Page 1 of 24

Introduction
Overview Of Bangladesh cement industry
Bangladesh cement industry is the 40th largest market in the world.
Currently capacity of the industry is about 20 mn tonnes (MT). Top 13 players
are alone controlling over 78% of the total industry capacity. However, the
balance capacity still remains quite fragmented.
Per capita consumption remains poor when compared with the world
average; only 65 kg (FY2009) while our neighboring countries, India and
Pakistan, have per capita consumption of 135kg and 130kg respectively. This
underlines tremendous scope for growth in the Bangladesh cement industry
in the long term.
Cement, being a bulk commodity, is a freight intensive industry and
transporting it over long distances can prove to be uneconomical. For that
reason, industry is regional in nature. Its also seasonal in nature, during
Monsoon industry suffers from low demand. Four major costs are associated
with the production of cement as provided:
Costs Elements
Power and fuel
cost
Raw material
Transportation
Other cost

% of costs of
sales
10%
75%
5%
10%

The pricing of cement of various players in the industry are very close to one
another. The factories which would be using captive power (which is cheaper
and more reliable than grid power) and backed by uninterrupted clinker
supply at competitive price, are likely to be more cost efficient to emerge as
the market leader. Currently, the standard price of one bag of cement
produced by the multinational cement companies ranges within BDT 370 to
BDT 390 per bag. On the other hand, price of one bag of cement produced
by the local companies ranges within the price bracket of BDT 340 to BDT
365.
The common technology which is widely used in our industry from the year
2003 is Portland Composite Cement (PCC) which is made following European
Standard Methods (ESM). Earlier, Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) had been
used which was made following the American Standard Method (ASM). PCC
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 2 of 24

gives equal strength and durability like OPC. The basic difference between
them is in the manufacturing technology. Only 65%-80% of clinker is required
to produce PCC while 95% of clinker is required to produce OPC. So,
worldwide PCC has become popular which requires less clinker.
Currently, Heidelberg, Holcim and Lafarge are the leaders among
multinational cement manufacturers and Shah and Meghna are the leading
domestic manufacturers. Shah cement is the market leader with close to
14.20% of the market share, followed by Heidelberg with about 9.30% of the
market share. During the 2010, many small local manufacturers like Premier,
Seven ring, Crown, Fresh and King cement increased their sales drastically
riding on their benefits of economies of scale, backward linkage and
aggressive marketing effort.
In
1.
2.
3.

Bangladesh, cement consumers are categorized as follows:

Individual home makers (25%)
Real estate developers (35%)
Govt. organizations, i.e., LGED, RHW etc. (40%)

Cement consumption has steadily been rising. It is expected that cement

companies will enjoy a good growth of margin over the next 3 years.
Because, in next couple of years when large capacities are expected to come
on-stream, pass through of input cost will be easier and clinker (main raw
material of cement) price is expected to remain stable at $53-$58.
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 3 of 24

About Shah Cement

Shah Cement Ind. Ltd. is the largest Cement Producing plant in Bangladesh,
with a capacity of 5.2 million metric tons per annum. It started its production
on March 2002. The Plant uses state-of-the art technology in all areas of its
production & produces finest quality cement fit for sustainable & durable
construction. It is a unit of Abul Khair Group, one of the largest business
conglomerates in Bangladesh. The cement plant situated at Mukterpur,
Munsigonj. Its high-tech bagging plant is capable of producing 3 lac packs
per day; where packaging unit is equipped with exclusively Star linger High
tech Machinery. Shah Cement is the pioneer to use stitch free bags- 'Micro
Perforated AD Star Bag'. Shah Cement Plant is equipped with both inbound &
outbound logistic comprising of own ocean going vessels, huge number of
cover fleets, barges & bulk carriers & transit mixer trucks for RMC supply in
the market place just in time. To ensure 24 hours of uninterrupted power
supply to the factory, Shah Cement has its own power plant with the
capacity of 17 megawatt. It has its own testing laboratory fitted with the
most modern equipment, where quality control is carried out in every hour.
Furthermore, it is also an auto quality control system that monitors the
grinding
quality
through
a
closed-circuit
system.
Shah Cement's commitment to sustainable development, its high ethical
standards in business dealings and its on-going efforts in community welfare
programs have won it acclaim as a responsible corporate citizen. Shah
Cement's brand name is synonymous with cement and enjoys a high level of
equity in the Bangladesh market. It is the only cement company that figures
in the list of Consumer Prestigious Brands of Bangladesh Shah Cement
Ready-Mix, an associate of Shah Cement Ind. Ltd. started its journey on April,
2010 to contribute more in infrastructure development of the country.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 4 of 24

