Expert answer:Need management help to answer each question with
Answer & Explanation:Read 1.pdfCritical Thinking Application 3-A.pdf
Introduction to HR
and the HRM Environment
Critical Thinking
Application 3-A
1. Should Mr. Polk and others be allowed to violate a
grooming policy on the basis of a religious proclamation on the sanctity of
dreadlocks? Why or why not? If you answer “yes,” is there any point
where you would draw the line in terms of company policy regarding appearance
and the religious implications of dress?
2. Does FedEx have a right to impose a reasonable grooming
policy based on customer reactions to personnel appearances?
read_1.pdf
critical_thinking_application_3_a.pdf
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Human Resource Management
An Experiential Approach
Sixth Edition
W
R
I
H. JOHN BERNARDIN
Stewart Distinguished
G Professor,
Florida Atlantic University
H
T
JOYCE E. A. RUSSELL
Ralph J. Tyser Distinguished
Teaching Fellow,
,
The University of Maryland
S
H
E
R
R
Y
2
7
9
3
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Chapter
1
Strategic Human Resource
Management in a
Changing Environment
Copyright © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.
W
R
I
O B J E C T I V EGS
H
After reading this chapter,
you should be able to
1. Describe the field T
of human resource management (HRM) and its potential
,
for creating and adding
value within contemporary organizations.
2. Describe discrepancies between actual HRM practices and recommendations
for HRM practice S
based on scholarly research.
3. Describe the major activities of HRM.
H
4. Explain important trends relevant to HRM, including the increasing
Eeconomy, changing technology, the role of regulations
globalization of the
R
and lawsuits, the changing
demographics of the workforce, and the
growing body of research
linking
particular HRM practices to corporate
R
performance.
Y
5. Emphasize the importance of measurement for effective and strategic HRM.
6. Understand what is meant by competitive advantage, and what the four
2 offering and maintaining uniqueness.
mechanisms are for
7
9
OVERVIEW
3
According to graphologist Paul Sassi, the fluidity of President Obama’s signature is a sign
B its illegibility shows he is protecting his privacy. “He doesn’t
of high intelligence, while
want you to know himUtoo well.” Another handwriting expert concluded: “The large
letters in Obama’s signature show that he is ambitious, self-confident, and views himself
as a leader. . . . The fluid letter forms reveal that he can form a coalition, be diplomatic,
and get along with both sides of the aisle.” She added: “He’s the type of guy who could tell
you to go to hell and you’d enjoy the trip.”1 In her assessment of Mitt Romney, graphologist Sheila Kurtz concluded that he is inclined to think quickly but impulsively, to dream
big, but don’t even think about telling him what to do. Kurtz describes President Obama as
“unclogged with preconceptions and prejudices,” with an ability to consider new ideas and
probe beneath the surface of issues. She also claims his handwriting also reveals that he is
unlikely to act on “raw or coerced impulse.”2
When one of your authors shared these assessments with undergraduate human
resources classes, about 20 percent of students thought the evaluations were “dead on
accurate,” another 30 percent described the profiles as “mostly accurate,” about 25 percent
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1 / Human Resource Management and the Environment
Major HRM
responsibilities
Sound measurement
is critical to effective HR
thought they were “completely inaccurate,” and about 25 percent had no opinion at all
on the accuracy of the profiles. Within the last group, however, about half of the students
expressed skepticism about assessing someone’s personality, intelligence, motivation, or
anything else important using the person’s handwriting. It is this group of students who
are “dead-on accurate.” Research clearly shows that handwriting is not a valid means of
assessing anything important (except your handwriting!).
The assessment of politicians is not the only application you will find of such invalid
assessment methods. Inc. magazine, one of the most popular magazines for U.S. small
businesses, ran a story extolling the benefits of using graphology to hire managers.3 The
article reported that the use of graphology was on the increase and that the method was
very effective for selecting managers and salespersons. Sound research in human resource
management (HRM) has determined that companies would do just about as well picking
names out of a hat to make personnel decisions.4
Skilled HRM specialists help organizations with all activities related to staffing and maintaining an effective workforce. Major HRM responsibilities include work design and job analysis,
training and development, recruiting,W
compensation, team building, performance management
and appraisal, and worker health andRsafety issues as well as identifying and developing valid
methods for selecting staff.
