Aligning HR and Corporate Strategies at IKEA

Executive summary

The study is related to aligning HR and Corporate strategies in international organisations: a case study of IKEA, where it is possible to analyse the strategic planning and HR practice at the organisation for better management. Through the research, it was possible to develop the aim and objectives of the research as well as identify the research planning for completing it successfully. The aim of the research was to identify the corporate strategic planning and HR practice at the organisation IKEA, and analyse the impacts of proper strategic planning of HR on the business of the firm. After that, it was beneficial effective to review the literature for gaining understanding about the research topic. Additionally, the research methodology was there where the researcher will choose right approach and philosophy as well as the method of data collection and analysis, so that the research would be conducted properly. As per the research findings, IKEA is efficient to manage the employees, but there is lack of corporate structure and incentives which further raise the employment issues. The recommendations suggest that the company should focus on restructuring the salary and incentives as well as develop non-monetary strategies for retaining the employees in long run.

1. Introduction

1.1 Background of the study

In the recent globalisation era, there is high competition in the labour market and it is necessary to manage strong employee base for better performance of the organisation, so that the efficient employees can perform better and satisfy their customers as well as contribute positively for gaining high market share (Berman et al., 2019). Hereby, the employees are playing an important role in running the firms in the market and thus it is the major responsibility of the organisational leader to manage them properly at the workplace. The staff members are the major stakeholders of the organisation, who play a crucial role in managing their business operations and contribute positively to achieve long run organisational success (Armstrong and Taylor, 2020). Organisational leader and management team must encourage and create values for the employees to retain them for long run at the organisational workplace (Berman et al., 2019). Through restructuring the organisational corporate strategy and developing Human Resource (HR) practice, it is possible for the leaders to maximise the wellbeing of the people, engaged in the organisation. In the retail sector, there is high competition across the globe and IKEA is facing high competitive threats in running their business successfully and here the business IKEA has been chosen as it is growing organisation in the retail industry and it focuses on expanding their business in near future through effective leadership and human resource management (Baileyet al., 2018).

It is essential for the company to attract diverse workforce for managing their internal operations as the firm is efficient to expand their business international and run their operations successfully. In the recent competitive era and globalisation, it is the responsibility of the CEO of IKEA and the board members to develop effective corporate strategy and design HR practice for managing the diverse workforce and retain them successfully (DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst, 2016). IKEA is a Swedish origin multinational group selling ready to assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and home accessories in the market. The organisation is successful to create newly design and high quality furniture and home appliances that are beneficial for the organisation to target the customers across the international countries. Number of locations that the company serve is 433 operating across 52 countries in the year of 2019 and here are more than 211000 employees, who can manage the customers by delivering high quality products and efficient services. The organisation is also efficient to generate €41.3 billion revenue in the previous year and it is successful to secure future sustainable development by managing their business operations efficiently (IKEA, 2020).

1.2 Problem statement

Recent globalisation era increases migration rate across the international borders, where the labourer are migrating from one country to another for better working opportunities and ensuring future professional growth (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The multinational corporate firms face several issues to handle the diverse workforce in long run due to cultural diversity and lack of corporate strategic planning which further influence the researcher to conduct in depth research by considering growing multinational corporation IKEA. In this regard, the major issues in human resource management at IKEA are lack of management of employee morale, cultural diversity at the workplace, and ethics, lack of cooperation, as well as poor communication, inequality and lack of fairness at the workplace lack of management of transparency and accountability, which further deteriorate the organisational performance, as the managers fail to create values for the employees (Ciobanu, Androniceanu and Lazaroiu, 2019). There are monetary and non-monetary incentives at the workplace through which the organisational leader aims at creating values for them and improving their interest to work where it is also necessary to develop corporate strategic planning for achieving future organisational success which would be analysed through this research.

1.3 Aims and objectives of the research

The aim of the research is to identify the corporate strategic planning and HR practice at the organisation IKEA, and analyse the impacts of proper strategic planning of HR on the business of the firm. The objectives of the research are such as,

• To Identify different human resource management functions at the workplace for enhancing organisational performance
• To acknowledge the ways International organisation design their HR Strategy to align with their Corporate strategy
• To analyse the impacts of organisational corporate strategies and HR policies on the performance of the employees
• To develop proper recommendations for the organisations to restructure their strategy for motivating the expatriates and enhancing their performance in long run

1.4 Research questions

• What are the different human resource management functions at the workplace for enhancing organisational performance
• How does International organisation design their HR Strategy to align with their corporate strategy?
• What are the impacts of organisational motivational strategies on the performance of the employees?
• What are the suggested recommendations for the organisations to restructure their strategy for motivating the expatriates and enhancing their performance in long run?

2. Literature review

The literature review is essential for the researcher to review the existing literatures through gathering the secondary sources of information such as books, journals, online articles, business news and newspapers, related to corporate strategy of multinational companies. The researcher would be able to improve understanding after reviewing the theories and concepts related to the above mentioned research topic which further provides a scope to the researcher to analyse the study efficiently for fulfilling the above mentioned objectives.

