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NAME OF THE MODULE : Leadership and Organizational Management MODULE NO: 06

DATE: 07 June, 2023

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Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre

Savar, Dhaka.

EVALUATION DEPARTMENT Seal

75th Foundation Training Course

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IA/IR/IE/IRP/ICS/IIR/OOVR

NAME OF THE MODULE : Leadership and Organizational Management MODULE NO: 06

DATE: 07 June, 2023

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Name: RAFID MAHBUB AHMAD

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 Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre
Savar, Dhaka.
EVALUATION DEPARTMENT

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IA/IR/IE/IRP/ICS/IIR/OOVR

NAME OF THE MODULE : Leadership and Organizational Management

MODULE NO : 06

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 Individual Assignment for
Module No: 06
Module Name: Leadership and Organizational Management
75th Foundation Training Course (FTC),
Bangladesh Public Administration Training Centre (BPATC)
Savar, Dhaka -1343

Assignment Submitted to
Mr. Mehedi Masud, Ph. D
Module Director,
Module No. 06
Book Review and Presentation

Date of Submission Wednesday, 07 June, 2023

Assigned Topic
‘What are the Major Human Resources Management (HRM) challenges
before you in the future? Please Explain’

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Table of Contents
Abstract........................................................................................................................................................ 5
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Tracking the Genealogy of Human Resource Management………………………………………6
2.1 Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers.......................................................................................................... 6
2.2 Slaves and Slavery............................................................................................................................. 6
2.2.1 The earliest human civilization ..................................................................................................... 6
2.2.2 Semitic theological scriptures ....................................................................................................... 6
2.2.3 Early Philosophic literatures......................................................................................................... 6
2.2.4 Slavery in the colonies.................................................................................................................... 7
2.6 Abolition of Slavery and the Industrial Revolution ....................................................................... 7
3. Underlying Pattern and Theoretical Progression of the study ........................................................... 8
3.1 Taylor and Mayo: Scientific Management vs. Human Relations Theory .................................... 8
3.1.1 Taylor’s Scientific Management ................................................................................................... 9
3.1.2 Mayo’s Human Relations Theory................................................................................................. 9
3.2 Prominent Theoretical Schools and their Assumptions ................................................................ 9
4. Expected Future Challenges ................................................................................................................ 11
References .................................................................................................................................................. 13

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Abstract
In this paper, the answer to the question ‘What are the Major Human Resources Management (HRM)
challenges before you in the future?’ has been sought. To that end, a brief genealogy of global human
resources management (in different names before the coining of the term ‘Human Resource Management’)
has been conducted to identify any underlying pattern of evolution of approaches or mindsets towards
worker management in course of human history so that it can be used as a tool to reflect upon in order to
predicting the future course of events. A short analysis of existing theoretical standpoints and debate has
been also done to understand the potential real-life problems and challenges in HRM. Finally, some
expected future challenges in this regard have been pointed out from scholarly references written both in
the context of Bangladesh as well as the world to make remarks on these two aspects from my own
perspective and understanding.

Keywords: Human, Resource, Management, Workplace, Organization,

1. Introduction
Dr. Jacqueline Coyle-Shapiro and her co-authors from a number of leading universities in the
United Kingdom pointed out interesting differences between academically studying human
resources management and practicing it, in contrast with doing so in other fields like law or
medicine. Quite importantly this includes that practical skills and experiences are also required
besides theoretical knowledge (Coyle-Shapiro et al, 2013, pp. 20). This the fact that successful
completion of studying human resource management will not necessarily enable a person to
effectively manage in practical scenarios, nor all successful human resources managers are
academically groomed in this domain.

This paper deals with a question concerned with possible noteworthy challenges in human resource
management in the days those lie ahead. Staying away from making wild guesses or verbosely
beating around the bush to ensure accurate identification of such future problems require both a
sound academic aptitude in human resource management along with a considerable experience
spanning a good while. Unfortunately, as a writer of this paper – I have neither. Therefore, to
bridge my academic or experiential limitations, I would like to apply the method of reflection upon
the genealogy of human resource management in practice as well as moral or legal codification -
in order to seeking out an underlying pattern of evolution here in perspective and mindset towards
it, with an expectation that this, coupled with the existing major theoretical and analytic
frameworks of the discipline could shed light on what might come next that I will be able to apply
in my civil service workplace.