I and teach HRM is devoted to identifying the most
Research by academics who study
effective and efficient methods forGmeeting these HRM responsibilities. A key theme of
this book is that the most effective HRM programs, policies, and practices are those
H research results. Another theme of this book is that
that are developed based on HRM
contemporary HRM practice oftenTignores the sound research about policy, practice, or
people that is available to help make good decisions. Instead, organizations are apt to adopt
an HRM practice merely because ,competitors are using it (this was a main theme of the
Inc. article about graphology).
One of your authors once had a conversation with a business owner who had hired his
S
145-person sales staff based on graphology reports (at $75 per report) and the answer to a
single question posed in an interview.
H When questioned about the validity of these methods, the business owner described one terrible salesman he had hired out of desperation in
E
a tight labor market despite a graphologist’s report that said the “small writing with little
R for sales work.” This one example had stuck in
slant indicated he may be too introverted
his mind as “proof” of graphology’s
R effectiveness. He lamented, “If only I had listened
to the handwriting expert. I wasted a bundle training the guy!” Those of us who teach
Y as a “man who” statistic in which a person enlists
statistics refer to this type of “research”
a single case to support or refute a theory. For example, when you discuss the overwhelming evidence showing that smoking causes cancer, someone might offer the counterargu2 three packs a day and lived to be 90.” An article in
ment that “yea, but my aunt smoked
the Washington Post reported that 7
the Pilot Pen Company’s CEO Ronald Shaw was a big
believer in graphology and would use it for all hiring decisions because the graphologist’s
9 showed that he was “sincere and intelligent and had
profile based on his own handwriting
5
a lot of integrity.” While (apparently)
3 flattery will get you somewhere (or at least a good
consulting gig), graphology will not get you accurate or valid assessments of the personal
B (even the job of president). Needless to say, this
characteristics related to job performance
is not the way to do research on a procedure.
U
There are good ways to do research and good ways to assess the effects of programs, procedures, and activities of HRM. Sound measurement, followed by data-driven decision
making, are keys to effective management. Remember the old adage: if it’s not measured,
it’s not managed. Management needs to collect and validate information. This information can
be a major asset and in many cases, “the raw material of new products and services, smarter
decisions, competitive advantage for companies, and greater growth and productivity.”6 A 2011
study led by MIT professor Erik Brynjolfsson showed that companies that adopted “data-driven
decision making” for major managerial decisions achieved productivity that was 5 to 6 percent
higher than what could be explained by other factors, including how much the companies invested in technology. Data-driven decision making was defined not only by collecting sound
data on critical variables, but also whether the results of the data collection were then used
to make crucial decisions. The major distinction made in the study was determining whether
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The Balanced Scorecard
The Workforce Scorecard
Copyright © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.
Lagging and leading
indicators
The vision of HRM for the
21st century
managerial decisions were based mainly on “data and analysis” versus the more traditional
“experience and intuition.”7
Graphology has been the subject of sound, data-based research to determine whether
diagnostics that derive from a person’s handwriting actually predicts whether a person is
going to be a competent manager and great salesperson (it doesn’t). As we discuss in detail
in Chapter 6, there are many methods that do an excellent job predicting performance.
Data-driven (and effective) HRM means decision makers (HR specialists and line managers)
are aware of these valid methods and then use them to make decisions.
Many HRM systems and activities are not subjected to systematic measurement and
analysis. In fact, many organizations do not assess either the short- or long-term consequences of their HRM programs or activities. Another key theme of the book is that
measurement and data-driven decision making are key components to organizational
effectiveness and competitive advantage. Good measurement and data-driven decisions,
allied with business strategies, will help organizations identify and improve all of their
HRM activities and resultant decisions.