2.1 Corporate strategy of the multinational companies

According to Al-Sarayrah et al., (2016), the multinational corporations try to develop the corporate strategy in order to fulfil its vision and mission, so that the organisational values can be maximised well in long run. As stated by DeCenzo, Robbins and Verhulst (2016), in order to gain high competitive advantage, the organisational corporate strategy needs to be developed well and in this regard, the strategies are such as,

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• Reallocating the organisational resources
• Managing product portfolio
• Marketing strategic planning
• Operation management
• Customer service management

As opined by Ansoff et al., (2018), these are the major strategies of the firms to be sustainable in the market and gain high market share. The companies try to develop product portfolio and in this regard product diversification strategy is mandatory on which the firms can maintain a strong portfolio with availability of the diversify products and services at the organisation. Cost leadership strategy is also applied by the multinational companies to reduce the cost of operations and production and generate profitability (Ansoff et al., 2018). Additionally, as stated by Armstrong and Taylor (2020), resource reallocation is another mandatory strategy where the firms try to reallocate the resources for improving economies of scale to manage the production and distribution. The firms are facing issues related to managing their operational efficiency due to poor communication, lack of supply chain management and poor distribution network and it is mandatory for the firm to develop effective strategic planning to sustain in the competitive market. According to Bailey et al., (2018), operational strategic planning is also another important tactic to run the organisation successfully in the market and in this regard the business focus on strengthening their supply chain, improving Information system management through technological innovation and implementation, retaining efficient distributors, and managing warehouse for product stock management. In this regard, as opined by Berman et al., (2019), the organisations in the recent years face the issue of low market share and lack of competitive advantage due to intense competition which may deteriorate the firm’s performance and in this regard, market expansion strategy is important tactic of the companies to expand the business and gain high competitive advantage in long run and in this regard the marketing strategic planning and customer’s service management are the major practice through which the brands can establish their business efficiently (Lasserre, 2017).

2.2 Aligning HR functions

According to Ciobanu, Androniceanu and Lazaroiu (2019), for identifying the HR strategic planning, it is necessary to evaluate the human resource management functions, through which it is possible to understand the organisational tactics to create values for the employees at the workplace. The functions of staffing policy through recruitment and selection method, motivating, managing change, maintaining relationship with each employee at the workplace and evaluating and appraising are effective to manage strong employee base (Sparrow, Brewster and Chung, 2016).

As stated by Bratton and Gold (2017), the HR managers try to create values for the employees by providing monetary incentives and non-monetary rewards a well as developing suitable organisational culture, so that the staff members can work under the suitable working condition. In this regard, motivational theories are also effective to identify the best HR practice at the multinational corporations. According to Lasserre (2017), managing change in the workplace is one of the major responsibilities of the HR managers where the management team is responsible for handling the changed initiatives, convincing the employees to take active part in the change actives, leading the change with creativity and innovation and improving engagement of the staff members for better organisational practice during change. According to Brewster (2017), the managers also try to manage the human resourcing functions through maintaining good relationship by enhancing trust and loyalty, as well as motivating the staff through delivering monetary and non-monetary incentives and rewards which further encourage the employees for better performance. In addition to this, supervisor quality, monitoring the performance and internal interactions are also effective tactics through which the HR managers try to manage the workplace and ensure high quality working activities in long run. As opined by Baum (2018), the organisational activities are also handled efficiently for managing the staff, where recruitment and selection process, induction training and technical training program in the workplace as well as the practice of managing cultural diversity are also appropriate strategies of managing the workforce and leading them successfully towards achieving the future organisational aim and objectives. Hence, as stated by Sparrow, Brewster and Chung (2016), the HR management functions are good for the organisational activities to manage the workflow and retain them for long time.

2.3 HRM models

According to Amberg and McGaughey (2019), the HRM models are effective to identify the factors and the leaders strategic planning to manage the staff members on the organisation and create values for them. In order to maximise the organisational performance and achieving the future organisational objectives, it is mandatorily for the leaders and managers to manage the employees, who are three major stakeholders to run the business operations efficiently and contribute positively for achieving higher. As per the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are some major needs of the employees which include psychological, safety, love and belongingness, self actualisation and self esteem (Bratton and Gold, 2017). The leader and organisational manager aim at fulfilling the basic needs through providing monetary support and structured salary (Marchington et al., 2016). As stated by Al-Qudah, Obeidat and Shrouf (2020), the basic needs of the employees are such as food, shelter, water and air which can be fulfilled by the leader through giving them structure salary and wage to the employees. This is one of the effective factors in motivating the staff and retaining them for long run. In the recent era of globalisation, the leaders try to maintain expatriates in the foreign countries by giving them effective salary as per their position in the organisation and performance. On the other hand, as stated by Zeebaree, Shukur and Hussan (2019), safety and security of the employees are also mandatory needs of the staff in the workplace in order to work efficiently in the organisation. In this regard, it can also be maintained through organisational policy of data privacy, insurance coverage for any accidental incidents at the workplace and providing safe workplace. The safety measures are essential to provide protected area where the employees can work efficiently without any harmful situations. Additionally, the data protection and insurance coverage for the staff members also influence the employees to perform efficiently and contribute ion achieving the organisational aim in long run.

As opined by Nejati, Rabiei and Jabbour (2017), love and belongingness are other requirements of the employees in the workplace so that they would be able to develop bonding among the team members and participate efficiently in the working activities. It is also managed well where the leader aims at developing strong bonding to engage the staff members in the organisational activities. As opined by Liewendahl and Heinonen (2020), enhancing communication, encouraging the staff for open discussion and group meeting, developing partnership working practice and improving engagement with all the staff are the practice of the leaders through which the leader aims at managing love and belongingness among the staff so that they can feel valued and perform together for achieving higher. In addition to this, self actualisation and the needs to self esteem are also managed by the leader through giving sense of achievement, responsibility and appreciation (Ciobanu, Androniceanu and Lazaroiu, 2019). According to Nankervis et al., (2019), these are also mandatory for influencing the performance of the staff and encouraging them to work with their full capabilities. These are the major needs which are managed well by the organisational leader in order to retain the experienced staff for managing their performance and maximising the organisational aims.