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2. Tracking the Genealogy of Human Resource Management:
Tribes, Slaves, Workers and Staffs
2.1 Prehistoric Hunter-Gatherers
‘Human Resources Management’ can be categorized as comparatively a recent term in academia,
but managing human resources possibly dates back to the dawn of human civilization. On one
hand, research has been conducted on the ‘Hadzabe’ tribe (Leider and Spears, 2014) from present-
day Northern Tanzania to show the emergence of a specific form of collective, altruistic leadership
and a befitting collective approach of fellow human resource management among one of the oldest
existing hunter-gatherer tribes.

2.2 Slaves and Slavery

In fact, for a significant portion of human history, in different parts of the world ‘Slavery’ had been
arguably the closest synonym for ‘Human Resources’ in practice.

2.2.1 The earliest human civilization

Mendelsohn (1946) has pointed out the earliest forms of slavery based on apprehended foreign
individuals and war prisoners in ancient Mesopotamian civilization (ancient Babylonia in the
present day Near East) and the treatments towards them that sums up into a comprehensive picture
of how they were managed.

2.2.2 Semitic theological scriptures

A good number of Semitic religious scriptural references to the concept and conduct of slavery
dating back thousands of years can be considered as valid evidences for that matter. In this regard,
Burke (2016) has identified the references from the Old Testament [Book of Genesis (14:14-15,
15:3, 24:2), Book of Exodus (21:3-4, 8, 10-11, 20-21, 26-27), Book of Leviticus (25: 39-41, 47-
49, 54), Book of Deuteronomy (5:14, 15:1, 12; 23:15) and so on].

On the other hand, Harrill (2000) worked on linkages between the American Slavery and
references from the New Testament identified Gospel of Matthew 7:12, Gospel of Luke (6:31)
Ephesians (5:23, 6:1-2, 4), Colossians (3:20, 4:1) and so on. Meanwhile, Clarence-Smith (2006)
has looked into both the historic and the wider geographic dispersion of Islam across a significant
stretch of the world and pointed out relevance of servitude in the light of Islamic Sharia.

2.2.3 Early Philosophic literatures

Numerous writings and orations from Greek philosophers like Plato (427-347 B.C.) and Aristotle
(384-322 B.C.) have a significant number of references towards slavery and the function and status
of slaves in ancient Greek economy as well as moral quadrant. Plato’s proposition of an ‘Ideal
State’ had slaves in it (Vlastos, 1968; Calvert, 1987). Meanwhile, Aristotle’s idea of ‘Natural
Slavery’ constructs the concept of some non-Greek population, who are naturally incapable to
foster practical rationality and therefore, enslavement of this group of people would not be deemed
logically unjust (Heath, 2008).
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2.2.4 Slavery in the colonies
From his academic endeavor, Burke interestingly pointed out that the form servitude during the
antiquity of the Semitic religious patriarchs was sharply different from the form of slavery during
the sixteenth to nineteenth century colonial era, otherwise defined by him under the term ‘Chattel
Slavery’ (Garnsey, 1996, as referred in Burke, 2016). In case of the acknowledgement of such total
right of the slave-owner that covered the slave as a person along with their labor in a customarily
involuntary, coercive and terminal (pp.2) definition practice of slavery hardly left any room for
codifying proper conducts towards the slaves apart from instances like the ‘Barbados Slave Code
of 1661’, ‘The Jamaica Slave Code of 1664’, ‘Code Noir of 1685’, ‘The South Carolina Slave
Code of 1695’, ‘The New York Slave Code of 1702’ or the ‘The Virginia Slave Codes of 1705’ –
all of which were permissible as per the customs back then, but contained a number of most severe
violations of the present-day Universal Declaration on Human Rights.

2.6 Abolition of Slavery and the Industrial Revolution

One of the most formidable naval and colonial powers for a long time – Portugal probably began
the notorious ‘Atlantic Slave Trade’ back in the fifteenth and sixteenth century. The same country
banned import of slaves into mainland Portugal in the year 1761. However, it was effectively
abolished in 1869, when slavery was banned in the Portuguese colonies of Africa.

The ‘Slave Trade Act of 1807’ in the British Parliament abolished slave trade in the United
Kingdom, however the notorious business continued in many of the former British colonies well
until 1838 till the slave-owners were paid reparations.

The famous 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution passed in the United States
Congress on 31 January, 1865 and subsequently ratified after intense debate, deliberation and
political polarizations on 06 December, 1865 saw the complete abolition of slavery in the United
States of America.

In the backdrop of the then ushering ‘Age of Enlightenment’ coupled with the spirit of the historic
French Revolution, ‘Décret de la Convention Nationale’ signed on 04 February, 1794 saw slavery
being abolished in all the French colonies. However, it was the ‘Lois Mackau’ signed on 18 and
19 July, 1845 as initiated by the then French Minister of the Navy and the Colonies, Ange René
Armand (1788-1855), slavery was effectively abolished in all of France.

