NDEJJE UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS AMINISTRATION AND MANAGELMENT

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT COURSEWORK
LECTURER: MR. KITATA

GROUP MEMBERS
NAME REGISTRATION NUMBER

QUESTIONS
1. Away from the traditional/centralized human resource management
approach, many organizations have now adopted distributed human
resource management as a new strategy. As a scholar of human resource
management, critically examine the merits and demerits of distributed
human resource management.

2. Although many organizations have adopted the distributed approach as

a new strategy to human resource management, many organizations still
use the centralized human resource approach. Account for this scenario
using credible examples and discuss the potential
problems/disadvantages/limitations associated with the centralized
human resource management approach.

3. Centralized and distributed human resource management. Which of the

2 approaches would you recommend for your organization and why?
 ANSWERS

QUESTION 1:
Traditional/ Centralized human resource approach refers to an approach
where human resource professionals oversee primary employee management
functions from a main office. Hiring, firi me g, training, orientation processes
and benefits and general motivational strategies are guided by specialists in a
Central human resource office.

Distributed human resource management approach.

When the world went into lockdown, organizations around the globe were
forced to suspend their physical activities and work remotely from home. Some
workers found it to be a blessing in disguise. They are able to work and spend
more time with their families. However, some find it difficult to cope with the
distractions at home.

We will therefore see the merits and demerits of this approach.

The Meaning of a distributed human resource approach.

A distributed human resource management approach therefore means a

business/ organization having employees spread across multiple
locations instead of having everyone work under one roof.

It can also be described as,

A workforce comprising of remote employees who work together in a distributed

environment. Remote teams work closely together through emails, video
conferencing, and phone calls. It is different from the traditional working model
because teams are separated physically and rarely meet in person.

The merits of this approach include;

Increased speed and agility. This comes about workers not having to work
from the main office hence expanding their work force as well as the on-
demand professionals. Work therefore gets faster and bigger projects are done
since there's access to skill and its availability when needed.

Hiring beyond geographical boundaries. With a distributed workforce, you

can go beyond any geographical boundaries to find and hire the most talented
and skilled people so as to meet your organizational requirements.

Attracts more talent required with fixed geographical boundaries. it can

be difficult to fulfill all the gaps in your organization especially in the IT
industry, having a distributed collection of human resources can be a very
innovative and effective way. Since various employees of different skill and
professional are utilized fully in the same organization at ago.

Better coverage. A distributed workforce doesn't only mean employees are

geographically spread around the world, they also represent different races,
cultures and time zones. These factors can be really advantageous for a
company looking for local presence in a particular locality. Also, since they are
in different time zones, they can practically provide service 24hours a day.

Balanced work life.  This approach allows workers to have a flexible working
schedule and saves a lot of time in unnecessary transportation delays.
Employees can use this time to spend it with friends and families which in turn
helps them achieve a better-balanced work-life thus increasing their motivation
and productivity level.

Increased productivity. Since employees are motivated, they can get more
work done within a very short period of time and are always prepared to go an
extra mile for the organization.

Allows improved focus with fewer distractions. This is because employees

are not distracted by meetings and other interruptions common to a shared
office. They therefore, focus on work allowing established processes held
accountable to their expertise hence increasing productivity.
The demerits of the approach include;

Cultural indifferences. Many employees, their company's culture is what

motivates them to work every day. When an outsider is in charge of handling
workplace issues and setting the tone, it can be tough for employees to accept
which disrupts the dynamic and morale of employees.

It is an expensive approach. This is in terms of employing the various

workforce across the organization boundaries since these may require a big
salary so as to deliver their services. This may be challenging to the
organization and sometimes finding the right person to suit a particular task
may become tiresome.

Communication. A distributed team requires a planned intention interns of

communication. Therefore, to establish clear policies and ideal frequency and
best channels for different types of communication may be a problem and
costly. This is because the workforce is scattered and some may be located in
remote areas where communication means are impossible to reach or even not
accessible. The different time zones can also be challenging interns of finding
an appropriate time to communicate to everyone.

More Distractions than Expected. Remote working is a great alternative to

the traditional office-based work structure. Staff can work from anywhere.
However, it is difficult to achieve an ideal working environment outside offices.
One might have to deal with family requests, unexpected events, or noisy
neighbors. Those distractions affect work concentration and productivity.

