Theorization of Bangladesh HRM

THEORIZATION OF

BANGLADESH HUMAN

RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

(BHRM) PRACTICES

A Case Study

By

Mohammad Rafi

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 A Brief History of Bangladesh

As cited in Bangla2000 (n.d.), Bengal was probably the wealthiest part of the subcontinent up

till the 16th century. Mohammed Bakhtiar Khalzhi from Turkistan captured Bengal in 1199

with only 20 men.The decline of Mughal power led to greater provincial autonomy, heralding

the rise of the independent dynasty of the nawabs of Bengal. Humble East India Company

clerk Robert Clive ended up effectively ruling Bengal. The British Government replaced the

East India Company following the Indian Mutiny in 1857.The Britons established an

organizational and social structure unparalleled in Bengal, and Calcutta became one of the

most important centers for commerce, education and culture in the subcontinent.

Independence was attained in 1947 but the struggle was bitter and divisive, especially in

Bengal where the fight for self-government was complicated by internal religious conflict.

The British, realizing any agreement between the Muslims and Hindus was impossible,

decided to partition the subcontinent. Inequalities between the two regions i.e. East and West

Pakistan soon stirred up a sense of Bengali nationalism that had not been reckoned with

during the push for Muslim independence. When the Pakistan government declared that

`Urdu and only Urdu' would be the national language, the Bangla-speaking Bengalis decided

it was time to assert their cultural identity. The drive to reinstate the Bangla language

metamorphosed into a push for self-government and when the Awami League, a nationalistic

party, won a majority in the 1971 national elections, the president of Pakistan, faced with this

unacceptable result, postponed opening the National Assembly. Riots and strikes broke out in

East Pakistan, the independent state of Bangladesh was unilaterally announced, and Pakistan

sent troops to quell the rebellion. The ensuing war was one of the shortest and bloodiest of

modern times, with the Pakistan army occupying all major towns, using napalm against

villages, and slaughtering and raping villagers. Bangladeshis refer to Pakistan's brutal tactics

as attempted genocide. Border clashes between Pakistan and India increased as Indian-trained

Bangladeshi guerrillas crossed the border. When the Pakistani air force made a pre-emptive

attack on Indian forces, open warfare ensued. Indian troops crossed the border and the

Pakistani army found it being attacked from the east by the Indian army, the north and east by

guerrillas and from all quarters by the civilian population. In 11 days it was all over and

Bangladesh, the world's 139th country, officially came into existence.

1.2 Land resources of Bangladesh

As a South-Asian developing country, Bangladesh is characterized by very high population

growth and scarce land spilling out disorganized and impulsive land development within the

urban areas as well as other areas within the country. The rapid increase of population is

continuously reducing the land-man ratio of the country. The rate of land transfer and land

conversion is also very high in Bangladesh. Rapid population growth combined with fast rate

of land transformation urges for an effective land administration and management system.

However, the conventional land administration system cannot keep pace with the growing

demand and changing situation of the land market. Inappropriate land administration and

management system is the cause for unplanned growth, and this eventually generates

problems in community life. Inadequate and improper land records increase difficulties in the

security of land tenure and land transfer (Nahrin & Rahman, December, 2009, p. 116).

Nahrin & Rahman found that, at present, three different Ministries practice land

administration and management in Bangladesh, namely Ministry of Land (MoL); Ministry of

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (MLJPA); and Ministry of Establishment (MoE).

Land record system in Bangladesh forms an integral part of land administration, leading to

the preparation of Record-of-Rights (ROR) through surveying and mapping of land plots,

registration of deeds during transfer of land and updating ownership records. Directorate of

Land Record and Survey (DLRS) under the MoL prepares ROR. ROR (mutation) update is

done by the Upazila Administration which is under the jurisdiction of MoE. Furthermore,

registration of transfer deed is under obligation of Registration Department i.e. MLJPA.

However, these offices work separately with little coordination among them (as cited in Aziz,

2003).

