Strategic Human Resource Management and Knowledge Management

The industrial revolution have changed the way that companies work in current times and the way they manage their human resources. Knowledge have become an important part of organisations and the way that the knowledge is managed by the employees is of utmost importance to them. The human resource management of the company should be strategically aligned with the knowledge of the organisation to give them the desired success. Proper technology has to be adopted by the companies so that they can meet their desired goals.

Running head: HRM STRATEGY
HRM STRATEGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Research Journal for Week 5: HR in an International Context
Word Count: 750 (excluding reference list)
Abstract:
International human resource management is the way that human resources are
obtained, assigned and used in different organisational setting. The whole objective of IHRM
is to make sure that the employees are able to comfortably operate in the internal
organisations. It is the job of the HR to ensure that the employees do not face any conflicts in
their tenure of working in any internal firm. There have been tremendous changes in the field
of international human resources in the past years. Several countries have different policies
for their human resources practices which the employees need to adhere to so that they can
grow in the international firms.
Synthesis:
The majority of the research is present about the effects that IHRM has on the several
practices adopted by enterprises established in developed countries. Based on this Gomes et
al. (2015) states the different practices of human resource management in developing
countries such as India and others. The Indians are said to be replicating the ways of the
western countries in their approach to human resources management and the practices that
they conduct in the field. The process of recruitment and selection have also seen several
changes depending on the benefits that it offers to the country. Different countries have
different was that they approach their field of human resources. According to Al Ariss et al.
(2014) South Korea depends on their past practices to shape the future of the present HRM
scenario. However, the country has gone through several changes economically which has
forced it to change the ways that it approaches HRM in different firms. The country had to
then build new relations between the government and the enterprises so that the practices of

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the business were able to align with the government policies regarding the practices.
Determining the economic condition of the country is very important for an enterprise so that
the business does not fail in the country.
Jackson, Schuler and Jiang (2014) discusses about the different political,
technological, economic, socio-cultural and legal changes that have occurred in different
countries which have created a huge impact on the HRM of every country ultimately leading
to an interdependency between the countries policies and the HRM practices. Albrecht et al.
(2015) further discusses about the several instances that international HRM have helped the
countries to positively grow in their economic conditions through the recruitment of talents
who work for the development of the organisation as well as contributes to the economy of
the country. People who possess the proper skills and knowledge about the country that the
organisation operates in will help the company with a deeper understanding if the views of
the local people.
Alfes et al. (2013) also states that international human resource management also
faces several issues that are evident in the international context and organisations should
adopt those practices which can be helpful in eradicating those issues. In the context of
international HRM the companies should also have a good understanding about the culture
and the values of the people of the country that they are based in. The employees who are
derived from the locality can contribute to the understanding of the company and help them
to function in the right way and form strategies which will be for their own benefit.
Therefore, internal HRM can help to get a deeper understanding about the way that the
functions should be aligned to the goals of the company.

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Managerial Implications:
The most common example of an organisation that deals with HRM in an
international context is Coca Cola according to me. Coca Cola is a multinational company
who deals with beverages and operates in more than 200 countries all around the world
(Coca-cola.com, 2018). They have a huge expertise in the concept of IHRM. Coca cola has to
adopt ways for the operation in both local and international markets and adhere to the needs
of both groups of people. The most important concept for coca cola is globalization which
they integrate in their HR context as well. They aim to employ the local people in every
country so that they do not have to spend more time and money on the training about the
culture and the views of the countries. Instead they focus more on the training and
development of the skills of their employees so that they are able to perform better and
contribute their own knowledge and views as well to help in the success and the development
process of the company.
References:
Al Ariss, A., Cascio, W. F., & Paauwe, J. (2014). Talent management: Current theories and
future research directions. Journal of World Business, 49(2), 173-179.
Albrecht, S. L., Bakker, A. B., Gruman, J. A., Macey, W. H., & Saks, A. M. (2015).
Employee engagement, human resource management practices and competitive
advantage: An integrated approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People
and Performance, 2(1), 7-35.
Alfes, K., Shantz, A. D., Truss, C., & Soane, E. C. (2013). The link between perceived
human resource management practices, engagement and employee behaviour: a
moderated mediation model. The international journal of human resource
management, 24(2), 330-351.

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Coca-cola.com. (2018). Coca-Cola Global. Retrieved from http://www.coca-cola.com/global/
Gomes, E., Sahadev, S., Glaister, A. J., & Demirbag, M. (2015). A comparison of
international HRM practices by Indian and European MNEs: evidence from
Africa. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 26(21), 2676-
2700.
Jackson, S. E., Schuler, R. S., & Jiang, K. (2014). An aspirational framework for strategic
human resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 1-56.