Products
Regarded as the standard of quality in the Bangladesh Cement Industry,
Shah Cement offers both Ordinary Portland Cement & Portland Composite
Cement in two categories suitable for any kind of construction.
In terms of quality, clinker plays the most vital role, which comes mainly from
Thailand and also from some other parts of Asia.
The finest raw materials through the quality grinding process ensure more
strength, more durability & more workability. We deliver our products both in
Bags & Bulk Carriers.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 5 of 24

Services
Shah cement is committed to our customer to serve the very best & to
create more value for them. They continuously communicate and interact
with our customers to identify their need & they have the passion to design
our service level accordingly to fulfill those needs.
And services includes
1. Value Delivery Network
2. Training services
3. Customer care

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 6 of 24

Value Delivery Network:

They are committed to provide the quality product to customer whenever &
wherever they want.
The unique & efficient delivery network of Shah Cement made it possible for
the company to stand on its promise of 24 hours delivery.
Shah cement is the pioneer for the service of on-time on-site delivery to its
consumers. This dedicated service is possible through the adaptation of most
convenient support systems using roadways, waterways & bulk carriers.
Our Delivery Support System Includes:
Highest Numbers of own covered Vans.
Own ocean-going
materials handling.

vessels

for

clinker/

raw

Adequate Bulk Carriers & portable silos.

Adequate numbers of own fleet of barges.
Exclusive distribution network throughout the
country.
Training Services:
Customers can receive training on specific topics
related to the use of building materials. By sharing
knowledge and best practices, our educational and
training services guide and teach our customers. Topics
range
from
teaching
customers
about
the
characteristics and uses of cement, to showing retailers how to improve their
inventory management and increase their sales.
We also run awareness program on ready-mix concrete technology both for
its internal & external customers.
Customer care
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 7 of 24

Shah cement offer a one-stop contact call center where customers can
manage their business and find fast, reliable service. They can place orders,
make inquiries, review their order status, or request technical assistance, all
in one single call.

CSR activity done by Shah Cement

Shah Cement strongly believes that business is a priority & but social welfare
is a responsibility. Shah Cement has placed itself in a position to enrich the
quality of life in Bangladesh and to contribute for a better society. Shah
cement firmly believes that customer satisfaction and corporate
responsibility are the way to build a better and brighter future, not only for
itself but also for the nation. And activities are
Shah cement nirman er taroka.
Nijer bari nije kori.
Amar nirmaney ami.
Raj mistry shera karigor.
City corporation beatification project.
Shah cement medical consultancy etc.

Achievements
Shah Cement became the highest selling cement brand of Bangladesh
cement market.
Best cement brand of 2010.
In order to share the successful marketing practice with the academics,
Shah Cement now joins hand with the world's leading Business Guru
Philip Kotler.

