Reading

Text 1

People，human resources，making organizations more aware of human resource，being in the people business —these words and thoughts are common in modern society．

When an organization is really concerned about people，its total philosophy，culture，and orientation will reflect this belief．Human resource management is the function performed in organizations that facilitates the most effective use of people （employees）to achieve organizational and individual go als．

Terms such as personnel ，human resource management，industrial relations，and employee development are used by different individuals to describe the unit，department or group concerned about people．The term human resource management is now widely used，though a few people still refer to a personnel department．It is a term that reflects the increased concern that both so ciety and organizations have for people．Today employees—the human resource—demand more of their jobs and respond favorably to management activities that give them greater control of their lives．

Human Resource Management （HRM）consists of numerous activities，including equal employment opportunity （EEO ） compliance；job analysis ；human resource planning；employee recruitment ，selection， motivation，and orientation；performance evaluation and compensation；training and development；labor relations；safety，health，and wellness．These activities appear as elements in the model of the HRM function．

The contributions HRM makes to organizational effectiveness include the following：

1．Helping the organization reach its go al．

2．Efficiently employing the skills and abilities of the workforce．

3．Providing the organization with well－trained and well－motivated employees．

4．Increasing to the fullest the employee’s job satisfaction and self－actualization．

5．Developing and maintaining a quality of work life that makes employment in the organization desirable．

6．Communicating HRM policies to all employees．

7．Helping to maintain ethical policies and so cially responsible behavior．

8．Managing change to the mutual advantage of individuals，groups，the enterprise，and the public．

9．Managing increased urgency and faster cycle time．

Exercise ： Answerthe following questions according to Text 1 ．

1．What is Human Resource Management？

2．What are the responsibilities of Human Resource Department？

Text 2

The history of HRM can be traced to England．The field further developed with the arrival of the Industrial Revolution in the latter part of the 18th century，which laid the basis for a new and complex industrial so ciety．In simple terms，the Industrial Revolution began with the substitution of steam power and machinery for time－consuming hand labor ．Working conditions，so cial patterns，and the division of labor were significantly altered．A new kind of employee—a boss，who wasn’t necessarily the owner，as had usually been the case in the past—became a power broker in the new factory system．With these changes also came a widening gap between workers and owners．Scientific management and welfare work represent two concurrent appro aches that began in the 19th century and，along with industrial psychology， merged during era of the world wars． Scientific management represented an effort to deal with inefficiencies in labor and management primarily through work methods，time and motion study，and specialization．Industrial psychology represented the application of psychological principles toward increasing the ability of workers to perform efficiently and effectively．

The renowned father of scientific management was Frederick W．Taylor．An engineer at Midvale Steel Works in Philadelphia from 1878 to 1890，he studied worker efficiency and attempted to discover the‘one best way’and the one fastest way to do a job．He summarized scientific management as： （1）science，not rules of thumb；（2）harmony，not discord；（3）cooperation，not individualism；and（4）maximum output，not restricted output．

Whereas scientific management fo cused on the job and efficiencies，industrial psychology fo cused on the worker and individual differences．The maximum well－being of the worker was the fo cus of industrial psychology． Hugo Munsterberg and his book Psychology and Industrial Efficiency initiated in 1913 the field of industrial psychology．The book served as a stimulus and model for the development of the field in the United States and Europe．

The drastic changes in technology，the growth of organizations，the rise of unions，and government concern and intervention concerning working people resulted in the development of personnel departments．There is no specific date assigned to the appearance of the first personnel department，but around the 1920s more and more organizations seemed to take note of and do something about the conflict between employees and management． Early personnel administrators were called welfare secretaries．Their job was to bridge the gap between management and operator（worker）；in other words，they were to speak to workers in their own language and then recommend to management what had to be done to get the best results from employees．

Another early contributor to HRM was called the human relations movement． Two Harvard researchers，Elton Mayo and Fritz Ro elthisberger，incorporated human factors into work． This movement began as a result of a series of studies conducted at the Hawthorne facility of Wester Electric in Chicago between 1924 and 1933．The purpose of the studies was to determine the effects of illumination on workers and their output．The studies po inted out the importance of the so cial interaction and work group on output and satisfaction．The human relations movement eventually，around the mid－1960s，became a branch of and a contributor to the field of organizational behavior．

The early history of personnel still obscures the importance of the HRM function to management． Until the 1960s，the personnel function was considered to be concerned only with blue－collar or operating employees．It was viewed as a record－keeping unit that handed out 25－year tenure pins and coordinated the annual company picnic．Peter Drucker，a respected management scholar and consultant，made a statement about personnel management that reflected its blue－collar orientation．Drucker stated that the job of personnel was‘partly a file clerk’s job，partly a housekeeping job，partly a so cial worker’s job，and partly firefighting，heading off union trouble’．

The HRM function today is concerned with much more than simple filing，housekeeping，and record keeping． When HRM strategies are integrated within the organization，HRM plays a maj or role in clarifying the firm’s human resource problems and develops solutions to them．It is oriented towards action，the individual，worldwide interdependence，and the future．Today it would be difficult to imagine any organization achieving and sustaining effectiveness without efficient HRM programs and activities．

Exercise ： Fillin theblanks according to theinformation from Text2 ． I1BLj7ktx6B8AEW+sJXyIUphwnwjWKDjymYQxq3qaMPp/a5BjP7k0P9TJxwqwJwu