The Similarities between Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

Human resource management is an effective management of the workforce in an organisation. This is the backbone of any business that gives it a competitive edge over others. The quality and productivity of the workforce determines the progress and sustainability of the business. A human resource management system is very similar to a supply chain management system because human resource management handles a chain of inter related departments with diverse job responsibilities working with an aim to achieve a common objective.

Recent times have noticed great developments in the supply chain industry in terms of automation, cost cutting, software aided operations, automated vehicles, etc. The introduction of these new concepts can be beneficial for the Human Resource department too. There is a lot that the human resource management system can imbibe from the supply chain management system.

Supply chain management system works on modularization. This means that the links within a supply chain management are commutable, interchangeable, compatible and exchangeable. The supply chain management system cannot allow any breakdown in the movement of goods and services. Similarly, the human resource management system must also incorporate the concept of modularization in their workforce. This will enable the human resource management system to ensure a continuous flow of workforce and prevent scarcity of manpower. Just as the demand for products is a regular affair so is the demand for talented manpower.

It has to be kept in mind though, that no matter what, humans and products cannot be equated in the same manner and so, the principles and metrics of supply chain management may not necessarily fit in to the human resource management system. The human resource management system will definitely hold its own defined techniques, procedure and practices. The modus operandi is bound to be different for both the systems. However there are certain common modularization practices that the human resource management system can incorporate in its operations:

Outsourcing: Supply chain management involves a lot of channel or outsourced partners. Many HR functions can be outsourced too. Third party deployment can be done for security services, housekeeping, web development, etc. Even a part or all of the hiring requirements can be outsourced to job consultancies.

Automation:
Video Interviews or Interactive Voice Questionnaire can be used to select and filter candidates in the first round. This increases the efficiency of the operations, minimises biasness and saves time on the part of the recruiter. Automated mails can be used to notify candidates about job openings and also to share feedback of the interview to the candidates.

Creating Human Inventory:
Most job openings witness a large number of applicants compared to the number of vacancies. As a result, many good candidates are waitlisted for the next opening. These waitlisted candidates can be kept as reservoir or human inventory. A human inventory will consist of a pool of shortlisted applicants who are qualified and suitable for future openings. This minimises time and effort of the selection process.

The Similarities between Human Resource Management and Supply Chain Management

Every process is unique in its own way. We can derive many useful concepts for every process, be it supply chain or manufacturing. These concepts can be further modified and modulated into process specific approaches and used for overall growth of the business.

Innovation Management – If you’re not going forward, you’re going backwards

In today’s world, a lot of companies face many challenges in day-to –day operation. The great competition that is partially caused by globalisation causes all business owners to look for a way to gain an advantage over other companies. Running a successful establishment means a constant improvement of products, customer satisfaction and business operation.

’If you’re not going forward, you’re going backwards’

This is the reason why companies are so interested in different methods of company’s processes optimisation and product improvement. As a result, such concepts as lean management and innovation management gained in popularity. In our previous articles, we talked about lean, where it came from and how can a company implement it. Today we will talk about innovation management.

What is an innovation management?

Innovation management is a field in business that combines the management of innovation process and change management. It can be implemented not only in product development but also in various business processes and organisational elements of a company. In simple words, innovation management directs the changes in a firm. It manages alterations, from the planning through implementing to reporting to assure that all the changes are an improvement in company’s work.

The concept of innovation management is based on an idea that first appeared in the 1930s. in a book “Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy” by Joseph Schumpeter. On the pages, the author explained to his readers details of a creative destruction. The theory was a foundation for innovation management. The basic idea of creative destruction or “gale of creative destruction” says that during company’s operation new solutions are being developed at all times while the old ones simultaneously are being destroyed. This shows that businesses are constantly looking for improvement of their operations to keep up with their competitors.

Who can implement an innovation management?

Many incorrectly think that innovation management can only be implemented in companies that are manufacturers. On the contrary, this concept is not only reserved for a factory work, as innovation can be implemented on various levels of company’s operations. Commonly thinking has been adopted that innovation may only apply to a product, possibly a service. Of course innovation is mostly seen in products and services development; however, it can be applied also in such fields of business as customer experience, brand or marketing methods. And this means that virtually every company can benefit from implementing this concept.

Where can an innovation management be implemented?

We can find numerous areas of a business where innovation management can be applied. From mentioned before products and services development to marketing, networking or human resources. We just have to remember that for each area of business different tools must be applied, for instance when implementing changes in HR such tool as online recruitment or intranet might be helpful. In marketing, we can take an advantage of CRM or geo-marketing.

What are the benefits of innovation management?

There is a number of benefits of innovation management. Depending on the area that the company decides to implement innovation management the business owners can expect an improvement of customer satisfaction, business margins, employee engagement or gaining a competitive advantage.