Spanish Royal authority abolished slavery in mainland Spain in 1811. However, slavery continued
in the Spanish colony of Puerto Rico until 1873 and in Cuba until 1886.

These are the timeline of abolition of slavery in five of the most prominent western powers of that
age. All these years are specifically mentioned to point out the fact that, effective abolition of
slavery in the major western industrial powers took as long as the first industrial revolution
(considered to have begun around 1760s) was already in progress. This is to refer to the meagerness
of differences between laborer treatments in mines, mills, factories and plantations during the
industrial revolution aforementioned and the treatment towards the ‘chattel slaves’ in the then
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dying system of slavery. Jane Humphries (2010) alone and earlier with her co-author Sara Horrell
(Humphries and Horrell, 1995) have extensively worked on the worker treatment scenario in
Britain during the first industrial revolution.

3. Underlying Pattern and Theoretical Progression of the study

Starting with an altruistic modus operandi among the hunter-gatherers, the entire sequence of
evolution of the concept and practice of slavery (which happened to be the most prevalent form of
human resource management throughout much of human history) can be broadly divided into two
paradigms. One is from the antiquity – from the hunter-gatherer tribes to the slave culture of
ancient civilizations along with theological texts and philosophical opinions. This paradigm was
largely humane, ethical and progressive in nature (of course with certain deviations in places and
ages). But amid the European colonial expansion into the new world during what is largely known
as the ‘Age of Discovery’, the reemergence of slavery in the fifteenth, sixteenth or seventeenth
century took a sharp drift away from the moral grounds of the antiquity – and became coercive,
inhumane and highly materialistic in nature.

This negative mindset towards the subordinates continued further into the industrial revolutions in
case of the mine and factory and other such workers of the western hemisphere despite slavery
was almost abolished by then. The events that led towards the tragedy of Hay Market Square,
Chicago, United States in the historic May of 1886 remain evidences of a long struggle of workers
for an 8 hour workday, despite they were ‘free men’ by definition.

It was during this context, the earliest conceptualizations of what we see today as human resource
management began – amid strict workplace mentalities prioritizing materialistic result, output and
efficiency much more than the wellbeing of the subordinates. At the same time, labor rights were
gaining ground in discourses amid advent of modern technologies and better fuel options were
marginalizing the scope of manual labor in factories. Meanwhile, most of the Western world
powers were in fierce competition for supremacy over the others in every possible aspect and
corner of the globe, leading towards an inevitable clash among them that would require every last
unit of manual labor under their respective nationalistic banner to keep up with. The interplay of
all these opposing dynamics created a much more complicated work environment in the Western
hemisphere during most of the nineteenth and early-twentieth century. And all these somewhat
resulted in the academia as well as management professionals pondering about – ‘How to run the
enterprise the best?’

3.1 Taylor and Mayo: Scientific Management vs. Human Relations Theory
Quests to seek out answer to this laid the early theoretical foundation in human resource
management, particularly in the contrasting works of the ‘Father of Scientific Management’
Frederick Winslow Taylor (1856-1915) and the ‘Father of Human Relations’ George Elton Mayo
(1880-1949).

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3.1.1 Taylor’s Scientific Management
Being a career mechanical engineer hailing from the United States, Taylor proposed the enterprise
should work collectively and efficiently, somewhat like different conjoined parts of an engine.
This broader proposition included further features like- optimal output through efficient working
techniques, hiring the right people with more efficiency than others, better communication and
coordination between and among the manager and the workers, simplification of job with the right
and befitting monetary incentives etc. Overall, his application of mathematics and scientific
methods of several workplace-related experiments coupled with his ideas about workplace
efficiency and obtaining economic output led towards the inception of ‘Scientific Management’
that could be roughly summed up into his four basic principles (Taylor, 1911) that focused upon:

(a) Developing a science for each and every element involved in the work or related to the
workplace;
(b) Application of scientific methods to recruit or select workers, to choose and roll out
necessary training opportunities for them, to teach them adequately in a befitting manner
and to ensure their overall development;
(c) Ensuring optimal cooperation with the workers, and
(d) Scientific and calculative division of jobs, responsibilities, tasks or assignments among the
ranks of the workers.

