Q1 - Reading: Integrating Strategic Human Capital and Strategic HR Management

Question 1

Strategic Human Capital (SHC)

Answer 1

The pattern of planned HR deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals

Question 2

Resource Based View (RBV)

Answer 2

Strategic management model that sees resources as the key to successful firm performance
Resources need to be rare, valuable, and hard to imitate

Question 3

Human capital as a resource (traits)

Answer 3

Rare
Valuable
Hard to imitate
Has bargaining power

Question 4

3 basic ideas for how human capital can be a source of a competitive advantage

Answer 4

1. A firm’s stock of human capital can be a key determinant of the quality of outputs and/or efficiency of operations (i.e. human capital resources are valuable)
2. Human capital resources are heterogeneously distributed among firms (i.e. human capital resources can be rare)
3. Factors such as specificity, social complexity and causal ambiguity can hinder the flow of and replication of human capital resources

Question 5

KSAOs

Answer 5

Knowledge
Skills
Abilities
Other characteristics

Question 6

Diffusion

Answer 6

Individual human capital resources move to competitors

Question 7

3 isolating mechanisms to protect human capital from diffusion and imitation

Answer 7

Firm specificity
Social complexity
Causal ambiguity

Question 8

Firm specificity (isolating mechanism)

Answer 8

The degree to which human capital is only applicable at a particular firm – is argued to limit mobility options as compensation at other firms will be inferior due to lower ‘use value’ associated with the human capital

Question 9

Social complexity (isolating mechanism)

Answer 9

Relates to the degree to which the individuals at a firm are embedded within complex connections with their colleagues and other intangible and tangible resources

Question 10

Causal ambiguity (isolating mechanism)

Answer 10

Present when it is difficult to establish causal links between particular resources and organizational performance

Question 11

2 conclusions firms have made about human capital

Answer 11

1. Human capital as resources are positively associated with firm performance
2. The firm performance impact is more robust when isolating mechanisms, such as firm specificity, are present

Question 12

Ability Motivation Opportunity (AMO) model

Answer 12

States that individual and organizational performance is a function of employees’ abilities, motivation, and opportunity to contribute