Additionally, as stated by Marchington et al., (2016), there is Herzberg’s theory of motivation which also aligns the HR policies and practice at the workplace. There are two factors, hygienic and motivations. Under hygienic factors, the leaders and HR managers focus on managing co-worker relationship, developing proper working condition, implementing employment policies, maximising supervisor quality and wages (Nankervis et al., 2019). The hygiene factors are hereby mandatory for the organisational leaders to manage the workforce and retain them for long runs success. The employees are the major stakeholders and it is the responsibility of the HR managers and organisational leader to maximise the values for each staff members in the workplace. Through the hygienic factors, it is possible to manage the workforce and improve their job satisfaction as well. According to Kim et al., (2019), achievement and recognition in the workplace are necessary to boost the performance and interest of the employees, where the staff members are interested to perform better with their capabilities. The responsibility management and individualised roles also boost the performance and employees and influence their contribution efficiently in the workplace. Additionally, the working pattern and the corporate culture in the workplace are also important factors to maintain hygienic environment, and in this regard the corporate leaders try to develop fair decision, enhance communication and engage the employees for better performance. As opined by Polat, Bal and Jansen (2017), the advancement in the workplace and personal growth opportunities are also essential to be manages well in the workplace, where the employees can get the chance to achieve higher and improve their skill for better performance in future. These are the major factors that encourage the employee’s creativity and improve their capabilities to perform better.

As stated by Noe et al., (2017), in order to mitigate the human resource management issues such as lack of employment program, poor induction training, lack of appraisal program, poor motivational activities and lack of suitable organisational culture, it is necessary for the organisation to develop effective tactics to manage their strong employee base. The leaders in this context aim at motivating the employees through achievement and recognition at the workplace, developing working culture, advancement and personal growth, and work. The managers try to create values by respect and integrity as well as managing transparency and accountability, where the leaders aim at strengthening their employee base and retain them for long run. The motivational factors are hereby beneficial to encourage the staff in the workplace. As stated by Noe et al., (2017), creating good working condition is mandatory where the health and safety of the employee must be managed well. The employees can get safety and security in working in the organisational workplace. The leader also tries to enhance the co-worker relationship by developing good corporate bonding and enhancing trust and loyalty among the employees. Respecting each other at the workplace and understanding other cultural values, behaviour and language further improve emotional intelligence where the employees can develop their relationship with the colleagues and senior staff members. On the other hand, according to Loo et al., (2020), the leaders also focus on implementing the policies and practice in order to maximise the motivational factors in the workplace. The policies such as Equality Act 2010, data Protection Act 1998, health and Safety at Workplace 1974 and Minimum Wage Act 1948 are executed the workplace to ensure the job security and safety measures at the workplace. As opined by Nieves and Quintana (2018), the employees morale can be improved through implementing such ethical practices and policies where the leaders try to improve cultural diversity management practices, mitigating discrimination practices in the workplace, increasing equal treatment and fair decision making behaviour by empowering the employees are the major activities of the leaders to motivate the staff and retain the experienced members in the organisation for long run. In this regard, the base wage and salary is playing an important role, where monetary incentives and rewards must be provided fairly according to the performance and organisational posts of the employees. In this regard, as stated by Noe et al., (2017), the leaders try to offer structured salary and career growth in the organisation according to their performance, so that they can retain the staff and manage them efficiently. This is also one of the motivational factors where the employees are able to fulfil their basic needs and try to work better for gaining higher.

2.4 Impacts of HR practice and corporate strategies

The HR strategic planning and the corporate tactics of the organisations are playing crucial role in aligning the strategies of the firms in the recent years and there are several effects of appropriate corporate strategic planning and HR practices at the workplace, which are beneficial for the organisations, leaders and employees. According to Loo et al., (2020), effective HR strategic planning and corporate tactics are advantageous for the organisations to make the business successful and retain the staff members towards achieving future success. The leaders of the organisations are also able to play their role efficiently and improve the organisational practice sustainably. Hereby, as stated by Noe et al., (2017), appropriate HR strategic planning is good for the organisational HR managers to handle the diverse workforce and retain the experienced staff for long run. Through developing the HR strategies, the management team aim at satisfying he staff members and motivate them continuously in near future so that their interest should be developed in the workplace and they will work with their full capabilities for meeting the organisational objectives. As opined by Nieves and Quintana (2018), the HR strategic planning is also effective for maximising the organisational performance through satisfying the staff and creating values for them. The leader is also beneficial for the effective strategic planning of the brand, where they try to engage the stakeholders and create vales for them so that all the stakeholders can participate actively for maximising the organisational values (Nankervis et al., 2019).