Lack of Real-Time Face-to-Face Interactions. Some teams embrace

collaborative brainstorming, interactive meetings, coffee breaks, and so on.
Those interactions are part of their working culture. Without them, teams do
not feel like they are working for an organization with a vision and mission. It
could affect their motivation and performance to a certain extent.
 QUESTION 2
Lower operating costs. The approach saves money on organizational costs
and transactions for human resource department organization. This includes
recruiting, payroll processing which benefits the administration. This is
because recruiters are based in one location hence during recruiting
campaigns there's better control and reduced costs for advertising and
candidate searching.

Concentration of human resource skills. This approach is more accessible

to line managers and senior management hence providing faster service.
Working from one department or team makes work done quickly and improves
effectiveness of services such as recruiting band performance management.

Knowledge sharing. There's distribution of essential knowledge of the

organizational needs both within the department and the company widely. The
human resource manager can quickly and easily communicate employee job
descriptions, characteristics of qualified candidates, functional human
resource processes.

Optimized processes. This approach rapidly and efficiently optimizes essential

business processes. The staff can more easily develop and coordinate
consistent processes for payroll benefits, recruiting, onboarding performance
management and recognition.

Easy coordination. The human resource manager can easily coordinate

his/her activities within the organization since he/she is positioned in one
place. There will therefore be proper monitoring of employees and effective
accountability by the workers to the company.

Fastened communication. Organizations still use this kind of approach since

it favors a proper communication between the human resource manager and
the workers. These are therefore be are able to account for their work done
both to the manager and to the company hence more efficiency of the company.
The existence of small companies. This kind of approach majorly favor small
scale companies. These do not require a wide work for e hence resort to this
kind of approach for proper management and consider it a good option for
production.

Limited skill and talent. The absence of a skilled workforce and specialists in
this field has favored the use of this approach. This therefore means that all
work in centered in one office of the organization since there are no competitors
for the same office.

The demerits or limitations of the Centralized human resource approach

include;

A difference of opinion: It is possible when the company makes decisions like

hiring employees for the company, but the actual problem occurs when the
candidate appears the job. When the employer hires a person for the job, then
he or she expects certain skills and talents from the candidate, but later on,
those skills and talents of the employee or the candidate keep vanishing and
that is when the employees produce a difference of opinion.
Manager estranges: In this matter the manager estranges can explain as
ignoring or unfriendly behavior towards the staff and the departmental heads.
It is possible that because of the centralized human resource system the
manager might feel a bit ignored by the rest of the employees of the company,
but the actual truth is that the manager of the department will separate from
the team because he or she expected to lead the team separately.

Bureaucratic leadership: Centralized management resembles a dictatorial

form of leadership where employees are only expected to deliver results
according to what the top executives assign them. Employees are unable to
contribute to the decision-making process of the organization, and they are
merely implementers of decisions made at a higher level.

When the employees face difficulties in implementing some of the decisions, the
executives will not understand because they are only decision-makers and not
implementers of the decisions. The result of such actions is a decline in
performance because the employees lack the motivation to implement decisions
taken by top-level managers without the input of lower-level employees.

Remote control: The organization’s executives are under tremendous pressure

to formulate decisions for the organization, and they lack control over the
implementation process. The failure of executives to decentralize the decision-
making process adds a lot of work to their desks.

The executives suffer from a lack of time to supervise the implementation of the
decisions. This leads to reluctance on the part of employees. Therefore, the
executives may end up making too many decisions that are either poorly
implemented or ignored by the employees.

Delays in work: Centralization results in delays in work as records are sent to

and from the head office. Employees rely on the information communicated to
them from the top, and there will be a loss in man-hours if there are delays in
relaying the records. This means that the employees will be less productive if
they need to wait long periods to get guidance on their next projects.
Lack of employee loyalty: Employees become loyal to an organization when they
are allowed personal initiatives in the work they do. They can introduce their
creativity and suggest ways of performing certain tasks. However, in
centralization, there is no initiative in work because employees perform tasks
conceptualized by top executives. This limits their creativity and loyalty to the
organization due to the rigidity of the work.