Body part
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 8 of 24

Objective of the study

1 What are the HRM problems and issues Shah Cement industries
limited in Bangladesh are facing?
2 What sort of HRM approaches do you think need to be taken to
ensure ongoing competitive advantage?
3 What HRM challenges will Shah Cement Company face in the 21 th
century? Critically discuss.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 9 of 24

Objective 1: What are the HRM problems and issues Shah Cement
industries limited in Bangladesh are facing?
Cement industry contributes around Rs.30 billion per annum in shape of
Excise Duty and other taxes and around Rs.100 billion to the GDP annually. It
also provides employment opportunities to about one lac people.
The cement industry relies on construction jobs to create a profit. But the
cement industry heavily relies on weather. About two-thirds of cement
production takes place between May and October. Cement producers often
use the winter months to produce and stockpile cement, to meet demand.
Another problem is the cost of transport. The cost of transporting cement is
high and this keeps cement from being profitable over long distances. In
other words, shipping cement costs more than the profit from selling it.
In Shah Cement industries limited Human Resource Management are facing
various problems. These are as follows:
Good Employee Selection
Human Resource Management effective when good employees are selected.
In Shah Cement industries limited on selection process Human Resource
Management faces the problem to achieve their objective.
They recruit people internally and also externally. The internal source is
promotion of present employee. The external sources are collecting students
from college or University, Selection Institutions, Job Applicants, Selection
Agency, Newspaper Advertisement and other Reliable Sources.
The employee selection process in Shah Cement industries limited starts
with primary interview. In this step the Company justifies employees size,
looking face, energy in this step. Then they Offer job application from the
applicant. It contains name of the applicants, Applicants father name, Job
experience, Educational qualification, Nationality, Age, Religion, Expected
salary, Character Certificate Reference. Then the Psychological test which
contains Intellectual test, Creative test, Cognitive test, Personality test. Then
the management arranges another Selection interview with top management
and other supervisors. They finish the procedure with final selection by
selecting the best employees for job.
Salary and Wage

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 10 of 24

If the salary and wage is not sufficient and satisfying the employee it creates
problem in management of a company. Because of this issue Human
Resource Management is facing the problems of strike, number of closed
factory, bad relation with workers less productivity etc. Shah Cement
industries limited is a well reputed company along with goodwill of paying
salaries and wages in a fare scale. They also offer some other facilities along
with salary. Those are Provident fund, Gratuity, Incentive Bonus, Festival
Bonus, Medicare, House rent, Leave allowance, Workmen Insurance, Festival
allowance etc.
Lack of Innovation and Technology Development
The manufacture of cement is a two-phase process. Firstly, Clinker is
produced. Most common methodology of producing clinker is to mix up
calcareous minerals such as chalk, limestone containing silica and alumina
and heat upto 1450 degree C. After cooling it, clinker is formed.
Secondly, the clinker is ground with calcium sulphates and with industrial
processes wastes such as blast furnace slag, limestone and fly ash to
produce Portland cement.
Two basic types of clinker production processes exist, depending on the way
the raw materials are prepared before entering the kiln system:

Wet method (use in Bangladesh)

Dry method

Technology helps the production section and Human Resource Management

section of cement industry. This is also applicable for Shah Cement industries
limited. The industry lacks innovation due to which there has been
insignificant inflow of new and advanced technology into the industry. This is
a major problem of Shah Cement industries limited. It is important for the
cement industry to adopt modern and most advanced technology to improve
production efficiency and produce high-quality cement to meet the local
demand and export orders. The industry should also introduce new
technology for energy conservation and environmental improvement.
Frequent turnover of labor
The rate of labor turnover is very high then the Human Resource
Management department may face various problems. To face this problem
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 11 of 24

the HRM department of Shah Cement industries limited takes some steps. To
minimize turnover rate, increase job satisfaction, optimum use of knowledge
and skills Shah Cement limited gives some facilities that can motivate
employees. Those facilities are; financial incentives, handsome salary, profit,
non-financial incentives like as Medicare, recreation facilities, job security,
participation in management and many more.

