As competitors strive to win the war for talent, effective human resource management is necessary to gain true competitive advantage in the marketplace. Three challenges companies face are sustainability, technology, and globalization. Human Resource Management Fifth Edition brings these challenges to life by highlighting real-world examples pertaining to these issues and relating it to the concepts within the chapter.
Chapter Summary
This chapter discusses the role of the Human Resource Management (HRM) function in the corporate effort to gain a competitive advantage. The chapter first discusses the roles and skills that a human resource management department and/or managers need for any company to be competitive.
The second section of the chapter identifies the competitive challenges that U.S. companies currently face, which influence their ability to meet the needs of shareholders, customers, employees, and other stakeholders.
We discuss how these competitive challenges are influencing HRM.
The chapter concludes by highlighting the HRM practices covered in this book and the ways they help companies compete.
Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, the student should be able to:
1.
Discuss the roles and activities of a company’s human resource management function.
2.
Discuss the implications of the economy, the makeup of the labor force, and ethics for company sustainability.
3.
Discuss how human resource management affects a company’s balanced scorecard.
4.
Discuss what companies should do to compete in the global marketplace.
5.
Identify the characteristics of the workforce and how they influence human resource management.
6.
Discuss human resource management practices that support high performance work systems.
7.
Provide a brief description of human resource management practices.
Extended Chapter Outline
Note: Key terms are boldface and are listed in the "Chapter Vocabulary" section.
Opening Vignette: At Xerox,
Human Resource Management Excellence Helps Company Rebound
Since 1993 Xerox has been one of the innovators in using technology for HR functions.
The HR function is a shared services organization in which pay, bonuses, staffing, recruiting, benefits, diversity, learning, and HR systems are all part of corporate HR.
HR has provided support for the business strategy at Xerox as it evolved to help the company survive.
Today, HR continues to ensure that talented employees get the right experiences, job assignments, visibility, and learning opportunities.
I.
Introduction
A.
Competitiveness refers to a company's ability to maintain and gain market share in its industry.
1.
Competitiveness is related to effectiveness, which is determined by whether the company satisfies the needs of stakeholders (groups affected by business practices).
B.
Human Resource management (HRM) refers to policies, practices and systems that influence employees’ behaviors, attitudes and performance. (See Figure 1.1)
1.
Effective HRM practices have been shown to relate to company performance by contributing to employee and customer satisfaction, innovation, productivity, and development of a favorable reputation in the community in which the firm is located.
2.
The HRM contribution has only recently been recognized.
II.
What responsibilities and roles do HR departments perform?
A.
Responsibilities that the HR department is solely responsible for include outplacement, Labor Law Compliance, recruiting, compensation, and health and safety.
B.
Many different roles and responsibilities can be performed by the HR department depending on the size of the company, the characteristics of the workforce, the industry, and the value system of the company’s management.
C.
The HR function can play roles in the management of strategic human resources (strategic partner), the management of company infrastructure (administrative expert), the management of transformation and change (change expert), and the management of employee contribution (employee advocate). (See Figure 1.2and Table 1.1)
D.
Roles of HRM include the following:
1. Strategic partner – aligning HRM strategies to business strategies is important to help the company execute its business strategy.
Administrative expert – includes designing systems for selection, developing, appraising, and rewarding employees.
Employee advocate – entails managing the commitment and contributions of employees.
Change agent – requires that HRM help transform organizations to meet the new competitive conditions.
III.
What skills do HR professionals need? Figure 1.3 shows the competencies that are needed by HR professionals. (See Figure 1.3)
1.
Ability to consider current and future business goals and how HRM can contribute.
2.
Ability to analyze turnover, retention, productivity, and customer service problems to recommend potential HRM solutions (strategic partner).
3.
Ability to overcome resistance to new HRM policies and procedures, technology, and work designs (change agent).
4.
Ability to coach and counsel employees and represent their views to management (employee advocate).
5.
Ability to design and deliver effect HRM systems and understand how technology can make HRM systems more efficient and less costly (administrative expert).
IV.
How is the HRM function changing?
A.
The amount of time that the HR function is devoting to administrative tasks is decreasing and its role as a strategic business partner, change agent, and employee advocate are increasing.
B.Advancement in technology is enhancing self-service.
Self-service is the process of giving employees control of HR transactions. This allows employees to take greater responsibility for their own careers.
C.
Outsourcing refers to the practice of having another company provide services.
V.
The HRM Profession
1.
There are many different types of jobs in the HRM profession.
(See Table 1.3)
2.
The primary professional organization for HRM is the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM).
VI.
Competitive Challenges Influencing Human Resource Management
(See Figure 1.4)
A.
The Sustainability Challenge
1.
Sustainability refers to the ability of a company to survive and succeed in a dynamic competitive environment.
2.
Company success is based on how well the company meets the needs of its stakeholders.
