HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
1. This assignment contains question that is set in English.
2. Answer in English only.
3. Your assignment should be typed using 12 point Times New Roman font and 1.5 line spacing.
4. You must submit your hardcopy assignment to your date.
5. Your assignment should be prepared individually. You should not copy another person's assignment. You should also not plagiarise another person's work as your own.
ASSIGNMENT HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS This assignment contains question that is set in English. Your assignment should be typed using 12 point Times New Roman font and 1.5 line You must submit your hardcopy assignment to your Fasilitator according to the due Your assignment should be prepared individually. You should not copy another person's assignment.
You should also not plagiarise another person's work as your own. 60% of the total marks for the course.
OBJECTIVES:
1.To evaluate the student understanding on the basic principles of HRM with enhancement of critical thinking in current HRM issues
2.To highlight the link between theory and the practicality of HRM through research and case study.
INSTRUCTIONS:
You are required to submit TWO assignments. These assignments should be completed individually.
Assignment 1
You are required to hand in one main assignment based on a real life case with regards to issues in human resource management in an organization of your choice.
Use double space and 12-point of Times New Roman font. This assignment should contain about 2000-2500 words (7-10 pages).This task will be an individual assignment. Your case may be one of the following listed below (but not limited to):
Human resource management (HRM) strategy and analysis
Job Analysis and Talent Management
Personnel Planning and Recruiting
Selection
Performance Management Appraisal
Training and Developing Employees
Employee Retention, Engagement and Careers
Pay, Incentives and Benefits
Ethics and Employee Rights, and Discipline
Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining
Employee Safety and Health
Managing Global Human Resources
HR in Small- and Medium-Sized Enterprise
In your preparation of your case, you are advised to take into consideration the following:
• Introduction - the opening section describes the rationale for the case study, including the firm's background & profile, its current position & performance and its internal & external environment. Suggested to have pictures, graphs, tables etc, as to illustrate the situation.
Problem - the following section states the main problem which needs to be resolved, such as Pay, Incentives and Benefits, Labour Relations and Collective Bargaining etc.
Suggested Solution - this is the heart of the document. It describes the solution in detail, how it was implemented, and the impact on users, methodologies, and other factors that contributed to the overall deployment. Many case studies include sidebars, charts and graphs to highlight key points.
Evaluation - in the final section, conclude the document by evaluating the solution's impact (usually positive), discuss lessons learned, and the next steps to be taken.
Summary- covered all of the key points of the assignment.
Assignment 2: Case Study
You are required to analyse a case study and answer the questions given with regards to human resource management issues. Use double space and 12-point of Times New Roman font. This assignment is an individual task. The case is in Appendix 1 and you are required to answer the following questions:
Questions:
a) Based on the case, is Mariam behaving ethically? Explain.
b) How would you describe Mariam's style in handling the staff grievances. Discuss some important factors that could help shape her ethical behavior at work.
c) If you are Bakar, the advisor, what would you do to help the organisation?
Appendix 1
MARIAM OF EXCEL INSURANCE BROKER SDN BHD By Raemah Abdullah Hashim
OUM Business School
On June 19, 2012, Bakar, the Corporate Business Advisor at Excel Insurance Broker Sdn Bhd located at Petaling Jaya, Selangor had just finished meeting with the Chairman, Datuk Alfredo to discuss on the renewal of the Chief Executive Officer's (CEO) contract. The staff had wanted the CEO, Mariam fired. Datuk Alfredo wanted to know why and Bakar was thinking about leaving... in a month's time.
EXCEL INSURANCE BROKER SDN BHD (EIB)
Excel Insurance Broker Sdn Bhd (EIB) was a state owned company with a paid up capital of RM2 million. It was incorporated in 1981 in accordance with the Insurance Act of 1996. It was initially owned privately and in 1998 it was acquired by the state government. In 2007, EIB was granted takaful insurance license by Bank Negara. The company had been receiving good support from the parent company and almost 80 percent of their businesses were inhouse. EIB was in the top 20 among the 38 insurance broker companies in Malaysia. The company was located at Petaling Jaya, Selangor and it had placed high emphasis on service deliveries related to clients potential risks placement in accordance to Islamic insurance.
To meet the global market demands, EIB was also involved in large and mega risks management projects in the local and international arenas. Among the professional services provided were in insurance and risk management solutions for the Government linked companies, government departments and private entities. The risks that they undertook amongst others were industrial risks management services which embrace water treatment plants, port operators'; construction risks; marine cargo risks and marine hull risks. Besides the specialised management risk portfolio, EIB also had undertaken other types of risks such as employee benefit insurance programme, motor insurance and retail insurances such as personal insurance products.
MARIAM'S VIEW ON COMPANY VISION
"When asked, on the company's vision or mission statement, Mariam was totally uncertain.
Only of recent that the Chief Executive Officer(CEO) realised the company needed a vision.
This was after her consultation friend told her to do so". Mariam had announced in the recent head of department meeting as quoted, "to bring company to the next level", remarked Bakar.
Bakar continued, "But she never explains to what level and everyone is still asking till today.The staffs have also been asking what is the company's direction?"
MANAGEMENT AND SERVICE TEAM
The company was managed by a management and service team. As the CEO, Mariam was also the company's director. She was assisted by Bakar who was the Corporate Business Advisor, Shina, the Senior Manager Broking, and Hanum as the Senior Manager Management and Corporate Affairs. The company had 12 service staffs headed by Musa. The company employed 10 support staffs and more than 90 percent of the them were from the local community (Exhibit 1).