Some 6,000 staffs are permanently employed in land administration plus seasonally recruited

survey teams of up to 3,200 depending on finances (CARE, May 2003, p.8). The Land area

(sq. km) in Bangladesh was last reported at 143998 in 2010, according to a World Bank

report published in 2012. Land area is a country's total area, excluding area under inland

water bodies, national claims to continental shelf, and exclusive economic zones. In most

cases the definition of inland water bodies includes major rivers and lakes (Trading

Economics, n.d.).

1.3 Human Resources of Bangladesh

Bangladesh posses a population with higher density and growth rate compared to other

countries’. In 1951 it was 44.2 m with 0.50 percent growth rate, 89.9 m in 1981 with 2.32

percent growth rate. According to the Census 1991, it was 109.88 m with a growth rate of

2.03 percent and 120.0 m in 1995 with a growth rate of 1.84 percent. In 2009, the population

was 144.20 m with a growth rate 1.26 percent with speculations that it might go up to 182.00

m with the next five to seven years. According to the United Nations Population Fund

Report, Bangladesh’s total population is expected to rise to 146.7 m and is expected to be

about 254.6 by 2050. The present growth of the population has already led to concerns

regarding food deficit, capital formation, increased unskilled labor, low per capita facilities

for development, government instability, social & political hazards, health hazards and

housing problems (Khan & Khanam, 2011; Bangladesh Economic Survey, n.d.). The reasons

for increasing population have been identified as geographical location/environment,

advanced medical science, food habit, poverty, lack of women education, polygamy,

longevity of the people, religion & social attitude, undeveloped life style, unwillingness for

birth control, superstition, social structure, employment. The population density has resulted

due to economic causes, nature of soil, social security, high land, towns and suburbs,

communication system, education system, weather, others. The high birth-rates are

understood to be results of tropical weather, low standard of living, religious causes,

improper education and ignorance, desire for male child, early marriage, polygamy,

demonstration of physical strengths, social security. On the other hand the high death-rates

are understood to be the results of early marriage, infant mortality, and malnutrition, lack of

medical facilities, epidemics and natural calamities (Khan & Khanam, 2011; Economic

Review, 2002). In order to develop the human resources of Bangladesh to have a better

workforce various programs have been initiated to develop certain sectors which have been

given sincere priority for development and these sectors are, Education, Primary Education,

Food Program for Education, Expansion of Women Education, health and Family Welfare

(Khan & Khanam, 2011; Steps Towards Change, n.d.).

1.4 Bangladesh Politics

Bangladesh is a country known for its political turmoil taking place now and then among

many others. This hampers economic growth and thus decreases investment both from the

local and foreign investors. Thus lesser jobs are created leading to poor standard of living and

improper utilization of resources. There is a lack of firm personality in our political situation

plus the international conspirators are always there who are trying to interfere in our political

matters through their local agents and create problems. Our instable politics also caused the

following problems: Aid dependent economy, Assistance for commercial interest,

Globalization and Political economy (Khan & Khanam, 2011; Chowdhury et. al, n.d.).

1.5 Legal System of Bangladesh

Every country has its own legal system. In order to run a country, it is mandatory that a

country follow a set of laws which helps to govern the people in the proper desired behavior

so that the country lives through peace. Bangladesh is not different and it also has its own set

of rules and regulations, and coded laws to protect the sovereignty of the people. Although it

is a known fact that laws are meant to be broken and every law has a loophole in Bangladesh,

nevertheless it is necessary that the citizens of the country abide by it (Supreme Court, n.d.).

For the purpose of this paper, related laws of Bangladesh will discussed for Bangladesh

Labor Act Policy, Child labor Policy, The Trade Unions Act, etc. in the later cases which will

be integrated with the ideas (Supremecourt, n.d.).

