HRM Practices in Samsung and ASDA: A Detailed Case Study Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Human Resource Management (HRM) practices, focusing on case studies of Samsung and ASDA. The report begins by outlining the purpose and functions of HRM, including recruitment, selection, training, and legal compliance. It then evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment and selection approaches, comparing internal and external recruitment strategies. The report further examines the benefits of various HRM practices, such as training and development and reward management, for both employees and employers. The effectiveness of these practices is discussed, along with the importance of employee relations and key elements of employment legislation. Specific examples of HRM applications in a work-related context are provided, offering insights into how these practices are implemented in real-world scenarios. The report concludes with a summary of the key findings and recommendations for effective HRM strategies.

Human Resource
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
ACTINITY 1....................................................................................................................................1
P1 Purpose and functions of HRM:............................................................................................1
P2 Strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment and selection approaches:.....................3
ACTIVITY 2....................................................................................................................................5
P3 Benefits of HRM practises for employees and employers:...................................................5
P4 Effectiveness of different HRM practices:............................................................................6
ACTIVITY 3....................................................................................................................................7
P5 Importance of employee relations in respect of HRM decision-making:..............................8
P6 Key elements of employment legislation and its impacts upon HRM decision-making:......9
ACTIVITY 4..................................................................................................................................10
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific
examples....................................................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION .............................................................................................................................13
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................14

INTRODUCTION
In an organization, two elements are necessary to derive the business successfully which
are; Human and material. Human is the element that convert the material into such a product or
service that can provide economic benefits for the company hence proper management and
control over human resources is necessary. For this purpose, human resource management
operation take place within the organization that is liable to recruit and select employees, provide
orientation and induction, imparting training and development skills and maximize the employee
performance (Teimouri, H. and others, 2017).
This report will cover different scenarios to explain various aspects of the HRM practices
for which different organizations have been chosen. This report will discuss about purpose and
functions of Human Resource Management applicable to workforce planning and resourcing can
provide, evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of different approaches to recruitment and
selection, benefits of different HRM practices for both the employer and employee, effectiveness
of different HRM practices,importance of employee relations and knowledge of employment
legislations.
ACTINITY 1
Company Overview: Samsung is a multinational conglomerate situated in South Korea,
established by Lee Byung-Chul in 1938 as a local grocery store. The company has grown over
the years and expanded in to industries such as engineering, electronics, high-technology and
construction. The company is dedicated to train its employees to practice fair and transparent
corporate management. Therefore the senior HR manager of the company wants to review the
HRM practices within the company.
P1 Purpose and functions of HRM:
Purpose of HRM: Human resource management is the operation that is concerned with
management strategies, decisions and plans as well as the workforce dimension and structure
within the organization. The overall purpose of the HRM practices within the company is to
manage the various needs and issues of employees such as communications needs, workplace
ethics, legal matters, financial issues, etc. the purpose or objectives of the HR management can
be defined with the below mentioned points:
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Functional Purpose: Functional objectives of the HRM are related to the organizational
support and helps in explaining the roles and responsibilities of the employees within the
organization. With the help of provisions of information, facilities, training and consultancy, HR
department of selected company is able to complete this purpose.
Organizational Purpose: This objective is related to the human resource planning,
employee relations and performance management, recruitment, selection and retention of the
employees (Morgeson, Brannick and Levine, 2019). Co-ordinate the organizational activities to
achieve organizational mission is the main purpose of HR Management team of Samsung.
Personal Purpose: Human resource department is developed to maintain and take care
of manpower or human-being within the company. The purpose of HRM practices within the
Samsung is to provide training and development opportunities, compensation and benefits, help
employees in achievement of their personal goals.
Societal Purpose: The objectives of the HRM practices which are related to the legal and
ethical compliances, union management relations, society needs and desires, etc. are known as
societal purpose of HRM. This is also the purpose of HRM in respective organization to perform
workplace ethics and comply with corporate social responsibilities.
Functions of HRM: Since all the companies are made with people, HRM has to perform
various functions related to the development of skills, motivation, acquiring services and
employee retention. Although there are numerous functions of HRM within the Samsung, here
are some of the major functions of HRM:
Recruitment and Selection: Recruitment is the process of attracting, short-listing and
selecting the qualified and potential candidates for various roles in the company. This function of
recruitment and selection is significant for the selected company as this process reduces the cost
of engaging, unmotivated, incompetent and under qualified employees.