In addition to this, as opined by Nieves and Quintana (2018), the HR strategic planning and corporate tactics also provide a scope to the leader to fulfil the commitment of the organisation towards each staff as well as boosts employee morale and engage them in the workplace. This further helps to encourage their creativity and motivate them to maximise their performance. Hereby, the human resource management strategy and corporate tactics are good for the organisational leader to lead the employees as a team towards achieving future success. Creating values for the organisation, maximising the return on investment for satisfying all the stakeholders as well as strengthening the employee base are also other benefits, where the employees are the major stakeholders of the business to run the operations successfully. Moreover, according to Loo et al., (2020), there are other benefits of managing HR strategy which are such as maintaining cultural diversity at the workplace, managing internal conflicts, enhancing communication and cooperation and developing partnership working practice which further influence the leader to empower the staff in the joint decision making behaviour for achieving the organisational success in near future.

2.5 Summary

The literature review is effective where through the discussion and review of the literatures by gathering secondary sources of information, it has been seen that there is linkage between HR strategic management and firms performance where the leaders are also responsible to develop corporate strategic planning in order to fulfil the organisational commitment and maximise employee morale. The corporate strategic planning and HR strategies both are managed by the leader in order to engage the stakeholders and develop the organisational policies and practice to maintain strong employee’s base so that in future, it would be possible for the leader to maximise the organisational performance and this further helps the researcher to fulfil the above mentioned research aim by exploring the human resource managements strategy. The literature review is effective in this research, where the researcher can improve understanding about human resource management, corporate strategy and its impacts on organisation by reviewing different opinion of the authors which further provides a scope to have in-depth data analysis and evaluation for meeting the research objectives.

3. Research Methodology

In order to understand the research methodology, it is possible to review the research onion which provides clear understanding about the research methods, where the researcher will be able to choose the right research method successfully to complete the study efficiently (Johnston, 2017).

3.1 Research philosophy

As per the research philosophy, there are three types which are positivism, interpretivism and realism. As per the positivism, the researcher is able to conduct research by in-depth analysis and interpret the data and findings for better evaluation. On the other hand, realism is the philosophy to conduct the analysis on the basis of real life example. Positivism philosophy is when the people are engaged and the researcher aims at gathering public reviews and perception of the individuals in the research for better analysis and evaluation. In this regard, the researcher will adopt the positivism philosophy, in order to conduct the research by involving the people. Valid data collection and in-depth analysis could be done through the positivism philosophy.

3.2 Research approach

There are two types of research approach, one of inductive and other is deductive. The inductive approach is where the researcher identifies the data and information and analyse it for creating he models and theories related to the research (Quinlan et al., 2019). It is an inverse method, where the researcher tries to develop the theories and models after analysing the data and collected information. On the other hand, deductive approach is related to gathering the right information data by reviewing the models and theories by gathering the literature sources (Quinlan et al., 2019). Apart from that, the researcher will try to improve own knowledge and understanding to analyse the gathered information by applying the theories and models related to the research. In this particular research, the researcher will choose the deductive approach to identify and analyse the data information. The researcher will be able to collect the data and analyse it efficiently through the deductive approach.

3.3 Sampling

Sampling is necessary for the researcher to develop proper understanding about inclusion of the participants, who are able to provide appropriate answers to the interview questions. In this regard, sampling is applied where the researcher includes 5 managers of IKEA to analyse the corporate strategy and HR practices at the organisation, where the management team is successful to strengthen their employee base. The managers include 3 HR managers in the HR department, 1 manager from production and manufacturing department and 1 manager from the sales department. The random sampling is selected to choose the managers in the main branch of the organisation IKEA. Each interview is about 30 minute for gathering the feedback and perception of the HR professionals of the organisation.

3.4 Data collection method

Data collection methods are of two types, one is primary and other is secondary. The primary data collection is mainly the collection of first hand data and information directly from the participants, where the respondents share their feedback and perception over a particular topic. On the other hand, the secondary data collection method is effective to gather secondary data through reviewing the secondary sources of information such as books, journals, online articles, website, company financial report, business letters and newspapers, which are appropriate sources to gather a vast range of information for the research (Quinlan et al., 2019). The researcher in this regard will choose both the primary and secondary data collection method in order to conduct the analysis after collecting the relevant and valid data, where the primary data provides a scope to the researcher to empower the organisational representative of IKEA and gather their feedback for analysing the above mentioned research topic.

3.5 Data analysis technique

The data analysis technique includes quantitative and qualitative. The quantitative data analysis is related to the process of analysing the collected data and information through charts, graphs, and statistical tools such as SPSS (Johnston, 2017). On the other hand, the qualitative data analysis is related to evaluating the collected information by utilising the secondary sources of information. It is applicable for analysing the interview data. In this research, the researcher will chose the qualitative data analysis method, for better analysis and evaluation of the gathered information in which the researcher will be able to apply the collected secondary sources of information, theories and models for better analysis of the above mentioned research topic. The interview transcript is collected through primary data collection and it will be analysed and evaluated through secondary data analysis technique by applying the existing theories of HR and corporate strategic management in the business context.

3.6 Ethical considers

During the study, the researcher managed transparency and accountability in conducting the research successfully. Respecting all the respondents and managing integrity during the interview process by involving the managers of IKEA will be beneficial further for the researcher to collect relevant data and information and analyse it successfully for fulfilling the above mentioned research objectives. Additionally, Data relevancy and validity should be maintained in the study to manage ethics and complete it successfully by including the right information and authentic data related to the research. Moreover, the researcher executives the Data Protection Act 1998 and ensures that all the collected data and information will be used only for this study and analysis purpose (Baker et al., 2016). The researcher also will try to convince the participants to attend the interview rather than forcing them to participate, so that the respondents can be respected and valued during the interview process. Hereby, audio and video recording of interview would be collected and the researcher will ensure there will be no face-to-face interview due to the issue of spread of COVID-19.