1.6 Environment of Bangladesh

A country’s environment plays a significant role in the development of its economy. If

USA’s or UK’s environment is observed, we can see that they have a clean environment and

thus a good economy whereas In Bangladesh we have the opposite of that environment and

economy. According to Bangladesh Environment (n.d.) it is found that, “Bangladesh is a low-

lying river country along with vast Bay of Bengal sea basin in south. The country has modest

weather however; the rapid climate changes become impact the ecological imbalance. Once,

this region was naturally available for pure surface water. In some cases the country is

affected by floods, tornadoes and cyclones etc. Unfortunately, the surface water becomes

polluted thus resulting in epidemics like outbreak of cholera. During the late sixties the

authorities suggested to drink ground water and introduced tube well in order to eradicate the

epidemics.At present even in rainy season rain falls at a reduced level as well the flowing

lowest river water the wetland is significantly reducing and the rice transplant is highly

decreasing. Likewise, every year it has been affecting our biodiversity, forest, aquatic

population, birds, reptiles, mammals, aquatic plants, weeds, shrubs etc. Meantime, using

abundant quantities of ground water in day to day purposes the ground surface has been

diminishing moreover, the extraction ground water polluted with arsenic thus affects food

chain and use of contaminated water forms in human health the deadly diseases like cancer,

kidney and liver failure etc.

1.7 Bangladesh’s Socio-cultural context

In terms of societal context Bangladesh has undeveloped infrastructure and inadequate social

advantages (security), and constant brain drain that are talents going abroad and not coming

back to Bangladesh. Our culture is a reserved or in other words a conservative one although it

is coming out of its shell due to influence of western cultures in the recent times. Western

culture is mainly popular among the youths while Indian culture is more popular with middle

aged people. Although a secular state, the main religion is Islam and the Muslims inhabitants

are strict followers therefore lots of things need to be considered before carrying out any act.

Generally the people are hard working especially in the rural areas but we tend to think more

on unproductive areas which make us lazy especially in the urban areas. Unlike the western

civilization the offspring stay with their parents until they get a job or get married and mostly

the families are joint families. The people are supposed to be more decent in dress up. Gifts

and bribe are widely circulated therefore hampering transparency of activities (Khan &

Khanam, 2011).

1.8 Bangladesh Economy

Bangladesh possesses an undeveloped system of agriculture as it is done on a primitive basis.

This is due to the fact that facilities for research are not provided in the way as they should

be. Interestingly, agriculture alone counts about 70 percent of the total income. But the

agricultural management in Bangladesh is not yet scientific due to lack of industrial

enterprises. Also the country suffers from poor capital formation. The GDP of national

savings increased from 20.26 percent in 1998-99 to 32.4 percent in 2008-09 which is scanty.

The current economic growth of Bangladesh cannot meet the basic necessities of life of the

people which results in low standard of living. As discussed earlier we have an increasing

population leading to more poor families, lesser jobs, less incomes and increased population.

Due to these poor economic facilities it depends on foreign aid and heavy imports leading to

huge balance of payments deficit. The huge population possesses low technical know-how

leading to low quality of production. Investment is often made in unproductive sectors and

natural resources are underutilized. (Khan & Khanam, 2011; Economic Review 2002).

1.9 Bangladesh Government

Bangladesh is a democratic republic with twospheres of government: national and local.Local

government is enshrined in the constitution and the main legislative textsinclude several 2008

local government ordinances, the Zila Parishad Act 2000 and the Hill District Local

Government Parishad Act 1989. Bangladesh is a democratic republic with a unicameral

parliament called Jatiya Sangsad. The head of state is the president, who is indirectly elected

by members of the parliament for a maximum of two five-year terms. The 345 members of

parliament are directly elected by universal adult suffrage, and include 45 seats reserved for

women. The president appoints the leader of the majority party as prime minister and head of

government. On the advice of the prime minister the president appoints the cabinet, which

currently has 45 members. Legal basis for local government are: Constitutional provisions

and Legislative texts. The structure is comprised of local government within the state,

ministerial oversight and council types.

2. INDUSTRY AND ECONOMIC TREND OF BANGLADESH

According to Economic Review (2002), Since independence the economy of Bangladesh kept

growing in terms of the number of companies coming into the market. Although the economy

growth has not been impressive but the new companies are entering into the market creating

jobs.

Recent times have seen the entrance of big MNCs in the market as follows:

Telecommunications: Warid, Banglalink, Grameen Phone

Banks: HSBC, Standard Chartered, Citi bank

There have been local players as well for example MGH and PRAN. The internet has also

seen big players coming Banglalion and Qubee. As more companies come in the market the

need for HRM gets vital as these companies require talent to operate.