Training and Development: This is an indispensable function of the HRM as these are
the efforts of the company to improve the recent and future performance of the employees. The
HRM department of the selected organization is liable to provide adequate education and
training to increase the skills or knowledge of employees regarding their work profile (Thornton,
2015).
Ensure Legal Compliance: The legal authorities of the country implies various rules,
laws and legislations to protect the employees' rights. It is one of the crucial function of HRM to
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comply with those laws and legislations so that it may protect the company from legal conflicts
and ensure the safety and well-beingness of the employees as well.
Planning and Controlling: Planning and controlling the workforce is a managerial
function of the HR management. The HR professional of the Samsung helps in making decisions
and planning strategies for the structure and guidelines for the workforce management. They also
help in controlling all the functions and prompt for planning again.
P2 Strengths and weaknesses of different recruitment and selection approaches:
Samsung is a conglomerate and has been expended across 39 countries worldwide. The
company has broaden its business into different industries and needs qualified and skilled
employees to work with all the competencies and full potential for which the company uses
several approaches to recruit and select employees. The approaches that the respective company
use, are:
Internal Recruitment: Internal recruitment can be defined as the process of filling
vacancies within the company from its existing manpower by providing them promotions,
transfers, making them temporary to permanent, etc. Samsung uses this recruitment approach to
fill the upper management or administrative vacancies within the establishment as this provide
experienced employees for the senior posts. This approach has some:
Strengths:
 This approach helps in reducing training costs as the organization do not need to train
new employees and provide them inductions.
 Employees' morale can be boosted and employees turnover ratio can be decreased with
the help of internal recruitment as they find the opportunities to be promoted.
 This approach is relatively cheaper as the company does not need to advertise for the jobs
and screen unqualified applicants (Klingner, Llorens and Nalbandian, 2015).
Weaknesses:
 The resources are limited for a vacancy with this approach as the skilled employees are
limited and company also can also miss a change to find more innovative and qualified
candidates.
 Workplace conflicts and jealousy can take place among the employees when their co-
workers are recruited on a higher post.
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 When an employee is promoted or transferred, his/her previous position stay vacant and
company needs to find another qualified employee for that vacant post.
External Recruitment: External recruitment is the process of attracting the candidates
with required skills and qualifications from the outside world other than existing staff by using
external recruitment methods such as advertisement, employment agencies, internships, walk-in
applicants, virtual portals, job fairs, etc. In external recruitment process, Samsung gain various:
Strengths:
 At the time of external recruitment, there are better possibilities of finding various
potential candidates who are capable to deliver new skills and growth to the company.
 Recruitment of new candidates outside from the organization improves fair competition
and better chances of finding competitive and risk-taking applicants.
 By recruiting external candidates, company is able to gain the knowledge about the
competitive organizations and new better ideas to take competitive advantages.
Weaknesses:
 The process of external recruitment is very costly and time consuming.
 Individuals recruited with external approaches may perform well at the time of interview
but fail to deliver their best at the workplace.
 It may discourage the existing employees and they may feel dissatisfied with their jobs
and leave the organization (WOOD and SZAMOSI, 2016).
Selection approaches: Selection is the process of choosing the best candidates from the
recruited candidates. The HR management of Samsung follows various stages in order to select
the best candidates for the posts. The candidates have to go through 4 stages in order to pass the
interview which are; Academic qualification round, technical interview 1, technical interview 2
and HR interview round. For selecting a candidate, Samsung follows the contingency approach
which is a modern approach of recruitment and selection process that suggests that most
appropriate manner of selecting right candidates must be alter according to the situations.
Candidates must be selected on the basis of their behavioural skills and attitude. The strengths
and weaknesses of this approach are presented below:
Strengths:
 This approach helps in selecting candidates according to the situations.
 Competency approach provide clear feedback of candidates.
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Weaknesses:
 Sometimes high confidence wins over the high performance.
 This approach is based on the situations which are changing in nature.
ACTIVITY 2
Company Overview: For the second activity, the organization which have been chosen
is ASDA Stores Ltd. which is a British supermarket retailer chain established in 1949 under the
name of Associated Dairies and Farm Group and now is a subsidiary of the largest supermarket
chain named Walmart. Now the company wants to involve key HRM practises within the
organization to enhance productivity, profit and motivation of the employees.