Stakeholders refer to shareholders, the community, customers, and all of the other parties that have an interest in seeing that the company succeeds.
3.
Several changes in the economy have important implications for human resource management.
Some key statistics about the economy and the workforce are shown in Table 1.4.
4.
In 2000 the economic picture was positive for the United States.
Then came September 11, 2001.
The events of 9/11 combined with an economic recession put companies into a more uncertain economic period.
5.
The competition for labor is affected by the growth and decline of industries, jobs, and occupations.
Competition for labor is also influenced by the number and skills of persons available for full-time work.
(See Figure 1.5)
a.
Most of the new job growth in professional specialties is expects among teachers, librarians, and counselors: computer, mathematical, and operations research occupations; and health assessment and treatment occupations.
b.
The largest number of job openings will be in occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree and on-the-job training.
c.
Retail will continue to provide jobs for unskilled workers.
6.
Increased Value Placed On Knowledge
a.
Intellectual capital refers to the creativity, productivity, and service provided by employees.
Effective management of people is key to boosting the value of intellectual capital.
b.
Knowledge workers are employees who own the means of producing a product or service.
c.
Empowerment means giving employees responsibility and authority to make decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service.
d.
As more companies become knowledge-based, they must promote and capture learning at the employee, team, and company levels.
e.
A changing environment means that all employees must embrace a philosophy of learning.
A learning organization embraces a culture of lifelong learning, enabling all employees to continually acquire and share knowledge.
7.
Skills Requirements
a.
The demand for specific skills is being replaced by a need for cognitive skills—mathematical and verbal ability—and interpersonal skills related to being able to work in teams or to interact with customers in a service economy.
b.
Most companies related these skills to educational attainment, using a college degree as a standard to screen prospective new employees.
8.
Changes in the Employment Relationship
a.
Layoffs and bankruptcies have played a major role in changing the employment relationship.
The psychological contract describes what an employee expects to contribute and what the company will provide to the employee for these contributions.
b.
In the new economy a new type of psychological contract is emerging.
Companies demand excellent customer service and high productivity levels.
Employees are expected to take more responsibility for their own careers, from seeking raining to balancing work and family.
In exchange, employees want companies to provide flexible work schedules, comfortable working conditions, more autonomy in accomplishing work, training and development opportunities, and financial incentives based on how the company performs.
c.
Alternative work arrangements include independent contractors, on-call workers, temporary workers, and contract company workers.
9.
Demanding Work, but with More Flexibility
a.
The globalization of the world economy and the development of e-commerce have made the notion of a 40-hour work week obsolete.
b.
Many companies are taking steps to provide more flexible work schedules, protect employees’ free time, and more productively use employees’ work time.
10.
There are several ways that companies are trying to win the war for talent; all involve HRM practices.
They include finding creative ways to avoid layoffs and retirement, creating a positive work environment, and expanding the search for talent to the global labor force.
B.
The balanced scorecard: Measuring performance to stakeholders
1.
The balanced scorecard gives managers the opportunity to look at the company from the perspective of internal and external customers, employees and shareholders.The balanced scorecard should be used to:
a.
Link human resource management activities to the company’s business strategy.
b.
Evaluate the extent to which the human resource function is helping the company’s meet its strategic objectives.
Measures of human resource practices primarily relate to productivity, people, and process.
Competing Through Sustainability
A Long-term View Pays Dividends for Vanguard Group
For companies like Vanguard Group, sustainability is based on a business model that emphasizes commitment and loyalty to employees as well as high performance.
Vanguard’s human resource management focus has changed over the 28 business years it has been in business.
The company realizes that sustainability is not based on a program but a value system and actions based on the values that meet employee and customer needs.
C.
Customer Service and Quality emphasis
1.
Customer excellence requires attention to product and service features as well as to interactions with customers.
2.
Total Quality Management can be defined as "a cooperative form of doing business that relies on the talents and capabilities of both labor and management to continually improve quality and productivity using work teams." This is one strategy companies are currently using.
a.
The TQM movement has alerted management to the key role HRM plays in the achievement of quality. (See TM1.6 and Table 1.6 in the text for HRM practices TQM companies use.)
b.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by President Reagan to publicize successful quality strategies. (See Table 1.7 for the award criteria)
Example: Xerox Corporation received the Malcolm Baldrige Award in 1989 after changing its policies 71) to satisfy the customer and (2) to make quality improvement the job of every employee.
Operations Management International, Inc. (OMI) is a 2001 Baldrige Award winner in the service category.
c.
The ISO 9000:2000 standards were developed by the International Organization for Standardization in Geneva, Switzerland.
ISO 9000 is the name of a family of standards (ISO 9001, ISO 9004) that includes requirements such as how to establish quality standards and document work processes to help workers understand quality system requirements.