W Jeffrey Pfeffer considers measurement to be one of the keys
Stanford University professor
to competitive advantage.R
His book Competitive Advantage Through People cites measurement
as one of the 16 HRM practices that contribute the most to competitive advantage.8 Pfeffer’s
views were echoed and Iexpanded in the popular text The Balanced Scorecard by Harvard
professor Robert Kaplan and
G consultant David Norton.9 Kaplan and Norton stress that “if companies are to survive and prosper in information age competition, they must use measureH derived from their strategies and capabilities” (p. 21). Their
ment and management systems
“balanced scorecard” emphasizes
much more management attention to “leading indicators” of
T
performance that predict the “lagging” financial performance measures. The “balance” reflects
, and long-term objectives, financial and nonfinancial measures,
the need to measure shortlagging and leading indicators, and internal and external performance perspectives.
In their book The Workforce Scorecard, Professors Mark Huselid, Brian Becker, and
S
Dick Beatty extend research on the “balanced scorecard” to a comprehensive management
and measurement systemHdesigned to maximize workforce potential.10 These authors show
that the traditional financial performance measures such as return on equity, stock price,
E
and return on investment, the “lagging indicators,” can be predicted by the way companies
R
conduct their HR. HR practices
are the “leading indicators” that predict subsequent finan11
cial performance measures.
Unfortunately,
research indicates that only a small percentR
age of HRM programs or activities are subjected to critical, data-driven analysis. The good
Y percentage is at least going up. Measurement and data-driven
news, however, is that the
decision making are essential for American organizations in the 21st century!
One study defined the vision of HRM for the 21st century. HRM activities must be
2 competitive marketplace and global business structures,
(1) responsive to a highly
(2) closely linked to business
7 strategic plans, (3) jointly conceived and implemented by line
and HR managers, and (4) focused on quality, customer service, productivity, employee
involvement, teamwork,9and workforce flexibility.12 In general, research shows that the
realization of this vision3translates into greater organizational effectiveness.
Perhaps because of this body of research, the status of HRM is improving relative to
other potential sources ofB
competitive advantage for an organization. Professor Pfeffer notes
that “traditional sources U
of success (e.g., speed to market, financial, technological) can still
provide competitive leverage, but to a lesser degree now than in the past, leaving organizational culture and capabilities, derived from how people are managed, as comparatively
more vital.”13 Research clearly indicates that certain HR practices can increase employees’ knowledge, skills, and abilities through more valid staffing and selection decisions,
serve to empower employees to leverage these superior characteristics for the benefit of
the organization, and to increase the motivation of these employees to do so. The results
of these practices are greater job satisfaction and organizational commitment, lower levels
of voluntary turnover among key personnel, and higher productivity.14
You are likely to manage people at some point in your career. Research shows that the
extent to which you as a manager make data-driven, evidence-based HR decisions will
be a key to your effectiveness as a manager.15 We believe that the knowledge and experiences we provide here will prepare you to be an effective manager. We emphasize that the
5
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Keep mission in mind
most effective HRM programs, policies, and practices are those that derive from strong
research and data-driven decisions that are carefully aligned with the organization’s strategic mission and objectives. All HRM activities should be evaluated in this context, using
“leading indicator” performance measures.
WHAT IS HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT?
Line managers and HRM
HRM and Corporate
Performance
The human resources of an organization consist of all people who perform its activities.
In a sense, all decisions that affect the workforce concern the organization’s HRM function. Human resource management concerns the personnel policies and managerial practices and systems that influence the workforce. Regardless of the size—or existence—of a
formal HRM or personnel department (many small businesses do not have a formal HRM
department), the activities involved
Win HRM are pervasive throughout the organization.
Line managers, for example, will spend more than 50 percent of their time involved in
R
human resource activities such as hiring, evaluating, motivating, disciplining, and schedulI
ing employees.
