Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources

J ust as it is unwise to consider say unemployment without examining the total state of the economy today andyester day, it is unwise to review any business function's place in corporate life, or public life, without some appreciation of why it exists at all and in what environment it now exists.

Please note that I said the examination of any business function. I chose these words carefully. Personnel Manage ment is a business function just as much as is marketing or production management.

Personnel Management exists to contribute towards the business goal of the enterprise. It does not exist to achieve some goal of its own. It is a cost and profit centre or should be, and if it's not, it will suffer the same fate as that well known bird which flew in ever decreasing circles.

T his paper looks at the Manpower Planning function through the eyes of the Chief Executive. From this angle comes the proposition that, to be effective, manpower planning most irrevocably be tied to corporate strategy, and the reasons for this are laid out and analysed. There is also a hard-hitting assessment of management priorities, which might sound like heresy to some personnel managers. The paper also discusses confusion that might exist between what is strategic and what is operational in the personnel function, and the relationship that exists between the two.

'... deployment of capital is a critical Chief Executive decision. Equally critical, if not more so, is the procurement and deployment of people resources.'

O ne is often asked the question: What is industrial relations? The easy way to answer such a quely is to give a short list of some of the things industrial relations practitioners become involved in-strikes, unemployment, wages, technological change, consultation, personnel practice, arbitration and so on. Industrial relations as an academic dis cipline is also concerned with these things. It is helpful, however, to try to get behind the ever-pressing day-to-day pressures and details. I myself find it useful to think of industrial relations as being concerned basically with the bargaining relations between and among employers and employees and with the factors that affect these. I propose in this paper to try to bring out aspects of industrial relations bargaining that are significant at both micro- and macro- levels.

The title of this paper, 'The Truth About Industrial Rotations', reflects a desire to get away from the partisan stances of employers, unions, government, and popular opinion, and as far as a limited human being can, achieve some kind of objective appraisal of important bargaining situations.

One of the most salient features of the 1970s was the remarkable increase in the numbers of women participating in the paid labourforce. Similarly wefindfar more girls staying on for a twelfth year of schooling, and undertak ing post-secondary education in rapidly growing numbers. However, there was a noticeable exception in these trends— the skilled trades and the apprenticeship system remained almost completely dominated by males.

O ne hundred and fifty middle managers completed a job satisfaction questionnaire which measured extrinsic and intrinsic job factors and Cattell's 16PF Test. Several significant correlations were found which did not support contentions that reported anxiety was related to job dissatisfaction. Indeed a positive though small relationship was found between anxiety and satisfaction with intrinsic job factors. Suggestions about the relevance of mid-career ten sions to these findings are discussed.

This article may give pause to many of those who are quick to accept the results of surveys relating to job satisfaction.

The Author has told us that this article has been prepared "....because it may be of interest to other personnel managers to see how the Church is dealing- or perhaps ought to be dealing- with technological change". This is by way of being a considerable understatement. The reader will find this vexed subject attacked in depth from a new and unique angle. He will find that the paper contains suggestions, not only on what the Church ought to be doing, but perhaps on what personnel management in all sectors could be doing to counteract a disaster-prone situation.

'... despite the warnings which have been given, we have remained ignorant of the threats posed by the recent rapid changes in science and technology.'