ISO 9000:2000 has been adopted as a quality standard in nearly 100 countries.
d.
The Six Sigma process refers to a system of measuring, analyzing, improving, and then controlling processes once they have been brought within the narrow Six Sigma quality tolerances or standards.
The objective of Six Sigma is to create a total business focus on serving the customer—that is, deliver what customers really want when they want it.
D.
Changing demographics and diversity of the workplace
1.
The labor force of current is often referred to as the internal labor force.
2.
The external labor market includes persons actively seeking employment.
3.
As figure 1.6 shows, the U.S. workforce is becoming increasingly diverse.
To successfully manage a diverse workforce, managers must develop a new set of skills, including:
a.
Communicating effectively with employees from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.
b.
Coaching and developing employees of different ages, educational backgrounds, ethnicity, physical ability, and race.
c.
Providing performance feedback that is based on objective outcomes rather than values and stereotypes that work against women, minorities, and handicapped persons by prejudging the persons’ abilities and talents.
d.
Creating a work environment that makes it comfortable for employees of all backgrounds to be creative and innovative.
E.
Legal and Ethical Issues
1.
Five main areas in the legal envi ronment have influenced HRM practice: equal opportunity legislation, safety and health legislation, pay and benefits legis lation, employee privacy, and job security. Most recently, the Americans with Disabilities Act regulations require employers to accommodate mental and physical limitations of otherwise qualified individuals, unless undue expense would be incurred.
2.
Ethical criteria should be used in company and employee interactions. Ethical principles include the emphasis of mutual benefits, employees assuming responsi bility for company actions, a meaningful corporate vision for employees, and fairness.
Example: The Raytheon Company has a checklist including several questions that is distributed to each employee to use when considering whether an action is ethical.
Raytheon reinforces its ethics codes with formal training programs, a toll-free “ethics line,” and full-time ethics offices and officers in all of its major business units.
Mandatory one-hour ethics training for all employees uses case studies to make employees aware of the ethical problems that may occur at work.
a.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 sets strict rules for corporate behavior especially in regards to accounting procedures.
F.
The Global Challenge - In order to survive, U.S. companies must, improve HRM practices, develop global markets and better prepare employees for global assignments.
1.
Development of Global Markets.
The most admired and successful companies in the world have not only created multinational corporations, but have created organizations with workforces and corporate cultures that reflect the characteristics of the global markets in which they operate.
2.
Globalization has affected not only businesses with international operations.
Companies without international operations buy or use goods that have been produced overseas, hire employees with diverse backgrounds, and compete with foreign-owned companies operating within and outside of United States.
Globalization is not limited to a particular sector of the economy or product market.
3.
Global business expansion has been made easier by technology.
Using the Internet, e-mail, and video-conferencing, business deals can be completed between companies thousands of miles apart.
4.
To compete in the world economy, U.S. companies need to put greater effort into effective HRM practices.
5.
U.S. companies must do a better job of preparing employees and their families for international assignments, especially given the current high failure rate.
6.
Globalization also means that U.S. companies may move jobs overseas.
Offshoring refers to the exporting of jobs from developed countries to less developed countries.
Competing Through Globalization
Building a Common Company Culture in a Global Company
Pricewaterhouse Cooper is a global organization that provides assurance, tax, and advisory services.
The company developed a global leadership training program to encourage development of innovative ideas and relationships between future company leaders.
Thanks to the program, individuals from different countries and cultures interact with each other to learn.
The company found that the program is highly valuable.
G.
The Technology Challenge
1.
Advances in sophisticated technology along with reduced costs for the technology are changing many aspects of human resource management.
Technology is pushing the boundaries of artificial intelligence, speed synthesis, wireless communications, and networked virtual reality.
2.
High‑ erformance Work Systems - To gain competitive advantage with foreign competitors, U.S. companies must learn to integrate technology and structure into high‑performance work systems. Additionally, advances in telecommunications, micro processors, etc., are having a major impact on necessary to job success.
a.
Change in Employees' Work Roles and Skill Requirements— New technology often requires new basic skills. For example, computer‑integrated manufacturing requires employees to monitor equipment and troubleshoot problems with sophisti cated equipment. More organizations want employees cross trained in multiple jobs. Interpersonal skills are increasingly important as teams are used.
b.
Increase in the Use of Teams to Perform Work—Employees are now expected to make decisions at point of sale to improve customer service. Work teams form one method of increasing both employee responsibility and control. These teams frequently assume managerial activities. Quality control may be integrated into the team’s functions. Cost savings may be real ized by the use of teams.
c.
Through technology, the information needed to improve customer service and product quality becomes more accessible to employees.
Popular methods for increasing employee responsibility and control are through work teams, and cross training.
3.
Changes in skill requirements – High performance work systems have implication for employee selection and training.
4.
Working in partnerships – Technology has allowed companies to form partnerships with one or more other companies.
