Human Resource Management (HRM) has been through a lot of changes as far as management of people is concerned. People or employees are often viewed in three ways: cost, resource, and asset. Moreover, organisations nowadays are realizing that employees are also a determinant factor to the performance of the organization. Along with the many changes in the business environment: new technology, employment legislation, economic recession, society; Strategic changes: greater customer focus, reduced levels of management, adoption of TQM and teamworking; traditional HRM has also evolved. The need for an integrated and sound approach to managing people gave birth to Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM). Cadbury Schweppes employs more than 50,000 people (7,000 in the UK) and has manufacturing operations in more than 35 countries. It is the world's third largest soft drinks company and holds either the top or second position in the market share of 24 of the world's top 50 confectionery markets. Its brands include Cadbury, Schweppes, Trebor, Bassett's, Trident, Dr Pepper, Halls, Dentyne, Snapple, Orangina, Bubblicious and 7UP. Cadbury Schweppes has a competitive workforce which in turn renders strength to the company. The company has been known to have highly paternalistic human resource policies with the Quaker tradition of employment whose current focus is towards superior shareholder performance. As the company is gearing up towards its goals and objectives, the company is thinking to come up with a number of management approaches, namely the Soft and Hard HRM model. Change has been a constant factor in all times. Changes happen among individuals and organisations. Organisational change is the intended or unintended rearrangement of the organisations resources in order to exhibit different characteristics and relate differently to its environment. Thereby, change management became a fundamental competence among organisations. Organisational changes often referred also as "Organisational Development" which aims to change the organisational thinking, work practices and people behaviour in order to gain a competitive advantage and survive. As in Cadbury, there were also developments that took place in its organisation: changes in strategy, programmes, approaches, acquisition of new companies, and changes in people. These are all mainly changes in the organisational culture. As the company becomes more aggressive in its strategies, it is important to have a supportive culture that would fit the situation of the company. This would aid the performance of the workforce. The ability of an organisation to adapt to its rapid environment and aggressively reorganize its resources is what 3 delivers and excellent organisational performance. Along with change is the presence of organisational conflicts which may or may not support an organisations strategy. Cadburys HR managers have anticipated these changes that will happen in its organisation. They understood that aggressiveness and being adaptable to the environment is what delivers performance. They prepared programmes for the people which focus on these factors which were implemented before and after the implementation of the organisational changes. This would hasten the acceptance of the changes in the organisation. The acquisition of Trebor and Adams has been an influential event that brought changes in the company. At the same time, the company went through a major reorganisation, moving to a more decentralised way of operating business units within a new structure based on five global regions. The main impact of organisational change is being brought by differences. The two companies both have its own distinct culture, distinct employees, distinct process of decision making, distinct personalities, and distinct internal and external processes. Employees from each company have been used to their ways of doing things prior to the changes: their tasks, responsibilities, co-employees, processing of things, line of command, whom and where to report and themselves. In this situation, it is highly important to strategically manage the human resources of each entity. Thereby, the use of SHRM techniques and processes are highly plotted out. Gibson pointed out a strategic approach to the acquisition: "Both had a distinctive culture. Rather than say we'd go for one or the other, we got the two management teams together to ask: what kind of culture do we need to be a winning business? The HR team used SHRM techniques and processes in order to achieve the winning culture and came up with a framework and programmes. The main goal of the framework is for the employees to be able to work more collaboratively in a decentralised way; and the main idea is that Cadbury is a great business with a great people and great brands; and yet, the people have more potentials that needs to be unlocked through focusing on motivation by adopting coaching approach and joint problem-solving. All the programmes that followed after this are linked back to this framework. Having an HR Director on the main board has played an important role in the companys success. The HR department is well informed about top-down programmes and bottom-up initiatives, thereby they can foresee the upcoming 4 events/programmes and strategies of the company, and the considerations of the people. In general, HR best supports an organisation going through change by (a) understanding first what the organisation is all about, (b) understand why there is a need to change, and (c) what is the desired outcome. Along the process of change, HR should not act as a dictator but rather as a guide to the people in order to retain or move the people to the "personal involvement" of employee cultural orientation to employment (Etzioni; 1988). HR function is about developing people, bringing out their talents and potentials in order to support the organisational strategy, increase employee commitment and involvement and being corrective in situations where there are deficiencies. Moreover, HR best supports an organisation undergoing change by being with it along on each step of the change. Source: Cadburys Approach To Managing Its Human Resource Management Essay. Retrieved from https://www.uniassignment.com.management/cadburys-approach-to-managing-its-human-resources-management/ QUESTION: Using appropriate theories and frameworks, Critically analyse the approach used by Cadbury to manage its Human Resources. (3000 words)