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Research Journal for Week 6: Ethics, CSR & Sustainability
Word Count: 750 (excluding reference list)
Abstract:
There have always been a relationship between the corporate and the society and with
the coming years there have been several changes in those relationships. This has given rise
to many concepts such as corporate social responsibility, sustainability and others which
defines the different strategies that are adopted by organisations for the benefit of the society.
The intention of every organisation has always been to run their operations profitably but
without harming the society and its population. For this to happen the company has to adhere
to certain ethical practices which can be good for both the company and the society.
Synthesis:
Companies have paid major attention to the concept of ethics and sustainability to the
society but mainly under the banner of corporate social responsibility. Organisations have
always contributed a portion of their profits for the betterment of the society. Perera and
Chaminda (2013) states four levels of CSR in the form of a pyramid stated by Carroll which
depicts the different building blocks of the CSR concept. The initial stage of the pyramid is
the economic responsibilities of the company which the company has towards the society and
is required by the people. This is the responsibility that is mandatory for the company to fulfil
towards the society. The next stage of the pyramid are the legal responsibilities of the
company where they must obey the laws of the state or country that they are operating in. The
third stage are the ethical responsibilities of the company which is not a mandatory step but is
always expected by the society. In this stage the company must not do any harm to the people
and should practice in ways which are ethical and fair. The last stage of the pyramid are the
philanthropic responsibilities of the company which states that the company should be a part

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of the society that they are operating in and be a good citizen like the other people of the
society.
As further stated by Choi and Yu (2014) organisations should look beyond these four
steps and also fulfil the external responsibilities of the society such as protecting the
environment and maintain their relationship with the stakeholder. Moreover, it is also seen
that these practices could have an impact on the attitude and the behaviour of the employees
of the organisation. Ethical practices often put a positive impact on the perception of the
employees and motivate them to work harder in an ethical way. Baumgartner (2014) proposes
that sustainability is also a way of creating value for the company and the society. This is
because the company has to make several savings for making the society ecologically
efficient. The investments that they would make at the beginning would help them to gain
value and profits in the future as eco efficiency is of value to the company as well. This
means that adopting sustainable, ethical and responsible practices would not only benefit the
society but will also help in developing the company.
Servaes and Tamayo (2013) moreover proposes that CSR and sustainability practices
can help to contribute in the success of the business as they will be able to gain a competitive
edge over the other players in the business. These practices helps in shaping the corporate
behaviour of the organisations which will help them in the long run.
However, there have been several arguments to the concept of CSR and the benefit
that it has for the companies. Schaltegger and Burritt (2018) suggests that there have been
many speculations regarding the alignment of business practices to that of the social
responsibility practices and whether these practices do in reality contribute to the profitability
of the business. It also further states that the economic performance of the company may be
affected by the corporate practices and not always for the better.

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Managerial Implications:
To critically understand the concept of CSR, sustainability and ethics, I have divulged
into the CSR practices of Deloitte. Deloitte is an accounting organisation and has one of the
largest network for professional services in the field of revenue and employees a huge
number of professionals (Deloitte.com, 2018). The CSR practices of Deloitte involves in the
sector of the environment and involving the people of the communities around them. Deloitte
have always strived to give back to the society because of whom they were able to get their
profits. Their CSR strategy is to partner with different organisations of the community and
the people of the company into volunteering for the CSR activities every year.
References:
Baumgartner, R. J. (2014). Managing corporate sustainability and CSR: A conceptual
framework combining values, strategies and instruments contributing to sustainable
development. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental
Management, 21(5), 258-271.
Choi, Y., & Yu, Y. (2014). The influence of perceived corporate sustainability practices on
employees and organizational performance. Sustainability, 6(1), 348-364.
Deloitte.com. (2018). Corporate Responsibility. Retrieved from
https://www2.deloitte.com/ie/en/pages/about-deloitte/articles/corporate-social-
responsibility-report.html
Perera, L. C. R., & Chaminda, J. W. D. (2013). Corporate social responsibility and product
evaluation: The moderating role of brand familiarity. Corporate Social Responsibility
and Environmental Management, 20(4), 245-256.