The economic activities have been largely dependent on garments which shifted from jute a

long time ago. Due to labor union clashes and completion from neighboring countries the

garments sector is in a spot of bother but still it is going strong.

3. HRM PRACTICES PREVAILING IN BANGLADESH

3.1 TALENT ACQUISITION

Talent Acquisition is an important process for any organization as a success or failure

ultimately is the resultant of output of individuals. It is the set of activities initiating at

recruitment; followed by selection and concluding with induction and coaching of the new

recruit into the job role. The talent acquisition process varies from the country to country

depending on demography, type of industry and target role.

Bangladesh boasts a larger share of its industry consisting of being labor intensive. The total

industry pie consists of having a large proportion of workmen (semi-skilled or unskilled

manpower) in the total employee populace. Different institutions investing a large amount of

money resulted in opportunities for new ventures and boosting standard for organizational

performance. The rise in investment and performance standard led to the increase in the

demand for a large number of professionally trained managers in middle and lower

management and people skilled in IT.

According to the HR Practices Survey – Bangladesh (2010), a survey was carried out into the

orientation of organizations and status of existing systems for talent acquisition in three broad

dimensions:

Application of standardized system of recruitment

Employer Branding

Internal Recruitment

Application of standardized system of recruitment: The survey indicates that about one-

half of the participating organizations of all industry levels attach highly to the requirement of

a standard system of recruitment.

Source: HR Practices Survey - Bangladesh

According to the chart sectors like financial services, manufacturing and NGO do not very

highly to standard system of recruitment. The existence of standard system of recruitment in

these sectors is also low as shown in the following diagram.


Another part of talent acquisition is manpower planning in terms of number and skills which

is based on business plan and trends of employee attrition. According to the diagram below

63% of participating organizations have data on manpower requirement for the next 2 – 3

years. However, less than 50% of organizations in manufacturing, conglomerates, and textiles

posses this data just because they are labor intensive in nature.

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

120%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations


One way to make the talent acquisition process successful is through sourcing talent for

different positions through a different number of channels for example print media,

recruitment consultants and job portals. In Bangladesh, newspaper advertisements are used

by all organizations irrespective of sector. The least used channel is external consultants.

Although by virtue of its social set-up, its organizations have a tendency to prefer recruits

who come through known contacts within the system or through strong personal links like

political ties. Although the system had been effective so far, in the days to come, when there

will be an increased need for professionals, a more structured method of sourcing will be

sought after.

Source: HR Practices Survey – Bangladesh

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 120%

Employee referrals

Personal contacts

Internal recruitment

External consultants

Newspaper ad

% of organizations

% of organizations

According the diagram above about 8 out of 10 conglomerates and garment companies prefer

candidates from personal contacts and employee referrals. The trend is similar in

manufacturing and textile sector.

To ensure that proper talent has been acquired, the organization needs to have a competency

based recruitment system, i.e. matching the people-skills to specific job requirements to see

whether the individual has the competencies to undertake the job required in the organization.

As the date shows, more than 8 out of 10 organizations have competency based recruitment

for senior and middle management.


Not everyone recruited will be a natural talent in the organization. Some are naturally

talented while others require a bit of training to get adjusted to the organization culture.

Induction, coaching and mentoring is important in order to groom up the new recruit, take up

the role, and providing moral support.


0%20%40%60%80%

100%120%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

0%20%40%60%80%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

As seen in the chart above more than 9 out of 10 organizations have induction programs for

new recruits and 6 out of 10 organizations have mentoring and coaching system. Mentoring is

significantly present only in FMCG and Financial sectors.

Employer Branding:

A strong image as an employer through sponsoring events, seminars, media, corporate

communication attracts talented people to the organization and encourages their stay for a

longer period of time although this is yet to catch ground in Bangladesh as illustrate by the

following chart.

Source: HR Practices Survey – BD

As can be seen only 50% of the participating organizations consider it important to invest in

employer branding although it gained maximum of 80% importance in the FMCG sector as it

has significant presence of MNCs and a high demand of talent.

