Project Proposal On Strategic Human Resource Management To Handle Business Crisis

Definition of the Project Problem Statement

Disucuss about the Project Proposal on Strategic Human Resource Management to Handle Business Crisis.

The modern corporate world faces the risk of uncertain crisis which threatens the sustainability and survival of the businesses. The crises have become inevitable in the contemporary industry due to the globalization of companies. Such emergencies may range from corporate scandals, natural disasters to employee conflicts as well as cyber breakdown among others. In most cases, organizational or business crises have been found to negatively impact an individual as well as corporate performance (Rees & Smith, 2017). Strategic human resource management has, therefore, become one of the most critical units of modern businesses or organizations. It has even become important in times of business crises since it provides a significant dimension of crisis management (Delery & Roumpi, 2017). However, there has been a wide range of discussion in various business forums in trying to understand whether business crises strengthen or weaken human resource strategic role in an organization or business.  Organizational crisis management provides a series of procedures developed to sustain or resume normal business operations with the aim of minimizing stakeholder loss and develop learning strategies to improve on the current business practices (Brewster, 2017). Strategic human resource management looks at organization crisis management as the development of an organizational capability to react flexibly and promptly to the various forms of crises. Understanding the role of strategic human resource management in crisis management is very paramount to the success of modern business activities. This study, therefore, aims at developing a business project proposal on the development of strategic human resource management to handle the crisis in current businesses.

This business project proposal will be organized in different chapters in terms of their arrangements and analysis details. Chapter 1 of the project proposal provides a brief introduction to the critical issues covered in the analysis, detailed research problem statement as well as the aims, objectives and research questions.  Chapter 2 provides a justification and the potential output of the project. Section 3 outlines the conceptual frameworks of the research while Chapter 4 presents the development of a hypothesis. Chapter 5 of the proposal provides a detailed approach to the research methodology while chapter 6 will give an outline and analysis of the full organization of the report, the budget, and the time frame schedule.

Definition of the Project Problem Statement

Strategic human resource management is an approach that has been developed to manage the human resources to support the long-term business goals and outcomes with a strategic framework. In most cases it has been viewed and used as a practice of attracting, developing, rewarding and retaining employees for both individual and organizational benefit (Bratton & Gold, 2017). However, in the modern corporate world, the role of strategic human resource management has become very diverse. On the other hand a crisis defines a low probability or a high impact event that occurs unexpectedly and in most cases it is unfamiliar and precipitated by the people, organization structures, economies, technology and natural disasters. Different researchers have developed their studies to provide an understanding of the role of strategic human resource management in organization development (Bundy et al., 2017).  In their findings strategic human resource has been found to be very vital in determination of the success or failure of an organization or business as it handles the most delicate business resource that is the human capital.

Proposed Research aims and objectives

However with the increasing business globalization the role of strategic human resource has evolved with time. Limited research has therefore been done to establish the role of strategic human resource management in handling crisis in the modern business (Williams et al., 2017). Consequently, the focus of this study will be to develop a project proposal aimed at providing an understanding of the role of strategic human resource management. This is because there are increasing concerns on the rising business and organization crisis and the need to develop effective strategic decisions to solve the crisis.

Proposed Research aims and objectives

The objective of this project proposal is to investigate how strategic human resource management practices can be developed in helping an organization to handle a business crisis. It is the aim of the project to establish how strategic human resource management can be used to create an organizational crisis management framework that will contribute to the minimization of stakeholder’s loss during the business crisis and even protect the interest of the company human capital resources as well as provide useful learning to improve the existing SHRM practices.

For effectiveness and reliability of this research proposal in delivering the expected outcomes, the research will be guided by some objectives including; the need to develop strategic plans which will contribute to increased SHRM operational practices as well as increased workforce performance during the eventuality of business crisis (Friedmann, 2018). The research proposal seeks to introduce a reliable method and process that would be used to develop the workability of the employees working in a crisis condition. Aligning the strategic human resource management goals to long-term organizational objectives is very critical for the sustainability of business operations in the modern corporate world, and therefore this research seeks to align the SHRM strategies to business crisis management goals

Research Questions

RQ1. How does the human resource department work on increasing the performances of the staffs, during a crisis?

RQ2. How are the staffs motivated to work on the objectives set out by the company?

RQ3. What are strategic plans and the values related to the development of the policies to increase the performances?

RQ4. What are the roles of the leaders in shaping the skills and the capabilities of the staffs, working in different work conditions?

