South Asian Journal of Management

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Professionalizing Religious Family-owned Organizations:An Examination of Human Resource Challenges


Affiliations
1 Human Resource Management Area, Goa Institute of Management, Goa Institute of Management, Poriem, Sattari, Goa-403505, India
2 Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Area, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), Faculty Block 1, Room Number 13, IIMK Campus, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode, Kerala-673570, India
3 Human Resources Management Area, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Wing 8, Heritage Campus, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015, Gujarat, India
     

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Transformation of the Human Resource (HR) function from the traditional to a modern and professional one continues to be a challenge for most family-owned organizations. This paper discusses the traditional HR practices followed in an Indian religious family-owned organization, the actions taken during the transformation process of professionalizing the firm and the challenges faced by the newly recruited HR head while executing this process, along with the change management schema adopted for professionalization. During this process, deeply-ischolar_mained traditions prevalent in the firm had to be a balanced with a need for modernization. A steady approach with small steps at a time—rather than a radical transformation at a fast pace—was adopted for the change process. The intention of the professionalization process was not to harm or do away with the inherent good people—management practices that already existed but build upon them. At the same time, practices and styles had to be changed, and concerns of employees addressed. The paper also brings forth the impact of owner/promoter’s religious beliefs on the organizational and also opens avenues for future research on the relatively unexplored domains of religion and management. We discuss a three-pronged plan comprising of overall strategy development, tuning the HR systems to meet transformation goals and building a new professional culture. The paper adds to the existing theory and practice by proposing the secularization matrix for managing transformation in such organizations.

Keywords

Religious Family-Owned Organizations, Professionalization, Human Resource Transformation, Change Management Schema, Religious Beliefs.
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  • Professionalizing Religious Family-owned Organizations:An Examination of Human Resource Challenges

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Authors

Anamika Sinha
Human Resource Management Area, Goa Institute of Management, Goa Institute of Management, Poriem, Sattari, Goa-403505, India
Jatin Pandey
Organizational Behaviour and Human Resources Area, Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIMK), Faculty Block 1, Room Number 13, IIMK Campus, Kunnamangalam, Kozhikode, Kerala-673570, India
Biju Varkkey
Human Resources Management Area, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Wing 8, Heritage Campus, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Vastrapur, Ahmedabad-380015, Gujarat, India

Abstract


Transformation of the Human Resource (HR) function from the traditional to a modern and professional one continues to be a challenge for most family-owned organizations. This paper discusses the traditional HR practices followed in an Indian religious family-owned organization, the actions taken during the transformation process of professionalizing the firm and the challenges faced by the newly recruited HR head while executing this process, along with the change management schema adopted for professionalization. During this process, deeply-ischolar_mained traditions prevalent in the firm had to be a balanced with a need for modernization. A steady approach with small steps at a time—rather than a radical transformation at a fast pace—was adopted for the change process. The intention of the professionalization process was not to harm or do away with the inherent good people—management practices that already existed but build upon them. At the same time, practices and styles had to be changed, and concerns of employees addressed. The paper also brings forth the impact of owner/promoter’s religious beliefs on the organizational and also opens avenues for future research on the relatively unexplored domains of religion and management. We discuss a three-pronged plan comprising of overall strategy development, tuning the HR systems to meet transformation goals and building a new professional culture. The paper adds to the existing theory and practice by proposing the secularization matrix for managing transformation in such organizations.

Keywords


Religious Family-Owned Organizations, Professionalization, Human Resource Transformation, Change Management Schema, Religious Beliefs.

References