Small Business Success Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 1

Small Business Success - Essay Example are believed to be driving forces to the success of small businesses and what business starters ought to do to increase likelihood of their businesses success. Most successful small businesses takes adequate time to set goals that give them clarity on the direction to take and how they need to carry out their activities in order to succeed. They are driven by their goals and objective despite the challenges encountered along the way such as stiff competition and lack of adequate finance (Bider and Johannesson 2005, p.627). Success can therefore be elusive especially if a small enterprise does not have a clear goal. Successful enterprises always provide room for alternative process and ideas if the initial one fails to deliver desired results. This ensures that activities are carried on as usual after occurrence of setbacks because alternative solutions complement the initial approach (Olivo 2001, p.45). For example, when workers in a small business resist changes, management can decide to bargain with them until they reach at a neutral position on how to embrace the new changes. They can also decide to abandon introducing new changes especially if they are likely to adversely affect workers morale which, possibly could results to poor performance. Setbacks are almost common in a business set up and they may require skilful approach to handle them. A business should acknowledge challenges and formulate various policies to help bouncing back to the initial position before occurrence of a certain challenge. A firm with determination on what it expects to achieve will always bounce back to the right track even after suffering huge losses because their aim is to hit their target. This is a very important trait among small businesses as it ensures that a business handle their own issues without much ado. The ability of making independent decision puts a business at a higher competitive notch since they do not have to consult others thus enhancing quick decision

Strategic Human Resource Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Strategic Human Resource Management - Essay Example Recently, the strategic role of the HR field and linkages between business and Hr strategy have been the subject of extensive discussion. Jim walker (1980), with his classic book on Human resource planning, was the first writer to suggest considering the corporate business strategy while developing and executing HR plans. Since then, in just over a greater of a century, a plethora of research, theory and cases examining research on aligning HR policies and practices with business strategies has become the focus of management studies (Wright et al 2005). Strategic HRM: The field of HRM has under gone significant changes in scope, functions and activities over the years, with the rise in professional maturity in the field; Personnel management has become HRM, which in recent years has become strategic HRM. Strategic HRM is the explicit link HRM has with the strategic management process of the organization. Strategic HRM is viewed as strategic as it involves the managerial personnel of the organization and regards: People as the single most important asset of the organization" (Poole & Jenkins, 1990). It is proactive in its approach to people. It seeks to enhance organizational performance, employee needs and societal well being. The key difference therefore between traditional and strategic concepts with extent to which management of HR is integrated into the strategic decision making processes that direct organizational efforts towards coping with the environment (Guest, 1990). Strategic HRM practitioners are now considering human r esources to be a major source of competitive advantage and a growing body of research supports this view (Arthur 1994; Guest, 1997; Tyson, 1997; Wright et al. 2005; Youndt et al. 1996). SHRM theory is based upon the recognition that organizations can become more effective, if their human resources are managed with HR policies and practices, which can help the right number of people, acquire the appropriate behaviors, the needed HR competencies and the feasible levels of work motivation. The relevant external and internal environment or components of the organizations and the relevant stakeholders are thus important to the practice of strategic HRM (Schuler & Jackson 1999). The 1980's and the 1990's have witnessed a great deal of emphasis being placed on a strategic implementation of the HRM policies and practices all over the world. Shift in strategic HRM perspective have changes the orientation of HR managers world over. The last two decades saw major shift in people management approaches and practices as SHRM becomes more proactive in approach, people oriented, and people as investment, key player in competitive advantage and integrated role in company's goals and planning. The fields of HRM, HRD and organizational development (OD) have converged into the new strategic HRM. As Ruona and Gibson (2004) remarked "Twenty-first-century strategic HRM lay more emphasis on increased centrality of people for organizational success, importance of whole systems and integrated solutions in strategic alignment and impact and lastly, has a tremendous capacity for change". The concept of HRM has generated a lot of attention from researchers since it first emerged in the 1980's. The