An Analysis of Employee Training and Development at Swarovski

This report analyzes the human resource management practices of Swarovski, a jewel manufacturing company. It identifies the declining innovation and rising manufacturing costs as key challenges, specifically focusing on the need for effective employee training and development, particularly for new sales consultants. The report highlights the importance of boutique training and analyzes the internal environment of Swarovski and its competitors. It also addresses the issue of casual and part-time employees and the lack of proper training. The methodology includes positivism as the research philosophy, a deductive approach, and qualitative data analysis using secondary data and potential primary data collection methods like questionnaires and interviews. Ethical considerations, limitations, and a research timeline are also included. The report emphasizes the need for Swarovski to address these HR issues to improve employee performance, gain a competitive edge, and increase revenue. The report concludes with a negotiation of the research issue through email correspondence to the employer, highlighting the challenges and proposing solutions.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Statement of Research issue:......................................................................................................2
Rationale of Research issue:......................................................................................................2
Ramification of the issue............................................................................................................3
Methodology:.............................................................................................................................4
Research overview:................................................................................................................4
Research Philosophy:.............................................................................................................4
Research approach:................................................................................................................4
Data Collection process:........................................................................................................5
Data Analysis Method:...........................................................................................................5
Ethical Considerations:..........................................................................................................6
Research Limitations:.............................................................................................................6
Research timeline:..................................................................................................................6
Considerations:...........................................................................................................................7
Negotiation of the Research issue:.............................................................................................8
Reference:................................................................................................................................10
Appendix..................................................................................................................................12

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Statement of Research issue:
The innovation required for the production of jewels across the world has declined in
a drastic manner. Therefore, the manufacturing cost that is required for the jewels have
declined overtime. In the case of Swarovski, a jewel manufacturing company located in
Vienna, Austria the aim is to develop jewel crystals at a cheap cost. This can be considered as
a major challenge for Swarovski (Shepherd, 2015). Hence, it is necessary that induction of
the employees be done so that training and development of the new sales consultant of the
company can take place.
In order to succeed in a falling market, it is necessary that a company like Swarovski
understand the scope that exists in the boutique training. As stated by Kirzner (2015) the
internal environment of the boutiques and jeweler manufacturing companies can be
considered as challenging mainly because it provides aspects based on the internal issues that
arise in the environment. In this regard, it can be said that for a retail company like
Swarovski, the factors that affect the internal environment involves understanding the
capabilities as well as the competencies of the employees. In this regard, it can be said that
for Swarovski an analysis of the internal environment of its competitors in other boutique
training facilities as well as its own company competence is necessary to be accessed.
Rationale of Research issue:
Another important problem that is analyzed via the report is the fact that Swarovski
employs various casual employees along with part timers in the business. This is because

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managing permanent employees is not a factor that is considered by Swarovski and thus it
can be said that rate of production as well as generation of revenue is not done in a proper
and consistent manner by the employees working part time for Swarovski. At the same time,
it is seen that due to the lack of permanent employees, proper training is not provided to the
people.
The reason behind this is that Swarovski aims at getting the best services from the
people and based on the longevity of the services derived from the employees, it is believed
that getting the maximum production from the employees is a major requirement. Therefore,
giving a proper training to these employees is a challenge that is faced by Swarovski. Lack of
training is also another reason for the lack of production in Swarovski. The employees and
the employer should be able to study and understand the requirement of training of the
employees of Swarovski.
The relationship that exists between the issue and the organization is the fact that due
to lack of proper training and development, it can be difficult for the managers of Swarovski
to continue to judge the performances of the employees. This can cause hindrance in the
performance of the company and at the same time, can be involved in gaining recognition in
the market. Thus, proper orientation, induction as well as training are required for the
employees and it is the duty of the managers to change its tactics in terms of understanding
the issue at hand.
Ramification of the issue
In order to understand the impact of training and development in retail organizations
it is necessary to take into consideration, the example of other companies that are the
competitors of Swarovski. Companies such as Briscoes and Warehouse provide employment
to permanent employees and thus investment is made on the training and development of the

