HR Strategy Flashcards
What is strategy?
Long-range plans to achieve defined goals
What are the four parts of a strategic management process?
FDIE-
Formulation-gather info and define mission
Develop- how and where. Translating data
Implementation-allocate resources
Evaluation-assess and adapt
What is essential for strategic success?
Alignment of effort across the organization (alignment of structure and culture)
What are strategic levers and constraints and what is the primary lever?
Levers and constraints make strategy more or less difficult to achieve;primary lever is the employees
What is organizational culture?
Shared assumptions and beliefs
What is the role of HR in strategy?
Supporting the needs of stakeholders and building pivotal talent pools
What are the four phases of an organization’s life cycle and what is generally HR’s focus in each
- Introduction =energy and vision
- Growth=standardization
- Maturity =efficiency and disciplined risk taking
- Decline=right sizing and change management
What is environmental scanning and what good does it do?
Identifying external threats and opportunities;lessens randomness of information and provides early warnings of changing external conditions
What is PEST
The search for environmental forces: political, economic,social,and technological
What is SWOT
The use of data obtained through PEST to identify levers and constraints: strengths,weaknesses,opportunities,and threats
How does clarity of mission help an organization?
It is a guide during crisis,and reflects culture,and helps with branding
What is the difference between strategic goals and objectives?
BHAG’S(big hairy audacious goals)strategic goals are long-term and transformational
- The objectives are for each activity and the objectives are tied to value drivers (specific impacts)
What is the good of a balanced scorecard?
Provides balanced,strategy-focused perspective not focused solely on finance but also customers, learning and growth, and internal business processes; can show leading and lagging indicators
What are leading and lagging indicators?
Leading indicators =affects that impact the future (example:engagement survey results)
Lagging indicators =events that have already occurred (example:turnover)
What are SMART objectives?
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timebound objectives
What is benchmarking and why should we be cautious about it?
- Benchmarking is the comparison of an entity’s performance to another, but beware of cultural bias.
What are balance sheets ,income statements , and cash flow statements?
Balance sheet=assets,liabilities, and equity at one point in time(only money)
Income statement =revenues,expenses,and profits (show bottom line)
Cash flow statement =cash in and out of the organization
What might a negative cash flow in operations, and in finance mean?
Sales are to low or cost of production is to high; and to much borrowing
What is gross profit margin?
It is the gross profit divided by net sales which = a % of every sales dollar to cover the cost
What is net profit?
It is net income divided by net sales=shows efficiency
What is the danger of excessive use of financial measures?
It can overemphasizes short-term results
What is strategic fit?
The compatibility of strategy with internal and external environments
What are Porter’s competitive strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, and focus?
Cost leadership = lowest price
Differentiation =unique
Focus =segment/niche
Explain the following growth strategies: Strategic alliance Joint venture Equity partnership Merger/Acquisition Franchising Licensing Contract manufacturing Management contract Turnkey operations Greenfield operations Brownfield operations
- Strategic alliance =share assets
- Joint venture =jointly owned
- Equity partnership =partnership agreement
- Merger/Acquisition =concern for data privacy
- Franchising =low risk entry
- Licensing =no control over license
- Contract manufacturing =lower cost when other company manages operations
- Management contract =other company does things except financing and ownership
- Turnkey operations =acquire with no change
- Greenfield operations=new from the ground up
- Brownfield operations = repurposed
What are HR’s main roles in alliance/joint ventures and divestitures?
Alliance/joint ventures =HR’s role is to focus on people and cultural fit (communication)
Divestitures=HR’s role is to try to not to lose good talent(communicate) and learn lessons
What does due diligence attempt to reduce?
Uncertainty
What does a strategic budget do as opposed to an operations budget?
A strategic budget funds and manages a project with line of sight goals as opposed to an operations budget which funds ongoing activities
What are two tools used to prioritize investment?
Growth share matrix and nine-box matrix
Why develop horizon strategies?
To spread out the risk, and work on lower levels of uncertainty first, and to keep production going
What is a business case and what are its four aspects!
- Description of problem and proposed solution
- statement of need
- recommended solution, risks and opportunities
- estimated costs and time frame
What makes for good communication?
Two-way,leaders support, flows across silos, connects to strategy
Measures must show what two things to help with strategic implementation?
Activities and results
How do you evaluate success?
Based on agreed metrics that have been communicated, and they are measurable, and strategically valuable
