MGF 2661 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

GUIDED READING WORKSHEET

What am I reading?
The abstract and introduction.
What is this article about? How
does the article contribute to our
knowledge and understanding of
the weekly topic AND the essay
topic?
The literature review. A review of
existing research and theory on the
topic. It usually leads to a set of
research questions or hypotheses.

The methods, data analysis and

results
Outlines and justifies how the
research was done. Presents
analysed data and interprets results.
Conclusion and discussion
This section will tell you what the
findings mean and how they add to
our knowledge of the topic.

Yu Yun Lim 2016

Edgar, F., & Geare, A. (2005). HRM practice and employee attitudes: Different measures different results. Personnel
Review, 35(5), 534-549.
This paper discusses the effect of HRM practices on employee attitudes
Delves into whether different HRM approaches reaps different results
The Harvard Model
HRM practices and policies should strive to achieve employee commitment
Fulfilment of employee goals is seen as a goal
Hard and Soft HRM
Hard:
o Effectively using employees to gain company goals
o Quantitative, calculative, business aspect of running a company
o Sees employees as another cost
Soft:
o Employee needs are important and need to be fulfilled
o Commitment is gained through proper HRM practices, communication, motivation and effective
leadership
Work-related attitudes
High commitment is a result of correct use of HR practices
Job satisfaction is proportionate to level of HRM practice
Used a survey to gather data; examines:
Working conditions
Training and development
EEO (equal employment opportunities)
Recruitment and selection
Used above areas determined to have greatest effect on employee attitudes
HR practices do have an effect on employee work-related attitudes. Therefore, if managers want to have employees
with good work attitudes, they must determine the appropriate HRM practices and how to implement them for their
situation as this is an instance where quality is better than quantity. There are limitations to this study however, in that
the data was collected from a small sample and may not represent the majority of views present in the workplace.
However, it is still important to learn from this paper that even the best HRM practices do not guarantee success, rather

whichever practice will have the biggest impact on the employees of the specific organisation should govern which
practice to use.
Finally,
This paper identifies the link between having employees with good work ethic and HRM practices. The introduction
What did you learn from the into the basic concepts of soft and hard HRM as well as the theory known as the Harvard model provides a good
foundation on which to discuss the essay topic. Specifically, the approach in which employees are viewed as important
paper?
assets and treated like so. Unlike the SHRM model, also briefly mentioned in this paper, the Harvard model has a strong
How will you use this
knowledge to respond to the focus on fulfilling employee needs, which, for the sake of this paper, can be used to explore if having appropriate HRM
policies can improve employees work-related attitudes. The conclusions drawn by Edgar and Geare can be used to
in class essay?
support the idea that treating employees how they want to be treated, that is, as an important company asset, has been
shown to have positive effects on employee attitudes. However, as the research methods in the paper has its limitations,
although useful, the conclusions drawn cannot be used to determine which HRM approach is best, rather that viewing
employees as an asset has shown, in certain studies, that there are benefits, which adds to the value of employees for the
company. Finally, although many companies may attempt to improve employee work attitudes by introducing more
HRM practices or finding what is determined to be the best HRM practice and implementing that, Edgar and Geare
have determined that these have little effect on employees, and instead, employers should seek to improve attitudes
through a HRM practice appropriate, or well suited, to their companies specifically.