Internal Recruitment:

Companies continuously search for competent employees from their existing pool to fill up

any vacant positions created. This helps to build morale and loyalty and reduce the time

needed in training to adjust to company culture (Ernst & Young, 2007, p33).

0%20%40%60%80%

100%120%

Fin

anci

al

Ph

arm

a

Man

ufa

ctu

rin

g

Co

ngl

om

era

tes

IT &

Tel

eco

m

Textiles/garm

…

FMC

G

NG

O

Oth

ers

% of Organizations

% of Organizations


Only about half of the participating organizations give critical importance to a system of

filling up vacant positions from internal employee base.

3.2 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance Management System is a tool (PMS) used by organizations to guide

performance behavior in alignment to the organization strategy. It is a holistic process,

bringing together many of the elements which go to make up the successful practice of

people management, including in particular learning and development (CIPD, 2010;

Chowdhury, March 2011). People like to know how they are performing. Empirical research

suggests a positive correlation between the effective use of performance management as a

tool and business result. Organization that have successfully implemented PMS are deriving

significant benefits including productivity improvements, organizational improvements

enhanced strategic capabilities, etc. (Ernst & Young, 2007; Chowdhury, March 2011).

The chart on the following page shows that conglomerates, pharmaceuticals and IT sectors

think it is critical to practicing PMS in an organization. In IT / telecom sector, 100% of the

surveyed organizations responded positively that it was somewhat difficult to obtain,

implement and manage a systematic PMS system. Business conglomerates as well as textile

and garment industries, which were mostly family owned, had also understood the criticality

of having tools for PMS which showed a paradigm shift in attitude. Almost all the

participating organizations had a performance appraisal form or format to capture individual

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

performance data. Most of the organizations evaluated their employees on individual

performance target and behavioral attributes.

Source: Chowdhury, March 2011

The next chart shows that in around 32% of the participating organizations self-evaluation

form was not a part of the performance appraisal system. In almost all companies the

performance ratings were reviewed by the head of departments or immediate superiors to the

appraiser. In more than 7 out of 10 companies, the performance planning was done jointly by

the employee and his / her superior to set the performance expectations at the beginning of

the year with the results discussed at the end of the year. In all the organizations the

performance rating largely depended on the employees’ performance with a substantial

proportion on the organizational performance, the business unit or department’s performance

and team performance.


Nearly 8 out of 10 companies followed a PMS that includes competency-based assessment.

Some other prominent elements of the PMS were confidential rating, subjective evaluation

and Management by Objectives (MBO) depending on industries, although competency based

assessment was the most prominent element of the PMS. The survey also showed that only

30% of the surveyed organizations in Bangladesh were using Balance Score Card approach.


Most participated organizations (86%) were comfortable in linking employee performance

with employee career progression opportunities and promotions. In other words, employee

promotion decisions largely depended on individual performance in these organizations. In

contrast, fewer organizations (58%) had been identified in linking employees‟ remuneration

with their performance.


Two-third of the companies surveyed indicated that they use performance ratings for deciding

employee bonus and incentives. In the manufacturing sector and in case of conglomerates,

only about half of the organizations surveyed had specific linkages of performance rating

with variable pay. It showed that employees in these sectors were still comfortable with the

fixed-pay culture and the sector enjoyed a high level of retention of its people. Among the

participants from the conglomerates and RMG sector, less than 50% companies used

performance rating for training need identification.


3.3 PEOPLE DEVELOPMENT

According to Ernst & Young, people development is a three stage process which is as

follows:

Training Need Identification

Program Design & Delivery

Impact Analysis which in simpler terms is known as return on investment (ROI) in

training and development.

Bangladesh boasts a large pool of workforce with a major part of the workforce employed in

manufacturing, textile and garments. With new investments coming in, opportunities are

created, thus upgradation of existing skills is required. Ernst & Young carried out the survey

on people development based on the following four criteria:

Criticality of people development for sustained growth of organization

Requirement of a formal mechanism for training need analysis.

