As a conclusion, I would say that the entire thesis process was educational. I was able to learn how to apply a wide range of theories into a challenging, real-life business case and to learn to overcome challenges which occurred during the process. The thesis process followed the gradual progress of the research design and is therefore relevant and well- designed to answer the challenges qualitative research often has. There is only one fac- tor, which I would do differently if I was to conduct the thesis process again: the inter-
views. The qualitative interviews took from two to two and a half an hour per person and if I was to do them again I would have done them in two parts in order to prevent interview- ees from becoming tired.
The second challenge was the commissioning company wished me to define the key HR processes to be researched instead of being provided with the list of the key HR process- es to be researched at group level. I found out that it was very challenging, firstly, to find a definition of a HR process, and secondly, to identify which of the HR activities are HR pro- cesses. I therefore had to research what a HR process means, what kinds of HR process- es there are and based on that create my own research tool in order to identify the key HR processes at group level in Halton Group. This, however, was one of the most fruitful ele- ments of learning within the whole thesis process as the creation process required to study several sources and compare them to find the perfect fit for researching the case company’s HR processes. As the prior theory about the topic was limited, the definition of HR processes would have already been enough of the scope for bachelor thesis. But I wanted to provide something useful for the company and that is why the paper is larger in scope and more detailed than bachelor theses traditionally are.
My third challenge was linked with the data collection. When I started the project, I thought it would have been enough to research the secondary data and run the focus group inter- views. Unfortunately, there was no significant amount of secondary data available and data collected from the focus group interviews was limited. I overcame the challenge by applying the gradual progress of the research design and doing semi-structured qualita- tive interviews in order to gather more data.
In the end, I believe I approached the problem setting from an innovative perspective and succeeded in providing an accurate description of the current situation of the HR process- es at group level in Halton Group. Moreover, I believe the paper provides applicable solu- tions to the challenges faced by the case company.
References
Amit, R & Belcourt M. 1999. Human Resources Management Processes: A Value- Creating Source of Competitive Advantage. European Management Journal 17, 2, pp.
174-181. URL:
https://www.google.fi/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=8&cad=rja&uact=8&ve d=0ahUKEwiR-
5no0J3LAhXmIpoKHVmUAoAQFghAMAc&url=https%3A%2F%2Fmgmt.wharton.upenn.e du%2Ffiles%2F%3Fwhdmsaction%3Dpublic%3Amain.file%26fileID%3D4021&usg=AFQj CNHLo2bRMwurEjC6tonkmByVOPINZA&sig2=FcwRy6psrdV5wIesEUUUuw&bvm=bv.11 5339255,d.bGs. Accessed: 29 Feb 2016.
Analoui, F. 2007. Strategic Human Resource Management. 1st ed. Thompson Learning.
London.
Armstrong, M. 2012. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice.
12th ed. Kogan Page Limited. London.
Becker, B. & Huselid, M. 1998. High performance work systems and firm performance: a synthesis of research and managerial implications. Research on Personnel and Human Resource Management, 16, pp. 53-101.
Bersin, J. 2015. A modern HR operating model: the world has changed. In CIPD,
Changing HR operating models – A collection of thought pieces, pp. 5–7. CIPD, Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. London. URL:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/binaries/changing-operating-models.pdf. Accessed: 14 November 2015.
Boxall, P. & Purcell, J. 2011. Strategy and Human Resource Management. 3rd ed.
Palgrave Macmillan. Houndmills.
Buchen, I.H. 2006. A New Future for HR and HPT Professionals. Performance Improvement, 45, 5, pp. 19-21, 44.
CIPD 2007. How to... conduct exit interviews. URL:
http://www.cipd.co.uk/pm/peoplemanagement/b/weblog/archive/2013/01/29/howtoconduct exitinterviews-2007-07.aspx. Accessed: 26 Feb 2016.
Crawley, E., Swailes, S. & Walsh, D. 2013. Introduction to International Human Resource Management. 1st ed. Oxford University Press. Oxford.
Dash, B. 2013. Employee Engagement and HR Initiatives: - A Conceptual Study.
International Journal on Global Business Management & Research, 1, 2, pp. 85-91.
Dessler, G. 2015. Human Resource Management. 14th ed. Pearson Education. Harlow.
