Unit 2 Infosys Case Analysis Erica Williams GB520 Strategic Human Resources Management Professor Andrew Klein May

y 14, 2013

Introduction Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM) is used within an organization that links the specific goals and objectives that are set for the organization with Human Resources (Mello, 2011). All organizations are different and that makes SHRM so important to help them implement polices based on what they are wanting and trying to accomplish. Utilizing strategic skills will allow organizations to improve their business performance and develop organizational culture while becoming more flexible at getting the competitive advantage (Mello, 2011). Since reading the case study on Infosys I feel as though I have a better understanding of what Strategic Human Resources Management is and their ability to link company goals and objectives with Human Resources. Infosys has done a wonderful job with implementing SHRM over the years throughout their company. The company was able to do this so that they could experience the good times that they had SHRM and were able to use it properly in order to get through the rough times. This was done by concluding the function of the Human Resources when they were implementing the companys strategies for recruiting, selecting, training and employee recognition programs (Delong, 2006). Infosys has been able to be successful in using SHRM to link the people within their organization to the strategic needs of their business. The company has been rated as high as #1 in the Business Today Best Employer Survey, meaning that it is a great company to work for. Company Background Narayana Murthy and six others founded the company we know today as Infosys in 1981. Infosys is a computer software company based in Bangalore, India and was created around the

concept of the six founders, which was to create the products in India (Delong, 2006). Creating product in India would be very beneficial to the production costs because the cost more to make in the United States than in India. This is called offshoring and through it was their plan at first, the plan changed when it was decided that the company would send Indian IT representatives to the clients location. In the beginning, it was difficult to start the Infosys due to the bureaucratic and regulated environment that the founders were in (Delong, 2006). During the first five years the company had only one client that these years proved to be slow for the company. Things changed for the worse in 1989 when new government restrictions were implemented that required VISAS for employees working in the United States. Infosys still used their body shopping policy for several more years even with the changing government regulations. With continuing body shopping, the company was growing and things were going well when things changed for the better drastically. This occurred in 1991 when the Indian economy was at its low and the license and permit raj was dismantled. This opened the doors for the software industry in India. This was huge for Infosys because now they were able to do what they had originally planned, which was to conduct work offshoring (Delong, 2006). Now instead of offshoring, Infosys was able to conduct offshoring, which meant they were able to perform work within India for their foreign clients. Infosys was able to capitalize on the cheaper labor costs for the software programmers in India compared to other countries and this was huge for the company (Delong, 2006). I feel as though this was a turning point for Infosys, once this change was made the company soared. Now they were able to do what they originally wanted to do and they were able to make sure they produced great quality products. ISSUES

Infosys is a great company to work for and having great strategic management within their human resources department linked both the company and employee needs. When the company first started doing well they went with more strategic principles. However, an issue that was visible was the fact that the Human Resources department was not able to keep up once the company began rapidly growing. The companies Human Resources department was not growing with the company and in turn that created a very impersonal work environment for the employees. Once this started happening, the employees began to get disgruntled feeling as though they were not as important as they used to be. They were no longer being offered benefits that were previously offered and the company even lowered the amount of money being issued for stocks. This caused the employees to be much more unhappy than before and as a result the company was no longer listed in magazines as Best Employer or Employer of Choice (Delong, 2006). Alternatives Infosys has done a great job with building the company from the ground and making it into a successful organization globally. The company was not only successful but they were also very popular among their employees for what was done for them. The problem, however was that they were not ready for the rapid growth that occurred. It would have been beneficial for the company to allow the Human Resources department to grow along with the company. This would have allowed the company to keep the same employee standards as held previously with the Human Resources professionals. Recommendations

For Infosys, I would recommend that they use a more strategic approach for their Human Resources department as it deals with the growing company. This approach, to be proactive with hiring Human Resources Professionals, would help to keep them from having to deal with what happened before and can ensure the company is able to handle more rapid growth that the company is expecting. This would allow the Human Resources department to be more available to train and communicate with each employee as they are hired no matter how the company is doing. I feel as though it is extremely important for all aspects of the company to grow when a company is expanding. If a company is unable to expand properly then some may end up like Infosys where the Human Resources department was unable to keep up with the companys growth. In my opinion if Infosys focused on the employee aspect of the company by placing more focus in Human Resources then they would have an easier time getting back to the top of the list for best companies to work for.

References Delong, Thomas J. & Rengaswamy, G. (2006). Infosys (A): Strategic Human Resource Management, pgs 1-11, Harvard Business School Mello, J.A. (2011). Strategic Human Resource Management (3rd ed.).Mason, OH: South Western Cenage Learning.