Link between training and development and the career management system

Importance of ROI in training and development

Criticality of People development for sustained growth of organization:

According to Ernst & Young’s Survey (2007), 6 out of 10 organizations attach high criticality

to people development. All sectors are above the all-industry benchmark with the exception

of Textiles and Garments and NGOs with 4 out of 10 organizations and less than 3 per 10

organizations respectively.


Requirement of a formal mechanism for training need analysis:

About two-third (that is 66%) if the organizations attach critical importance to the

requirement of training need analysis mechanism and about three quarter (that is 75%) of the

participating organizations have systems to identify training needs. About 77% of the

organizations link training need identification with the PMS. 70% of the organizations link

training need identification to the potential assessment of the employees. 67% of the

organizations involve the individual in his training need analysis.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations


The survey also revealed that 56% of the organizations across sectors attach high criticality to

linking Training and Development with the Career Management System while about 6 out of

every 10 organizations attach high criticality to calculation of ROI training and development.

3.4 COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

Ernst and Young (2007) concentrated on four dimensions of compensations and benefits:

Perceived importance of well designed compensation system

Importance of a system ensuring right compensation to the right person

Criticality of linking compensation with organizational performance

Criticality of regular review of salary and market benchmark

Perceived importance of well designed compensation system

In Bangladesh, organizations adopt a common compensation structure as the low per capita

income does not encourage experimentation with the earning of individuals (Ernst & Young

2007). About 55% of the organizations consider a strategically designed compensation

system. Telecom, FMCG, Garments, etc. have shown high criticality.

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations


Importance of a system ensuring right compensation to the right person

68% of the organizations follow a policy for compensation. 63% of the organizations make

the employee aware of the policy at the time of hire. 58% of the organizations have attributed

the ownership of the compensation system to HR personnel. 89% of the organizations design

the compensation based on the rate Consumer Price Index (CPI) (Ernst & Young. 2007).


0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

89%

84%

68%

63%

16%

Inflation and cost of living

Employee Performance

Position in wage range or band

Amount and time of last increase

Other factors

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

Criticality of linking compensation with organizational performance

Referring to the previous chart, 56% of the organizations link the compensation payouts with

the performance of the organization. 84% of the organizations use individual performance as

a parameter for deciding salary increments.

Criticality of regular review of salary with market benchmark

About 66% of organizations indicated that they participate in compensation survey and

regularly review their compensation structure. However in textile and garment sector as well

as in conglomerates the percentage is around 25%.

4. MANAGEMENT AND HRM

4.1 HRM STRATEGY AND PROCESSES

HR strategy and processes should be in line with business strategy of an organization. The

HR strategy can be used as a Business Asset as describe in the diagram next page. The

strategy will provide the direction for the policies and practices in an organization.

The survey carried out by Ernst & Young focused on the following parameters of HR

strategy:

Alignment if HR strategy with Business Strategy

Presence of a proactive HR department

Introduction of best in class HR practices

Regular tracking of performance and contribution of HR department

The above parameters need to be aligned following the business model shown in next page.

Figure: Seven Step Model for using HR as a Strategic Business Asset


Alignment of HR strategy with Business Strategy

About 84% of the organizations have documented HR policies while 74% of the

organizations have prepared policies in the form of a manual.


Presence of a proactive HR department

About 63% of the organizations show high criticality to the presence of a proactive HR

department for successful cross functional interaction. About 77% of the organizations, HR

department participates in cost reduction initiatives and about 67% of the organizations

participate in technology upgradation.


72%

74%

84%

Involvement of Head HR duringstraategic business planning

Existence of HR manual

Documented HR policies

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

40%

90% 65%

80% 95%

80% 80%

20%

95%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

Introduction of best in class HR practices

About 63% undertake benchmarking initiatives to introduce leading practices in the

organization.

Regular tracking of performance and contribution of HR department

About 58% of the organizations have indicated high criticality while about 80% in Telecom

measure the performance of their HR department and 40% in textiles and garments.


