Content area
Full Text
Keywords Human resource management, Business process re-engineering, Modelling
Abstract The initial objective of the research presented in this paper was to investigate human resource management (HRM) practices from a business process perspective. The paper first demonstrates the level of inconsistency in the field with respect to HRM models. The paper then develops the need for a more formal systems engineering-based approach for modelling HRM practices from a business process viewpoint. The paper then goes on to describe the model developed for the HRM business process together with the methodology used to validate the model The paper concludes with a discussion on the validity of the model, which further demonstrates the differing points of view in this complex and multidisciplinary field.
Introduction
One may summarise that the 1980s were all about automation. In manufacturing industry FMS, FAS, Robots, AGVs etc. were commonplace. The 1990s were about people, as is evident in the development of TQM concepts throughout the 1990s, focusing on delegation, involvement, ownership, cross-- functional teamwork, self-managed work's teams and so on. The European business excellence model (EFQM), together with other developments such as IIP in the UK, makes the role and importance of people, and the need for robust processes to manage people, explicit.
Furthermore, the 1990s were also about business processes. Since the seminal paper by Hammer and Champy (1993) there has been a lot of work investigating and researching business process architectures and models. The CIM-OSA business process architecture (Maull et aL, 1995; ESPRIT Consortium (AMICE), 1991) classifies business processes as manage processes, operate processes and support processes (Figure 1). Within this architecture HRM is classified as a support process together with finance and IT.
The EFQM makes the customer-supplier link between operate and HRM practices more explicit by highlighting the need for robust HRM practices to support the business processes that deliver business results.
The initial objective of the research presented in this paper is to investigate HRM practices from a business process perspective. The paper first demonstrates a level of inconsistency in the field with respect to HRM models. The paper then develops the need for a more formal systems engineering-based approach for modelling HRM practices from a business process viewpoint. The paper then goes on to describe...