Human Resource Management Report: Arcadia Group Case Study Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) within the Arcadia Group, a multinational retailing company. It begins by examining Arcadia's organizational structure, identifying it as functional and discussing its influence on staff motivation. The report then applies Cameron and Quinn's organizational culture model, concluding that a Clan Culture is most suitable for Arcadia. Following this, it explores the impact of different management styles, specifically highlighting the benefits of a democratic approach in fostering employee motivation. Finally, the report emphasizes the importance of training and development as a primary HR function within Arcadia, outlining its significance in addressing employee weaknesses, improving performance, and driving organizational growth. The report also mentions the training methods used by Arcadia including formal and on-the-job training. The analysis draws upon various academic sources to support its findings and conclusions.

UNDERSTANDING HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
1. The organisational structure of Arcadia and how does its structure influence staff
motivation...................................................................................................................................1
2. Using Cameron and Quinn's 1999 model of organisational
culture asses the type of culture for Arcadia..............................................................................2
3. Explain how the
management style in the Arcadia influences employee motivation...........................................3
4. The importance of training and development as a
primary HR function for the Arcadia Group ............................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................4
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................5

INTRODUCTION
A Human Resource Manager is responsible for three major activities i.e. staffing,
employees’ benefits and designing work. Arcadia Group Ltd is a retailing multinational company
in London, UK. The company has more than 2500 outlets in the UK, selling high street clothing,
accessories and shoes. This group was founded in 2002, owned by Taveta Investments.
Human resource management (HRM) is an activity of recruiting, hiring and managing
employees in an organisation (Albrecht and Saks, 2015). The present report will provide
knowledge about Human Resource Management, of Arcadia Group. further the way
organisational structure influences the staff will be explained. Further, using Cameron and
Quinn's 1999 model of organisational culture, assessment of the type of culture for Arcadia will
be done. And lastly, this report will cover importance of training and development as a
Primary HR functions of Arcadia.
1. Organisational structure of Arcadia and how does its structure influence staff motivation
An organisational structure includes activities such as allocation of task, coordination,
direction and supervision to achieve organisational goals. A company's organisational structure
must be flexible, efficient in order to attain its aim. There are different types of organisational
structures i.e. functional, divisional and matrix.
The organisational structure of Arcadia group is:
 Functional: - Functional Structure is the division of organisation into smaller groups
with specified tasks and roles. For example, these groups are divided as marketing,
finance, outlets management etc. Each group has a manager who is answerable to an
executive on an upper level in the hierarchy (Banerjee and Srivastava, 2017). In
functional organisational structure, communication can be rigid because of systematic
business operations. Functional organisational structure builds a level of confidence in
employees; they feel more secure in their jobs.
2. Using Cameron and Quinn's 1999 model of organisational culture asses the type of culture for
Arcadia
Cameron and Quinn's 1999 model of organisational culture
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 Clan Culture: Organisation focuses on providing care to people, flexibility (5 Main
Types of Organisation Structure, 2017).
 Hierarchy: under this, an organisation focuses on internal maintenance with a need of
steadiness and control.
 Adhocracy: It focuses on external maintenance with flexibility.
 Market: reputation and success is important.
According to “Cameron and Quinn's 1999 model of organisational culture”, the best
culture which will suit Arcadia will be Clan Culture, as it's a friendly working environment.
Members in Arcadia share a lot in common and are one big family who are proactive. Leaders
focus on mentoring and doing things together. The aim of Arcadia is a long-term human resource
development (Schoar and Zuo, 2017). Success in this culture is defined as fulfilling the
requirements of clients and care for people. Clan structure help in influencing customers because
company used to provide support and flexibility to employees which motivate them toward the
work.
3. How the management style in Arcadia influences employee motivation
Management style refers to the way a manager plan and organise work, make decisions
and exercise control. These styles vary from individual-to-individual, management level and
company. One who can adjust their management style according to the situation and workers is a
good manager.
Different types of management styles are as follows:
 Autocratic: this management is the most dominant style. All decisions of an organisation
are taken in the work place by manager itself. They do not consider employees’ ideas and
contribution necessary.
 Democratic: in democratic management, managers make decisions using employees
input but are responsible for taking final decision. Ideas and efforts of employees are
taken while making decision
 Laissez-faire: there is no interference from management in this type of management
style. The workers do not need any directions and are highly skilled.
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On the basis of above explanation, the best style that suits Arcadia Group is Democratic
style. Because in Arcadia, diversified aspects are involved in decision making, as workers are
given more value over manager in making decisions. The employees feel special which increases
their motivation. This management style develop trust and confidence in employees. In Arcadia,
the workers work together to make decisions as a group. This increases their motivation and
productivity (Bell, and Kraiger, 2017).
4. Importance of training and development as a primary HR function for the Arcadia Group
One of the key HR functions is training and development. Training means an activity
aimed in improving and developing skills and knowledge in an employee to increase employee's
performances.
Importance of training and development as a primary HR function for Arcadia are as follows:
 Addressing weakness: not every employee company hire is perfect, every employee has
certain weaknesses. Arcadia strengthens their employee's skills by training, assigning
task to them. The importance is that employees working in Arcadia work hard to stand
on their expectations through attending training and development program
 Performance improvement: once the weaknesses of employees turn into strengths and
they gain knowledge about the work, improves their performance and they understand
better about their tasks through attending training and development program.
 Growth: the main aim of Arcadia is development and growth . Achievement of growth
can be possible when all the workforce of an organisation become highly skilled through
attaining training and development programm. (Morgan and Vorhies, 2018).
Training methods of Arcadia: - there are two methods that Arcadia uses to train its
managers and employees. One is through formal training and second is on -job-training. On the -
job-training is very important as the employees learn while carrying out their works.On the other
side in off the job training method, training is provided to employees away from the location of
the job.
CONCLUSION
From this report of understanding human resource management, it is concluded that
human resource management is concerned with recruitment, hiring staffing etc. The
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organisational culture of Arcadia Group is functional structure as the company is divided into
different groups for specified tasks and it has positive impact on employee's motivation.
Further, it concluded that Clan Culture in the organisational culture is the best suited for
Arcadia Group and further it considered as the best management style for the cited firm. Lastly,
this report concluded that how training and development in HR function are important for
Arcadia.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Albrecht, S. L., and 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). pp.7-35.
Banerjee, S. and Srivastava, D., 2017. Innovation, Organisational Structure, and Culture: Its
Impact and Linkage on Organization-A Review. International Journal of Civic Engagement
and Social Change (IJCESC). 4(1). pp.1-22.
Schoar, A. and Zuo, L., 2017. Shaped by booms and busts: How the economy impacts CEO
careers and management styles. The Review of Financial Studies, 30(5). pp.1425-1456.
Bell, B. S., and Kraiger, K., 2017. 100 years of training and development research: What we
know and where we should go. Journal of Applied Psychology. 102(3). p.305.
Morgan, N. A. and Vorhies, D. W., 2018. The Business Performance Outcomes of Market
Orientation Culture and Behaviors. In Innovation and Strategy (pp. 255-282). Emerald
Publishing Limited.
Online
5 Main Types of Organisation Structure, 2017 [Online] Available through: <
http://www.businessmanagementideas.com/organisation-structure/5-main-types-of-
organisation-structure/3448>.
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