Strategic Human Resource Management: Principles and Evolution

1. Foundational Definitions

Human Resource Management (Strategic Definition): A strategic approach consisting of nurturing and supporting employees, and ensuring a positive workplace environment so that the enterprise can achieve its objectives.
The Optimal HR Goal (The Master Metric): To have in time and permanently, in sufficient numbers, competent and motivated people, at an optimal cost, to do the necessary work, in the best possible social climate.
Classical Management (Henri Fayol): Management is the art of planning, organizing, commanding, and controlling.
Process Management View: Management is the process of carrying out activities effectively and efficiently with and through people.

Efficiency: Refers to how well you can use the available resources towards a goal. It is summarized as “Doing things right.”
Effectiveness: Refers to how successful you are in the accomplishment of a goal. It is summarized as “Doing the right things.”
Relevance: Alignment of the goal with broader company objectives.

Employee Conception: Salary expenses are a cost that needs to be minimized at all costs.
System Framework: Closed system targeting the short term and ignoring external influences.
Structural Flow: Bottom-up operational management that focuses on executing orders and distributing tasks.
Flexibility Level: Bureaucratic system, centralized, and conformist with inflexible procedures.
Focus Element: Workstations and rigid work units.
Operational Action: Procedure-based actions backed by direct supervision.

Employee Conception: Talent to optimize, treating people as long-term investments to increase productivity.
System Framework: Open system with a strategic role aligned with long-term goals and external factors.
Structural Flow: Top-down strategic management where human resources are an integral part of overall company strategy.
Flexibility Level: Self-control with more room for flexibility and implication of line managers.
Focus Element: Employee skills, competencies, and cooperative teams rather than formal divisions.
Operational Action: Needs-based actions driven by coaching and mentoring.

Taylorism (Scientific Management): A system that focused on breaking down tasks into smaller standardized parts, optimizing work gestures for specialized workers, and linking pay entirely to productivity. An elite group of engineers designs the specifics of how work is done, which eliminates the need for skilled labor.
Fordism: A manufacturing philosophy developed by Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan that emphasizes mass production of identical goods (standardization) and efficiency. Workers and machines are arranged in assembly lines, and there is a structured hierarchy with clear levels of authority. Staff management includes administrative management and relations with unions.
Core Criticism: These models are criticized for not giving enough importance to the human aspect of the company and for the dehumanizing conditions of workers, which limited the full potential of production.

Mary Parker Follet: Distinguishes between authority and power. Authority is derived from a position in a hierarchy, while power comes from the ability to influence others. She advocated for employee autonomy and empowerment, stating a good leader influences workers rather than exercises authority over them.
Elton Mayo (Hawthorne Studies): Mayo concluded that emotions and social relationships are important factors in the productivity of employees (the Hawthorne effect).
Douglas McGregor (Theory X vs. Theory Y): Theory X assumes employees are lazy and require authoritarian management. Theory Y assumes employees are independent and thrive under participative management.

Management by Objectives (Peter Drucker): Based on setting clear, operational objectives; combining productivity and employee satisfaction; and managing social impacts.
John Nash: Argued that optimal outcomes arise when individuals act in their own best interest as well as that of the group.
The Neoclassical Synthesis: Combines the Classical school and the Human Relations school to create the Contingency approach, asserting that the best course of action depends on the company context.
Toyotism (70s/80s): Focuses on “pull production,” Just-In-Time techniques, Total Quality Management (ISO 9001), and social audits to assess employee-related aspects.