P3 Benefits of HRM practises for employees and employers:
Training and development: Training and development is a crucial need for both the
employees and the employers. Human resource management of the selected company provides
necessary training and conduct development sessions for its employees on time to time. A
regular practise of this HRM practice is beneficial for:
Employers:
Employee retention: It is crucial for an employer to retain loyal and potential employees
and decrease employee turnover ratio which is possible with help of training and development.
This practice establish employees' sense of value within company and hinder their loyalty.
Training future leaders: Regular training and development helps in identifying and
nurturing the future leaders that will help the establishment in achieving business growth and
adapting changes (Roth and others, 2016). These practices are fostering the talents within the
company.
Employees:
Increase self-confidence: With the help of training and development, employees gain
new skills and knowledge that helps in increasing their efficiency. With more knowledge and
skills, employees feel more confident and strengthen.
Consistency: Training and development program ensures that employees have a
consistent experience and background knowledge. The consistency is particularly relevant for the
company’s basic policies and procedures. All employees need to be aware of the expectations
and procedures within the company.
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Reward Management: Reward management practices are concerned with the
development and implementation of policies and strategies that focus on rewarding the
employees equally, fairly and consistently according to their performance and value for the
company (DeGeest and others, 2017). In case of ASDA stores LTD, the benefits of reward
management for:
Employers:
Attract new employees: Reward management policies performed by the organization
helps in attracting new and talented employees towards the company. Most of the potential
candidates wants to be the part of such organization that value their efforts and provide rewards.
Create healthy workplace: Rewards help in encouraging team spirit and positive
attributes within the company. When employers treats the staff with gratitude and respect then
staff members feel good and positively respond to their work and job.
Employees:
Motivation: Employees of the organization get motivated when they get rewards for their
performance and efforts. In order to prove themselves, they get motivated to achieve the rewards
by increasing their efficiency and effectiveness (Jamali, El Dirani and Harwood, 2015).
Positive attitude: A healthy and transparent reward management process helps in
encouraging the honesty and loyalty in the employees. They seek for advancement and more
work efficiency. All these things helps in creating positive attitude and behaviour of employees.
P4 Effectiveness of different HRM practices:
There are various human resource management practices that are performed by the
management which help in increasing the productivity and motivation of the employees and
profitability of the company. An analysis of these practices is given below:
Employee Retention: Employees are tend to continue with an establishment when they
feel connection and satisfaction within the organization. With the help of HRM practices,
management is able to create a healthy connection with the employees and retain them with the
company. On the other hand, if employees do not feel connected and they do not work with full
potential that affects their productivity and profitability of the company (Inkinen, 2016).
Therefore ASDA stores LTD needs to exercise HRM practices within the organization to reduce
the cost of recruitment process.
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Training and Development: Training and development helps in improving the skills and
knowledge of the workers that helps in increasing their efficiency of working and they will be
able to provide quality services. It will also help in employee retention, minimize work stress,
and provide superior and expert support. Without continuous training and development,
employees will loss their competences as they will not be aware about new techniques and
methods. It will also increase the employee turnover ratio which will adversely affect the
productivity and profit of the company.
Compensation and Benefits: When HR management provides various benefits and
compensations either financial or non-financial,it is able to attain the commitment, loyalty and
retention of their employees. Employees want to employed with the organizations which reward
them with benefits for their precious time and efforts. While workers are concerned about their
safety and worried about their benefits, they can not focus on their performance which results
decrease in their productivity (Montoye and others, 2018). The selected company will have to
face employees' resistance and it may effect the profits of the company.
Legal Compliance: Employment laws are made by the legal authorities to provide
benefits for both the employers and employees as well. When HR professionals of the
organization follow all the rules and guidelines provided by the laws, it helps in maintaining the
physical and mental health of the employees which is significant for their efficiency and
effectiveness. The workers who are satisfied inside as well as outside are more productive. If HR
department will not comply with laws and legislations, it may have to face legal consequences
and fines or penalties that will be imposed, affect the profitability of the ASDA Stores LTD.
