ch. 2 Flashcards
- strategic planning -
Procedures for making decisions about the organization’s long-term goals and strategies
- human resources planning (HRP) -
The process of anticipating and providing for the movement of people into, within, and out of an organization
- strategic human resources management (SHRM) -
The pattern of human resources deployments and activities that enable an organization to strategic goals
HPWS stands for…
- high performance work systems
high-performance work systems (HPWS)
to capitalize on employees as a distinctive source of competitive advantage.
4 HPWS are to…
- engaging employees by bringing to their awareness the organization’s vision and providing employees with a personal stake in the vision and its success
- involves acquiring and developing talent
- encompasses employee empowerment
- involves aligning leaders
first HPWS
The first system involves engaging employees by bringing to their awareness the organization’s vision and providing employees with a personal stake in the vision and its success
second HWPS
The second subsystem involves acquiring and developing talent by attending to the attraction, selection, and development processes
third HWPS
‣ The third subsystem encompasses employee empowerment, such as developing policies and practices for employment security so that employees can speak up without repercussion, decreasing status distinctions to promote egalitarianism and open communication, and team/decentralized decision making.
forth HWPS
subsystem involves aligning leaders so that leaders can support the growth and evolution of the organization.
HRP focuses - 2
strategy formulation and strategy implementation.
step 1
mission, vision, and values
the mission -
is the basic purpose of the organization as well as its scope of operations.
strategic vision
A statement about where the company is going and what it can become in the future; clarifies the long-term direction of the company and its strategic intent
core values -
The strong and enduring beliefs and principles that the company uses as a foundation for its decisions Developing a Mission Statement
step 2
external analysis
environmental scanning -
systematic monitoring of the major external forces influencing the organization
types of changes - 5
- economic and ecological changes
- technological changes
- demographic changes
- social changes
- legal and regulatory changes
competitive environments
The competitive environment is narrower than the remote environment and firms have a greater ability to affect it
why do firms analyze their competitive environment?
to adapt to or influence the nature of the competition
how do new firms often enter an industry
it is often because they have a different (and maybe better) way to provide value to customers
competitive environments - 6
- customers
- rival firms
- new entrants
- substitutes
- suppliers
- stakeholders
stake holders -
key people and groups that have an interest in a firms actives and that can either affect them or be affected by them
a firms primary stakeholders
have direct stake in the firm and its success
◦ investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and creditor
a firms secondary stakeholders
have less of a stake but none the less can affect or be affected by the company
◦ the community in which the firm operates, the government, business groups, and the media
HRs external supply of labour at an operational level,
labour-supply changes directly affect hiring plans in the area where the organization is located or plans to locate.
step 3
internal analysis
core capabilities -
Integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers
Core capabilities can consist of a combination of three resources:
(1) processes, (2) systems (technologies), and (3) people.
- value creation
- What the firm adds to a product or service by virtue of making it; the amount of benefits provided by the product or service once the costs of making it are subtracted
Organizations can achieve a sustained competitive advantage through people - 4
- The resources must be valuable
- The resources must be rare.
- The resources must be difficult to imitate.
- The resources must be organized.
- The resources must be valuable
People are a source of competitive advantage when they improve the efficiency or effectiveness of the company.
how is value increased
◦ Value is increased when employees find ways to decrease costs, provide something unique to customers, or some combination of the two.
- The resources must be rare.
People are a source of competitive advantage when their knowledge, skills, and abilities are not equally available to competitors
- The resources must be difficult to imitate.
People are a source of competitive advantage when the capabilities and contributions of a firm’s employees cannot be copied by others.
- The resources must be organized.
People are a source of competitive advantage when their talents can be combined and deployed to work on new assignments at a moment’s notice.
Strategic knowledge workers.
‣ This group of employees tends to have unique skills that are directly linked to the company’s strategy and are difficult to replace
‣ These employees are typically engaged in knowledge work that involves considerable autonomy and discretion.
◦ Core employees.
‣ This group of employees has skills that are quite valuable to a company but are not particularly unique or difficult to replace
their skills are transferable, it is quite possible that they could leave to go to another firm.
managers frequently make less investment in training and development and tend to focus more on paying for short-term performance achievements.
◦ Supporting workers.
‣ employees typically have skills that are of less strategic value to the firm and are generally available in the labour market
‣ Individuals in these jobs are increasingly hired from external agencies on a contract basis to support the strategic knowledge workers and core employees.
‣ The scope of their duties tends to be limited
◦ External partners.
‣ This group of individuals has skills that are unique but frequently are
companies perhaps cannot justify their internal employment
‣ As a consequence, companies tend to establish longer-term alliances and partnerships with them and nurture an ongoing relationship focused on mutual learning.
Considerable investment is made in the exchange of information and knowledge
cultural audits -
audits of the culture and quality of work life in an organization
how To conduct a cultural audit,
a firm generally surveys its employees to learn how they feel about a number of issues by asking them questions
The “clan” culture,
in which employees are closely knit and exhibit great concern for one another and their customers, and loyalty and cohesion are highly valued. Their HR strategies are more informal and focused on creating a family-type feel that binds employees emotionally to the organization.”
◦ The “adhocracy” culture,
which is a culture characterized by risk taking, innovation, and a spirit of entrepreneurship.
◦ The “market” culture,
which encourages competitive, result-oriented behaviours.
The “hierarchical” culture,
which is characterized by formal structures and procedures and in which efficiency and stability are greatly value
forecasting managers focus on (at least) three key elements:
(1) forecasting the demand for labour,
(2) forecasting the supply of labour, and
(3) balancing supply and demand considerations.