5.
Changes in Company Structure and Reporting Relationships – In the adaptive organizational structure, employees are in a constant state of learning and performance improvement.
They are free to move wherever they are needed in the company.
6.
Increased Availability of human resource management databases and e-HRM—A human resource information system may contain large amounts of data regarding the company's employees. An HRIS may be used to support strategic decision-making and ensure legal compliance, as well as to evaluate programs and policies or support daily operating concerns.
Example: Northern Telecom has facilities in 90 countries and has created a central database of employee records worldwide. Headcount, salary, and recruiting data are updated regularly. This system has improved Northern Telecom's ability to meet customer needs and address global staffing issues.
6.
Electronic-human resource management (e-HRM) – E-HRM has the potential to change all traditional human resource management functions. (See Table 1.9 TM 1.8)
7.
Competitiveness in High‑ erformance Work Systems—In order for new technologies or new structures to support organiza tional improvement, the integration of these two factors must be carefully examined. Human resource practices that support high‑performance work systems are listed in Table 1.10. These practices are designed to provide employees with skills, incen tives, knowledge, and autonomy. GE Fanuc Automation achieved its reputation and recognition for quality as a result of the use of high-performance work practices.
Central to its practices is the idea that employees closest to the work have the best improvement ideas.
As a result, employees must be encouraged to voice their opinions and make changes.
VII.
Meeting the Competitive Challenges through HRM Practices - HRM practices that help companies respond to the four competitive challenges can be grouped into the following four dimensions.
(See Figure 1.7 and 1.8)
A.
Managing the Human Resource Environment—HRM practices should be linked to strategy, legal compliance must be assured, and work should be designed to maximize employee effectiveness and motivation.
B.
Acquiring and Preparing Human Resources—Human resource planning must occur, employees must be recruited and placed in appropriate jobs, methods of employee selection must be determined, and ensuring employees have skills to perform particular jobs.
C.
Assessment and Development of Human Resources—This area of HRM deals with measuring employee performance, preparing employees for future work roles, identifying and responding to employee interests, and creating a beneficial and effective work environment.
D.
Compensating Human Resources—Appropriate pay systemsmust be developed, employee contributions must be rewarded,and employees must be provided with benefits.
E.
Special Issues—Labor unions create an additional HRM challenge.
VIII.
The final paragraph and Table 1.12 present the overall organizationof the text.
Chapter Vocabulary
These terms are defined in the "Extended Chapter Outline" section.
Competitiveness
Human Resource Management
Self-service
Outsourcing
Intellectual Capital
Knowledge Workers
Empowerment
Learning Organization
Psychological Contract
Alternative Work Arrangements
Balanced Scorecard
Total Quality Management (TQM)
Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award
Six Sigma Process
Internal Labor Force
External Labor Market
Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002
Offshoring
Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS)
Electronic Human resource Management (e-HRM)
A Look Back
The opening vignette illustrated how managing human resources contributed to helping save Xerox.
Questions
1.
Consider the major dimensions of HRM practices shown in Figure 1.8.
For each dimension describe the role it can play in helping a company in a downsizing strategy such as Xerox faced.
What might be different if the company was prosperous and growing?
Student answers may vary.
Managing the Human Resource Environment would involve linking HRM practices to the company’s business objectives, ensuring that HRM practices comply with federal, state, and local laws, designing work that motivates and satisfies the employee as well as maximizes customer service, quality, and productivity.
Acquiring and preparing human resources involves identifying human resources requirement, and training employees to have skills needed to perform their jobs.
Assessment and development of human resources involves measuring employees’ performance, preparing employees for future work roles and identifying employees’ work interests, goals, values, and other career issues.
Compensating human resources involves creating pay systems, rewarding employee contributions, and providing employees with benefits.
Student answers regarding what might be different if the company was prosperous and growing will vary.
2.
What role should line managers play in helping support Xerox’s HR practices?
That is, what should they do?
Explain.
Student answers may vary.
The following suggestion may be used to explain the importance of line managers in HRM.
Line managers certainly play a very important role, regardless of the size of the company because they are the ones that know specifically what the jobs are and how employees perform.
Discussion Questions
1.
Traditionally, human resource management practices were developed and administered by the company's human resource department. Line managers are now playing a major role in developing and implementing HRM practices. Why do you think non-HR managers are becoming more involved in developing and implementing HRM practices?
As the relationship between various HRM practices and the productivity and performance of employees has been recognized, line managers have strong reasons to become involved in the development and implementation of HRM practices. The information from line managers is critical to determining needed and appropriate policies and practices that will reinforce the strategic and operational needs of the organization. For instance, if quality needs improvement, then it is critical that incentive/compensation practices be developed to reward quality improvement, rather than volume production.
2.