3.7 Limitations

The major limitations of the research are time constraint, lack of access of journals and cost constraint. Due to lack of time, it is difficult for the researcher to conduct the analysis to fulfil the research objectors. The researcher also is suffering through difficulties to conduct in depth analysis for better evaluation due to time constraint. The researcher will also face problems to access the online journal sites, which are required for gathering a vast range of information related to HR planning and corporate strategies in the multinational corporate firms. It is necessary for the researcher to review the existing sources of information including journals, articles, online newspapers and business letters to have proper understanding about the researcher topic. However, due to lack of access of the online journal sites and absence of having credentials of the privately protected online sources, the researcher will face difficulties to manage data gathering and further data analysis. On the other hand, the primary data collection method is another effective tactics to analyse the above mentioned research topic, but due to cost constraint, the researcher will face problem to conduct the survey by including the employees, who are playing crucial role in the organisation and thus 5 participants are not enough for this research to conduct in-depth analysis.

4. Data findings and analysis

4.1 Findings and analysis

In order to conduct the research, the researcher focuses on gathering the relevant and valid information and data from the primary sources of information and in this regard the researcher arranges interview with the managers of the organisation IKEA to identify the human resource management practice and organisational tactics to handle the diverse workforce internationally. The researcher tries to arrange the telephonic interview and manage the audio clips of the managers in order to develop the interview transcript and analyse the gathered information for in-depth evaluation.

Interview transcript:

For research questions “What are the different human resource management functions at the workplace for enhancing organisational performance??”, the interview questions are,

Theme 1: The different human resource management functions at the workplace are effective for enhancing the organisational performance in near future.

As per the above interview transcript, it can be stated that, the managers are collaborating with each other and they try to manage the HR functions in the workplace. The managers in sales department, production and the human resource deportment are cooperating and developing good working culture for better management and retaining the experienced staff for long run. In this regard, the organisation is strict to arrange personal interview with the candidate after the online test to judge them and analyse their potential to perform in the firm (Liewendahl and Heinonen, 2020). The appraisal program is beneficial to retain them where there is structured salary for the employees who join in the organisation. Additionally, there are incentives over the performance where the managers are concerned about monitoring their performance and supervise them efficiently. The HR functions have great role in maximising organisational performance where the managers try to work with each other for handling the diverse workforce (Polat, Bal and Jansen, 2017). The organisation is efficient to handle the employees, but there is lack of cultural diversity management and poor working practice among the employees which needs to be developed further (IKEA, 2020b).

As per the findings, the organisational HR management team is successful to design the recruitment and selection process which helps the organisation IKEA to choose the potential employees for the organisational activities. On the other hand, the clear roles and responsibilities of the organisation are also effective for the organisational management team to manage the staff members and the organisational process and structure are also suitable to handle the whole workforce in IKEA. These are major strategic planning of the HR management team of the organisation to lead the employees and manage them successfully in the workplace across the countries. The job position and structured salary also attract the talent pool where the employees can get structured salary and clear job role which further motivate them to perform better in the workplace. The organisational activities are good to retain the staff members and manage them under the structured workplace (Loo et al., 2020). The production department is also well structured and the management team members are collaborating with each other for better working activities. The selection process in the production department is also good and effective to retain the experienced staff members in the organisation. The quality of production is managed well in IKEA in order to satisfy the customers and in this regard the production managers are concerned about retaining the experienced employees for maximising the activities of the production unit. The manager of the sales department are also cooperative to manage the workforce in the sales department of IKEA and in this regard good corporate culture as well as support from the senior executives are also beneficial for IKEA to manage the workplace and retain the staff for long run.

For the second research questions, “How does International organisation design their HR Strategy to align with their corporate strategy?”, the interview questions are such as,

Theme 2: Managing corporate strategy of the multinational corporations depends on the HR strategic planning of the brands.

The organisation lacks to restructure their salary and arranging performance related pay and rewards for influencing the employees which may deteriorate the management of the expatriates in long run. It is necessary for the organisation to develop strategic planning to create values for the employees, though IKEA is good to manage the employees with structured salary (IKEA, 2020c). The employees at production and sales department are also necessary to be managed well through monetary and non-monetary incentives as well as per the interview transcript, it has been revealed that, there is lack of performance appraisal and thus the leader of IKEA must focus on restructuring the monetary incentives as well for encouraging the employees creativity. The organisational management team focus on managing the workforce practice as they are concerned about maximising the performance of the staff in long run (Amberg and McGaughey, 2019). In this regard, the management team are also concerned about monitoring the working practice and supervise those staff for manufacturing the quality furniture for maximising the customer’s values. The managers at sales department also protect the employees and help them to manage the sale volume and retain more customers through promoting the business in the market. Hence, the HR functions must be developed further which would be beneficial for IKEA to manage expatriates.

