33 Types of resources and planning perspectives

Mary Grace ‘D’ Tungdim

epgp books

 

 

Contents:

 

Introduction

What is a resource?

Types of resources

Planning perspectives of resources

Role of anthropology in human resources planning and management

 

Learning Objectives:

  • To understand what is a resource.
  • To learn about the types of resources.
  • To explore the planning perspectives of resources.
  • To comprehend the role of anthropology in human resources planning and management.

    Introduction

 

The past decades have seen an increasing interest in the planning perspective of the different types of resources. Unscrupulous use of resources can lead to depletion of resources and doomsday for the existence of humans on earth. Thomas Robert Malthus in the 18th century have already promulgated that populations can outgrow their resources if left unchecked. Planning is such an important one and existed since creation of human beings on earth. In such a way, it is important to have different planning perspectives for the different types of resources available. The beginning of the execution of God’s plan for life is revealed in the Book of Genesis. Till the time human population becomes stable planning has to go on for maximum benefit and joy of human race. There are many scientists who call this planet a fragile planet and believed that humans probably have about 1000 years to live on earth (Hawking, 2016). This points to the need of proper planning perspectives and management of resources to get maximum benefit and sustain life on earth for a longer period.

 

What is a resource?

 

A resource is a source from which we can obtain benefit. Therefore, any natural or human wealth that can be used for satisfying human needs is called a resource. A resource may be directly utilized or utilized with the help of technology. Therefore, resources are: materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit to humankind. Resources can broadly be classified based upon their availability, they are renewable and non renewable resources. They can also be classified as actual and potential on the basis of level of development and use, on the basis of origin they can be classified as living and nonliving, and also based on their distribution as omnipresent and localized. There are various benefits of resource utilization which may include increased wealth or wants, proper functioning of a system, or enhanced wellbeing. From a human perspective a natural resource is anything obtained from the environment to satisfy human needs and wants (Miller & Spoolman, 2011) and from a broader biological or ecological perspective a resource satisfies the needs of a living organism (Ricklefs, 2005).

 

The concept of resources has been applied in diverse realms, with respect to economics, biology and ecology, computer science, management, and human resources, and is linked to the concepts of competition, sustainability, conservation, and stewardship. With respect to human society, commercial or non-commercial factors require resource allocation through resource management. Resources have three main characteristics: utility, limited availability, and potential for depletion or consumption. Resources have been variously categorized as living (biotic) versus nonliving (abiotic), renewable versus non-renewable, and potential versus actual. Resources have three main characteristics: utility, limited availability, and potential for depletion or consumption. Resources have been variously categorized as biotic versus abiotic, renewable versus non-renewable, and potential versus actual, along with more elaborate classification.

 

Some definitions of resources

 

In economics a resource is defined as a service or other asset used to produce goods and services that meet human needs and wants (McConnell et al., 2011). Classical economics recognizes three categories of resources, also referred to as factors of production: land, labour, and capital (Samuelson &   Nordhaus, 2004). Land includes all natural resources and is viewed as both the site of production and the source of raw materials. Labour or human resources consists of human effort provided in the creation of products, paid in wage. Capital consists of man-made goods or means of production like machinery, buildings, and other infrastructure used in the production of other goods and services.

 

In biology and ecology a resource is defined as a substance that is required by a living organism for normal growth, maintenance, and reproduction. The main essential resources for animals are food, water, and territory. For plants key resources include sunlight, nutrients, water, and a place to grow (Ricklefs, 2005). Resources can be consumed by an organism and, as a result, become unavailable to other organisms. Competition for resources vary from complete symmetric (all individuals receive the same amount of resources, irrespective of their size) to perfectly size symmetric (all individuals exploit the same amount of resource per unit biomass) to absolutely size-asymmetric (the largest individuals exploit all the available resource). The degree of size asymmetry has major effects on the structure and diversity of ecological communities, e.g. in plant communities size-asymmetric competition for light has stronger effects on diversity compared with competition for soil resources. The degree of size asymmetry has major effects on the structure and diversity of ecological communities.

