According Leonard Nadler , the Human Resources "refer to a series of organized activities conducted within a specified time and designed to produce behavioral change". The main task of this function is to focus on employees within an organization: if the firm is able to create a good corporate culture, people will increase their motivation and skills to reach their professional goals. In fact, the financial situation or the equipment rate, for instance, doesn't guarantee a healthy structure and position on the market. The Employees are the heart of an organization
What does it mean? Few years ago the managers have realized that in order to guarantee a positive development, they have to improve the internal situation. Training, wages, bonuses, communication between departments seems like the solution to create cohesion and solidarity in the company.
The Danish hearing aid manufacturer, Oticon, has faced this problem. Even if they did have a good brand name and a strong position on the market; with the entry of new technologies its traditional internal management failed. In order to curb these issues, the conservative managers decided to hire Lars Kolind, as the new CEO: the third management team of Oticon since its inception in 1904. In order to be efficient, the man had to identify some essential key factors to establish a long term management strategy: What are we doing? Why are we doing it? How are we being evaluated? How can we make sense of it? How can we make sense of it to others? The result was a radical change to develop new competitive advantages thanks to a new corporate culture.
How to reach the goal? How to manage employees to make them more efficient and involve in the brand's activities? How to structure the company?
In the first part, we will try to answer these questions by identifying the different aspects of this new organization, which are designed to foster creativity. Then, we will examine the Oticon leadership and analyze the human resources development dynamics. To conclude, we will explain if it can be interesting to work for such a company.
[...] That's why, Oticon has created a partnership with its two main Danish competitors, Danavox and Widex, to form the NOAH project. Peter Finnerup, the new software programmer, managed this partnership. He knew that it was time and Lars gave him freedom because he was confident about the employees. The Leadership According to the Buisness Dictionary the “leadership in an organizational role involves establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with others so that they will follow willingly, providing the information, knowledge, and methods to realize that vision, and coordinating and balancing the conflicting interests of all members or stakeholders. [...]
[...] Human Resource Development As we already mentioned in the introduction, the Human Resources Development's main goal is to provide a coherent internal strategy in order to increase the efficiency by developing employees' skills. So, we can definitely say that human, the staff is at the heart of the company. In this case study, the first Human Resources Development refers to Employees. (Creating new jobs In the new system, employees are allowed to select jobs according to their interest. By doing this, Kolind gives the staff an opportunity to increase know-how by being involved in new issues or projects. [...]
[...] (Career Development Human Resources Development attempt, at Oticon is to promote the career development: the coordinators are responsible for conducting personal development reviews and wage. In fact, at Oticon employees can't be promoted. However it is motivating and crucial to be to be rewarded for the job: here the salary can increase and the skills too. Oticon has put forward the career development through empowerment and enlargement of knowledge. To conclude this part, we can confirm that Oticon wants to increase the motivation and skills of employees in order to have a value-added on the market. [...]
[...] Then, we will examine the Oticon leadership and analyze the human resources development dynamics. To conclude, we will explain if it can be interesting to work for such a company. The aspects that foster creativity Lars Kolding has decided to build a new management structure. In order to understand what and how he has implemented, let's explain the brand position and analyze his actions as the CEO. Global presence Since its inception in 1904, Oticon has been a niche player for a long time The Danish company provides hearing instruments for the hearing impaired people. [...]
[...] In the olden days when a company's capital was based on the physical presence of money, labor was of less importance. It just needed to be present. Today it is the partnership between management and good staff which constitutes a company's value”, explains Kolind. Today Oticon is the leader in its market. Thanks to the leadership, Oticon grew 19% per year and improved its return on sales 2 to 3 per cent every year. This is an example that shows that Human Resources are the fundamental aspects that guarantee success to the management of a firm. Employees represent the value, [...]
APA Style reference
For your bibliographyOnline reading
with our online readerContent validated
by our reading committee
