Lesson 1

Question 1

Define People Management.

Answer 1

A combination of Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management that focuses on managing people by putting the “human” at the center.

Question 2

What is Organizational Behavior (OB)?

Answer 2

A multidisciplinary study of how people and organizations behave, addressing efficiency and complexity.

Question 3

Name two early contributors to the study of Organizational Behavior and their focus.

Answer 3

Weber and Taylor. Efficiency

Then Parker Follett and Mayo. Complexities of the human element.

Question 4

What are the four dimensions of HRM outlined by Guest (1991)?

Answer 4

1. Integration
2. Employee commitment
3. Flexibility
4. Quality

Question 5

Explain the difference between hard and soft HRM.

Answer 5

Hard HRM focuses on quantitative, business-strategy-driven management of people as resources.

Soft HRM emphasizes communication, leadership, and motivation.

Question 6

What are the three areas of HRM identified by Boxall et al. (2007a)?

Answer 6

1. Micro HRM
   Focuses on managing people within an organization at an individual or team level. It involves day-to-day HR practices like recruitment, selection, training, performance management, compensation, and employee relations
2. Strategic HRM
   Emphasizes aligning HR practices and policies with the long-term goals and strategy of the organization. It looks at how HR contributes to organizational performance, competitive advantage, and business success. (eg. Workforce planning and talent management.)
3. International HRM
   Involves managing human resources in a global context, addressing the complexities that arise from operating across different countries and cultures. This includes dealing with international labor laws, cultural diversity, and expatriate management.

Question 7

Define emotional labor as per Arlie Hochschild (1979).

Answer 7

Managing or working with one’s own or others’ emotions as part of professional roles, involving surface acting or deep acting.

Question 8

What are the two key characteristics of knowledge work according to Warhurst and Thompson (2006)?

Answer 8

1. Draws on specialized and abstract theoretical knowledge.
2. Applies and uses knowledge for creating innovation with worker autonomy.

Question 9

Name and define the four types of work values identified by Schwartz and Sagiv (1995).

Answer 9

1. Intrinsic/self-actualization: personal growth and fulfillment
2. Extrinsic: external rewards
3. Social/relational: connections with others
4. Self-enhancement/prestige: recognition and status.

Question 10

Which are some HR activities that are center around the employee lifecycle?

Answer 10

1. Recruitment and selection
2. Induction / joining
3. Retention
4. Separation

Question 11

What is the unitarist view in the HRM?

Answer 11

Seeing the org. as a single entity with one goal, claiming that the interest of the org and the employees are the same.

Question 12

What is work?

Answer 12

The purposeful activity that involves effort, either physical or mental, to produce goods or services, achieve a goal, or earn a livelihood. It often involves obligations or expectations within a structured setting, such as employment, but can also extend to unpaid or informal activities.

Question 13

How HRM emerged?

Answer 13

In 1980 with the Harvard Model (Beer et al, 1984)

Question 14

How is work defined?

Answer 14

Defining work involves considering:

Purpose: Work is often tied to creating value or fulfilling a need.
Effort: Work requires physical or mental effort.
Structure: It can be organized within a formal setting, like employment, or informal, like caregiving.
Outcomes: The results of work may be economic (e.g., income) or social (e.g., community improvement).

Question 15

Challenges of Defining Work

Answer 15

Diverse contexts, cultural variations, technological changes, social constructs.

Question 16

Different Opinions About Work

Answer 16

Economic Perspective: Work is primarily a means to earn income and contribute to economic production.

Psychological Perspective: Work provides personal fulfillment, identity, and a sense of purpose.

Sociological Perspective: Work is a means of social contribution, defining roles and status in society.

Critical Perspective: Some argue that work is a construct used to exploit labor and maintain social hierarchies.

Question 17

Types of work

Answer 17

Paid, unpaid, formal, informal, physical, cognitive, creative, emotional

Knowledge work, emotional labor, voluntary work.

Question 18

Personal examples of type of jobs

Answer 18

unpaid: IGER
paid: petsitting
formal: Intimissimi
informal: babysitting
physical: Celebrations
cognitive: mon école
creative: Flaar
emotional: Telus

Question 19

Name the challenges of voluntary work

Answer 19

Paid vs. unpaid staff in the same org
General HRM issues
Management approach
Reliant on persuasion and commitment

Question 20

Weick et al., 2005: What is ‘sensemaking’?

Answer 20

is a key competency for managers
* process of turning an experience or set of circumstances into
a something you consciously describe and understand in
words

Question 21

Norris and Inglehart (2004) considered three elements of a ‘work
ethic’, or the values people hold about work:

Answer 21

1. Intrinsic benefits
2. Material rewards
3. Duty

Question 22

What is Volunteering

Answer 22

Wilson (2000, p. 215) defines volunteering as ‘any activity in which time is given
freely to benefit another person, group or cause’