Human Resource Management, Operations Management and Project Management

Human resource management, operations management, and project management are sometimes used interchangeably in organizations despite the fact that they mean different things. Operation management is a relatively new term, however much of the scope of operations management was covered in the now-defunct production management (Shafritz, Ott & Jang, 2015). The three are all concerned with the optimization of resources in the organization to maximize productivity. They form a core part of management. In this essay, we examine the principles of Operation management, HRM and project management. Moreover, the role that is played by professional bodies in setting professional standards will be evaluated.

Human resource management refers to the formal systems that are initiated for the management of people in the organization. The human resource refers to the people that make up the organization. Human resource management is concerned with the recruitment and hiring of employees, compensation of employees and job designing and specification. The overt goal of human resource management is usually to maximize the productivity of the organization by optimizing the employee performance. Thus, the HRM practice ensures that the employees are not only practical but also efficient. On the other hand, operations management refers to the various processes of planning, supervision, and organization of the production process to increase profitability. It was initially referred to as the production management since it involved the designing and redesigning of the business operations involved in the production of goods and services. Operation management is concerned with achieving the highest level of efficiency in an organization.

In HRM there is the principle of scientific selection and individual development. Scientific selection and individual development principle ensure that only those employees with the right skills are employed. Individual development is concerned with the career growth of employees. The HRM system ensures that the employees grow in their careers by providing training and sufficient compensation to the employees. The logic here is that only the best employees can help the organization achieve its objectives and mission (Bratton & Gold, 2017). On the other hand, the principle of reality in operation management is a contrast to the principle of scientific selection in HRM. The clause states that management should focus on the problem (task) instead of the techniques and tools (people). Thus, Operation management is concerned with making the production process efficient and effective.

The principle of fair remuneration and incentive in HRM is concerned with providing compensation to the employees for their work. To coerce increased production from the employees, the organization offers incentives to the employees. In HRM, therefore employees have to be compensated and provided with an incentive for the organization to operate efficiently. In operations management, the principle of fundamentals states that eighty percent of the enterprise success comes from strict adherence to the established disciplines and records. It is apparent whereas in HRM creativity is encouraged, in operations this is not the case.

Project Management principles compared to Operations Management principles. Unlike Operations management which is concerned with the optimization of the daily business operations, project management is concerned with the optimization of the business operations subject to resource and time constraints (Verzuh, 2015). The principal goal of operations management is to achieve all the projects needs within a predefined time. The principle of mission and vision in project management states that the end of a project should be known in advance. This helps formulate what is being desired. It is crucial in that it helps in the formulation of the business objectives. On the other hand, the principle of reality and causality in operation management asserts that in an organization the primary cause is usually to solve the various problems in the organization. Thus, in operations management, the vision and mission are not specified. All that matters in operations management are the identification of the solutions to the problems in the organization. The end goal is not predefined.

Both Operations management and Project management have the principle of measurement and accountability. In project management, the vision and management are what is used to measure the success of the project. That is whether the various entities in the project have been coordinated and led to the achievement of the enterprise mission and objective. The accountability aspect ensures that the top consistent performers in the organization are adequately and fairly compensated. On the other hand, the underperformers are identified and provided with extra training. Despite the fact that in operations management the mission and vision are not defined, the successful solving of the organization problems is the metric used in evaluating business operations. Moreover, the principle of accountability in operations management ensures that the top performers in the organization are recognized. The underperformers just like in the case of operations management are provided with extra training.

The importance of professional service organizations in standardizing a profession, to include their established code of ethics. Various professional bodies exist in the field of project management, operations management, and human resource management. Some of the professional bodies include Society for Human resource management (SHRM) and the Project Management Institute (PMI). These professional bodies are essential since they provide the code of standards and ethics that are used in regulating the conduct of professionals. They standardize the operations of the professions. Some of them, for example, the SHRM, provide their members with certification and exams that are geared towards improving the quality of the services. The bodies help set the industry standards. These professional bodies are also relevant in that they help in modeling the behavior of their professionals. Some of the professionals if left unrestrained would engage in despicable practices. The professional organizations address these by having disciplinary teams that are used to address complaints against the professionals under their umbrella. Moreover, these professional bodies help build the portfolio of the professionals.

In conclusion, we have seen that although some of the aspects of operations management, HRM, and Project management differ all of them are concerned with maximizing organization productivity. All are concerned with ensuring the organization operates efficiently. Additionally, we have seen some of the aspects are interrelated.

References

Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.

Shafritz, J. M., Ott, J. S., & Jang, Y. S. (2015). Classics of organization theory. Cengage Learning.

Verzuh, E. (2015). The fast-forward MBA in project management. John Wiley & Sons.