Many scholars have developed different studies and literature reviews by providing more information or in building the concept of strategic human resource management. Many organizations have used it in developing effective HR strategies which will enhance business operations and performance (Booth, 2015). The organization of an organization human capital is critical to the achievement of organizational goals and therefore an event of a business crisis it is essential for the organization to align these strategies with crisis management goals by developing the capacity of the existing workforce to improve business performance during the crisis (Starr et al., 2017). Other scholars have also expanded their studies in understanding the role of strategic human resource management in recruiting or attracting new talents in an organization and the control of the organization workforce through training as well as protecting the social welfare of the employees. However, there is a literature gap existing in understanding the development of strategic human resource management strategies in handling the business crisis in the modern corporate world. This research will, therefore, be vital in helping us understand how business crises can be solved by the implementation of effective human resource strategies (Jin et al., 2014). This will be vital in helping the management of different organizations to understand the different approaches with human resource department which can help them in decision making during the business crisis that will contribute to increased business performance.

Research Questions

The research is expected to produce outcome or findings that will be used to enhance the scope of human resource management in handling or business crisis management. The results of the research will be guided by the research questions which have been designed to help us analyze or problem statement in a broader perspective (Russell et al., 2017). The research findings will provide strategic solutions to handling the business crisis as well as assist the business management team in making informed decisions about human resource development during the business crisis. The research findings will also contribute to increased knowledge to the scope of the strategic human resource.

Definitions of strategic human resource management and its application in handling emerging business crisis

Strategic human resource management is an approach developed by different organizations to manage the human resources that support the development and implementation of long-term business goals and objectives and therefore forms a critical unit in modern business management. It is therefore concerned with the organization and development of an organization or business human capital resources in pursuit of organizational goals and objectives (Albrecht et al., 2015). In the modern business, world crisis has become inevitable to the due increased globalization of business activities. This forces the management of the company to develop effective human resource management strategies by integrating them in development of existing business workforce and contribute to increased business performance even during the business crisis (El Dirani et al., 2016). A business crisis is unexpected and strange events, however, can have drastic negative impacts on business performance and therefore require proper planning and preparation concerning crisis management. Crisis management involves the development of business capabilities to react flexibly and promptly to various business crises.

The development strategic human resource management practices focused on developing the business workforce capacity will, therefore, contribute to successful crises management. Business fails or collapses during crisis due to lack of prior preparedness concerning their internal organization and capacity building through resource development (Knies et al., 2015). Development of human capital resource is, therefore, the first step of successful crisis management. Psychologically the impact of the business crisis is more felt in the minds of the business workforce and does influence their perceptions or their cognitive abilities to solve the crisis. Prior strategic human resource management practices will, therefore, play a critical role in employee cognitive development and preparedness in their bid to manage any business crisis. SHRM generates the relevant framework, required to increase the workforce performances within the company (Tucker et al. 2017). In crisis management, the impact of the disruptive events on the people and the operational property is examined. A wrong decision, to expand the problem affects the projected operational plan and the strategies developed to deal with various issues.

Justification and Potential Output of the Research Proposal

Effective crisis management through strategic human resource management will involve the development of a crisis preparedness plan that will fully integrate the business or organization human capital. There is also a need for the human resource management team to establish an internal crisis management team that will be responsible for the formulation of crisis management policies by considering the available options and developing a contingency plan (Wimelius & Engberg, 2015). Strategic HRM will also focus on developing effective communication and training channels to facilitate communication before and during crisis management. Lastly, strategic human resource management practices can also be used in handling business crisis through development of recovery phase aimed at helping the employee or business workforce recover from any stress or demoralization tendencies during crisis management.

Hypothesis 1	Ho; strategic HRM practices are not effective in handling modern business crisis. Ha; Strategic HRM practices are effective in handling business crisis in modern corporate world.
Hypothesis 2	Ho; current strategic HRM practices do not require changes to effectively handle business crisis. Ha; current strategic HRM practices require constant review and changes to solve emerging business crisis.
Hypothesis 3	Ho; sustainability of an organization during crisis not dependent or its strategic HRM practices Ha; sustainability of an organization or business during crisis is dependent on its strategic HRM practices
Hypothesis 4	Ho; business crises do not only affect the organization performance but also the organization workforce performance Ha; business crises only affects organizational performance but not individual employee performance.
Hypothesis 5	Ho; strategic crisis management is not a function of human resource management Ha; strategic crisis management is a function of organization or business human resource management.

Research Approach and sources of data

To enhance the reliability, validity and relevance of our research, the development of this research proposal will comprise of use of both qualitative and quantitative approaches. The two methods will contribute towards useful analysis of our statement problem. Both numerical and non-numerical or statistical and non-statistical data will be used and hence the decision to use both qualitative and quantitative data analysis techniques (Meijerink et al., 2017).  The research proposal will also involve the use of primary and secondary data sources whereby the primary data will be obtained from surveys and questionnaires conducted randomly from different human resource departments in different companies. On the other hand the secondary data will collected from various books, journals, company websites as well as PDF documents for various research works essential in development of our research or study. The data collected will then be analyzed through the use of both qualitative data techniques as well as the use quantitative data techniques (Lin et al., 2017). The data collected will be evaluated through a fact-finding process whereby inductive method will be used to establish the relevance of the theory as well as find answers to formulated research hypothesis.