Employee Relation with Management

The main goal of Human Resource Management is to build a good relation
between employee & management. But in Shah Cement limited they do not
have a good employee management relation. Workers are not interested to
enhance their skill. This problem is face by Human Resource Management
very often. This is one of the major problems in Human Resource section of
this company. HR managers are working on this issue to develop the relation
between employee and management.
Training and Development
Taking various training programs for the unskilled worker is the major activity
of Human Resource Management department. If Shah Cement limited
Human Resource Management department does not take training programs
for improvement of the employee they will not be able to get skilled worker.
They have some system for training and development process. These are
employees
training
program
and
executive
training
program.
The employees training program methods are
Induction Training.
On the Job Training.
Supervisory training.
Apprenticeship Training.
Training center.
The methods of executive training program are as follows:

Conference training

Training course

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 12 of 24

Internship

Diploma training

Seminar

Business Tour

Job Rotation Method.

Rate of absenteeism
When a worker is absent for work without permission then it is called
absenteeism. The causes of absenteeism may be available or not. When the
causes of absenteeism are avoidable then it is said the performance of
Human Resource Management is very poor. In Shah Cement limited most of
the absenteeism is avoidable.
The causes of absenteeism are illness, impact of unfavorable working
environment, residential problem and negative attitude of management,
transactional
problem
and
lack
of
job
satisfaction.
This can be controlled by taking some steps.

No work no pay.
Better wages & salaries.
To create worker safety & security.
Incentive bonus select.

Lack of Research & Development

There is no institution in the private sector that could undertake research &
development in the cement sector to improve the productivity, quality,
efficiency, marketability as well as conducting feasibility for producing new
products, optimising cost of production and industry expansion. Without
sufficient amount of research and development its difficult to develop a
productive human resource.
So in the finishing line of this objective we can say that. Cement industry is
one of the fastest growing industries in Bangladesh. Its a highly potential
industry for the economic development of Bangladesh. For the continuous
growth of this industry they should be careful about the problems. Human
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 13 of 24

resource is an asset for every industry. So the management should look at

the human resource of the company and they should take necessary steps to
overcome these problems and ensure a sustainable growth for the cement
industry.
Though Shah Cement is one of the leading cement company in Bangladesh ,
they have some HRM problem in their organization like selection process,
salary and wage related issues, turnover rate, training and development
related issues etc. so they need to be careful to handle these problems and
ensure that the human resource of the company work effectively and
efficiently.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 14 of 24

Objective 2. What sort of HRM approaches do you think need to be

taken to ensure ongoing competitive advantage?
The cement industries have some opportunities as well. One such
opportunity is the cement industry's efficiency. The cement industry has
recently streamlined its production efforts, using dry manufacturing instead
of wet, which is heavier and more time-consuming. The cement industry has
also invested about $6 billion in expansion efforts to meet unmet cement
needs. Projections show that by 2012, the cement industry will have 25
percent more production capabilities.
The Shah cement limited has many advantages to be considered. Cement is,
literally, the building block of the construction industry. Almost every building
constructed relies on cement for its foundation. The cement business is a
$10 billion industry, measured by annual cement shipments. There is also a
strong reputation behind the cement industry. Cement is a solid material and
consumers rarely have complaints about the product. Regional distribution
plants have also made cement widely available to any type of buyer.
Relying on your human resource department to recruit the best employees,
design appropriate and effective training programs and institute successful
retention programs can give your company a competitive advantage. While
competitors struggle with maintaining an experienced and motivated
workforce, your company can focus more on productivity and increased sales
when your HR department plays an integral role in your workforce
development.
Hire Professionals with Experience
Human resource professionals vary in the kinds of skills and experience they
bring to a job. Many are administrators proficient at processing payroll and
executing benefits programs, but have little more leadership status than your
clerical workers. They can upgrade their HR department to include
recruitment specialists who also understand their companys strategic roles
and can play an integral part in shaping your business success. Executivelevel human resource professionals can help design job descriptions and
training programs, give advice on where to find the best candidates, and
participate in defining salary levels that will result in the best new hires.
Give HR Leadership Positions
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 15 of 24