Performance appraisal: Performance appraisal that is processed by the HR management
helps in identifying the weaknesses and potentials of the employees. With the help of
performance assessment, employees can make better changes within themselves and nurture their
capabilities, efficiency and performance that is also helpful in increasing organizational
profitability (Findlay and others, 2017). On the other hand, without performance appraisals,
effectiveness of employees as well as activities is not possible. Productivity of the entire ASDA
LTD. Will decrease and activities will no more profitable.
ACTIVITY 3
Company Overview: The organization which have been opted for performing activity 3
& 4 is McDonald's Corporation which is an American multinational fast food company founded
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in 1940 by Richard McDonald and Maurice McDonald in California, U.S. The company believes
that listening and participating in knowledge sharing may help the organization to achieve its
goals and objectives and it understands the importance of employee-employer relations. It also
wants to comply with laws and legislations made for the employees safety and well-beingness.
P5 Importance of employee relations in respect of HRM decision-making:
The relations between employees and employers have a significant influence over the
performance of overall establishment and also over the planning, strategies and decisions of the
HR management itself. The impact of employee-employer relationships on the HRM decision
making process can be defined with the help of below mentioned points:
Identification of Problems: In order to make decisions and strategies, the HR
management needs to identify and understand the problems of the workers which is only possible
when employees are free to share there problems with the management of the company. When
HR professionals create such bondings with the employees, they will be able to identify the
problems with the system and make solutions for them (Morales-Zurita, Medina and Morales,
2016). In the absence of healthy relations, neither the employees will share the problems nor the
HR managers can find the solutions.
Productive decisions: With the help of creative and motivated employees, HR managers
are able to find various alternative and effective solutions for the modern problems. When
management develops healthy relations with workers, it is able to set the rigidity aside and think
dynamical ideas and strategies. On the other side, when employees do not find better connection
with the organization, they do not bother themselves even to think about organizational problems
and get ready to adapt the changes. Therefore, HR management feels difficulties to make any
decision regarding the workforce.
Timely decision-making: Employees are tend to be more compromising and supportive
when they have healthy relations with their superiors and organization. They helps in completing
the projects on time along with quick responses towards the changes. With such co-operative
team, HR professionals are able to make decisions on time (Di Gregorio, 2015). While in the
opposite scenario, resistance or impoliteness of the employees delays the projection of role and
responsibility distribution and this makes delay in the process of decision-making.
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P6 Key elements of employment legislation and its impacts upon HRM decision-making:
Employees legislation covers the right of the workers and regulates their relationship with
the employer in a well define manner. Along with this it help in providing support to employees
regarding their basic right effectively. The HRM plays an vital role in developing the apprentice
programmes which help to regulates the employment legislation and it relates with all the aspect
of the work. There are different recruitment and disciplinarians to parental leaves and healthy
safety issues which falls under this legislation (Akimov, 2017)). For the company like
MacDonald’s the HR have the prime responsibility in to provide effectively employees
legislation to each and every employees which help the company to maintain the healthy
relationship with the customers. Here are some employment legislation and the impact it has
upon HRM decision-making.
The employment Act: This act came into picture in 1966 in the UK parliament passed
by the Conservative government to codify existing law on individual rights in UK labour law.
This law covers the major aspect of employment including the particular employment, training or
termination. For the organisation like MacDonald’s the HR should implement this act this will
have direct impact on the employees as they will have right to protection regarding their wages
and payments.
The equal pay act: Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), landmark UK
legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, in a measure to end gender-based disparity.
This help the individual to get rights at job whether the male or female. This was done as women
have higher turnover rate than men . The company like MacDonald’s HRM should implement
and follow equal pay as it is essential for the company to provide equal wages to the company.
As this will create healthy relationship as well as positive environment in the firm (Anitha,
2016).
Minimum wages act: The national minimum wage (NMW) is the hourly rate below
which adult workers in most sectors of the British economy must not be paid as per the act. This
act came into picture in the year 1998 which states that workers over the age of 21 must get the
minimum wages as per the rules . As this also implies for the organisation like MacDonald’s
where HR should make sure that workers should get the minimum wages so that they can have
minimum standard of life. The decision will impact the HR department as they have to frame
new policies for the company which take time and effort for this kind of changes.
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The disability Discrimination act: This is known as DDA which came into effect in
year 1995. This amended protect the rights of the disability workers who are working in the
company. In the case of MacDonald’s the HR should make sure that they should implement this
law as to provide beneficial services to the disable people. This shows the integrity and respect
for the employees. Along with this help it help in creating goodwill in the minds of the customers
effectively(Verma and Sarita, 2018).