Staffing, training, compensation, and performance management are important HRM functions. How can each of these functions help companies succeed in the new economy?
Meet stakeholders’ needs?
High-performance work system challenges?
Global challenges?
Training may improve deficient skills, performance appraisal techniques may emphasize and measure quality improvement, and compensation practices may be used to reinforce needed change. Diverse work force, low skill levels of entry‑level workers could be helped by training and performance management techniques. Obviously, using selection processes that are fair and nondiscriminatory while selecting the best employees is important. And again, compensation systems that reward the acquisition of needed skills could help here.
In terms of meeting stakeholders needs challenge, students might comment that the selection of employees with appropriate skills would help meet the organization’s needs.
The work systems challenge necessitates that employees adjust to working in team structures (training and selection), that they receive higher‑level and basic skills training, and once again that compensation and performance management systems are used to motivate and reinforce appropriate behaviors.
Finally, the global challenge may produce the organizational need for employees who speak multiple languages, who are trained to adjust to new cultures and who are sensitive to cultural differences. Employees with the flexibility and skills needed to work in various cultures or with individuals of diverse backgrounds may be selected or developed through training. Appropriate rewards will maintain these valuable employees.
3.
This book covers four human resource management practice areas: managing the human resource environment, acquiring and preparing human resources, assessment and development of human resources, and compensating human resources. Which area do you believe contributes most to helping a company gain a competitive advantage? Which area do you believe contributes the least? Why?
Each student’s answer will vary to this question based on opinion. An example can be: Acquiring and preparing human resources is the most important HRM practice because well-trained employees are the most important aspect of a business. On the other hand, compensating human resources is not at all important because money is not what drives all employees. However, contradictory arguments can be made for each of these points as well.
4.
What is the balanced scorecard? Identify the four perspectives included in the balanced scorecard. How can HRM practices influence the four perspectives?
The balanced scorecard gives managers an indication of the performance of a company based on the degree to which stakeholders’ needs are satisfied. This gives managers the opportunity to look at the company from the perspective of internal, external, employees, and shareholders. Communicating the scorecard to employees gives them a framework that helps them see the goals and strategies of the company, how these goals are measured, and how they influence the critical indicators.
5.
Is HRM becoming more strategic? Explain your answer.
Technology is allowing the typical HRM to steer away from everyday tasks to focus more on the strategic side. Self-service, empowerment, and outsourcing are also increasing strategic roles. There is an increase in managers in charge of human resource function being included on high-level committees that are shaping the strategic direction of the company.
6.
Explain the implications of each of the following labor force trends for HRM: (1) aging workforce, (2) diverse workforce, (3) skill deficiencies.
The aging workforce means that employees will increasingly face issues such as career paltering, retirement planning, and retraining to avoid skill obsolescence. High healthcare costs will also be a struggle with the aging employees.
The diverse composition of the workforce challenges HRM to ensure that the talents and skills of all employees are fully utilized for the good of the organization. Immigration is an important factor contributing to the changing workforce. HRM need to be aware of the positive and negative aspects of immigration.
Projections show that the supply of entry-level labor will not have the education and skills to meet basic job demands. Individuals will have low reading, writing, and impersonal skills.
7.
What role do HRM practices play in a business decision to expand internationally?
With opportunities opening up in many emerging markets, it is important that a company creates a multinational culture that is characteristic of the culture in which it operates in. Successful companies realize that the most important asset to a business is its employees. This translates into HRM playing a big role in international expansion.
8.
Is business emphasis on quality a fad? Why or why not? What might a quality goal and high performance work system have in common in terms of HRM practices?
Business emphasis on quality has proven to be more than just a fad. The idea of quality has allowed companies to gain a competitive advantage. In terms of HRM practices, a quality goal and high performance work system have a lot in common. Both require increased use of teams, empowering employees and changing employee roles and company structure. A quality goal is central to the high performance work systems.
9.
What disadvantages might result from outsourcing HRM practices? From employee self-service? From increased manager involvement in designing and using HR practices?
The primary disadvantages of outsourcing HRM practices include the loss of strategic ties in the organization because someone else is handling the company’s HR practices. It also may have a potential negative impact on employee behavior and attitudes. The disadvantages of employee self-service include possible derailment of their careers. The possible disadvantage from increased managerial involvement might be too much structure and authoritative HR practices. It would also go against the quality and high performance work system principles.
10.
What factors should a company consider before offshoring?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of offshoring?
A company should consider a variety of issues, including interests of stakeholders, economic situations in potential offshoring locations, governmental implications offshoring, and the morale of employees.
Advantages of offshoring usually include higher profit levels due to lower labor costs and operational costs.
Disadvantages include displaced local workers, low employee morale, and lower customer loyalty.
Manager’s Hot Seat Exercise: Ethics: Let’s Make a 4th Quarter Deal
I.