The human resource department often is given job descriptions and told to
fill the positions. Salaries are predetermined and the HR staff has little or no
input into the hiring process. To tap into the HR professionals insights, shah
cement should bring their human resource manager into the hiring process
more completely. Allow HR to play a role in determining appropriate
recruitment pay and tactics, let them know how much it takes to recruit top
talent, and how company policies can be amended to recruit the best.
Let HR Determine Training Programs
With an HR department that participates in defining and implementing
company goals, Shah Cement can rely on your human resources team to
consider the companys profitability with each decision they make. In
addition to defining employee jobs and required qualifications, an actively
participatory HR department can monitor employee activity levels, morale
and customer service success to design and implement appropriate training
programs with line supervisors and executive management teams.
Provide HR Tools to Monitor Employee Performance
The human resource department can build programs to track those
employees who stand out. When their human resource professionals are
involved in designing and providing employee reviews, they can help them
spot talent and advise you on how you can best groom employees for
promotions. They can provide designated employees with specific training
and help you devise opportunities for growth, serving as your eyes and ears
for seeking out the best candidates that will push your company into a
competitive advantage.
Supply of Raw Material
The supply of clinker, the sole raw material of cement, has a profound impact
on the supply of cement. Currently, international price of clinker has fallen
which should lower production costs.
Some of Shah Cements competitive advantages are

Large production capacity to meet customers need.

Highest selling cement brand of Bangladesh cement market.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 16 of 24

It measures its quality by using modern instrument in the

laboratory.
This ISO certification of the recognition of standard management
system that evolves in the organization for committing to provide
quality product and service.
Completely automated production system.
Shah Cement Industries Ltd. has been certified ISO 9001:2008
for its Quality Management System (QMS).
Distribution channel of shah cement, it helps them to reach
every possible corner.
Effective and efficient Sales and marketing department.
The brand built over the last decade is a marketing success and
recently recognized by the Brand Forum as the Best Cement
Brand of 2010.
In order to share the successful marketing practice with the
academics, Shah Cement now joins hand with the world's leading
Business Guru Philip Kotler.

These are the factor needed to ensure the sustainable growth and having
competitive advantage. Shah cement has some strong competitive
advantage over their rivals so they need to focus on that and capitalize those
advantages. If they are able to do so it will ensure their growth as well as
competitive advantage.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 17 of 24

Objective 3: What HRM challenges will Shah Cement Company face

in the 21th century? Critically discuss.
The nature of the economy has uncovered a number of threats to the cement
industry. The cement industry greatly relies on construction. The current
economy has lessened the number of construction jobs, which in turn hurts
the cement industry. Considering the Life cycle of the industry, currently
cement industry of Bangladesh is in the growth stage. Sales of cement are
increasing due to an enormous demand for cement in both the local and
foreign markets. The industry realized about 30% and 21% growth in 2009
and 2010 respectively after suppressed demand from previous years.
Industry expected demand growth is 20%-25% for the next three years
based on the assumptions below.

Government would be able to materialize its important ADP of building

big infrastructure projects.

According to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) report 2010, 28% people

of our country live in urban areas where the population growth is 3.2
per thousand. Urbanization and demand for accommodation is
increasing day by day. Thus it is expected that the real sector will grow
steadily with the household users increasing cement consumption
pattern.

Private sector may get interested to invest in real estate for getting tax
advantages of their undeclared funds

Good number of large infrastructure construction projects (Padma

Bridge, Flyovers, and highways) are on the pipeline.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 18 of 24

There is no Substitute for Cement. Steel can be used in construction

but in limited extent due to its high cost.

On the flip side, some caution has to be maintained due to the current
demand- supply gap leading to over capacity and falling margins and prices.
Also, given the close linkages between them, the effect of a slowdown in real
estate growth or hike in.