 

A computer resource is any physically or virtual component of limited availability within a computer or information management system. Computer resources include means for input, processing, output, communication, and storage (Morley, 2010).

 

Types of resources

Figure: Types of resources.

 

There are different types of resources:

 

(1) Natural resources:

 

Natural resources are resources derived from the environment. The air we breathe, water we drink, land we live, minerals extracted from the earth and the sunshine indispensable for life on earth are natural resources. Many natural resources are essential for human survival, while others are used for satisfying human desire.

 

Natural resources are classified into different categories depending on various factors, viz,:

  • Natural resources based on the stage of development.
  • Actual resources: Actual resources are those that have been surveyed, their quantity and quality determined, and are being used in present times. For example, petroleum and natural gas is actively being obtained from the Mumbai High Fields.
  • Potential resources: Resources that exist in a region and which can be used in the future. For example, petroleum may exist in many parts of the world, but until the time it is actually drilled out and put into use, it remains a potential resource.

The origin of the natural resources.

  • Abiotic resources: It comprises of non living things like air, water, land, minerals, etc. Abiotic are not renewable resources as they can be exhausted by excessive use and the rate of formation is extremely slow, they cannot be replenished, once they are depleted.
  • Biotic resources: Biotic resources are obtained from the biosphere and have life. Biotic resources are renewable, can be replenished or reproduced relatively quickly.

    The availability and distribution of the resources.

  • Renewable resources: Renewable resources are resources which can be replaced or reproduced easily. Many renewable resources can be depleted by human consumption but can be replaced to maintain a balance in nature.
  • Non renewable resources: Non renewable resources are formed over a long geological periods of time. These resources once exhausted cannot be renewed over a span of human life.

   (2) Man made resources: Man made resources are materials obtained Bricks to make buildings wherein renewable resource is utilized, technology to manufacture goods.

 

(3)  Human Resources: Humans are considered to be a special resource because humans have the capability to transform the gifts of nature into valuable resources by utilizing the endowed or acquired knowledge, skill and technology.

 

Planning perspectives of human resources

 

Notwithstanding the importance of other resources, human resources is the important of all resources. So, it is very important to manage the human resources properly. There are five different perspectives of human resource management (HRM) which include the normative perspective, the critical perspective, behavioral perspective, systems perspective, and agency or transaction cost perspective (Nayab, 2011).

 

The Normative Perspective:

 

The normative perspective of human resource management bases itself on the concepts of “hard HRM” and “soft HRM,” on which the foundations of human resource management rest.

 

The concept of “Hard HRM” is the basis for the traditional approach toward human resource management. This concept traces its origins to the Harvard model that links workforce management to organizational strategy. Hard HRM stresses the linkage of functional areas such as manpower planning, job analysis, recruitment, compensation and benefits, performance evaluations, contract negotiations, and labour legislations to corporate strategy. This enforces organization interests over the employees’ conflicting ambitions and interests. It views the workforce as passive resources that the organization can use and dispose at will.

 

Soft HRM is synonymous with the Michigan model of human resources and is the bedrock of the modern approach to strategic human resource management. This model considers human capital as “assets” rather than “resources” and lays stress on organizational development, conflict management, leadership development, organizational culture, and relationship building as a means of increasing trust and ensuring performance through collaboration. This approach works under the assumption that what is good for the organization is also good for the employee.

 

The Critical Perspective of Human Resource Management:

 

The critical perspective of human resource management is a reaction against the normative perception. This highlights some inherent contradictions within the normative perspective.

 

This perspective espouses a gap between rhetoric, as organizations claim to follow soft HRM policies when they actually enforce hard HRM. A study by Hope-Hailey et al. (1997) finds that while most organizations claim employees to be their most important assets and make many commitments for their welfare and development, in reality employers enforce a hard HRM-based strategic control, and the interests of the organization always take priority over the individual employee.

