Human Resource Management

Article Review

Bibliographic Reference.1

Human Resource planning in a Shore-based Integrated Steel Plant: "

A System Dynamics Model" is the article for review. It is a research

proceeding written by Dr. KR Divakar Roy and Dr. Saroj Koul found

in www.systemdynamics.org and published in 2009 in conferences.

.The paper consists of 17 pages with references

Introduction.2

The article is written with the focus of understanding both

Operations and Technologies Management (OTM) with Human

Resources Management (HRM). In other words, it emphasizes how

Human Resource planning would have an influence on the

productivity of a shore-based integrated steel plant by using the

.System Dynamics method

The paper is centered to attract the attention of both academician

and organizations in a sense that a company can maintain its

optimal level of human capital to ensure enhanced efficiency and

productivity levels, with a view to containing employees,

redeploying existing surplus through retraining and relocation. Thus,

:the purposes of the paper are the following

To downsize the manpower within the steel plant•

 To increase executive- non- executive ratio•

To improve labour productivity•

Summary.1

The article can briefly be summarized as an elaboration of a model

of Human Resource supply and demand productivity of a shore-

based integrated steel plant via the System Dynamics method. The

researchers seek to determine the management of operations of a

steel plant that uses the one-third of its workers and from which it

.can ensure enhanced efficiency and productivity

The authors also adopted a computer simulation of the Model that

encompass 56 equations among which 13 level variables, 25 rate

variables, 4 third order call delay variables and 14 auxilliary

variables. The model is simulated for a period of 20 years and

:validated through

Total Technical Manpower○

Non- Executive to executives Ratio○

Manpower Productivity○

Human resource planning is defined in the study as the process by

which an organization moves from its current manpower position to

desired manpower position. As this said, the researchers have

analyzed six types of policies for implementation and forecasting of

the organizational behaviour in tune with the desired manpower

requirements through the three variables of validation (Total

Technical Manpower, Non- Executive to executives Ratio and

:Manpower Productivity). Thus, the policies are

:Policy-1

It is assumed that the present trend with reference to recruitment to

.various cadres will continue in future also

:Policy-2

It is presumed that there will not be recruitment for any cadre. In

view of the management aim at reducing manpower, this policy

.aims at examining the implications if the recruitment is banned

:Policy-3

It is assumed that there will not be any recruitment at non-

executive level to the cadres of assistant technicians, Chargemen,

.technicians and ministerial staff

:Policy-4

In light of the policy by the Indian government, it has been proposed

to study the implications if total length of service is reduced by 5

.years

:Policy-5

It is presumed that the total length of service is reduced by 5 years

.for nonexecutives

:Policy-6

It is presumed that the total length of service is reduced by 5 years

.for executives only

Findings.1
As explained above in the summary, the researchers analyzed each

policy under the three dimensions of Total Technical Manpower,

Non- Executive to executives Ratio and Manpower Productivity. The

:results highlight the following

Total Technical Manpower

Among the policies tested, Policy-2 is resulting in the lowest number followed by

Policies-3, 4, 5, 6 and 1. Due to some reasons, the implication of reduction in total

length of service is considered. But this policy is not having much impact in reducing

the manpower and the viable policy is stopping of recruitment totally for all cadres as

.it gives a solution as contemplated by the management

Non- Executive to executives Ratio

As far as Non- Executive to executives Ratio is concerned, the best

ratio is given by Policy-3 followed by Policies-5, 4, 1, 8 and 2. But, the ratios given

by these policies are almost identical. However, it may not be practicable to

.implement any one of these policies because of practical difficulties

Manpower Productivity

In regards to manpower productivity, the best result is given by the Policy-2, followed

by Policies 3, 4, 5, 6 and. It can be concluded that Policy-2 is giving the best policy in

view of the reduction in manpower. Therefore, the management has to adopt Policy-2

.to achieve its goal

Foundations and Contributions.1

The main base of the paper is that the steel plant chosen as scope of study

has achieved the highest labour productivity compared to others companies within the

same industry. As the particular steel plant has pulled off competitive advantage, the
authors are curious to know about the factors that have led the company to such

.position

The authors through their research have brought to table some

insights on the factors that underlie increased interest in Human

Resource Planning and which might account for the increased

attention directed to human resource planning, but environmental

forces, globalization, new technologies, economic conditions, and a

changing work force also need to be considered. Moreover, they are

also motivated by the uncertainty in terms of efficient operations

.and the balance of goods-producing related activities

Analysis.2

The article is very comprehensive and the approaches of proceeding

with the methodology and presentation of the findings are very

.clear. However, some remarks need to be noted

First, the authors did not really define the actual HR planning of the

steel plant in terms of acquisition, training and development,

motivation and maintenance. Second, the authors did not present

the company current competitive strategies so that one can

criticize. This is because the decision to change strategies requires a

long-term perspective, and its success depends in part on changing

the work environment in order to support needed changes in

employee behaviors, which also requires a long-term perspective.

Clearly, when organizations attempt to change their competitive

strategies, business and human resource planning should be fully

integrated. Finally, they did not emphasize on the future direction of

the company such as to know where the Organization wants to go

and how it wants to get to that point knowing that the needs of

manpower are derived from the corporate objectives of the

.Organization

Conclusion.3

HR Planning involves gathering of information, making objectives,

and making decisions to enable the organization achieve its

objectives; and Human Resources practitioners who prepare the HR

Planning program would assist the company to manage its staff

strategically. Thus, from the research we can conclude that

downsizing of manpower both at the executive and non-executive level needs to be

carried out so as to improve the productivity and techno-economics of the plant

operations and the surplus can be retrained and redeployed in new and existing

.facilities as the production capacity of the steel plant is being enhanced

Annotated Bibliography.4

Bora, M.C. and Mohapatra, P.K.J., (1982) Dymosim Package, Industrial Engineering
and Management Dept, IIT Kharagpur, India

Burack, E. H. (1988). A strategic planning and operational agenda for human

.resources. Human Resource Planning, 11, 63-68

Khoong, C.M., (1999) Some Optimization Models for Manpower Planning,

.Information Knowledge Systems Management, 1(2), 159-171

Niehaus, R. J. (1988) Models for human resource decisions. Human Resource

.Planning, 11, 95-108