3.1.2 Mayo’s Human Relations Theory

A shift in the core of focus from what Taylor suggested about two decades ago, was eventually
seen in the ideas of George Elton Mayo. Being a psychologist by profession from Australia, Mayo
had similar occupational influence to that of Taylor in his process of thinking. Presumably enough,
to ensure successful running an enterprise Mayo’s focus was predominantly on the psycho-social
aspects of the workers in and outside their workplace. In his best work The Human Problems of
an Industrial Civilization (1933), Mayo suggested such aspects like: motivation, morale, respect
and values, vacation and entertainment, emotional bondage among fellow workers, family
benefits, out-of-the-workplace informal relations between the manager and the workers and within
their ranks, the team spirit and camaraderie etc. are more crucial factors in running an organization
more efficiently than hard and fast scientific approaches featuring only mathematical inputs and
outputs. These basic understandings can be briefly summed up as his ‘Human Relations Theory’.

3.2 Prominent Theoretical Schools and their Assumptions

From a practical, more pragmatic point of view – it is utter illogical to refute either of the two
contrasting suggestions of priority put forward by F. W. Taylor and G. E. Mayo as far as efficient
running of an organization run by workers (in other words- human resource management) is
concerned. Both the theoretical standpoints have their own limitations but both are equally
important for a real-life workplace scenario.

However, it is sometimes speculated from different quadrants of the academia and the professional
managers that there is lack of theoretical perspectives in this domain but nevertheless, theoretical

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progression of human resource management did not end right there at the first debate between the
ideas of Taylor and Mayo aforesaid. Ahmed and her co-authors (2020, pp. 6-15) have pointed out
some of the most noteworthy theoretical frameworks in the study of human resources management.
Not necessarily all these theories are exclusive assets of human resource management and also
quite a number of them have overlapping scopes shared among one another. Yet, the theories
mentioned by Ahmed and her co-authors along with their basic assumptions are important to
understand multifaceted realities in managing human resources, as well as attempting to predict a
possible future scenario in this regard:

Theories Basic Assumption(s)

Organization Focused on the thoughts, actions and feelings of the people within an
Behavior organization and identifying their behavioral impact on the efficiency of the
Theory organization;
Human Focused on the personal educational, innovational and skill-related development
Capital of the individuals culminating in the collective betterment of the organization;
Theory
Institution The broader environment existing within the organization including norms,
Theory beliefs and cultural or social elements have immense impact on the functioning
of the enterprise;
Agency Focused on delegation of responsibility and decision-making authority among
Theory the ranks to eradicate clashes of self-centric narrow interests and to create healthy
working environment in order to reducing relevant costs as well as maximizing
efficiency of the organization;
Motivation Focused on fulfillment of certain needs among the ranks in order to achieve
Theory optimum level of passion to excel in the professional sphere culminating in a
better efficiency for the organization;
Ability, Focused on three independent components for the individuals within a workplace
Motivation, and concerted development of those if, as and when necessary to maximize the
Opportunity efficiency within an organization;
(AMO)
Theory
Contingency Focused on developing the organization and the manpower into units befitting to
Theory both internal and external environmental factors, realities, dynamics and changes
to achieve the optimum level of efficiency as well as sustainability of the
organization;
Transaction Focused on thorough examination of human transactions, exchanges or contracts
Costs to uproot latent tendencies of self-centric rationalism and opportunism, resulting
Theory into increased efficiency of the firm in question;
Resource- Focused on the uniqueness of resources, attributes, capabilities etc. under the
based disposal of a certain firm and their befitting concoction as well as deployment to
Theory achieve the maximum efficiency of the organization;

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4. Expected Future Challenges
In the light of the brief genealogy of worker management in different ages, in different names
along with the brief discussion on theoretical aspects of this domain have immensely helped to
understand the reality and ongoing trajectory of human resource management. This understanding
can be deemed effective to chalk out some potential future challenges as well. However, there are
also a good number of scholarly works on the possible future challenges in the domain of human
resources management. Stone and Deadrick (2015) have pointed out the followings to be major
challenges for the future of human resource management:

(a) The transition from a manufacturing-based economy towards a service-based or knowledge-

based economy;

(b) Increased intensity of Globalization;

(c) Increasing domestic demographic, generational and ethnic diversities, and

(d) Spiraling usage of technology.

Meanwhile, Mahmood and Absar (2015) have conducted an extensive work on the human resource
management practices in Bangladesh and have pointed out:

(a) Accusations of labor exploitations and unethical practices;

(b) Backwardness in terms of ensuring inclusive employment for minority population and
specially-abled people;

(c) Scarcity of skilled labor;

(d) Imbalance in labor market with excessive number of non-vocational graduates;

(e) Obsolete legal frameworks;

(f) Inclusive career development along with ensuring balance between work and life for the
professionals, particularly ladies of Bangladesh;

(g) Excessive influence of the political sphere over business decision making processes and
executions, and

(h) Hesitations faced by Bangladeshi managers to choose between globally approved practices and
the expectation and practices of the local subsidiaries.