4.2 MANAGEMENT FUNCTIONS

Planning: In a country like Bangladesh with a traditional hierarchy society, it is not usual to

challenge bosses. Similarly bosses are not less likely to use a constructive approach. Only

25% of the organizations frequently encourage/solicit responses from subordinates. The

distance on hierarchies in also related to the degree of centralization of authority. Only 8% of

the conglomerates frequently solicit ideas from their subordinates. This is because most of the

conglomerates are run by the owners themselves. Hence we can see the planning rests upon

the owners. He sets the goals to be achieved and set out strategies through which the goals

can be achieved (Ernst & Young, 2007).

Organizing: As the HR Practices Survey – Bangladesh (2007) reveals that planning lies

mostly with the owners, so he or she is solely responsible for organizing the work processes

40%

70% 60% 65% 70%

35%

80%

40%

95%

% of Organizations

% of Organizations

within the organization. In the planning he will make decision regarding how to organize the

resource, areas to invest on, etc.

Leading: Ernst & Young (2007) found that organizations in Bangladesh follow a traditional

hierarchy. One person says it all and he or she acts as the leader. So it is more of a autocratic

leading system where followers have little to say.

Decision Making: It is also concentrated at the top with moderate delegation at middle and

lower levels. This is due to the fact that the top management has a lack of confidence in their

subordinates and also the subordinates are unwilling to participate in decision making

activities. A high level of power difference has created a legacy of concentration of

responsibility at the apex level (Ernst & Young, 2007).

Source: HR Practices Survey –

Bangladesh

Communication: Flow of information mainly follows the top-down approach in Bangladeshi

organizations. The top management disseminates the information required as the final

decision and it is carried to the middle and lower level management with little scope for

participatory communication (Ernst & Young, 2007).


32%

51%

12% 5%

Information Flow

Down, up and sideways Down and up

Mostly downward Downward

30%

37%

12%

21%

Decision Levels

Through out but very integrated

Broad policy at top but delegation throughout

Broad policy at top but selective delegation

Mostly at top

Controlling: According to survey HR Practices Survey – Bangladesh, carried out by Ernst &

Young (2007), one-third of the companies indicated that their review and control functions

are widely distributed. One-quarter of the organizations indicated that these functions are

concentrated at the top and 2% of the organizations indicated that they use data like cost,

productivity, etc. for punishment mechanism only.


Coordination: As per the survey (Ernst & Young, 2007), only 30% of the organizations felt

that responsibility for achieving goals are felt at all levels and only 37% said they have great

teamwork and cooperation among their workforce.


2%

21%

30%

47%

Review and Control

Widely Spread Moderate delegation at lower levels

Quite highly at top Very highly at top

32%

51%

12%

5%

Information Flow

Down, up and sideways Down and up

Mostly downward Downward

5. B-HRM Model

The whole Bangladesh Human Resource Management System can be summarized in the

following way:

6. FUTURE DIRECTION OF BHRM CONCEPT

With the increasing competition in the business world, there is a need to sustain the business

both in the long run and short run. To sustain the business an organization needs to have great

pool of talented workers. This can be ensured through a proper talent acquisition process and

grooming them with proper training and motivating them rewards. Also a suitable tool to

measure performance is needed. As the competition is increasing the HRM concept in

Bangladesh needs to go a step further. Nowadays more and more MNCs are coming up with

standardized tool for recruiting and performance measurement and hence coming out of the

way of informal recruitment and reward. Now people can be matched with their skills and

hired and rewarded appropriately. With proper consultancy and right motive the BHRM

concept is bound to improve and re-surface as a new pathway to a better economy and man

power.

7. CONCLUSION AND THE USE OF THIS CASE PAPER

So far this case paper has focused on how the theory of BHRM got into being as it is today

and what are the nooks and benefits of the modern concepts. How organizations are

implementing the knowledge of HRM today is also explored. Proper illustrations have been

show to explain the existing trend and whether it is going in the right direction is also

explained. With more foreign investments coming into the market, there is a likelihood of

increased employment for which organizations will compete to hire the best recruit. In order

to get the best recruit a proper HRM system is required. This case paper will help to look to

into the matter of the existing HRM concept in Bangladesh and how a better system can

achieved out of the existing system and provide better results.

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Documents

Theorization of Bangladesh HRM