Introduction
This scenario provides a depiction of the ethical dilemmas that may arise when two legitimate organizational goals are in conflict:
generating revenue and legal business practices.
The manager in this situation is presented with a risky course of action that, if it worked, would have tremendous benefits for his company and department.
Interpersonal communication styles and influence tactics are also demonstrated and provide a stimulus for discussion among students.
II.
Learning Objectives
To analyze the causes of ethical dilemmas
To evaluate influence techniques and communication styles - To apply principles of ethical decision making
III.
Scenario Description:
Overview:
A Wall Street trading company, Smith/Blackwell, is coming to the end of their 4th Quarter.
BesTel Inc. has offered to invest 4 million dollars with Smith/Blackwell which would not only save the department from lay-offs but would create year-end bonuses for the manager’s team, which in recent months has been plagued by very low morale.
In order to process the investment before year’s end, some procedural steps would need to be ‘abbreviated/skipped/ignored’.
The shareholders of BesTel will not meet until mid-January and therefore will not approve the investment until then.
Therefore, Gina presents a situation in which she plans to side-step procedure to arrive at the advantageous outcome for the department and wants Jason’s support.
While the Chairman of the Board, Jack, has assured Gina that the vote will pass and that he’s talked to the key shareholders personally, the truth is, he does not have the power to make this decision without the boards’ actual vote.
Profile:
·
Jason Powell, Director of New Accounts, manages a team of 25 people.
Held position for 4 years but in the past two years, investments have fallen by over 50% department-wide.
·
Gina Travers, Assets Manager.
Gina has been working in the financial industry for over nine years.
She has been with Smith/Blackwell for four years and was hired by Powell.
To date, for the year 2002, Gina has brought in 3.5 million dollars in investments.
References:
The references included in the DVD are:
·
Concepts in Ethical Behavior
(PPT 2-3)
·
Source for Code of Ethics (PPT 2-5)
·
Three Principles to Guide Ethical Conduct (PPT 2-9)
·
Approaches to Social Responsibility (PPT 2-11)
Back History:
As the economy worsens, the new accounts department is facing layoffs and downsizing.
If the 4th Quarter numbers do not improve substantially, up to 50% of their department will be laid off and the year-end bonuses will be foregone for the entire department. The environment is stressed and morale is low.
Scene Set-up: Travers makes an appointment with Powell to discuss some recent opportunities.
Scene Location: Powell’s office.
The Meeting - Summary:
Gina, the account representative approaches Jason with a “deal” from BesTel that will save the department and allow everyone to earn their bonuses for the year.
Jason is reluctant to jump on board with this plan because the transaction would not be approved by the company’s shareholders in time for the 4th quarter.
Jason attempts to figure out a way to ensure that they “do things right” by getting the deal in writing and talking to Jack personally with Gina.
Gina argues that following procedure is not going to work in this case and that sidestepping the rules will serve the greater good.
She also suggests that taking risks is critical to success.
The conversation escalates and Gina clearly becomes agitated and stressed.
She threatens to go over Jason’s head, gives him an ultimatum, and tries to appeal to their long-time working relationship to influence Jason.
Eventually, she storms out of the room leaving the situation unresolved.
Afterthoughts – Summary:
Jason did not think the meeting went well.
He was concerned with Gina’s insistence on rushing to action without thoroughly thinking through the consequences.
He noted that there is always tension between the salesperson and accounting/legal department’s roles in an organization.
He suggested that he was playing the accounting role to ensure that they did not engage in an illegal deal.
Dossier:
The specific artifacts included in the DVD are:
1.
Document outlining the “restructuring” of the New Accounts Department, should they not reach their financial goals for the 4th Quarter.
2.
Gina’s notes on the financial impact the deal will have – if were to go through, and if it were not.
3.
BesTel Chairmans’ voice-mail assuring Gina that “all systems are go” and that he’s counting on her to make this happen.
IV.
Discussion Questions:
The References and related Discussion Questions may be found in PowerPoint slides 2-1 to 2-11 on the Instructor side of the text’s Website.
Learning Objective #1:
To analyze the causes of ethical dilemmas
1.
What is the source of this conflict and what role has the organization played to contribute to this dilemma? (PPT 2-2)
The account representative is very motivated to make this deal go through because the organization has tied her bonuses and salary increases to the dollar amount of investments she brings to the company.
The manager also is rewarded if his department makes sales.
On the other hand, he has the responsibility to protect the company’s assets and reputation by engaging in lawful business agreements.
Thus, these competing goals set-up difficult ethical decisions for the manager and employees.
´
1.
Why is Jason skeptical?
a.
Client isn’t reliable
b.
Gina isn’t reliable
c.
Deal seems fishy
Deal seems fishy -
Jason is skeptical because the initial approach and information provided by Gina raises some red flags regarding the legality and appropriateness of pursuing this deal.
