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Textron (NYSE: TXT) is a conglomerate that includes Bell Helicopter, E-Z-GO, Cessna Aircraft Company, and Greenlee, among others. It was founded by Royal Little in 1923 as the Special Yarns Company, and is headquartered at the Textron Tower in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

With total revenues of $14.2 billion, and approximately 37,000 employees in 29 countries, Textron is currently ranked 220 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies for 2010.



1. Scanning the External Environment

At the heart of strategic planning is the knowledge gained from scanning the external environment for changes. Environmental scanning is the process of studying the environment of the organization to pinpoint opportunities and threats. Scanning especially affects HR planning because each organization must draw from the same labor market that supplies all other employers. Indeed, one measure of organizational effectiveness is the ability of an organization to compete for a sufficient supply of human resources with the appropriate capabilities.




2. Government Influences

A major element that affects labor supply is the government. Today, managers are confronted with an expanding and often bewildering array of government rules as regulation of HR activities has steadily increased. As a result, HR planning must be done by individuals who understand the legal requirements of various government regulations.
Hence, Government trade policies and restrictions can affect HR planning.

3. Economic Conditions

The general business cycle of recessions and booms also affects HR planning. Such factors as interest rates, inflation, and economic growth help determine the availability of workers and figure into organizational plans and objectives. Decisions on wages, overtime, and hiring or laying off workers all hinge on economic
conditions.

4. Geographic and Competitive Concerns

Employers must consider the following geographic and competitive concerns in making HR plans:
l Net migration into the area
l Other employers in the area
l Employee resistance to geographic relocation
l Direct competitors in the area
l Impact of international competition on the area

5. Workforce Composition and Work Patterns

Changes in the composition of the workforce, combined with the use of varied work patterns, have created workplaces and organizations that are very different from those of a decade ago. As noted in Chapter 1, demographic shifts have resulted in greater workforce diversity. Many organizations are addressing concerns about having sufficient workers with the necessary capabilities, and have turned to such sources as welfare-to-work programs. The use of outsourcing and contingent workers also must be considered as part of human resource planning.



ALTERNATIVE WORK SCHEDULES
The traditional work schedule, in which employees work full time, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week at the employer’s place of operations, is in transition.
Organizations have been experimenting with many different possibilities for change: the 4-day, 40-hour week; the 4-day, 32-hour week; the 3-day week; and flexible scheduling.
Many employers have adopted some flexibility in work schedules and locations. Changes of this nature must be considered in HR planning.
These alternative work schedules allow organizations to make better use of workers by matching work demands to work hours.
Workers also are better able to balance their work and family responsibilities. One type of schedule redesign is flextime, in which employees work a setnumber of hours per day but vary starting and ending times.

There are two famous HRM models that exist today. One of these is the Michigan School Model which was developed by Fibrin, Itchy and Deanna (1984). This is also referred to as the hard HRM which emphasizes on treating employees as a means to achieving the organization’s strategy. Organizations that practice this model monitor investment in employee training and development to ensure to ensure it fits with the firm’s business strategy. The management’s principal reason for improving the effectiveness of HRM in this model is increasing productivity. The Michigan model also assumes that HRM will respond to the external and internal environment appropriately and a contingency approach to HRM. The Michigan model is hard HRM because it is based on strategic control, organizational structure and systems for managing people. Although it acknowledges the importance of motivating and rewarding people, it concentrates most on managing human assets to achieve strategic goals (Pennington & Edwards, 2000).

Another HRM model was developed by a group of academics from the Harvard Business School thus it was called the Harvard Model. The Harvard Model (Beer et al, 1984) proposes that people can be dealt with within four human resource categories. The first category is the employee-influence which refers to the amount of authority, responsibility and power voluntarily delegated by and is compatible with the purpose and interests of the management. The second is the element of human resource flow, which refers to decisions on recruitment, selection promotion, exit, job security, career development, advancement and fair treatment. The reward systems is concerned with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards such as the work itself, sense of purpose, achievement and challenge, pay, bonuses, insurances and flexible working hours.
 
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