ACTIVITY 4
P7 Illustrate the application of HRM practices in a work-related context, using specific examples
Job Description
Name of the Organisation: MacDonald’s
Job Profile: HR administration
Education Qualification: MBA (Specialisation in HR)
Requirement for Job Position
 Individual musty have proper knowledge about HR practises.
 Good communication Skill
Criteria
 Employee must have 1 years of experience in particular field.
 Candidate should have attractive personality and interpersonal skills.
HRM practises are important for the company as it help in providing smooth and working
environment in the company. Here are some HRM practises which are stated down below:
Person Specification: This is known as the detail description of the education as well as
qualification regarding the studies. Along with this it include kills, experience and other
attributes in order to fulfil the requirement of the personal specification. The specification are
mainly derived from the job description as it is the initial stage in the recruitment. A person
specification for the job of personal assistant in MacDonald’s company is as given below:
Education and Qualification:
The individual must MBA in the major field of of HR from the reputed collage.
The persons should have good communication as well as interpersonal skills to handle the
organisation.
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Experience and Knowledge:
 The individual should have at least 1 year of previous experience of HR in any company.
 The candidates should know about how handle grievances and make effective policies.
Ability and Skills:
 The person have ability to handle the situation effectively and communication skills
must be good for making better impression on the customers.
 Have the ability to arrange the meetings and conferences, inviting people, contribute
positively in meeting and handle the pressure.
Job advert that can be used in different media
HR Administration Job Ref. 7584
MacDonald’s which is one of the leading restaurant chain is , is looking for dynamic HR
administration for the organisation.
An experienced HR administration person is requires which help the organisation in maintain
the efficiency of the employees effectively. The company have flexibility of working in
dynamic environment to work with. The basic requirement for the employees are:
 MBA in HR
 Having experience at least of 1 year.
Interview script
Q1.Tell us something about yourself?
Q2.What's your educational qualification?
Q3.Tell us some communication jargon's used in business?
Q4.Where have you worked in past and how was your experience?
Q5.what all computer tools you know and which one you're most comfortable with?
Q6.What is your salary expectations?
Selection criteria indicating the scores of both the candidates interviewed
This is an important aspect for HR to make interview script which are given down below:
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Step 1: The first step is to identify the need and requirement of the company.
Step 2: The step to is to ask question regarding the HR and there domain.
Step 3: Finalise the list and choose the candidates as per the necessity.
Job offer
Job Offer Letter
Dear candidates
We are pleased to inform you a job as an HR administrator at McDonald's Corporation. We
trust that your experience and skills will be a valuable asset to our company.
If you are to accept this offer, you will be eligible to the following in accordance to our
company's policies:
- Annual gross salary of £ 12,000 paid in monthly £ 1,000 instalments by cheque or direct
deposit.
- Up to 10% of your annual gross salary will be given to you as a performance bonus with
other standard benefits.
This the document which provide agreement between the employer and employees which as
they are the potential employees for this job it include the formal description regarding the
salary and job roles of the employees.
To accept this offer, sign and date this job offer letter as indicated below and e-mail it back to
us by November 7th, 2019.
Sincerely Applicant Name:
[Mr. Neil Redcliff] Applicant Sign:
Signature: Date:
On the basis of external recruitment approach which is selected because it provides more
competitive and talented candidates, I have recruited two candidates. These candidates have
shown better experience and skills from the other applicants. In the interview and other
competency tests that have been taken by me, I have analysed that the selected candidate is more
confident and is able to handle the stress and pressure under the work load. Contingency
approach of selection encourage me to this this candidate because the other one have
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qualifications but is not able to handle critical situations according to my point of view and
assessment.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded with the help of above report that Human Resource Management is
an important part of the organization that helps in planning and managing workforce or
manpower within the organization. There are various roles, purpose and functions of the HRM
that helps in handling the structure of the human-being. With the help of various recruitment and
selection methods, HR department is liable to find out and appoint valuable and competent
candidates for the various roles in the company. HRM is also liable to perform its functions in
such a way that they may beneficial for both the employees and the organization and may create
healthy relations between them. Compliance with various regulations and legislations is also
necessary to avoid legal consequences and safety of the workers. It can be concluded that human
resource management is the core management function of an organization.
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