2.
Which of the “Concepts in Ethical Behavior” are relevant to this scenario?
Why? (PPT 2-2 & 2-3)
Most would be considered in this scenario, students’ answers will vary.
Certainly Professional ethics would be a driving factor in this case because there are rules and procedures that individuals in this profession are bound to.
Also, organizational stakeholders should be considered because if the company engages in an unlawful deal, the reputation and ultimate longevity of the company could be at risk – on the other hand some of the employees may lose their jobs if revenue doesn’t come in this quarter.
3.
Organizations can effectively help their employees to behave and act ethically by creating and communicating a code of ethics.
What factors in this scenario should be considered if you were to develop the code of ethics for Smith/Blackwell? See “Sources for Codes of Ethics” PPT 2-4 & 2-5.
Students should address each of the three aspects affecting the organization’s code of ethics and provide relevant examples based on the information provided in the case.
Learning Objective #2:
To evaluate influence techniques and communication styles
1.
Describe Gina’s initial approach with Jason.
What influence tactic does she use initially?
Was it successful? (PPT 2-6).
Initially, Gina relies on the common goals she and Jason share with regard to making their 4th quarter numbers to save the department from potential lay-offs.
Her emotion and elation at the solution is an attempt to appeal to Jason emotionally so that he’ll gloss over the important details that may prevent the deal.
Clearly, she was not successful as he began to examine the deal more closely.
´
2.
Jason’s behavior demonstrates:
a. caution
b. distrust
c.
nit-picking
Jason appears cautious because he is trying to understand the legitimacy of acting on the deal before the shareholders have voted.
2.
How does Gina handle Jason’s hesitation to move forward on the deal?
How does her reaction affect Jason? (PPT 2-6)
Gina gets flustered and does not use rational case to argue her point.
She begins to get defensive and uses a “bull-dozer” approach to influencing Jason rather than a thoughtful, rational one.
This causes Jason to become even more skeptical of the deal and becomes increasingly reluctant.
He does effectively to stay calm and does not raise his voice.
´
3.
Gina’s over-excited.
Jason should:
a.
Calm Gina
b.
Acknowledge her point
c.
Request written proposal
Jason may want to show Gina that he shares her goal of helping the employees of the department earn bonuses and keep their jobs.
By agreeing with some aspect of her proposal he may decrease her defensiveness and show her that he’s willing to consider alternatives that do not jeopardize the organization.
Jason ends up requesting a written proposal which agitates Gina further because she doesn’t see how that will accomplish her goal.
3.
Upon realizing the Jason will not easily sign-off on the deal, Gina attempts a variety of different influence techniques.
Describe them and evaluate how effective and appropriate they were given the situation. (PPT 2-7)
Gina tries to threaten Jason by saying she will go over his head and make the deal happen with Jason’s boss.
Depending on the culture of the organization, this may have a negative consequence for Gina because she is skipping organizational levels.
In addition, senior management are likely to have the same reaction as Jason which, again, will have a negative effect on her reputation.
Gina also tries to appeal to Jason based on their friendship and says that she cares about him.
After using a threat, this approach is quite ineffective because the sincerity on which this strategy relies is questionable.
´
5.
How should Jason respond to a threat?
a.
Ignore it
b.
Reprimand Gina
c.
Get to Ralph first
The threatening, or retribution, approach to influence is only appropriate under certain circumstances.
For example, when the initiator has complete control, the issue is extremely important (e.g., safety), and the relationship is relatively unimportant.
In this case, Gina is the subordinate (relatively less power) and the relationship with Jason is important.
Therefore, her choice of this influence strategy is poor and proves to be ineffective.
Jason should reprimand her and explain the inappropriateness of her comments.
Learning Objective #3:
To apply principles of ethical decision making
1.
Consider each of the principles to guide ethical conduct (PPT 2-9).
Analyze this situation from both Gina’s and Jason’s perspectives using these principles.
Which model did Gina rely on most heavily?
Jason? (PPT 2-8)
Answers will vary.
An argument could be made for any of the models.
Gina’s comment about the “greater good” resembles the Utilitarian model.
However, the negative consequence of the action could impact even more people than those who might enjoy positive consequences.
Jason might argue the Moral Rights position in that not allowing the shareholders to vote before the deal is done violates their rights.
´
4.
What are the risk factors?
a.
Losing deal
b.
Misleading shareholders
c.
Making illegal deal
In terms of consequences for the company’s reputation and potential losses, making an illegal deal is a significant risk.
Losing the deal would be unfortunate but is part of doing business.
Misleading shareholders in and of itself may not have any direct consequences but one should consider the whether they will be uncomfortable in the long run with that decision (i.e., will you be able to sleep at night).
2.
Review the “Approaches to Social Responsibility” (PPT 2-11).
Which approach is most closely aligned with Gina’s behavior?
