Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of 'universal' Essay

Critically evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of universal and contingent approaches to human resource strategy. Give examples to illustrate your answer - Essay lessonies are facing increasingly complex and dynamic business environment necessitating change in their ways they operate in harnessing their resources including human resources. The main bearing behind HRM is to ensure organizational success through its people (Armstrong, 2006). The paper aims at exploring the advantages and disadvantages of universal and contingent approaches to human resource strategies that are currently practiced.Caldwell (2004) argues that HRM is interested with several policy goals to be listed as managing people as assets to build competitive strength aligning corporate strategy and HRM policies creating a flexible cheek responsive to external environment to promote more cohesive team working creating a strong customer orientation empowerment to workforce for self-management and teaching i nstitute proper reward system to develop a performance-driven environment enhancing employee commitment within the organisation. Companies attempt to achieve these goals either through universal withal known as best-practice approach to human resource strategies or take a diversion from it and deploy contingent approach to human resource strategies depending upon the involve or the type of business they operate.Universal or the best practice approach is based on the basic premise that adopting certain proven HRM practices go away inevitably lead to superior organizational performance. For example, most firms in 1960s and 1970s and a huge proportion even today adopt a sophisticated selection and recruitment processes so that the best from the available lot is selected. Induction programme is also sophisticated providing necessary training to the recruits so that they commode accomplish the task given to them. The appraisal system is quite coherent so that none has reason to compl ain. Workforce skills are allowed to develop such that they discover flexibility. Comprehensive and frequent communication to workforce is maintained. All employment terms and