Population

The development of this research targets a number of human resource offers in different companies. The organizations selected should have experienced a business crisis over the last financial year. The population will be used to provide their insights on the development of strategic human resource management in handling the business crisis by helping us understand the challenges they faced or are still suffering in solving the business crisis (Boon et al., 2018). The population will comprise of a sample group 55 participants for the research. The population sample will consist of different characteristics regarding their experiences ion human resource functions and also in organizational crisis management.

Sampling

For useful analysis and fact findings, the research will employ the use of random sampling technique as a tool for data collection, organization, and analysis. The random sampling will involve the selection of our sample from different organization or companies which primarily focus on the human resource management staff or officers in those particular companies. The findings from each random sample group will then will then be used as a representation of the whole business community for making firm conclusions on the research hypothesis.

Variables and Analysis

The primary objective of this research proposal is to determine how strategic human resource management can be included in handling the business crisis in the modern corporate world. The dependent variable, in this case, will be a business crisis while the independent variable will be the strategic human resource management practices (Mone et al., 2018). Useful analysis of the above variables in determination of the relevance of our research problem statement, the qualitative data obtained through surveys and questionnaires will be analyzed through the use of exploratory analysis while the quantitative data from the secondary data sources will be examined through the use of regression analysis techniques through an evaluation and fact-finding process to present facts and figures important for research development.

Organization of the study

Organization of the project research proposal is critical in defining the actual activities or the central issues of interest in the study by focusing on the development of various chapters. The full research project proposal will be organized into multiple Chapters as follows;

Chapter one; development of the research proposal introduction outlining overall overview of the statement under analysis

Chapter two; a description of strategic human resource management practices and their contribution to crisis management in business

Chapter Three; will include the details of research methodology – literature review, data series and surveys (data collection methods), observing critical indicators of regression and data analysis methods.

Chapter Four; Provides a report of Findings and Analysis of the proposed research.

Chapter Five: provides a summary of the important findings and a discussion of their potential implications developing effective strategies to improve the effectiveness of strategic management strategies in handling business conflicts in the current business world.

There is need to develop a budget for the research to facilitate a smooth process of conducting the proposed research. The study is expected to be carried out at an approximated time frame of four months from the date of proposal development and approval. The analysis will require an estimated budget of $ 7000. The budget will be developed specifically for research activities such as conducting a literature review, data collection and data analysis whereby different costs will be incurred to access the secondary data from the various journals, articles, books and other prior research works which will enhance our understanding of the concept crisis management using human resource management strategies. Additional costs will be incurred to data collection of primary through the development of survey and questionnaire materials.

Below is a summary of the proposed budget.

Proposed task or activity	Estimated Budget per activity
Development of literature review and research methodology	$ 2000
Data collection ( both primary and secondary data)	$ 3000
Data analysis, presentation and reporting	$ 2000
Total proposed estimated budget	$ 7000

Proposed activity	Starting date	Ending date	Duration taken
Development of research problem statement , literature review, conceptual framework and research methodology	01/08/2018	15/08/2018	2 weeks
Primary data collection and organization	16/08/2018	29/08/2018	2 weeks
Secondary data collection and organization	02/09/2018	14/09/2018	2 weeks
Data evaluation and analysis through fact finding	16/09/2018	15/10/2018	4 weeks
Preparation of the final report	16/10/2018	23/10/2018	1 week
Submission of the final report	24/10/2018	30/10/2018	1 week

References

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Boon, C., Eckardt, R., Lepak, D. P., & Boselie, P. (2018). Integrating strategic human capital and strategic human resource management. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(1), 34-67.

Booth, S. A. (2015). Crisis management strategy: Competition and change in modern enterprises. Routledge.

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Brewster, C. (2017). The integration of human resource management and corporate strategy. In Policy and practice in European human resource management (pp. 22-35). Routledge.

Bundy, J., Pfarrer, M. D., Short, C. E., & Coombs, W. T. (2017). Crises and crisis management: Integration, interpretation, and research development. Journal of Management, 43(6), 1661-1692.

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El Dirani, A., Jamali, D., & Harwood, I. (2016). Strategic human resource management: enablers and challenges of pursuing the CSR agenda.

Friedmann, J. (2018). The crisis of transition: a critique of strategies of crisis management. In Life space and economic space (pp. 40-68). Routledge.

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Russell, D. J., McGrail, M. R., & Humphreys, J. S. (2017). Determinants of rural Australian primary health care worker retention: A synthesis of key evidence and implications for policymaking. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 25(1), 5-14.

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