Study of Apple Inc. and Google

Introduction

Despite the continuous evolution of the business environment over the past century, the last 30 years has seen significant uncertainty as a result of the digitization of the business environment and the emergence of globalization which allows employees to cross borders in search for better opportunities and jobs (Cooke, 2021). Businesses and organizations have certainly taken advantage of these changes and developed strategic designs for human resource management (HRM dissertation help) in an effort to impact enhanced performance, productivity and profitability (McKinsey, 2016). According to SHRM.Org (2021) Strategic Human Resource Management describes a future-oriented process in the development and implementation of human resource programs geared towards solving or addressing issues in business with an ultimate aim of impacting long term success and achieving the business’s objectives. Boxall (1996) assert that SHRM is designed to maximize organizational integration, employee commitment and flexibility as well as improve the quality of work and performance by all employees. SHRM also helps to link the Human Resource function with an organizations strategic objective in order to improve performance (Torrington et al., 2020). This paper looks to critically evaluate the appropriateness of Apple Inc.’s strategic HRM model and compare it with Google’s model in order to determine its ultimate fit for the company.

Apple Inc.

Apple is a multinational digital technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California in the United States. Based on Pearce (2015) the company operates both Business to business (B2B) and business to customer (B2C) models, directly transacting with its customers as well as accredited wholesale and retail stores all across the world. Reuters (2019) ranks the company among the top 4 biggest technology companies in the world alongside Amazon, Face book and Google offering electronic communication devices, mobile connectivity, computers, iPads, and digital music players. In addition to these products, the company also offers digital services such as cloud computing and services, online network supply and connections as well as virtual reality modeling and exploration (Rowland, 2019).

SHRM Model

The company’s business strategy includes innovative designing, manufacturing and marketing of these products (Liu, 2018). As such the key aspect of its strategy is adequate innovation and creativity when developing products as well as when marketing and selling them. Rees and Smith (2017) highlight that the key people who work within the company are all in the technical, marketing and management staff making the primary objective of the company to be the attraction and retention of talented employees. Development of unique and high quality products and services ultimately impacts customer satisfaction which then maintains the company’s productivity and profitability (Cuofano, 2020). As such to achieve these goals and strategy Apple Inc, adopts the Matching Model of SHRM to enable the employment and retention of skilled and talented professionals who can ascertain the achievement of the organizations strategic and business objectives. Storey (2014) however confirms that Apple also invests significantly in the development of its personnel’s skills and abilities as a result of the recognition that human capital is a vital element for overall productivity, success and competitiveness.

The Matching Model

The matching model was developed by Formbrun et al (1984) and is often described as a hard approach of HRM with a less humanistic view. According to Coventry University (2020) the model premises that the available human resource structure within an organization along with the organization structure adopted should be managed in a way that is congruent with the achievement of the set organizational strategies. Based on Devanna et al. (1984) the matching model advances that the concept of HRM should be directly linked to the formation and implementation of strategic corporate and business objectives. The model is used to facilitate the achievement of the objectives of the organization in terms of efficiency in productivity and profits and Employees are perceived as a resource that enables the business to meet its commercial targets and business strategy (Coventry University, 2020). As such the ultimate corporate objective of an organization dictates how the organization structure and human resource is managed.

SHRM Practices and Activities

This is clearly demonstrated in the way that Apple manages its organization structure and human resource. Based on BohatAla (2021) the company’s Strategic HRM practices and activities are geared towards maximizing the returns on investment by minimizing the financial risk while capitalizing on human capital. Among the main SHRM activities at Apple include selection and recruitment, leadership development, incentive compensation, employee development and employee relations (Storey, 2014) all of which are geared towards enhancing the achievement of Apples key strategy of innovation and creativity, which consequently enables the development of quality products and services that guarantees its productivity and profitability in both the short and long term.

Recruitment and Selection

According to Sparrow, Brewster and Chung (2016) recruitment and selection is a significant factor contributing to the success of multiple organizations and Apple significantly invests in the recruitment process with a primary objective of locating talented individuals who can fit its organization culture and deliver on the key strategy of innovation and creativity (Storey, 2014). One of the many ways the company secures such talent is through pirate raiding of talented workers from its competitors and other businesses (BohatAla, 2021). Whether it is in product development, marketing or sales, Apple seeks creative and innovative employees who can contribute significantly towards the production and sales of unique and high quality products and services to enhance productivity and profitability. The employed personnel are often expected to be hardworking and committed to the activities of the enterprise and as such do not require much for adequate management.

People Management

People management at apple is also significantly different from other organizations and is majorly directed towards achieving the company’s business strategy of creativity and innovation. While most companies offer clear and defined career paths which then restrict management options towards enhancing individual performance to achieve promotions and advancements in careers, Rees and Smith (2017) highlight that Apple does not guarantee its employees a career progression, rather, it is often down to the employees to own their career and development through striving to be adequately innovative and creative. Apple is as such dependent on committed experts’ type of employees and they use this strategy to ensure their products are effectively differentiated from their customers in Google. The committed experts are able to come up with unique, creative and innovative ideas which ultimately leads to a highly differentiated product from those in the market giving the company significant competitive advantage which ultimately results to productivity and profitability This people management technique enhances the performance of the employees towards the main strategic goal of the organization which is creativity and innovation.