So the company might face some challenges these are

Company policy and practice
As the business policy and procedures are changing day by day to keep pace
with the changing nature of the business. So this changing policy of the
company can be a challenge for the employee to adopt the challenges. So
before fully implementation of the changing policy the organization should
test the policies adaptability by implementing it in a section of business and
then evaluate the result weather its acceptable or not.
Lay out of equipment
Modern days technologies are changing day by day. And this technology has
a great impact to the success of business. But the adaptation of new
technology is not that easy. Adaptation of new technology needs a great
amount of training so that the employee learns how to operate the new
technology. As this industry is heavily dependent on technology, so its
important for them to have the new technology to gain the competitive
advantage. But its difficult for the employee who will operate this so it can
be challenge for them to adopt the frequently changing modern technology.
Labor supply and demand
As its one of the growing industries in Bangladesh so it has a huge potential
to contribute in the economy of the country. Though the industry heavily
depends on technology they need workers too. But in future the supply of
skilled labor can be problem for this industry. Because the educated
workforce are interested to work in FMCG based MNCs. And the cement
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 19 of 24

industry did not take any necessary initiatives to attract the educated
workforce towards them so there can be a crisis of workforce in future.
Workforce Diversity
Another HRM challenge is the workforce diversification. Such workforce
diversification means to effectively manage the workforce that come from
different backgrounds with respect to regions, cultures, race and gender. In
this modern business world, every business organization conducts the
business activities in different countries. Now such multinational
organizations adopt several strategies to compete in the foreign markets
through people. In this regard to manage such diverse human resources
effectively, business organization adopt and make the policies and practices
according to the culture and environment. As Shah Cement are exporting to
India and in future they will expand their market in other countries so they
might face this kinds of problems.
Challenges in Employee Retention
In the current scenario, a major challenge for an organization is to retain its
valuable and talented employees. The management can control the problem
of employees quitting the organization within no time to a great extent but
cant put a complete full stop to it. There are several challenges to it. The
challenges to employee retention:

Monetary dissatisfaction is one of the major reasons for an employee

to look for a change.
Individuals speak all kind of lies during interviews to get a job.
Individuals have a tendency to get bored in a short span of time.
Unrealistic expectations from the job also lead to employees looking
for a change.

The company might face this kinds of problems in future so that they need to
be careful when they recruit their employee. Because they are not haring for
a short period of time so during the recruitment process different aptitude
test can be done just to understand the mentality of that potential employee.
HR effectiveness measurement
HR department have traditionally focused on measuring their own
effectiveness, there is an evolving recognition that they can provide
organizational value by measuring the effectiveness of the entire business
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 20 of 24

organization. This shift is significant as it represents movements from simply

counting the number hired to determining the ROI of collective and individual
hires on a long term basis, going beyond measuring turnover, and this new
approach considers bad turnover and good turnover along with the overall
cost of replacement hires. So while measuring the effectiveness of HR the HR
department needs to be aware of that, because if they cant measure the HR
in a right way they wont be able to find out the effectiveness of HR.
Challenges from the competitor
To establish this business huge amount of investment are required, so the
entry barrier is high to enter in this market but the competitive challenges
from the competitors are very high Heidelberg, Holcim and Lafarge are the
leaders among multinational cement manufacturers and Shah and Meghna
are the leading domestic manufacturers. Shah cement is the market leader
with close to 14.20% of the market share, followed by Heidelberg with about
9.30% of the market share. During the 2010, many small local manufacturers
like Premier, Seven ring, Crown, Fresh and King cement increased their sales
drastically riding on their benefits of economies of scale, backward linkage
and aggressive marketing effort. Now most of the customers are willing to
get the cement with low price. So, the numbers of cement company offer low
price for their customers. They are trying to attract the customers through
some excellent offers
Government control and legislation
As some of the foreign firm as well as local companies are doing business in
Bangladesh in cement industry. But if the government changes some policy
regarding business in cement industry it can be a threat of doing business in
this industry. As they need to import raw materials from different countries
so any kind of import restriction can be a disaster for the business. And shah
cement also exports cement to India so any kind of export barrier can
hamper the business of shah cement too.

