ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCES ON HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER   ONE

INTRODUCTION

• BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

An   Organization does not operate in a vacuum.   Generally,  organizations   operates  in   a multifaceted environment  which is of itself  subject  to a  large  measure  of  change. The  relationship between  organization  and  its  environment  is  one mutuality, and that is,  the environment  exerts  pressures  on organizations .  Organizations  also  depends  on  its  environment  for  the  supply of all  its  input  and at the  same  time  to  absorb  its  output.

The  environment  provides  opportunities  or  alternatives  avenues  for  investments  which  the  human  manager  can  exploit to  his or her advantage. The organization  environment  may  also  constitute a  threat  to  the  human  resource  department  if changes  in  it  are  unfavorable  to  the  organization.  If  the organization  and  its  workforce  must  survive  in  the  long run,  it  must  be capable  of responding  and  adapting  to  environmental  conditions  from  time  to time  as  these  environmental  factors  are  dynamic  in  nature,  therefore  the  human  resources  manager  should  take  decisions  and   execute  them  within  the  bounds  or  limits  imposed  by  the  environment.

According  to Rue  and  Byars  (1990) effective  human  resources  management  embraces  those  activities  designed  to  provide  for  and  coordinate  the human  resources of  an  organization.  Resources   of an  organization  represent  one  of  the  largest  investments  in the  form  of  wages  and  salaries,  recruitment  decisions  and  the  practices  that  directly  affect  or influence the  people  who  work  for  the  organization.                                                                                                                                 Thus  getting  and  keep  productive people is critical to the success  of  every  organization  whether  profit  or non-profit  making,  public  or  private.  In   essence,  organizations  through  acquiring,  developing,  stimulating  and  keeping  effective  workers  will  enhance  the  growth  and  development  of  such  organization.

For  an organization  to  survive  in  a  constantly  changing  business  environment,  it  must  recruit,  select  and  train  its workforce  with  the  almost  care.

The  Human  resources  managers  must  strive  to create  conducive  working  environment  and  this  goes  beyond  aiming  for  strike  free  situations.  The  organization  environment  must  be  constantly  monitored,  in  order  to  adjust  to the  threat  and  exploit  the  opportunities  presented  by  the  environment (Eze  and Anikpo, 1999).

1.2     STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Business  organizations  operating  in  a  dynamic  environment  are  confronted  by  a number  of  problems,  which  affect  their  performance.  Such  as  need  to  constantly  change  company  products  or  services  to  keep  pace with  technology  advancement, high  expectations from   customers  and employees, good  working   conditions,  fair  and  equitable  remuneration,  union activities,  unstable  political  activities ,demography  and  life styles.  These  problems  affect  effective  management  of  work force  or  human resource.

Therefore ,  this  study  focuses  on  The  Environmental  Influences  on  Human  Resource  Management.

1.3      OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The  specific  objectives  of  the  study  include  the  following:

1. To evaluate the extent to which environment  influences  human  resource
2. To identify  the  environmental  factors  which influence  human  resource
3. To evaluate  the  nature  of the  relationship  that  exist  between  the  environment  and  human  resource

1.4        RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The  study  poses  the  following  research  questions.

1. To what extent does environment influences human resource management?.
2. what environmental factors  influence  human  resource  management ?.
3. What is  the  nature  of  the  relationship  that exist  between  the  human  resource  management  and  the  environment?.