to develop a effective hiring strategies for business growth. While
developing the strategies for effective hiring, there is need to consider the resources, cost and
benefits to use of resources. The manager of human resource spend a lot of time in order to train
and developing employee effectively for business growth. Some of the hiring strategies followed
by ebay is mentioned :
Skill sets- It is important to analysing the skills while hiring. The human resource of the ebay
must check out some skills in person such as communication skills,listening skills etc in order
to understand the efficiency of employees (Dinger and Wade, 2022).
Work experience- while hiring, the human-resources must check the work experience of the
employee in order to understand that their work environment is suitable or benificial for
company growth.
Compatibility- The ebay hiring their employee on the basis of checking compatibility with the
team member. In this employees are analyse by checking compatibility of doing work with team
or other members (Conaty, Bird and Ross, 2018).
The termination of employment means end of an employees work with the organisation or
company. It is the process of ending the employee work officially at the company. Some of the
firing or termination strategies followed by ebay is mentioned as:
follow the company law- As it is one of the main reason for termination of employment in the
ebay. It is essential to stay within the company laws, as some employee do not follow the law
then get terminated from the company.
Confidentiality- Maintaining the company's document confidential is important for employee
otherwise get terminated at the company. As terminating employee is never easy, there are need
to handle conflicts free (Faley, 2021).
G. Corporate examples of firms using good HR practices and literature to justify the stand
The HR practises are defined as the Human resource routine activities which are implemented by
the chosen company with the aim to bring overall development of employees and the company.
Some of the HR practise are explained below-
 Another essential way to keep the workplace happy is essential in order to keep the
employees motivated so that they feel connected with the company and contribute more
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to it. In relation E-bay, it also makes sure to keep the employees happy for a long time so
that the level of productivity can be enhanced.
 The employees must be rewarded on the basis of their performance and that is a good
way to keep them involved in the operations of the company. In context of E-bay, they
assign bonus in such a way that the employees get rewarded.
 Another good HR practise is by providing 360-degree feedback in which a constructive
feedback is provided to the employees so that they can further improve their way of
performance at the workplace. That is why, E-Bay makes sure to provide a process in
which the employees are provided proper feedback from the management so that the
customers will be served well.
 In addition to the above points, another one of the crucial practise is to keep the
employees properly trained that can be done by providing them proper training. The
employees of E-Bay are given various type of training for instance soft skills training and
technical training.
Recommendation to employee regarding HRM practices
From above mentioned discussion, it can be recommended to employee of Ebay to
maintain effective communication in the organisation. It can help in exchanging idea, thoughts
opinion and knowledge. It also can help in reducing communication gap between employees.
Good communication help on improve relationship of employee and it provide the ability to
convey information effectively and efficiently(Nart and et. al., 2019).
It is also suggested to managers of Ebay to delegate responsibility and success of
employee effectively which help to motivate employee. Manager should conduct timely
performance evaluation, monitoring performance and initiating action to strengthen result.
Manager can plan for future and have a goal for organisation. It become more important in
pandemic covid 19 situation as employee to work in pandemic circumstances and work from
home contingencies. Covid 19 forced most of the participants to change the way of work during
pandemic. In the pandemic it is difficult to monitoring staff progress. The solution of this
condition that the use of regular check-ins to maintain communication between team members.
This is important for motivation of employee and communicate with employee(Carnevale and
Hatak, 2020).
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I advice to employee to take participate in match task and skills development programs.
Employee should also take participate in training and group discussion. These are help in to
increase in skills, knowledge and help in to stay up to date. There can help in improve in quality
of skills and productivity of organisation(Gope, Elia and Passiante, 2018).
It is also recommended to manager that they keep clear goals and make plans for
company. Manager become a good leader for employee and communicate with every one.
Manager need to share their planning and goals of company to the employees.
CONCLUSION
The conclusion that can be derived from the above discussions mentioned in the report
are any organisation can not function efficiently without the human resource function. The above
report focused on the various essential activities involved in a business management like
recruiting, deploying, and maintenance of the hired staff. It mentions the importance of
practising healthy relations between the management and the employees for ensuring employee
satisfaction and in order to improve their performance. The professionals of human resource
department can make use of various models for effective performing their jobs, some of which
are Fombrun model, harvard and guest model. These models helps the professional for strategic
management of human resource department. Flexible working environment and promoting use of
recent technologies also ensure efficient management of human resource department. There are
various factors that contribute in maintaining a healthy environment for the employees to work.
These factors include the political, technological, economical and social factors which helps in
maintaining a balance between the formal and informal work cultures in a work place. The most
common model adopted by various companies is the Warwick HRM model and some common
job design strategies are job enhancement, diversification, enhancement and simplification
strategies.
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Online Source:
eBay, 2022 [Online] Available through: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBay>
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