MGMT90015 · Foundations Of Human Resource Management
HRM and the Employment Relationship
This is the spine chapter of MGMT90015, and the integrating exam questions return to it. Human resource management (HRM) is the whole set of policies and practices an organisation uses to manage work and the employment relationship — not just the HR department — and the subject's signature move is to read every practice through two lenses at once: a practical lens (how do we do this, and why?) and a critical lens (whose interests does it serve, and does it work?). The chapter then lays down the frameworks every later topic plugs into. The Harvard model (Beer et al.) is the master map: situational factors and stakeholder interests shape HRM policy, which yields the 4 Cs (commitment, competence, congruence, cost-effectiveness), whose long-run consequences include societal well-being — profit is not the only score. The AMO model (Purcell et al.) supplies the mechanism Harvard leaves implicit: HR practices build Ability + Motivation + Opportunity, releasing discretionary effort, but only when line managers actually enact the practices. Round it out with the psychological contract (the unwritten mutual expectations between employee and employer), Ulrich's four HR roles, and the unitarist vs pluralist framing of the employment relationship.
What this chapter covers
- 01Defining HRM — the practical and critical lenses, and the cooperation–control tension
- 02The Harvard model (Beer et al.) — situational factors + stakeholders → policy → outcomes → consequences
- 03The 4 Cs — commitment, competence, congruence, cost-effectiveness, and the trade-offs between them
- 04The Bath / AMO model (Purcell et al.) — Ability + Motivation + Opportunity → discretionary behaviour
- 05Why line-management enactment gates the whole chain
- 06The psychological contract — unwritten mutual expectations and what breaches do
- 07Ulrich's four HR roles — strategic partner, change agent, administrative expert, employee champion
- 08The employment relationship — unitarist vs pluralist stakeholder frames
Using AMO to diagnose why a high-performance bundle isn't working
- +1Name and define the framework: the AMO model (Purcell et al.) holds that performance rises when HR builds three pillars — Ability (skills), Motivation (willingness to exert effort) and Opportunity to participate (voice, autonomy) — which release discretionary behaviour, the extra effort not in the job description.
- +1Map the bundle to the pillars: training builds Ability; bonuses build Motivation; but the survey alone does not build Opportunity — staff still have no real say or autonomy.
- +1Apply the rule: AMO is conjunctive — if any one pillar is missing, performance stalls. The bundle is two-thirds built.
- +1Add the critical / line-manager point: even a complete A+M+O bundle only works when line managers actually enact the practices; an unenacted policy is 'intended' HR that never becomes 'experienced' HR.
- +1Conclude with the fix: add genuine Opportunity (voice mechanisms, job autonomy) and equip line managers to deliver the practices, then re-measure.
Key terms
- Human resource management (HRM)
- A strategic approach to managing work and the employment relationship through an integrated set of policies and practices that leverage people's capabilities, commitment and cooperation. It is all of management's people-systems, not one department, and is read through a practical and a critical lens.
- The 4 Cs
- Harvard's outcome test for HR policy: Commitment (employees identify with the organisation), Competence (people have the skills the work needs), Congruence (employee, manager and firm goals align) and Cost-effectiveness (HR delivers value efficiently). The critical tension is that chasing cost can erode the other three.
- Discretionary behaviour
- The extra, freely-given effort an employee chooses to contribute beyond the minimum the job requires. In the AMO model it is the link between HR practices and performance — people exert it when they have the ability, the motivation and the opportunity, and when line managers enact the supporting practices.
- Psychological contract
- The set of unwritten, mutual expectations between an employee and the employer about what each owes the other — beyond the formal contract. A perceived breach (a broken promise on pay, development or job security) damages commitment and is a recurring lens for case and scenario answers.
- Ulrich's HR roles
- Dave Ulrich's model of the four value-adding roles an HR function plays: strategic partner, change agent, administrative expert and employee champion. It is used to argue what HR should be, and to critique an HR function stuck in only one role.
HRM and the Employment Relationship FAQ
Why is the Harvard model so central to MGMT90015?
It is the subject's spine: it maps inputs (situational factors + stakeholder interests) to HRM policy, to the 4 Cs, to long-term consequences including societal well-being. Because it puts stakeholders and society on a par with profit, the integrating exam topics — ethics, diversity and wellbeing — all loop back to it, so if you can draw and argue this one map you can frame almost any answer.
What is the difference between the Harvard model and the AMO model?
Harvard is the macro map of where HR sits and what outcomes it should produce (the 4 Cs and societal well-being). AMO is the micro mechanism: it explains how HR practices turn into performance, through Ability, Motivation and Opportunity releasing discretionary effort. A strong answer uses Harvard to frame and AMO to explain the mechanism.
What does 'people are not just another resource' mean here?
Unlike capital or machinery, employees have their own interests and can withhold effort, so HRM permanently balances cooperation (winning willing effort) against control (directing it). Naming this cooperation–control tension is a fast way to add the critical angle the analysis marks reward.
How do I use this chapter in a 700-word answer?
Lead with a framework name and its one-line definition, then apply it. For 'evaluate this HR change' prompts, structure the body around the 4 Cs (one short paragraph each) — it defines four terms as you go and forces the trade-off discussion. For 'why didn't it work' prompts, use AMO to find the missing pillar.
Exam move
Make the Harvard model and the AMO model automatic — you should be able to state each in two sentences and draw the flow from memory, because the integrating exam questions return to them. Memorise the 4 Cs as a ready-made answer skeleton and AMO as a ready-made diagnostic. Always pair a practical point with the critical question 'whose interests does this serve?' to bank the analysis marks, and define every framework term the first time you name it.
