New Challenges in Retail Human Resource Management

Julia Merkel, Paul Jackson and Doreén Pick
Additional contact information
Julia Merkel: University of Coventry
Paul Jackson: METRO AG
Doreén Pick: University of Muenster

A chapter in Retailing in the 21st Century, 2010, pp 257-270 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract Such terms as globalization, process management, and value-based management dominate the current discussion of management in retail companies. There has been an increasing realization that people are one of a company’s key assets. Retail means working and serving customers in a direct, personal way. This calls for special actions from retail companies to fulfill the demands of an increasing number of well-informed and sophisticated consumers. In view of all the changes in both national and international contexts, it is absolutely essential to get the right people if a business is to be successful and sustainable. Retailing is a major labor-intensive industry sector. Therefore, companies are continually challenged to re-organize and adapt their structures to become more efficient. The necessity for part-time workers, because of long store opening hours and peaks in the trading day/week, requires a flexible framework to optimize labor processes. Emotionally, the workforce needs orientation and vision in changing times. Human resource management (HRM) has to provide a “coach,” not only to organize, but also to support employees and management mentally and professionally in fulfilling their tasks in terms of future company goals. People are the driving force behind all transactions that occur in retailing outlets. In the future world of retailing, there will be an increasing need to adapt and change towards a more formative and proactive style of HRM.

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Human Resource Management; Professional Human Resource; Retail Company; Trading Format (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sprchp:978-3-540-72003-4_16

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.springer.com/9783540720034

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-72003-4_16

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Springer Books from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().