The effectiveness with which line management performs HRM functions with the tools,
G
data, and processes provided by HRM specialists is the key to competitive advantage
H
through HRM. This principle generalizes
from very small businesses to the very largest
global enterprises. Dr. James Spina,
former
head of executive development at the Tribune
T
Company, really put things in perspective about the role of HRM. He said, “The HRM
focus should always be maintaining, and, ideally, expanding the customer base while maintaining and, ideally, maximizing profit. HRM has a whole lot to do with this focus regardless of the size of the business, or the products or services you are trying to sell.”
S an HRM functional unit provide important products
Those individuals classified within
and services for the organization. These
H products and services may include the provision
of, or recommendation for, systems or processes that facilitate organizational restructurE recruitment, hiring, evaluating, training, developing,
ing, job design, personnel planning,
promoting, compensating, and terminating
personnel. A major goal of this book is to
R
provide information and experiences that will improve the student’s future involveR
ment and effectiveness in HRM activities.
A good way to think of an HRYdepartment is to view the department as a business
within the company. The HR business has three product lines: (1) administrative services
and transactions, which are made up of areas such as staffing and compensation; (2) busi2 implementing business plans and meeting objectives;
ness partner services, which assist in
and (3) strategic partner, which contributes
to the firm’s strategy based on human capital
7
considerations and developing HR practices to foster competitive advantage.16 The most
9 for HR is the first one: administrative services. Howcommon and traditional product line
ever, the most effective (but less common)
HR departments contribute significantly to the
3
other two lines as well.
While HR is capable of creatingB
and sustaining competitive advantage, some would argue that HR, as it is practiced, is often
U more a weakness than a strength. One survey found
that only 40 percent of employees thought their companies were doing a good job retaining
high-quality workers, and only 41 percent thought performance evaluations were fair. A
mere 58 percent of respondents reported their job training as favorable. A majority said
they had few opportunities for advancement and they had little idea about how to advance
in the first place. Only about half of those surveyed below the managerial level believed
their companies took a genuine interest in their well-being.17
A growing body of research shows that progressive HRM practices can have a significant
effect on corporate performance. Studies now document the relationship between specific
HR practices and critical outcome measures such as corporate financial performance, productivity, product and service quality, and cost control.18 Many of the methods characterizing
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Figure 1-1
Characteristics of
High-Performance Work
Practices (HPWP)
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
■
Large number of highly qualified applicants for each strategic position.
The use of validated selection and promotion models/procedures.
Extensive training and development of new employees.
The use of formal performance appraisal and management.
The use of multisource (360 degree) performance appraisal and feedback.
Linkage of merit increases to formal appraisal processes.
Above-market compensation for key positions.
High percentage of entire workforce included in incentive systems.
High differential in pay between high and low performers.
High percentage of workforce working in self-managed, project-based work teams.
Low percentage of employees covered by union contract.
High percentage of managerial jobs filled from within.
Source: Reprinted by permission of Harvard Business School Press. From The HR Scorecard, by B. Becker and M. Ulrich.
Boston, MA, 2001. Copyright © 2001 by the Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation’ all rights reserved.
High-performance work
systems
Copyright © 2013 The McGraw-Hill Companies. All rights reserved.
Validation
Focus on core competencies
W
R
these so-called high-performance work systems or practices (HPWP) have been researched
I academic community. Figure 1-1 presents a summary of this
and developed by the HRM
research.
G
HPWP are particular HR practices or characteristics designed to enhance employees’
H so that employees can be a reliable source of competitive
competencies and productivity
advantage. They have been
T called “coherent practices that enhance the skills of the workforce, participation in decision making, and motivation to put forth discretionary effort.”
, competitiveness can be enhanced by high-performance work
Research shows that “firm
systems.” A summary of this research found that one standard deviation of improved
assessment on an HPWP measurement tool increased sales per employee in excess of
S
$15,000, an 8 percent gain in labor productivity.19 A more recent review concluded that
“research in applied psychology
and strategic human resource management clearly indiH
cates that investing in human capital can yield positive individual- as well as organizationE
level performance outcomes.”20
R earlier about graphology, or handwriting analysis. Validated
Recall the critical remarks
selection and promotionR
systems are related to hig …
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