‣ forecasting a firms demand for employees
it can be done by a firm’s competitive strategy, technology, structure, and productivity, can affect the demand for labour.
Quantitative approaches to forecasting
involve the use of statistical or mathematical techniques. One example is trend analysis, whereby a firm’s employment requirements are forecasted on the basis of some organizational index
Qualitative approaches to forecasting
qualitative approaches to forecasting are less statistical.
◦ Management forecasts are the opinions (judgments) of supervisors, department managers, experts, or others knowledgeable about the organization’s future employment needs.
demand forecasts process
involves both tracking current employee levels and making future projections about those levels.
‣ staffing tables -
Graphic representations of all organizational jobs, along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and future (monthly or yearly) employment requirement
◦ a Markov analysis -
can be used to track the pattern of employee movements through various jobs and to develop a transition matrix for forecasting labour supply.
Skill inventories
can also be prepared that list each employee’s education, past work experience, vocational interests, specific abilities and skills, compensation history, and job tenure.
management inventories
When data are gathered on managers,
replacement charts -
listing of current jobholders and people who are potential replacements if an opening occurs
‣ succession planning -
the process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals for executive position
human capital readiness -
the process of evaluating the availability of critical talent in a company and comparing it to the firms supply
SWOT
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Growth hinges on three related elements:
(1) increased employee productivity,
(2) a greater number of employees, and
(3) employees developing or acquiring new skills.
failures with mergers
the failure is due to cultural inconsistencies, as well as conflicts among the managers of each firm.
A low-cost strategy
means keeping your costs low enough that you can offer an attractive price to customers (relative to competitors).
low-cost strategy has several links to HRP - 2
- productivity
- outsourcing
A low-cost strategy and HRP with productivity.
get a terrific “bang for the buck.” Either they produce more from the workforce they have, or they can produce the same amount with a smaller workforce.
A low-cost strategy and HRP with outsourcing
firms approach outsourcing decisions based on costs alone, but this can lead to detrimental effects in the long run it the skills base of their employees suffers and their core capabilities are subsequently eroded
differentiation strategy provides
something unique and distinctive to customers.
It is often based on high product quality, innovative features, speed to market, or superior service
there needs to be a clear alignment between HR and the requirements of an organization’s strategy achieve 2 types of fit:
vertical and horizontal.
Vertical fit (or alignment)
focuses on the connection between the business objectives and the major initiatives in HR
Horizontal fit (or alignment)
aligned with one another internally to establish a configuration that is mutually reinforcing
the “Hard S” category
is the strategy, which lays out the route that the organization will take in the future;
the “Soft S” category
are shared values, or core values, a guiding parameter for strategic planning.
Demand considerations
are based on forecasted trends in business activity.
Supply considerations
involve determining where and how candidates with the required qualifications can be found to fill a firm’s vacancies.
Dealing with surplus employees: 3
layoffs, attrition, and termination.
- Layoff Strategies
Employee layoff decisions are usually based on seniority and/or ability
The most important reason for using seniority as a basis for layoffs
is the objective nature of the decision: the number of years of work, not perception of ability, is the basis for the decision.
reduced workweek,
employees work about 20 to 30 hours per week. This option allows the organization to retain a skilled workforce and lessens the financial and emotional impact of a full layoff, while at the same time reducing the costs of production.
Attrition refers to
the “natural” departure of employees through quits, retirements, and deaths.
- hiring freeze -
A practice whereby new workers are not hired as planned or workers who have left the organization are not replace
◦ Termination
is a practice initiated by an employer to separate an employee from the organization permanently
◦ The purpose of termination
is to reduce the size of the workforce and thereby save money
termination strategy begins with
the identification of employees who are in positions that are no longer considered useful or critical to the company’s effectiveness
severance pay -
a lump-sum payment give to terminated employees by an employer at the time of an employer initiated termination
step 4
formulating strategy
step 5
strategy implementation
step 6
evaluation and assessment
- Benchmarking -
is the process of identifying “best practices” in a given area and then comparing your practices and performance to those of other companies
benchmarking gaps
help determine the causes of performance differences, and, ultimately, the team would map out a set of best practices that lead to world-class performance.
- Human capital metrics
assess aspects of the workforce, whereas HR metrics assess the performance of the HR function itself.
competitive advantage is based on
the unique combination of a company’s human capital, strategy, and core capabilities, which differ from firm to firm.
(BSC)
balanced scorecard
BSC
is a framework that helps managers translate their firms’ strategic goals into operational objectives.
balanced scorecard has four related cells:
(1) financial, (2) customer, (3) processes, and (4) learning.”
- The logic of the BSC is
firmly rooted in HRM.
People management and learning help organizations improve their internal processes and provide excellent customer service
Internal processes -
product development, service, and the like-are critical for creating customer satisfaction and loyalty; they are also important for ensuring productivity to contain costs for better financial performance.
Measuring Horizontal Fit 3 steps
- managers need to identify the key workforce objectives they hope to achieve
- managers would identify each of the HR practices used to elicit or reinforce those workforce objectives
- managers would evaluate each HR practices on a scale of -5 (not supportive) to 5 (supportive)
organizational capability -
the capacity of the organization to continuously act and change in pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage.
‣ Flexibility can be achieved in two primary ways:
coordination flexibility and resource flexibility
Coordination flexibility occurs .
through rapid reallocation of resources to new or changing needs
Resource flexibility,
results from having people who can do many different things in different ways.