In addition to this, as per the findings, the policies and procedure of IKEA are effective which further provides a scope to run the business successfully. The major employment policies and practice are such as Minimum Wage Act 1948 as well as Equality Act 2010, which provides a scope to develop structured salary and maintain equality in the workplace. The management team members of IKEA are successful to develop the ethical structure of the organisation and they are efficient to maintain e quality in the organisation to treat all the employees and develop corporate culture in the workplace. For corporate strategic management and aligning the HR policies, the firm is also effective to implement the Data Protection Act 1998 and Health and Safety Act 1974 which are beneficial to restructuring the workplace culture (Nieves and Quintana, 2018). The employee’s data at IKEA will be protected and the health and safety of the employees are also managed well. The employees feel safe in the workplace and they can work with security under the management team. In addition to this, the production and sales unit are also safe and there is health and safety management of the employees to create values for them. The Human Rights Act is also developed well for the benefits of the individuals and this also provides a scope to the organisational leader to manage the workforce and retain them for long run. These are effective ethical rules and practice which are beneficial for developing organisational culture where the employees can perform better under proper supervision and management.

For the third research question, “What are the impacts of organisational motivational strategies on the performance of the employees?”, the interview questions for the managers of IKEA are,

Theme 3: There are several impacts of organisational motivational strategies on the performance of the employees.

For better evaluation of the effectiveness of the process and organisational activities in IKEA, the organisational leaders try to improve the supervision and monitoring practice to review the working activities of the employees. In this regard, all the management team sunder the HR department, production department as well as sales department are cooperating with each other for better workplace management. The managers try to review the performance of the employees under their control and continuous monitoring process and in this regard it further provides a scope to improve the employee performance ion IKEA which leads the employees towards achieving the future organisational goal. In addition to this, the effectiveness and the efficiency of the organisation can be improved through providing structured salary and creating good corporate culture in the workplace, so that the employees can be managed well. In the production and sales department also, there is communication and collaboration which further help the managers to manage the team members and lead them successfully (Noe et al., 2017). Clear job role and the responsibility of the team members as well as cooperation of the senior management team are there which provides a scope to retain the employees and manage the staff members successfully in the workplace. It is the responsibility of the production and sales manager are also responsible for handling the team members with clear roles, continuous cooperation and partnership working practice.

The employee’s performance depends on the internal working practice, organisational polices and ethical behaviour, employment rules, as well as the monetary and non-monetary rewards in the workplace. For better management of the organisational activities, it is mandatory for the organisational leader and the management team of IKEA to focus on realigning the tactics of creating values for the staff members by providing them monetary incentives performance related pay and structured salary which further encourage the employees creativity and retain them for long run in both the production and sales department of IKEA. On the other hand, the nonmonetary rewards such as internal recognition and promotional activities, self respect, equal testament as well as fairness are also mandatory to effective for the workforce and retain the staff successfully. In this regard, monetary and non-monetary rewards are the factors which contributes successfully in managing the employees in the workplace and thus for aligning the HR strategies of IKEA, the managers and the organisational leaders must focus on restructuring the rewards and incentives so that they can encourage the employees and motivate them to perform better in the workplace. On the other hand, the organisational activities must be structured well and recognition, performance appraisals and non-monetary rewards are also necessary in the workplace of IKEA. The HR managers reveal that, these are the major strategic planning which is beneficial for IKEA to manage the expatriates and retain the staff for long run.

For the fourth research questions, “What are the suggested recommendations for the organisations to restructure their strategy for motivating the expatriates and enhancing their performance in the long run?”, the interview questions are,

Theme 4: Further recommendations for the organisation IKEA would be beneficial to restructure their strategy for motivating the expatriates and enhancing their performance in the long run.

For better strategic recommendations, the researcher tries to identify the perception of the managers in IKES and the data findings reveal that, they are also trying to develop more inclusive workplace where employees can be empowered and share their ideas openly in front of others. For maintaining the strategic planning internationally across the workplaces of IKEA, the managers stated that, transparency and accountability are necessary to be managed in the workplace in order to improve the organisational workplace and maximise trust and loyalty among the employees. For ethical practice development, the organisational leader and managers of IKEA must focus on developing employment rules, providing employment contract with all the terms and conditions for better management. The incentives and reward structure must be developed well as well as the organisational leader needs to focus on structure salary development to retain the employees and realigning the HR strategies planning in the workplace. In addition to this, the performance of the employees also needs to monitored and supervised efficiently under the managers. In the production department, effective restructure of the bonus and salary are also necessary for managing the business successfully and in this regard, the managers try to retain the staff through effective working activities, cooperation and motivating the employees for participating in the employees successfully. According to the findings, there are some issues in the organisation where the management team and the senior team members fail to manage the workforce successfully. The organisational activities and structure have crucial factors in aligning the employees. The major issues faced by the organisation are such as lack of communication and cooperation as well as lack of trust and internal bonding, poor working activities and practice in the workplace which have negative effects on the organisational activities. The organisational management team must focus on the activities and the existing issues and realign the HR strategies and corporate culture for better management of the staff members.

According to the findings, all the managers recommend that the HR strategic planning of IKEA must be developed further in order to manage the workforce in long run and apart from that the corporate culture in the workplace of IKEA will also be developed in order to strengthen the brand position in the market. Internal bonding, trust and loyalty must be developed through increasing communication and collaboration which are beneficial for IKEA to manage the workforce and create values for them. On the other hand, the managers also revealed that, the training program for providing personal and professional development opportunity and arranging good working activities are also necessary for the managers at IKEA to manage the expatriates and retain the experienced staff and employees for the benefits of the firm. Hence, providing personal and professional development opportunities, monetary incentives and structured salary are effective to maximise the wellbeing of the employees and improve suitable workspace where the employees can feel valued to work successfully. The strategic recommendations would be beneficial for IKEA to manage the expatriates and run the organisational activities strategically in near future. In order to manage the internal workplace as well as mitigating the existing issues, the organisational leader and the management team must focus on realigning the HR policies and corporate tactics to manage the workforce, who are the major stakeholders of the business of IKEA. It is mandatory for the organisational leader to restructure the organisational salary and monetary incentives and develop the corporate culture so that the HR team members can hand le all the organisational functions in order to achieve the corporate strategic aim of IKEA.