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employees. At the same time, it is also necessary to consider the facts based on the manner in
which training is provided.
Namada (2018) is of the opinion that training methods such as on the job employment
is provided to each of the employees so that practical as well as theoretical knowledge can be
provided. In the case of Swarovski, the application of the on the job training as well as
classroom training can be provided that can help the employees to gain knowledge about the
work. The on the job training can be considered as suitable for the employees that are
recruited for permanent manner by Swarovski.
Methodology:
Research overview:
The focal point of the research is on the issues faced by Swarovski on the importance
related to training, induction as well as development of the employees. The research will be
done with the utilization of the philosophy of positivism. The data will be collected through
various secondary sources and the data will be analyzed with an approach of deduction,
qualitatively
Research Philosophy:
Research philosophy can be of two types. They are interpretivism and positivism.
This research will use the philosophy of positivism as this will be carried out like a scientific
research.
Research approach:
Research approaches can be of two types. They are inductive and deductive. For this
research study, the deductive method will be utilized as this research is based on the previous
concepts and will not help in developing any new theory.

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Data Collection process:
Data collection process can be of two categories. They are primary data collection
and secondary data collection (Mackey & Gass, 2015). Secondary data collection will be
used for this project because this research is based on the previous pre-existing data. Primary
method of data collection will also be used either through questionnaire or through the
process of interviews.
In the case of Swarovski, the research methodology that can be used for the analysis
includes the application of the primary research. E learning can be used to understand the
development of the employees and the training required and provided so that they can
contribute to the development of Swarovski and its performance. At the same time, the
application of blank forms can be used to understand the thoughts of the employees. The
blank forms need to be provided to the employees so that they can write the ideas and
thoughts about the organization.
Data Analysis Method:
Data analysis can be of the two categories. That is quantitative analysis and
qualitative analysis. In this case, data will be evaluated qualitatively. The data that will be
collected by using primary and secondary bases will be investigated thoroughly. Qualitative
analysis has a subjective outlook which means that in this kind of analysis, a broad
description of the data that is collected will be provided (Silverman, 2016). The data will be
analyzed in a manner which will make it easier to understand the issues that is being faced by
the company Swarovski. An in-depth analysis of all the data will be done, as the data is
collected both through primary and secondary sources and hence all the work of the authors
have to be analyzed in detailed manner which will in turn help to fulfill the objective of the
research.

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Ethical Considerations:
The ethical concern is that the data should be gathered from appropriate and reliable
theoretical sources. It is important for the researcher to comply with the ethical consideration
while doing any research. This research was done in compliance with the Data Protection Act
1998 so that the legality of the collected data is upheld in order to mitigate plagiarism. The
confidentiality and anonymity of the research is also maintained. The data has to be collected
from authentic websites. The data congregated cannot be used for other monetary purposes.
Research Limitations:
The limitations of the research are:
 Budget deficit: The budget of the research is low. Thus, the results will not be as
effective as it could have been (Flick, 2015). There could have been other research
methods that could be used but due to the constraints in the budget, other methods
were not followed. Various websites needed a certain amount of money for gaining
access but those materials couldn’t be used due to limitations in the budget.
 Time constraint: The time taken to do this research is very less and thus, the quality of
the research is affected as with more time, the research would have yielded better and
accurate results (Berthiaume et al., 2014).
Research timeline:
0-2 3-6 7-8 9-10 14th
Research
Activities
Weeks Weeks Weeks Weeks Week
selection of
Research topic


