Question:

(a) "Current pressures to control labour costs and protect tighter profit margins demands an increasing rather than decreasing emphasis on human resource planning" (Marchington & Wilkinson 2001). Discuss this statement.

(b) Distinguish between soft and hard human resource planning and explain the importance of having a proper mix of both hard and soft approaches to human resource planning. Illustrate with relevant examples.

(c) Give a diagrammatic representation of the process of human resource planning. Explain the entire process of human resource planning through the use of this diagram.