5. Conclusion and recommendations

5.1 Conclusion

It can be concluded that, the research is effective to analyse the impacts of the human resource management strategy on the organisational performance at IKEA. The data gathering and analysis are good to evaluate the research topic and gather the primary data sources from the representative of IKEA. The first objective is being met through the research where the interview questions are fruitful to gather managerial perspective. The major human resource functions of IKEA are structured salary, good recruitment and selection procedure and the internal collaboration among the staff members. The second objective is also met through this research which reveals that, the international corporations try to maximise the organisational performance through restructuring their HR functions as these are effective to create values for the employees, who are the major stakeholders to run the business in a systematic way. IKEA is also structure organisation where thee leader tries to lead the employees by providing the, effective salary and implementing the ethical practice and legal polices which reshape the human resource management tactics of the organisation. Through this research, it is possible to fulfil the third objective which also reveals that there is strong relation between the human resource management and the organisational performance where the organisational leaders try to create values for the staff and encourage them in the workplace for better performance. The fourth objective is also met where the interview questions are beneficial, to analyse the managerial practice for better future strategic planning of IKEA. Further recommendations are developed to fulfil the fourth objectives, where IKEA can develop their HR strategies to manage expatriates and secure future sustainable development.

5.2 Meeting objectives

Through the research, it is possible for the researcher to meet the objectives where the data findings and discussion are effective to answer all the research questions and fulfil its aim as well.

To Identify different human resource management functions at the workplace for enhancing organisational performance

This is the first objective and as per the data findings and discussion, there are different HR functions which are staffing and recruitment, selection process, monetary incentives, structured salary and wage for the employees, yearly rewards and bonus scheme for the employees and on the other hand, there are the strategies such as developing corporate culture and organisational workplace, managing equality and diversity in the workplace which are beneficial for enhancing the organisational performance. Through the HR functions, it is possible for the organisational leader to motivate the staff and create values for them which in turn increase their interest to perform better and contribute positively to maximise the organisational aim.

To acknowledge the ways International organisation design their HR Strategy to align with their Corporate strategy

This is the second objective where through the research; it is possible to identify the international firms realigning their organisational HR strategies for managing the expatriates. The employees are the main stakeholders of the organisation, who are enhancing their performance continuously for achieving the organisational success. In this regard, the multinational corporations try to develop strong bonding with the staff, improve supervision and monitoring process, enhance internal communication and cooperation as well as giving them structured salary and incentives for managing the workforce and retaining them in long run.

To analyse the impacts of organisational corporate strategies and HR policies on the performance of the employees

Through the research, it is possible to meet the third objective as well, where it has been revealed that, the Hr strategic planning and corporate tactics of the organisation have crucial impacts on the organisation as well as on the individuals. The HR strategies planning are effective for the organisational leader to maximise the performance of the brand, establishing the business successfully and fulfilling the brand objective. The managers are also able to handle the workforce and expatriates under suitable tactics off HR. the employees are also beneficial where they are able to feel valued and maximise their wellbeing in the workplace.

To develop proper recommendations for the organisations to restructure their strategy for motivating the expatriates and enhancing their performance in long run

The fourth objective of the research is also achieved through recommending suggestions to IKEA where the firm would be able to manage the expatriates and lead the employees towards achieving the future success. The major recommendations will be proposed further.

5.3 Future recommendations

The suggested recommendations will be proposed in order to improve the HR strategic planning and corporate tactics of the organisation IKEA, so that the managers and leader of the firm will be able to manage the expatriates and retain them for long run. The recommended suggestions for IKEA are such as,

• The organisation must focus on creating good corporate culture in the workplace where the ethical values are managed well, and in this regard, the leader must manage transparency and accountability at the workplace, respect each other, manage good bonding and trust among the staff. Implementing the ethical rules and corporate culture as well as managing equality and diversity would also be beneficial for the organisational leader to manage the expatriates and handle the workforce as well successfully.
• Communication and cooperation must be managed well so that internal bonding would be strong. The leaders must share all the necessary information with the organisational team members and empower them in the corporate decision making behaviour of IKEA. This further helps the leader to increase participation and active initiation of the employees in the workplace and lead them efficiently towards achieving the organisational goal and objectives of IKEA.
• Fair decision making behaviour is another strategy which should be established in IKEA, where the leader needs to empower the employees in the home country and also the expatriates to gather their perception and encourage their creativity to make creative solutions for the business. This is one of the major strategies which would be beneficial for the firm to manage strong employee’s base.
• The organisation also needs to introduce performance related pay and incentives in the production and sales department which would encourage the employees for contributing with their full potential and maximising their performance as well. In the production and sales department of IKEA, it is mandatory to introduce performance related pay to encourage the employees so that they will try to give their full potential and perform better for earning higher. This further helps to boosts the firm’s performance as well in long run.
• The organisational leader must develop partnership working practice in the workplace, where every employee can get equal and fair scope to be empowered well and perform better with cooperation and collaboration. The leader of IKEA also encourages open communication and discussion for better decision making behaviour and team working activities.
• The leader needs to maintain health and safety of the workers in the production sites by giving them insurance policies and safety measures at the workplace as well as flexibility in working hours also needs to be introduced for managing the expatriates and retaining the experienced staff for long run organisational success. Mainly in the production department, it is mandatory for the production managers to look into the safety measures while producing the furniture and home alliances of IKEA so that the staff can feel secured and work with their full capabilities.

