We all know the kind of environment we have around us today. The two words "liberalization" and "globalization" have changed everything, including internal organizational policies, which were fixed and rigid at one point of time. In fact, this changing environment has forced organizations and CEOs to change their way of thinking towards internal and external customers, organizational policies, and the business in total. The only way to differentiate between two organizations is through the quality and commitment of the workforce.
Especially if we look at the changing role of the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in any business organization, we will find that it has now taken the front seat and has got great recognition. Though HRM has become an important and challenging function, it still has to prove itself to be one of the strategic partners of any business organization. Strategic HRM is the need of any business organization in order to survive and grow in this competitive and challenging global environment.
In this extremely competitive and global marketplace, in order to have a competitive advantage, it is essential to be a low cost leader or a differentiator which requires having a highly committed and competent workforce. This competitive advantage is not just differentiating a product or service or just becoming the low cost leader in a particular segment, but it also requires tapping the organization's specialized skills or the so-called core competencies, quickly responding to the changing customer's (internal as well as external) requirements on one hand and a competitor's changing strategies on the other.
In this regard, the first challenge is to have a committed and competitive workforce, and another is to retain such a workforce for a considerably long period. That is the reason why HRM is viewed as a source of competitive advantage in most business organizations these days. |
