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Solution
1.0 Question 1
1.1 Introduction
In the modern highly competitive and changing business environment, organisations adopt different people management strategies for their success. One such strategy is ‘Best practice’ defined by Marchington and Grugulis (2000) as HR methods and systems with a universal, additive and positive implication on organisation performance. This definition is collaborated by Anwar and Abdullah (2021), identifying best practices as a set of strategies for employers adopting high-cost, high-skilled employment policies for competition in areas of quality and productivity. Despite the popularity of best practices in modern business operations, Anwar and Abdullah (2021) argued that “best practice, it seems, is problematic. When unpacked, the practices are much less ‘best’ than might be hoped’. It is in this regard that this report intends to evaluate problems linked with the notion of ‘best practice’ HRM. This view is strongly agreed and supported. While best practice HRM positively contributes to benefits in an organisation, it has its drawbacks impacting its successful implementation.
1.2 Determinants of Best Practice HRM
In modern business operations, there is a common agreement on a precise definition of best practice in HR. It is in this regard that Timiyo (2014) highlighted that the concept of best practice is subject to continuous debate. A common agreement is, however, evident in Alsafadi and Altahat (2021), which identify best practices as high employee involvement, human resource practices, and reward and commitment initiatives in an organisation. These lead to positive implications on employees’ attitudes, motivation and performance
1.2.1 Universalist, Contingency and Configurational Points of View
This view is anchored on the assumption that best practices have the potential to production of optimum outcomes when used despite of nature and organisation type and/or people (Choden et al., 2021). Conversely, contingency theorists believe that an integration of HR practices would only work best when used in a particular organisation setting or within a particular employee group (Junita et al., 2020). This is with a universalist view as identified in Lozykowski (2023) as identifying best practices as used in improving employee performance in organisations globally. This is nevertheless only possible when organisations are in a position of identifying bundles of best fit and diffusing bundles effectively in the entire organisation.
Despite the lack of a common definition of the concept of best practice in HRM, it is still relevant to identify them as methods and systems with universal, additive and positive implications on organisation performance. In this regard, SADAT (2018) notes that research works have been focusing on evaluating the impact of best practices on employee turnover, satisfaction, motivation, productivity and profitability. There however lacks a common agreement on the scope in which best practice HRM lead to achievement of these outcomes and their applicability in universal business environment where organisations operates. It is this area that the current research will focus on pursuing.
1.3 Problems of Best Practice HRM
1.3.1 Critical Assessment of Best Practice HRM
In some of studies that have evaluated the concept of best practice HRM Timiyo (2014) and Timming and Macneil (2023) they point towards a direct generalisability and transferability. This means that being the best practice, it can be applied in all organisations and in an entire business environment. This is while generating positive and appropriate implication on all organisation business performance results while being indifferent to internal and external organisational factors. Nevertheless, Kaufman (2015) refuted these assertions and noted that implementation of best practice is complex and characterised with immense flaws and weaknesses. It is hence a challenge to universally or generally link best practice to high organisation performance or profitability or other identified organisation outcomes. This is also partly linked with the available literature on best practice in HRM lacking substantial explanatory power linking it with organisations performance, hence lacking practical significance. In fact, referencing Bell Curves in Purcell’s (1999), Kaufman (2016) noted that organisations which have used different types of best practices as failing to increase their outcome in the past years. This can be partly due to the complexity of the concept implementation, lack of customisation and popularity minimal in the business environment.
A second critique of best practice HRM can be identified in the provided definition of contingency approach. As earlier noted, this approach is based on the view that organisations have a high likelihood of adopting HR practices informed by their strategic environment edging out those lacking such strategies. However, Alshammari (2020) noted that HR practices in various organisations could be differing based on organisation strategies in place. For example, in an organisation which adopt a differentiation strategy, it has a high likelihood of matching high commitment HR practices with cost leadership approaches coupled with control of HR practices. Hence, this confirms on the lack of universality of the concept of best practice HRM and their empirical application in different organisations.
1.3.2 Problems with Best Practice HRM Applicability
The application of Best HRM in the modern business environment is beyond reasonable doubt a priority and critical for organisations success. This is supported by Kaufman (2015) findings which note that for organisations survival in the highly competitive business environment, they are supposed to adopt holistically different applications of human capital by adopting best practices. However, different studies Aust et al. (2020); Chong et al. (2020) and Kloutsiniotis and Mihail (2020) noting evidence of immense internal and external hindrances for achieving best practice.
A common theme in modern organisations practice is that after identifying need for best practice HRM, a challenge arise of make or buy-in decision (Alqudah et al., 2022). In an event organisation decision is to buy-in, a significant challenge emerge of intensive process of selecting from the different people and bundles of best practice HRM. Also, Storm et al. (2023) identified on the causal ambiguity of best practice HRM which affect replicability. The causal ambiguity imply lack of an elaborate understanding of the implications both positive and negative of the implications of best practice HRM. From an individual experience, there are multiple internal and external resistance and barriers which emerge limiting the successful implementation of the process.
Further, despite Thompson (2011) not being classified as a recent study, it evaluated the troubles in HRM. The authors hypothesised that internal resistance emerge from the staff, management and change agents posing substantial issue with best practice HRM implementation. For example, in an organisation, owing to misinterpretation, lacking knowledge and capacity development, management could discard HRM best practice. Also, Fu et al. (2020) argued on managers lacking a long-term view of the concept and failure in their commitment with the process. This is with staff and the change agents being demotivated towards implementation of best practice HRM viewing them as not having been invented therein.
Another problem can be identified from Shi (2021) which had evaluated the challenges of implementation of best practice HRM in organisations. By referencing on Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) innovation theory (Boselie, 2024), organisations ability to implement best practice HRM was categorised into leaders, fast followers, slow followers and laggards. A majority were classified in fast followers and slow followers. The slow uptake of best practice HRM is an attribute of clients, workforce demographics and technology, staff resistance and financial issues. All these challenges evidence existence of immense challenges for successful implementation of best practice HRM. It is not possible to generalise and implement best practice HRM.
1.4 Conclusion
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