Exploring the Specificities of Human Resource Management in Higher Education Institutions

Abstract

Globally, the HEIs are undergoingfundamental transformations in response to the demands posed by growing competitions, globalisation and need for institutional autonomy. Accordingly HEIs are becoming more customer-oriented, cost-cautious and more strategically sensitive towards market changes. This transforms the HEIs to typically resemble business models of commercial enterprises. The most powerful assets that an institution couldpossess to in in this competitive environment are its human resources. Consequently, the quality of human resources can be regarded as a critical success factor for driving organisation success in higher educational institutions (HEIs). However, the studies analysing the application of human resource management (HRM)practices in HEIsare meagre at global level and there isan absolute lack ofsuch studies in Indian context

The present study represents a modest attempt to explore the specyicities ofHRMpractices in Indian HEIs. The study has a fundamental preposition that human resource development (HRD) as a sub-function of HRM signsa crucial component ofachieving andmaintaining the competitive advantage ofHEIs in India. Thepaperproposes the universities need to create a dedicated HRD department which can exclusively cater to strategic management oftheir human resources. This pioneering attempt will expectedly advance the overall literature ofHRMin HEIsand may serve as the basis of future research in this direction.