BAKAR THE CORPORATE BUSINESS ADVISOR
Bakar reminiscence his conversation with Mariam in 2000, that had taken place at a meeting of the Association of Insurance Brokers, "Ninety percent of the time, I was able to negotiate the best deal for my clients. I believe in being ethical in my dealing. It is also crucial that insurance brokers should have good product knowledge and the technical aspect of the client's business. Insurance companies would find ways and means in not paying fully the clients claims, but I will go all out to make sure my clients get the best deal. When I go out to negotiate, the insurance company knows that they better send someone that knows their stuff. Most of the time, the CEO himself or the Insurance Senior Vice President will be present to negotiate the deal. Well, I am tired. I am looking forward to this retirement."
Mariam was looking for a replacement of a Corporate Business Advisor who had just left and she immediately offered Bakar the job. Bakar was reluctant at first but after much persuasion, he gave in. What were attractive in the work contract were the working hours that were supposed to be flexible. On top of that he was promised to be the mentor for the young service team. He had hoped for it and once had said to Mariam, "I have some tacit knowledge about the industry that will die with me if I do not share them. It is my contribution to the younger generation of insurance brokers". With the board support she hired Bakar to be the Corporate Business Advisor in 2000.
"Though the staffs are young, they are very supportive and have a close personal relationship with each other. They would organise outings under the staff club activities and potlucks at their homes. They have invited me to join in. But most of the time, they would leave out Mariam. When asked, they said that she never seemed to support the staff club nor interested in their private life".
To Bakar though it sounded disrespectful, he was touched by this gesture.
MARIAM'S LEADERSHIP
Mariam was a local insurance graduate from a local public university. She was appointed to the post of Chief Executive Officer in 2008 . She was the Senior Manager of Administration for five years in EIB before the appointment. As an administrative senior manager she was in charge of the administrative aspect of the company which included human resource, purchasing, logistic and daily operation of the company. When the previous Chief Executive Officer, Steven retired, being the most senior manager, the board decided to appoint her.
During the first year of Mariam's appointment as the Chief Executive Officer, there was a rising turnover rate of 12 percent among its insurance service staff. As a result, the company's performance was affected. They lost almost 10 percent of their major clients among of which some were its inhouse clients. Mariam was aware of her incapability of not having sufficient technical experience of the insurance business. She was unable to fully advise clients or negotiate on their behalf for insurance coverage. Consequently, clients started to lose faith on the company's professionalism. Since most of the experienced service staffs had left, the remaining young staffs depicted lacking in communication and negotiation skills. Their technical skill and product knowledge were also dubious.
Though the business had grown to more than 20 percent yearly since Bakar was the advisor, the problem with the turnover rate was still unresolved. After four years as Chief Executive Officer, Mariam was perceived to be both authoritative and indecisive. As Bakar explained to Datuk Alfredo, "Most of her decision was irresolute and she would change her mind every now and then without considering the implications. She would take out one service personnel or an account handler from an account without reasons. She has been doing this every couple of months. To make it worst, she would release a client account without apparent reason nor informing the Broking Manager, Musa. Musa was very upset but he cannot do much. Musa's concern was that the service staff was in the mid- term of building the relationship. The other concern is that, it takes a lot of man hours to build clients' rapport. When asked, her lame excuse is that she just wanted to release the manager for other task. But the question is to what task? Most of the time is to other undefined duties. As a result, everyone is left in a lurch".
The staffs have also shown some form of disrespect for her. For instance, a junior staff requested for an annual leave of two days during one of the peak periods where clients were due for their renewals. She was reluctant to allow and the staff answered, "If you don't allow, it's alright..." in a strong voice.
At the end, she gave in. To make matter worst she herself took a week's leave during the same period to attend to a friend's birthday party in Bangkok. She left the entire decision making to the senior manager and to the advisor. One of the senior managers went up to the Managing Director to report on her behaviour, but nothing came out of it. They stopped complaining about her and since then adopted the principle of ‘go with the flow'. "She expects blind loyalty from her subordinates. When the staffs are working in small groups, the decision should be cooperative or consensus in nature. In reality she would impose her decision on them. Last week she sent an email to Hanum requesting her to prepare the company business plan. She wanted it on her table in a week's time without giving her any leads or information. Hanum was disgusted", explained Bakar to Datuk Alfredo.
Apparently she would not meet the company's clients. She would send the senior broking managers or the advisor to meet current and potential clients. She did not understand the meaning of client service management. Her understanding on some of the management theory and concepts was also questionable. In one of her emails, she had requested the senior broking manager to suggest a new company profiling and rebranding of the CEO. It had created a mockery and a laughing matter among the senior managers. The question was, "How could they do profiling or rebranding of Chief Executive Officer? It would also mean to have her replaced".
CONCLUSION
Bakar was initially appointed as the Corporate Business Advisor and the job required him to be responsible for bringing in business for the company , new business development, technical advice and dealing with clients' claim. However, after two years in the company the job seemed to go beyond the technical responsibility. In many occasions he had to do the damage control. It was too stressful for him especially he was not getting full professional commitment from his superior, the CEO, Mariam. Meanwhile, he had been offered a job from a government linked company, but he would foresee this new job would be as stressful but he would be working with a more committed professional group. But he was still thinking of the staff that he would be leaving behind. They needed his guidance and Datuk Alfredo wanted his recommendation. What should he do?
Exhibit 1: Management Team Organisational Chart
EXCEL INSURANCE BROKER SDN BHD (EIB)
Chief Executive Officer
Mariam
Corporate Business
Advisor
Bakar
Senior Manager Broking
Shina
Manager, Broking
Musa
Senior Manager
Management
& Corporate Affairs
Hanum.