 

The Behavioral Perspective of Human Resource Management:

 

The behavioral perspective of human resource management has its roots in the contingency theory that considers employee behavior as the mediator between strategy and organizational performance. This theory holds that the purpose of human resource intervention is to control employee attitude and behaviors to suit the various strategies adopted to attain the desired performance. This perspective thus bases itself on the role behavior of employees instead of their skills, knowledge, and abilities.

 

For instance, an organization aiming to innovate, will require a workforce that demonstrates a high degree of innovative behavior such as long-term focus, cooperation, concern for quality, creativity, propensity for risk taking, and similar qualities. The role of human resource management in such a context is to inculcate and reinforce such behavioral patterns in the workforce.

 

The Systems Perspective of Human Resource Management:

 

The systems perspective describes an organization in terms of input, throughput, and output, with all these systems involved in transactions with a surrounding environment. The organized activities of employees constitute the input, the transformation of energies within the system at throughput, and the resulting product or service the output. A negative feedback loop provides communications on discrepancies.

 

The role of human resource management in the systems perspective is:

  • Competence management to ensure that the workforce has the required competencies such as skills and ability to provide the input needed by the organization.
  • Behavior management through performance evaluation, pay systems, and other methods to ensure job satisfaction, so that employees work according to the organizational strategy, ultimately boosting productivity.
  • Setting up mechanisms to buffer the technological core from the environment in closed systems.
  • Facilitating interactions with the environment in open systems.

    Agency or Transaction Cost Perspective of Human Resource Management:

 

Among the different perspectives of human resource management is the agency or transaction cost perspective, which holds the view that the strong natural inclination of people working in groups is to reduce their performance and rely on the efforts of others in the group. When one person delegates responsibility to another person, conflicts of interests invariably arise.

 

The major role of human resource management in such a context is to promote alternative ways of controlling behavior to reduce the effects of such conflicts and minimize the cost to the organization. The two major approaches include:

  • Monitoring employee behavior and preventing shrink of work by establishing effective control systems and improving productivity.
  • Providing employees with incentives such as rewards, motivation, and job satisfaction to increase their individual performance.
  • The human resource department needs to adopt the approach that minimizes transaction cost to the organization.

    Role of anthropology in human resources planning and management

 

Human resources planning is an ongoing, continuous process in an organization to achieve its goals by utilizing the most valuable asset i.e. human resources. In this process the current and future resources needs are identified to achieve optimum use of human resources. Anthropology deals with the scientific study of man in time and space. It has two broad fields i.e. physical or biological and sociocultural which of course is subdivided into various branches or subfields. The sociocultural field which is widely known as cultural anthropology is holistic as it combines a series of empirical, logical and intuitive inquiries. This includes field observation (phenomenological), critical historical (diachronic) and comparative (synchronic) analysis to arrive at a meaningful conclusion. It is also used to explore and interpret the implicit patterns and meanings underlying people’s beliefs and behaviour, communities and organization (Pant & Alberti, 1997). Therefore anthropology deals with three integrated spheres of human reality i.e. structural and existential realities, the processual realities and the cognitive aspects. Anthropologists have the acquired knowledge, skills and focused perspective for human resources planning and management.

 

Management in its broadest sense consists in the co-ordination of the efforts of people and of the use of economical and technical resources in order to obtain desired ends. Management is a socio-technical activity in the sense that it implies dealing ‘with people (the human or “socio” side) and with non-human resources (the technical side), as well as with the interaction between these two (Hofstede, 1984). Human resources is a system which is mainly composed of five basic processes like organizational design, recruitment and selection, organizational development, compensation and benefits management, labour relations. Human resources in health sectors are used to improve the quality of services and for patient’s satisfaction.

 

Anthropologists have the tools required to intercede in companies in the management of human resources (people), and provide employers with local knowledge of their employees and the community where it is located. In the same way we can intervene in the change processes due to acquisition of new technologies, mergers (of companies), and relocation of operations. Anthropology is also an attitude, and a filter through which we interpret realities, consequently covers the entire business system, from corporate strategy, guiding the practices (and even the tools) of each of the HR processes. The position of “Organizational Anthropologist” may well exist inside organizations as much as there are accountants, administrators, or coordinators. However, its influence can be located at a strategic level rather than in an administrative level, since the “holism” on which anthropology bases its practice allows to summarize all the human aspects that any management strategy can consider. Human aspects, refer not only to organizational behavior alone, but also to the relationship of people with their work tools, technological changes, geographic context, and the predominant culture or philosophy of work in a particular society or culture.