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Schaltegger, S., & Burritt, R. (2018). Business cases and corporate engagement with
sustainability: Differentiating ethical motivations. Journal of Business Ethics, 147(2),
241-259.
Servaes, H., & Tamayo, A. (2013). The impact of corporate social responsibility on firm
value: The role of customer awareness. Management science, 59(5), 1045-1061.

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Research Journal for Week 8: SHRM & Knowledge Management
Word Count: 750 (excluding reference list)
Abstract:
The industrial revolution have changed the way that companies work in current times
and the way they manage their human resources. Knowledge have become an important part
of organisations and the way that the knowledge is managed by the employees is of utmost
importance to them. The human resource management of the company should be strategically
aligned with the knowledge of the organisation to give them the desired success. Proper
technology has to be adopted by the companies so that they can meet their desired goals.
Management of the organisational knowledge is mandatory and hence this becomes a part of
strategic human resource management as it needs to be understood by the employees of the
organisation.
Synthesis:
Alegre, Sengupta and Lapiedra (2013) defines knowledge management as the sharing
and storage of wisdom and expertise which is present in an organisation in their operations
and techniques that they have adopted with the years. They propose that it is important for the
organisations to manage their knowledge that they have gained over the years as they can
become a competitive advantage for them. This knowledge should not be available to the
outside sources as this might lead to the loss of the company’s secrets. Technology should
also be used by the companies to manage this information as it is unique to every different
company. Knowledge management is also not a new concept since this has been existent in
family businesses for centuries where the older generation have passed on their business
secret to the newer generations who have taken the reigns of the companies. However, in

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current times this has become a more strategic concept. Afiouni (2013) proposes that
knowledge management is not only necessary for the organisation but also for its employees.
This is because each employee possesses certain skills and knowledge which are unique and
can be used for the development and benefit of the company. This knowledge of the
employees is derived from their education, personal experiences and background which
should be channelized and managed in the right way.
Fu (2015) discusses that knowledge management is very critical to the success of
every firm. The input of this knowledge happens amongst the staff who produces the output
by providing good quality client services. New ideas can be developed by the staff to give
new results to the client and peak their interest level. It also helps to retain the older clients
and gain new ones which will be successful and profitable for their business. Fındıklı, Yozgat
and Rofcanin (2015) further proves this in his research by stating that strategic human
resource is largely related to the concept of knowledge management as the employees play a
big role in the process. The author points out four concepts of knowledge management which
if connected together would help to gain proper insights and derive success. These four
components are technology, people, process and knowledge. Knowledge is the most
important part of the management, people being the second as they are the sources through
which the knowledge is derived.
Abd Rahman et al. (2013) specifies the importance of proper training facilities
for the employees of an organisation so that they are able to make better use of their
knowledge and this knowledge should be out to use by the organisation. SHRM becomes an
important part of knowledge management as it is important to align the three components
together to get the desired results which is the job of the SHRM aspect. The components are
the organisation goals, the employees and the knowledge. Proper training and skill

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development would help the employees to understand their full potential which they will be
able to use for the god of the organisation.
Managerial Implications:
To understand the relation between SHRM and knowledge management, I have taken
the example of Infosys which is an information technology company with a huge employee
base (Infosys.com). The company has an internal market for knowledge which is known as
K-Shop. This market is placed within the organisation and is used to purchase and sell
knowledge. The employees of the company can submit their research on any topics, their
experiences of the projects that are being handled by them and several other kinds of
knowledge that they incur on a daily basis through a website that is set up by the company.
These submitted documents are then reviewed by experts and published. A currency unit
known as knowledge currency unit or KCUs which is paid by every reader who uses the
document for informational purpose.
References:
Abd Rahman, A., Imm Ng, S., Sambasivan, M., & Wong, F. (2013). Training and
organizational effectiveness: moderating role of knowledge management
process. European Journal of Training and Development, 37(5), 472-488.
Afiouni, F. (2013). Human capital management: a new name for HRM?. International
Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, 10(1), 18-34.
Alegre, J., Sengupta, K., & Lapiedra, R. (2013). Knowledge management and innovation
performance in a high-tech SMEs industry. International Small Business
Journal, 31(4), 454-470.

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Fındıklı, M. A., Yozgat, U., & Rofcanin, Y. (2015). Examining organizational innovation and
knowledge management capacity the central role of strategic human resources
practices (SHRPs). Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 181, 377-387.
Fu, N. (2015). The role of relational resources in the knowledge management capability and
innovation of professional service firms. human relations, 68(5), 731-764.
Infosys.com. (2018). Navigate your next. Retrieved from https://www.infosys.com/