Assignment: Contemporary Issues in HR Service

Faculty of Business and Law

Assessment Information

This assignment is designed to assess learning outcomes:

1. Understand the reasons behind organisations changing the structure and location of HR service provision.
2. Understand the different HR service delivery models available to contemporary organisations.
3. Understand the challenges involved in maintaining and managing HR services and how standards are established and monitored.

This assignment is an individual assignment.

This assignment requires you to:

Company Case Study: Softwire

Who We Are

Softwire is a UK-based software development company with offices in London and Bristol.

Our highly talented and dedicated staff deliver work of exceptional quality, and can help you no matter what stage you are at in developing your software. We are totally committed to customer satisfaction, and this drives everything we do.

Customer Satisfaction

Softwire is a complete software partner for our clients, from initial consultancy and design phases right through to deployment and ongoing support. We can provide a one-stop shop for your project through our partnerships with trusted third parties such as web designers and ISPs. Our proactive and capable project managers run project smoothly and efficiently, leaving you with an exceptional software solution for a highly competitive price.

We have experience of a vast range of markets and technologies and are continually broadening our horizons yet further. Our can-do attitude and deep technical experience allow us to deliver the most challenging projects with a minimum of fuss.

Website - http://www.softwire.com/

Scenario

In building up the company, the founders of Softwire have always valued the contribution of its employees to its success. Currently, all HR services are performed by the foundering members. They have decided recently that it is now time to invest in a small team of employees to enable the company to extent its existing HRM services. The founders wish to retain some HRM services internally but also to consider outsourcing other HRM services. One of the founders, has agreed to produce a report outlining the company's plans on this issue.

Task

Imagine then that you are the member of the team with the task of producing this report. The report will illustrate:

· a brief outline and justification of your view of HR service delivery (i.e. generalist/specialist. centralised/decentralised).

· identification and justification of what HR services would be retained and what HR services would be outsourced.

Your discussion should draw on and make reference to academic material

Criteria for Assessment - see below

Word Count: 1750 Words.

Assignment- Suggested Outline

Introduction

A short intro outlining the purpose of the report - around 150 words maximum

Task 1

Here you are asked to provide your view regarding HR service delivery. Should it be generalist in its outlook (i.e. including a bit of everything in terms of the areas that HRM entails) or should it be specialist (i.e. specialising on key HRM practices which are crucial to the company's success). You also need to consider whether HR delivery will be centralised (delivered by one central department - responsible for the design and implementation of HRM practices) across the organisation or decentralised (whereby HRM responsibility would be devolved to line managers in the various locations in which the company operates) - dedicate around 650-700 words to this task.

Task 2

Here you need to consider what HR services (i.e. HR practices) could be kept in house and what HR services need to be outsourced (i.e. becoming the responsibility of an external provider - around 650-700 words

Conclusion/recommendations

Summarise your conclusions (key points from your analysis in relation to both tasks) and outline some recommendations which would help support HR service delivery in the way you have envisaged it. The recommendations need to flow from the points you raised previously in your analysis - around 200/300 words.

As the scenario is based on a real life organisation you are encouraged to take a look at the company's website to get a better idea about the nature of their business which would ideally inform their HRM approach (the topic of the assignment). Needless to say that your argument needs to be justified with reference to academic concepts/theories we have covered in class. Two chapters from the recommended textbook (Marchington and Wilkinson) pertaining to the role of line managers (which is relevant to the debate around decentralisation) and outsourcing have been scanned and uploaded on moodle (week 4) alongside other material which you are invited to use. Obviously, for a distinction mark you need to demonstrate more extensive search for relevant information which goes beyond what we have provided in the class.