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Literature
Review

Data collection
Data analysis
Final business
Research
thesis
GANTT CHART
Considerations:
In order to resolve the issues faced by the company, the stakeholders should consider
certain factors before analyzing the situation and condition of the business. The factors that
will affect the development or the problem are the culture of the organization, characteristics
of the market that is related to the organization and the research mythological facets like the
time, budget, confidentiality and accessibility. Swarovski supports the requirements of the
managers so that training and development of each of the employees can be met
(Swarovski.com, 2019). The organization helps in the development of extensive jewels as
well as crystals that can be used for products such as optical instruments. The company has
more than 26000 employees and is situated in more than 120 countries (Swarovski.com,
2019). The large presence of the company has helped the company in reaching out to the
customers. Swarovski is situated in the countries like China, India, United States, Czech
Republic, Liechtenstein and Austria. Thus, the rules and regulations of every country vary
from each other (Swarovski.com., 2019).

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One of the considerations that can be made by Swarovski is the fact that it needs to
provide internship to its employees so that proper training can be given. The advantage of the
internship method is that Swarovski can take its time in training the employees and ensuring
that the talent acquired is put to good use. The interns can be made to complete critical tasks
and ensure that proper contribution is made for the welfare of the organization. Another
advantage is that Swarovski can ensure that minimum salary is paid to the internship without
any monetary incentives.
However, as stated by Noe et al. (2017) internship may have its disadvantages in
terms of retaining employees. If the employees are not treated properly then may leave the
internship half way and thus, can be subjected to low reputation of the organization. Thus, it
can be said that, considerations of both the advantage as well as the disadvantage of the
employees at Swarovski need to be taken into account in this case.
Negotiation of the Research issue:
The negotiation of the research issue has been carried out through an email correspondence.
To,
The employer,
Swarovski,
Subject: The issues that the company is facing
Dear ma’am /sir,
The company is facing certain problems, which cannot be overlooked for achieving
the long-term goals of the organization. The major challenge the company is facing is the
employment of casual part time employees training. This is mainly because the employees

9HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
work for less hours and thus does not have the opportunity to be trained properly. In order to
overcome this barrier, the company should take serious actions in order to improve the
historical USP of the company. Thus, the company has to enhance the facilities of production
in the various countries around the world where the company is situated. The increase in the
competition in the market is also a major threat and challenge to the company, which is
hampering the revenue generation of the company and in turn the profitability of the
company in a huge manner. In order to gain the competitive edge in the market the company
has to produce products at a cheaper cost than its competitors do. The company should also
come up with newer ideas and produce unique products that are entirely different from that of
the customers in order to increase the customer base and in turn the revenue generation. The
digital selling platforms are also causing a major concern for the growth of the company. The
digital selling platform is affecting the brand image of the company in a negative manner.
Thus, it is an earnest request to take the matters seriously and take possible actions to
overcome the barriers of the company.
Thanking you
Yours faithfully.
Date:

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Reference:
Berthiaume, G. H., Caballero, A. M., Cairns, J. A., Havens, W. H., Koziol, T. J., Stewart, J.
W., ... & Yeakley, D. D. (2014). U.S. Patent Application No. 14/158,126.
Flick, U. (2015). Introducing research methodology: A beginner's guide to doing a research
project. Sage.
Hamilton, L., & Webster, P. (2018). The international business environment. Oxford
University Press.
Kirzner, I. M. (2015). Competition and entrepreneurship. University of Chicago press.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research: Methodology and design.
Routledge.
Namada, J. M. (2018). Organizational learning and competitive advantage. In Handbook of
Research on Knowledge Management for Contemporary Business Environments (pp.
86-104). IGI Global.
Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2017). Human resource
management: Gaining a competitive advantage. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Shepherd, R. W. (2015). Theory of cost and production functions. Princeton University Press.
Silverman, D. (Ed.). (2016). Qualitative research. Sage.
Swarovski.com. (2019). Swarovski Crystal Jewellery, Accessories, Watches & Figurines.
Retrieved 31 July 2019, from https://www.swarovski.com/en_GB-NZ/

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Wolf, C., & Floyd, S. W. (2017). Strategic planning research: Toward a theory-driven
agenda. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1754-1788

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Appendix
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