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Appendices

Appendix 1: Capstone project plan

Appendix 2: Research journey diary

Appendix 3: Weekly summary

Week 1: Introduction

The study is related to introducing the research topic and develops proper analysis. In this week, it is possible to identify the capstone analysis which is basically conducting research project through gathering proper data including primary and secondary. Planning of data collection and organising the data are effective for evaluating the research topic which further helps to draw conclusion. Curiosity creativity in research can be conducted through problem statement, developing aims and questions, reviewing literatures, sampling and data collection and analysis for drawing further conclusion. For conducting the research, it is necessary to develop questions according to the objectives of the study as well as choose appropriated method of progressing in the research.

Week 2: Understanding research philosophy

Research design is basic framework to progress in the research, where collection and analysis of data can be possible for achieving the research objectives. Research philosophy on the other hand, is to develop proper knowledge and understanding of the research by choosing proper philosophy. Research onion is also effective where the researcher can get the scope to choose the right method to progress in the research. The research paradigms are positivism, realism and interpretivism. Two research approaches are deductive and inductive.

Week 3: data collection

CCR is important to develop literature review by collecting secondary sources of information. The methodology provides a scope to progress in the research and develop the study step by step. Ion the other hand, capstone project plan is the time line, where the researcher can follow the time table according to the task to complete the whole research within proper time. Reliability and validity of the data need to be managed during the research to analyse the topic successfully. There are probability and non-probability sampling techniques which are also effective to target the participants and gather primary data.

Week 4: Quantitative data collection

Observation is helpful to collect the relevant data where the structured systematic observation provides a scope to review the participants and collect appropriate data and information. It is required to identify the independent and dependent variables of the research so that it would be possible to collect data accordingly and develop research hypothesis. Apart from that, secondary data can be gathered through reviewing the literature sources such as books, journals, online articles and case study which are effective to conduct the research efficiently by gathering a vast range of theories and concepts.

Week 5: Survey methodology

Survey research is effective for collecting useful data and information from large population, high degree of reliability and improving transparency of research. For survey method, there are two types of questionnaire design, which are open ended questions and close questions. Hypothesis is also important for research study where it develop the relationship between the dependent and independent variables. There are positive and null hypothesis and the researcher will analyse the hypothesis through the data analysis and evaluation. Questionnaire design process is appropriate to collect valid data for future analysis of the research topic.

Week 6: Data analysis

Best survey tools for data analysis are Survey Monkey, Type form, Jot Form , Ask Nicely, Form stack, Survey gizmo, Google Forms. Descriptive statistics can be applied for data analysis where mean, median and mode are effective to identify the results. Standard deviation and correlations coefficient is effective to identify the relationship between the dependent and independent variable of the research topic. Through this process, hypothesis and testing can be performed for accepting the hypothesis. T test and Pearson correlation coefficient are also appropriate of conducting the quantitative data analysis in the research.

Week 7: qualitative data collection

For systematic and logical research, qualitative data collection is appropriate to complete the research successfully. Understanding the context, the people and identifying the interactions are possible under qualitative research. Case study research, grounded theory, and action research are some examples of conducting qualitative research. The researchers consider descriptive case studies, explanatory and exploratory studies for better understanding of the research. Ethical considerations need to be managed during the process by empowering the participants with respect and integrity. For preparing qualitative interview, it is necessary to represent properly, develop themes, manage good appearance, and share own knowledge and capabilities.

Week 8: Qualitative data

There are different analytical practiced, through which qualitative data analysis can be conducted which are narrative analysis, grounded analysis, discourse analysis and content analysis, which are effective to narrate the findings and develop themes for critical analysis. Data coding is also suitable for qualitative data analysis which are open coding, axial coding, pattern seeking and selective coding. Analysing qualitative data is a ongoing process with the collection of the data where the review of the secondary sources of information, observation as well as the analysis method are effective to evaluate the research topic further.

Week 9: digital methodology in research

In the recent era of digitalisation, collecting the data from social media is a common practice to gather a vast range of information and data. Google trends, Twitter study examples and exploring sentiment analysis are some form, where social media is utilized for gathering relevant and valid data and information successfully. There are different forums, reveries and bogs as well as online news, through which relevant data can be gathered. Social media data can be analysed through relationship analysis, volume analysis, clustering, correlation and regression. Sentimental analysis, segmentation identification and graphical media analysis are also possible through social media.

Week 10: writing research proposal

For writing research proposal, it is necessary to introduce the study by reviewing the research background and analysing the problems related to the research topic. After that, research aims and objectives are developed to progress in the proposal. Reviewing the literature is appropriate for the proposal to gather data and information for improving the idea and understanding the topic. Choosing the suitable methods of collecting data and information analysis are also necessary for successful proposal. Ethical considerations and limitation of the research are identified and accordingly, the capstone project plan is appropriate in the proposal to provide proper time schedule according to the activities so that the researcher can complete the project within effective period of time.

Appendix 4: Informed consent form

Appendix 5: Detailed interview questions