Inflexibility: A centralized recruitment system works well if the company's

recruitment needs are simple and do not change often. If the company's
recruitment needs change frequently, though, a centralized system is not
flexible enough. For example, in a branch office where there is a high staff
turnover, it's easier for the branch office to assess its staffing needs than for
the head office to make the decisions.

Poor Fit: When a business uses a centralized recruitment process, it means

that the people who perform the recruiting are not the same people who will
actually work with the people are hired. This can create problems with conflicts
in personality or working styles if the centralized HR department hires people
who are not compatible with their colleagues or supervisors.

Manager Alienation: Centralizing the hiring process removes the managers

from much or possibly all of the hiring process. While this can allow them to
devote their time to other work, it can also lead to problems. Managers may feel
that they are unimportant to the process, which will in turn lead to a sense of
alienation and possibly create conflicts between managers, staff and the HR
department.
 QUESTION 3

I would recommend the distributed human resource management approach for

my organization. Using a distributed workforce not only brings in the best
talent into your organization from all around the world but also makes your
workforce more efficient and positively impacts every other aspect of the
business. I therefore stand to choose this approach because of the following
reasons;
To meet up the economic standards. You realize that businesses
throughout the world are constantly changing in order to gain competitive
advantage over one another. This includes using of emails, video conferencing
for meetings. Using therefore this approach makes my organization to stand
out, as it meets the required standards in the fast-growing economy today.
Build a Team with the Talent You Want. With fixed geographic boundaries,
it can be difficult to fulfill all the skill gaps in the organization, especially in the
IT industry where the new jobs are growing very rapidly. So, training and
upskilling your current employees keeps a distributed collection of human
resources which can be very innovative and effective thus productivity.
Better Coverage. Having distributed workforce does not only mean employees
are geographically spread around the world, they also represent different races,
cultures, and time zones. These factors can be really advantageous for my
organization since it is represented in every locality. Also, since they are in
different time zones, they practically provide service 24 hours a day. For
example, Airtel service centers which are distributed throughout the nation
providing the same services throughout.
Hire Beyond Geographic Boundaries. Using this kind of workforce, makes
you beyond any geographical boundaries to find and hire the most talented and
skilled people to meet your organizational requirements. It’s proven that a
geographically diverse workforce leads to higher problem-solving ability and
innovation.
Work-Life Balance. This kind of approach allows you to work with a flexible
working schedule and saves a lot of time in unnecessary transportation delays.
Employees can use that time to spend with their friends and families. It helps
them achieve a better work-life balance, which increases their motivation and
productivity level.
Time Saving. This approach is time saving since employees are able to work
from home. As a result, there's assured service provision towards the company
which provides efficiency at all times. For example, the time workers take from
their homes to offices can be saved through using a computer and a client is
served online or a meeting is hosted online such as on Zoom meetings.
It is cheaper approach. This is especially in terms of the wellbeing of the
employees during their stay at work. Since these are able to work from home or
across the globe, payment can only be directed to the services provided only
towards the development of the organization.
Increased speed and agility. This comes about workers not having to work
from the main office hence expanding their work force as well as the on-
demand professionals. Work therefore gets faster and bigger projects are done
since there's access to skill and its availability when needed.
Exposure to Knowledge. This comes about employees sharing
knowledge/ideas and skills with each other virtually across the globe/nation as
a result, this improves quality of work they provide towards the organization.
This in turn works towards the development of the organization.
Diversification in work. Differing opinions, viewpoints and work styles when
combined make a better work environment and a group of employees who are
more creative at solving problems and better at understanding their customers.
There's improved for us with fewer distractions. Often the members of this
team would perform better than the people who came into the office every day
because they weren’t distracted by meetings and other interruptions common
to a shared office.
Improved innovations. This is as a result of the shared ideas shared between
employees. These work hand in hand to provide better services towards the
growth of the organization which boosts innovation.
References

Adair, J. and Thomas, N. (ed) (2008) The best of Adair on leadership and
management. London: Thorogood Publishing.

Argyris, Chris (1991) Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business
Review Magazine, May.
Armstrong, M. (2001) Changing the culture: Rewarding and developing staff in
higher education.