Dyer, L. & Holder, G. W. 1988. Strategic human resource management and planning, in (ed) L. Dyer, Human Resource Management: Evolving roles and responsibilities,
Washington DC, Bureau of National Affairds, pp. 1-46.
Eskola, J. & Suoranta, J. 2001. Johdatus laadulliseen tutkimukseen. 5th ed. Vastapaino.
Jyväskylä.
European Union Agency for Network and Information Security. Entry and exit procedures.
URL: https://www.enisa.europa.eu/activities/cert/support/incident-
management/browsable/policies/human-resources/entry-and-exit-procedures. Accessed:
29 Feb 2016.
Handy, C. 2002. The age of unreason. 3rd ed. Arrow. London.
Hallila, H. August 2015. Group HR Director. Halton Group. Discussions. Helsinki.
Halton Group 2014a. Halton in brief. URL: http://www.halton.com/en_GB/about/halton-in- brief/halton-in-brief). Accessed: 30 December 2015.
Halton Group 2014b. Organisaatio. URL: http://www.halton.com/fi_FI/about/organisation.
Accessed: 30 August 2015.
Halton Group 2014c. History. URL: http://www.halton.com/en_GB/1979-1989. Accessed:
17 September 2015.
HR council for the Nonprofit Sector. Keeping the Right People: Exit Interviews. URL:
http://hrcouncil.ca/hr-toolkit/keeping-people-exit-interviews.cfm. Accessed: 12 Dec 2016.
Heery, E. & Noon, M. 2001. A Dictionary of Human Resource Management. 1st ed.
Oxford University Press. New York.
Gratton, L., Hope-Hailey, V., Stiles, P. & Truss, C. 1999. Linking individual performance to business strategy: The people process model. Human Resource Management, 38, 1, pp.
17-31.
Laamanen, K. & Tinnilä, M. 2009. Prosessijohtamisen käsitteet. Terms and concepts in business process management. 4th ed. Teknologiateollisuus Oy. Espoo.
Lebak, D. & Gowan, M. 2010. Human Resource Management. Managing Employees for competitive advantage. 1st ed. Pearson Education International. Upper Saddler River.
Miles, M. Huberman, A. & Saldana, J. 2014. Qualitative Data Analysis. A Methods Sourcebook. 3rd ed. SAGE Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks.
Monks, K. & McMackin, J. 2001. Designing and aligning an HR system. Human Resource Management Journal, 11, 2, pp. 57-72. URL:
Pösö, A. September 2014. Senior lecturer. HAAGA-HELIA University of Applied Sciences.
Lecture. Helsinki.
Phillips, J. & Gully, P. 2014. Human Resource Management. 1st ed. Cengage Learning.
South-Western.
Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. 2006. People Resourcing: Contemporary HRM in Practice.
3rd ed. Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. 2010. People Resourcing and Talent Planning. 4rd ed.
Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
Price, A. 2007. Human Resource Management in a Business Contect: Third Edition. 3rd ed. Thompson Learning. London.
Saunders, M, Lewis, P. & Thornhill, A. 2007. Research Methods for Business Students.
4th ed. Pearson Education Limited. Essex.
Rinne, H. 11 December 2015. CEO of Halton Group. Halton Group. Interview. Helsinki.
Sarma, A. 2008. Personnel and Human Resource Management. 1st ed. Himalaya Publishing House. Mumbai.
Schuler, R.S. & Tarique, I. 2007. International human resource management: a North American perspective, a thematic update and suggestions for future research.
International Journal of Human Resource Management, 18, 15, pp. 717-718.
Schuler, R. 1992. Linking the people with the strategic needs of the business.
Organizational Dynamics, 21, 1, pp. 19-32.
Shields, J. 2007. Managing Employee Performance and Reward. 1st ed. Cambridge University Press. Port Melbourne.
Shivarudrappa, D., Ramachandra, K. & Gopalakrishna, K. 2010. Human Resource Management. 1st ed. Himalaya Publishing House. Mumbai.
Storey, J. 1995. Human Resource Management, A Critical Text. 1st ed. Routledge.
London.
Tyson, S. 1995. Human Resource Strategy. 1st ed. Pitman. London.
Ulrich, D. 1998. A new mandate for human resources. Harward Business Review, January-February, pp. 124-134.
Appendices