In this regard, I would like to make two remarks about potential future challenges, both for
Bangladesh as well as for the world. In case of Bangladesh, I think a considerable limitation is
there in the quality of our education, as far as human resources management is concerned. The
standard of our education system and curriculum, all the way from the primary level to the higher

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education is visibly poor. On one hand, we are having an increasing number school and college
students with inadequate proficiency in languages as well as mathematical reasoning – on the other
hand we are witnessing an alarming dearth of research and innovation in our universities coupled
with a huge number of students attaining degrees without attending classes regularly to indulge
into government job-oriented traditional cramming-based studies. This is very concerning for our
country as we are now having graduates without sufficient knowledge of their own discipline.
Furthermore, in the fiercely competitive job exams, the examinees who eventually cannot qualify
actually end up in our other sectors of the broader job market and thus making the human resource
management scenario even more riddled with troubles thereby.

As for the world, I guess the rapid development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) can become a
potential game-changer in the field of human resource management. This can happen both in
numerous positive as well as negative ways. Not so far ago, we have witnessed the Artificial
Intelligence-based chatbot ‘ChatGPT’ (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) shaking the very core
of workplace reality as well as work ethics of the world. On one hand, organizations might have
quick and affordable solutions due to the advent of competing AI-based platforms and assistants -
while on the other hand, we might see skyrocketing unemployment coupled with even more
notorious cybercrimes. Moreover, in the light of a number of recent authentic media news, there
remains enough room to suspect that the scientific community behind the development of such AI-
based solutions are not always being able to confidently track the self-learning procedures of these
AI-based platforms.

Metaphorically speaking before I conclude, that actually leaves the alarming possibility of the
driver losing control of the steering wheel.

____________________________

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References
Ahmed, S. T, Mahmood, D. S & Abdullah V. M. (2020), The Underpinning Theories of Human
Resource Management;

Anyanwu, T. C. & Ani, K. J. (2020), Slavery and Colonialism: The Roots of Postcolonial Conflicts
in Africa, In World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues, 24(1), pp. 132-141;

Burke, J. (2016), Slavery in the Old Testament, In Setting the Captives Free, pp. 37-50

Calvert, B. (1987), Slavery in Plato’s Republic, In The Classical Quarterly, 37(2), pp. 367-372;

Clarence-Smith, W. G (2006), Islam and the Abolition of Slavery, (Oxford: Oxford University
Press);

Coyle-Shapiro, J. Hoque, K. Kessler, I. et al, Human Resource Management, (London: University

of London International Programmes: 2013);

Harrill, J. A. (2000), the Use of the New Testament in the American Slave Controversy: A Case
History in the Hermeneutical Tension between Biblical Criticism and Christian Moral
Debate, In Religion and American Culture, 10 (2), pp. 149-186;

Heath, M. (2008), Aristotle on Natural Slavery, In Phronesis, 53(3), pp. 243-270;

Horrell, S. & Humphries, J. (1995), “The Exploitation of Little Children”: Child Labor and the
Family Economy in the Industrial Revolution, In Explorations in Economic History,
32 (4), pp. 485-516;

Humphries, J. (2010), Childhood and Child Labour in the British Industrial Revolution,
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press);

Leider, R. & Spears, L. C. (2014), what can hunter-gatherers teach us about servant-leadership?
In The International Journal of Servant-Leadership, 10(1), pp. 23-31;

Mahmood, M. & Absar, M. M. N, (2015), Human Resource Management Practices in Bangladesh:

Current Scenario and Future Challenges, In South Asian Journal of Human Resources
Management, 2 (2), pp. 171-188;

Mendelsohn, I. (1946), Slavery in the Ancient near east, In the Biblical Archaeologist, 9(4),
pp. 74-88;

Stone, D. L. & Deadrick, D. L, (2015), Challenges and Opportunities affecting the Future of
Human Resource Management, In Human Resource Management Review, 25(2), pp. 139-
145;

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Taylor, F. W. (1911), the Principles of Scientific Management, (New York: Harper and Brothers
Publishers);

Vlastos, G. (1968), Does Slavery Exist in Plato’s Republic? In Classical Philology, 63(4),
pp. 291-295;

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