Which approach most closely matches Jason’s?
Explain your choices. (PPT 2-10)
Gina’s behavior seems to resemble the Obstructionist approach because she is not concerned with the legality of her actions.
Jason is initially taking a defensive approach because he does not want to break the law.
However, he demonstrates willingness to explore other options which matches the Accommodative approach.
´
6. What should Jason do next?
a.
Let Gina make deal
b.
Call Jack himself
c.
Look for a new job
Jason can’t really let Gina make the deal without finding out more information.
If he calls Jack himself, he may make the company look disorganized and may discredit Gina who Jack knows and likes.
Looking for a new job may be long-term plan, but it won’t address the current issue.
Jason may want to let Gina cool down and then talk to her again.
Perhaps thinking about alternative courses of action together may solve the problem.
If the driving force behind her need to close this deal is revenue generation, perhaps there is another creative, yet legal, way to accomplish that goal.
Or there may be a legitimate approach to this deal that they have not explored.
Exercising Strategy
Container Store does Great HRM
Questions
1.
As the Container Store continues to expand and grow (the company has grown at an annual rate of 20-25 percent), do you think the manager’s role in human resource management should grow, shrink, or remain the same?
Explain.
Indicate what HRM practices managers should be responsible for and what practices should be the responsibility of human resource management staff.
Student answers will vary.
Some may say that managers should have more say than human resource management staff, others may take the opposite side.
Some students may say that HRM practices should be equally shared between all functions and levels.
2.
Consider our discussion in this chapter of HR roles and competencies.
What are the advantages and disadvantages for successfully performing these roles by having human resource management staff come from store level positions?
Student answers will vary.
One advantage may be that HR managers that came from store level positions will understand the employees better.
A possible disadvantage may be that these individuals may be too personally involved with employees to make difficult decisions.
Managing People
The Future of Work
Questions
1.
What can companies in their human resource management practices do to ensure that employees are flexible, creative, and provide good customer service?
Student answers will vary.
Creating an open avenue of communication between employees and HR is certainly important in fostering good customer service.
In addition, the HR department can screen applicants for customer service skills.
It can also emphasize customer service in training and development of employees.
Rewarding great customer service would encourage more employees to provide good customer service.
2.
Many companies have recognized the value of educating their workforce and as a result offer training programs and provide tuition reimbursement for employees seeking high school, or advanced degrees.
Many companies are concerned that they will not get a return on their investment in education.
That is, once employees finish their degree they will leave the company.
What should companies do to ensure that they get a return on the money they invest in education and training?
Student answers may vary.
Companies’ options for ensuring that they get a return on the money they invest in education and training are limited.
First, if an employee stands to improve his or her résumé greatly by taking expanded education or training, the company could ask for that employee to pay for all or part of the training/education costs.
Some companies require employees to sign “golden handcuff” clauses, in which the employee promises to stay with the company for a certain number of years after training is complete.
Some companies only pay for training/education programs for employees that have been with the company for a certain number of years.
These employees may be viewed as more reliable and personally invested in the company.
3.
Provide an example of a job that you believe will soon be replaced by technology or become so highly routinized that it will demand employees with low levels of skill who receive low pay.
Describe the job and discuss your reasons for choosing it.
Student answers will vary.
Additional Activities
Teaching Suggestions
The use of outside or additional assignments early in the term provides an opportunity for students to illustrate for themselves how HRM is an impor tant function within the organization. Following are several additional reading assignments, extra discussion questions for the "Competing through" boxes in the text, as well as a suggestion for an outside speaker. Getting students to provide examples of organizations that have effectively used HRM practices to help respond to competitive challenges sells them on the importance of the rest of the course!
Activities
1.
This chapter contains references to many current issues in business and HRM. One assignment that could help students see the relevance of what they will be studying is to ask them to read The Wall Street Journal, Business Week, or other resources and to bring in an article that discusses any of the topics covered in the chapter. In groups or in class, they could share their example and discuss the implications. Alternatively, this could serve as a written assignment if they were asked to write a summary of the article and to point out the implications for HRM.
2.
Assign students to read The Wall Street Journal article "Bob Stadler Has Lived All the Business Trends of the Past 50 Years," July 11, 1996, p. 1. Have students research recent related articles.
a.
Ask them to discuss the changes in employee expectations regarding work.
b.
How must employers respond to some of these changes?
c.
If your class contains students with work experience, it might be useful to ask them what types of quality improvement programs they have seen in their companies and what type of employee reactions occurred when the programs were implemented.
3.
Outside Speaker: In the first week or two of class, it is frequently useful to invite a CEO of a small firm or an HRM vice-president of a larger firm to talk with the class about the role of human resources in the success of the company. Very often, such speakers have good examples of how the knowledge of HRM has helped the company to deal effectively with competitive pressures and environmental change. | 
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