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 21 of 24

Recommendation
Inspire of facing various problems, Human Resource Management is one
important function among other internal functions including finance,
accounting, research & development & marketing and production.
Human Resource Management plays a vital role in industrial sectors. In case
of attaining organizational good its contribution is not necessary to mention.
The problems of Human Resource Management of Shah cement industries
limited can be removed by taking the following steps:
1. By selecting good employees.
2. By ensuring that the selection process is fair.
3. By emphasizing on labor turnover. That is the rate of labor turnover should
be low.
4. Absenteeism should be reduced.
5. By maintaining good relation between labor management
6. By ensuring proper Human Resource Planning
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 22 of 24

7. Healthy trade union also helps to remove Human Resource Management

problems.
8. HR Department should take training program for improvement of the
employee.
9. Appoint skilled Human Resource Managers.

Conclusion
The first foremost work by the HR is to developed sound organizational
structure with strong interpersonal skill to employees, and also to train
employees by introducing them the concept of globalize human resource
management to perform better in the global organization context. All these
issues and challenges like, work force diversity, leadership development.
Change management, organizational effectiveness, Globalization, ECommerce, succession planning and compensation etc, Can be best
management by HR manager when they will work with HR practices, such as
rigid recruitment and selection policy, division of jobs, empowerment,
encouraging diversity in the workplace, training and development of the
work force, fostering innovation, proper assigning of duties and
responsibilities, managing knowledge and other functions as are shown.
Nutshell when HR works enthusiastically by keeping all the practices in mind,
competitive advantages can thus be accomplished, the value of human
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 23 of 24

resource can be improved, organization efficiency can be enhanced, and the

organization will sustain to survive.
Undeveloped Human Resource is an important obstacle to economic
development of any country. Undeveloped human resources are manifest in
low labor productivity factor immobility limited specialization in occupation &
in customary values & traditional social institutions that minimize the
incentives
for
economic
development
of
a
country.
Human resource management is concerned with the people dimension in
management. Since every organization is ensure of quality people acquiring
their services, developing their skills, motivating them to high level of
performance, and ensuring that they continue to maintain their commitment
to the organization are essential to achieving organization objectives.
Shah cement is one of the leading cement company in Bangladesh. They are
successfully running their business in Bangladesh, and behind their success
one of the reasons is efficient and effective human resource department who
utilize the resources wisely to get the best output from them. Though some
problems are present in the Human resource department they will come up
with a solution and utilize their human resources in more effective and
efficient manner. And for the future challenges in 21st century they need to
be aware of that also. As the competition is raising day by day so in recent
future there might be greater competition from the competitors, so they
need to do the forecasting and planning more wisely so that they can cope
up with the changing situation and handle the challenges carefully.
So from the above data, it comes to the statement that need to practice
todays HRM philosophy & activities, to service & survive strongly in today &
in future.

References
1. Arnold, M. Zack (2008). Labour-Management and Employer/Employee
Rights and Obligations: Industrializing Countries Cambodia Moves
Toward Industrialization, ABA-LELS-International Committee Meeting
HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited

Page 24 of 24

Beijing
China,
April
16,
2008,
pp.
3-7,
http://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/lwp/people/staffPapers/zack.pdf
2. Edgar, Fiona, Geare, Alan (2007). Legislating for best practice HRM :
the New Zealand approach, Journal of Public Personnel Management,
Volume, 36(3), pp. 183-196, 2007
3. American Management Association (AMA)
Resources Department, AMACOM, 2000

Auditing Your Human

4. R. Whipp, A. Pettigrew, Managing Change for Competitive Success,

Oxford: Blackwell, 1991
5. Dessler, (2002). Human Resource Management, Pearson Education
Limited.
6. Ivancevich, (2002). Human Resource Management, McGraw Hill.
7. IDLC Research Report: Cement Sector of Bangladesh.
8. http://www.shahcement.com/

HRM problems, Challenges and required HRM approaches for competitive advantage of Shah Cement
industries limited