 

The principles of management are the statements of fundamental truth based on logic which provides guidelines for managerial decision making and actions. These principles can be derived on the basis of observation and analysis (such as the practical experience of managers, or by conducting experimental studies with the control of certain conditions (such as study employees’ productivity by putting them into different situations in which managers are instructed to approach their subordinates to assign the same type of task). In the words of Herbert G. Hicks, “Principles of management are the guiding rules of laws for managerial action.” In the words of Kantooz and O’ Donnell, “Management principles are fundamental truth of general validity.” These truths are the guiding pillars in the managerial execution of functions and solution to problems. Management principles influence human behaviour. Human element is an essential factor of production. Every worker is individually different from the other workers in regard to his ability, knowledge, skill, socio-economic status, attitudes and ideologies. Management is concerned with the integration of individual efforts and how to decentralize them towards achieving the desired results. As such, management principles is said to be a work and group activity, which aims at influencing individual efforts and directing them to the minimization of profit with the minimum wattage and the best possible utilization of available resources.

 

Therefore, proper management of human resources is critical in providing a high quality of services or products be in health care, items in the daily life of humans. Effective human resources management strategies are greatly needed to achieve better outcomes or benefit from a product and better access to health care around the world.

 

Summary

 

According to Malthus theory the area of land on earth remains the same but the population size keep on increasing. In this context, it is important to have different planning perspectives for different types of resources available and it is equally important to manage those resources. A resource is used for satisfying human needs and may be directly utilized or utilized with the help of technology. Therefore, resources are: materials, energy, services, staff, knowledge or other assets that are transformed to produce benefit to humankind. Resources have three main characteristics: utility, limited availability, and potential for depletion or consumption. The three different types of resources are: Natural resources, Man made resources and Human as Resources. Of all the resources, the human resources is a special one as it is capable of utilizing the other resources with their endowed or acquired knowledge. In order to utilize the human resources to the optimum it is important to adhere to the five different perspectives of human resource management (HRM) which include the normative perspective, the critical perspective, behavioral perspective, systems perspective, and agency or transaction cost perspective.

 

Human resources planning is an ongoing, continuous process in an organization in order to achieve its goals by utilizing the most valuable asset i.e. human resources. Anthropologists have the tools required to intercede in companies in the management of human resources and provide employers with local knowledge of their employees and the community where it is located. In the same way we can intervene in the change processes due to acquisition of new technologies, mergers of companies, and relocation of operations.

 

Therefore, proper management of human resources is critical in providing a high quality service or products be it in health care, education in the education system, essential items in the daily life of humans. Effective human resources management strategies are greatly needed to achieve better outcomes or benefit from a product and better access to health care around the world.

you can view video on Types of resources and planning perspectives

 

References

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  • Hope-Hailey, V., Linda Gratton, P. McGovern, P. Stiles, and Truss C. 1997. A chameleon function? HRM in the ’90s. Human Resource Management Journal 7: 5-18.
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    Suggested Readings

  • Berry, J. 2004. Tangible Strategies for Intangible Assets. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071412865.
  • Gill, Carol. A Review of the Critical Perspective on Human Resource Management. Melbourne Business School.
  • http://businessanthropology.blogspot.in/2010/11/principles-of-management.html
  • Hut, P.M. 2008. “Getting and Estimating Resource Requirements – People”. Pmhut.com. accessed on 9/12/2017.
  • Mankiw, N.G. 2008. Principles of Economics, 5th ed. South-Western College Publishing, Boston, MA.ISBN 1-111-39911-5.
  • Patrick M. Wright 2010. Theoretical perspectives for strategic human resource management. Journal of Management. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m4256/is_n2_v18/ai_12720961/ accessed on 8/12/2017.