Employee Benefits and Compensation

Rather than heavily investing in employee welfare, the company significantly invests in employee benefits and compensation making its SHRM strategy congruent to the matching model. According to Joy (2015) the matching model of SHRM has less focus on employee welfare, training and development and more focus on getting the employees to achieve organization goals and objectives. In addition to employee benefits that range from employee stock purchase programs, product and service discounts and investment and savings plan the company also offers competitive packages to significantly attract talented personnel (Storey, 2014). The company provides these benefits in flex packages that allow employees to choose the benefits that best suit their lifestyle (Grant, 2016). Rees and smith (2017) further highlight that employees are also entitled to periodical stock grants for their contribution to the company, a strategy which allows the employees a significant opportunity to create wealth and realize individual accomplishment. All these economic rewards rather than concern with workers welfare, enables Apple to effectively retain talented employees who then contribute to the business strategy of creativity and innovation.

These human resource strategies adopted are not only unique for Apple but they also significantly differ from the strategies adopted by Apple’s competitors such as Google as discussed in the next section.

Google

Google is another of the Big 4 technology companies around the world and majorly focuses on making information available to billions of internet users all across the world (Fiegerman, 2019). According to Google (2021) the company’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Johnson (2021) highlights that Google’s parent company Alphabet has up to 135,000 employees as at 2020, all of who are structurally managed by the company’s extensive HRM department. In addition to the company’s innovative and creative capacity as well as the technological capability, Strategic Human Resource management spells out the other reason for its long-term success. Pratap (2017) asserts that the company is established on an employee centered culture and is as such driven significantly by employee empowerment. The SHRM strategy adopted by the company differs significantly from its competitors given that it is majorly focused on employee welfare and happiness which makes the model used by Google to be the Havard Framework for HRM also referred to as the influential model.

The Harvard Framework

The Harvard framework is a SHRM model that indulges into a more holistic approach to HR where the human resource is the center of attention for ultimate organization success and profitability. According to Brunetto, Farr-Wharton and Shacklock (2011) an organization is more likely to effectively achieve its goals if the human resource capital is utilized effectively. The Harvard framework of SHRM is concerned with how to best utilize human resources to achieve the targeted objectives and outcomes.

The framework premises that stakeholder interests defined by organization shareholders, its management, employees, the government, community and employee unions combine with situational factors such as business strategies, workforce characteristics, management philosophy, labor markets, technology and law to define HRM policies including the core HRM activities such as recruitment, training and reward system (MBA Knowledge base, 2021). Adequate combination of these factors for effective HRM policies in turn lead to positive HRM outcomes such as employee retention, cost effectiveness, commitment and competence which guarantees a positive long term success for businesses and organizations (Coventry University, 2020). As such at Google HR management has critical ramifications to the overall profitability and productivity of the organization.

SHRM activities and Practices

The different SHRM model implies that the HRM activities and practices are also significantly different from other companies such as Apple Inc. For instance, when it comes to selection and recruitment in addition to the innovativeness and creativity which is the main focus of Apple inc. more emphasis is on employee welfare especially when it comes to the candidates capability to continuously develop their individual talent through training for the ultimate positive outcome of commitment and competency (Lombardo, 2017). Because Google are more interested in developing a cohesive organization culture and human resource they will as such prefer internal to external sourcing as is the case in Apples Strategic HRM.

When it comes to people management, Google engages significantly in performance management in order to influence the employees output (Pratap, 2017). While Apple relies on committed exerts to research on ways to impact the company and themselves, Google takes it upon them to train and enhance the skills and talents of its employees with the end goal of enhancing their performance and subsequently impacting organization productivity and profitability. As such Google is more reliant on loyal soldiers’ type of employees and relys on them to enhance adequate creativity and innovation while minimizing the cost of products significantly. Through loyal customers Google can embark in developing multiple products and services which are often priced significantly low to enhance revenue and sales. The adoption of loyal soldier employees as such enables Google to capitalize on the cost leadership strategy for adequate profitability and productivity. This is also similar in employee benefits and compensation.

Rather than economically benefiting their employees, Google offers prospects of career development which then encourages employees to enhance their performance so as to secure promotions and career advancements (Lombardo, 2017). The company focuses on enhancing employee welfare by allowing employees the freedom to operate and holding them accountable for their personal and professional actions. The personal accountability and freedom enhances individual innovativeness and creativity which leads to enhanced performance and productivity and thereby ultimately impacting organization success and profitability.

Conclusion

Strategic human resource management is a critical aspect for organization success and ultimate profitability. Given the significance of the human resource to organizations, how organizations manage its employees in relations to its set goals and objectives is essential to the ultimate outcome of their efforts. While Apple adopts the matching model of strategic HRM enabling them to adequately mange their human resources while focusing on implementing strategic goals and objectives, Google uses the Harvard framework SHRM model and is more focused on enhancing its employees welfare as a conduit towards success through their enhanced performance and productivity.

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