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Keywords Line management, Partnerships, Human resource management, Responsibility, Strategy
Abstract Investigates the devolution of human resources (HR) responsibilities to the line within a large food manufacturing company. A total of 13 senior/board level line managers took part in this study. Records questionnaire and interview data with reference to line manager perceptions of their involvement in HR activities. Of interest is the finding that the line managers claimed to be satisfied with the IN responsibilities that have been devolved to them and are keen to take on activities that relate explicitly to the development of their team. Most line managers report working closely with their HR counterparts and see the configuration moving towards a partnership. The line managers' main concern is that a lack of support from HR during the delivery of the service can detract from the overall effectiveness. They also note that junior level Hne managers are likely to feel less supported by HR and comment that it is merely their high level position that drives the HR-line partnership in their situations. Suggests that this research will act as a first step in exploring the relationship between varying levels of line managers and their HR counterparts in order to ascertain whether the higher your status in the organisation, the better your relationship is with HR.
For many years, there has been immense speculation about the advisability of devolving human resource management (HRM) issues to line managers (Hall and Torrington, 1998; Ulrich, 1998; Gratton et al., 1999). On the one hand it is argued that HR resides properly with the people directly responsible for supervising staff whose primary purpose is to manufacture products, sell goods and equipment or provide a public or customer service. While there might be problems ensuring that these line managers have sufficient knowledge and skills to supervise staff effectively and consistently, it is nevertheless maintained that these individuals are in the best position to adopt the most appropriate human resource (ER) styles and practices (Cunningham and Hyman, 1999; Sisson and Storey, 2000; Cooper, 2001). On the other hand, there are claims that effective HRM cannot be delivered by line managers whose primary responsibilities lie elsewhere, namely in meeting service or production goals, and who have scant regard for learning...