Northern Arizona University
College of Business Administration

MGT 310--Human Resource Management

Ch 1: The Challenge of Human
Resources Management

• Why study HRM?

  • Competitive advantage through people

    • KSA--knowledge, skills, abilities

    • Core competency--integrated knowledge sets within an organization that distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to the customer

  • Overall framework - Fig 1.1 [OH]

• Competitive challenges

  • ACTIVITY (see p. 41): Groups discuss and present highlights of each challenge

  • Going global--70-85% of US economy, trade agreements: WTO, GATT, NAFTA, APEC

    • Corporate social responsibility--good citizenship (to act in best intereset of the people and communities affected by its activities)

    • HRM--geographies, cultures, laws, business practices

      • Hiring, training, languages, relocating, fair & equitable pay

  • Technology

    • Knowledge workers--planning, decision making, problem solving [empowerment, decentralization, flatter organizations]

      • Online training, "just-in-time learning"

    • HR information systems

      • See HRM 1 (p.10)

      • Monster.com, Hotjobs.com...recuriting, screening, pre-testing, etc.

      • Knowledge & skill database--goals, performance, promotion

  • Managing change--reactive/proactive; change initiatives

    • Success

      • Sense of urgency

      • Coalition to guide the effort (critical mass)

      • Vision

      • Communicate the vision

      • Remove obstacles

      • Create short-term wins

      • Don't declare victory too soon

      • Anchor changes

    • Second list--p. 14

  • Developing human capital--KSAs

    • Hiring the "best and brightest" [cost/benefit?]

    • Opportunities for development

    • Teamwork

  • Responding to the market--customer expectations

    • TQM--Dr. Edwards Deming, Malcom Baldrige National Quality Award (5 areas)

      • Doing things right the first time--six sigma (<3.4 million defects/million; certifications)

      • Continuous improvement

      • Balance "order & control" with "growth & creativity

  • Containing costs--efficiency vs. effectiveness (both/and)

    • Downsizing

      • Study

        • 21%--financial difficulties (vs. 78% in 1994 ... "spin"?)

        • 34%--strengthen future positions

        • 21%--fundamental staff realignment

        • 17%--merger/acquisition

      • Study--companies with excellent recruiting and retention policies provide a nearly 8% higher return to shareholders.... Those with a strong commitment to job security earned an additional 1.4%.

      • Layoffs may backfire (p. 19)

      • Benefits of not laying off

    • Outsourcing--contracting out, usually staff functions or others outside of core competencies

      • Offshoring--outsourcing to other countries

        • Hidden costs

          • Finding foreign vendors [now specialist to help you]

          • Lost productivity--transition [and ongoing]

          • Domestic layoff costs

          • Language difficulties

          • Foreign regulations

          • Political/economic instability

          • [Management from afar!]

    • Leasing employees--cost/flexibility [often medium and smaller companies]

  • Productivity enhancements--Fig 1.4 [OH]

    • Output/input--how increase?

• Demographic and employee concerns--social issues

  • VIDEO -- PepsiCo (7 min)

  • Demographic changes

    • Diversity

      • Hispanic growth

      • Immigration

      • 50+% minority workforce: NY, Chicago, LA, Tucson!

      • HRM 5 (p 31)

      • Managing diversity--common characteristics vs. individuals

    • Age distribution--esp. baby boomers

      • Retirements

      • 68% plan to work in retirement or not retire

      • Costs--health care vs. no family, lower turnover & training, etc.

    • Gender

      • 47%-->48%

      • Education--professions, masters degrees, etc.

    • Rising [& declining] education--widening gap

      • Spending billions on basic skills training

      • Need for vocational training as well [recent vocational education district approved in Pima County]

  • Cultural changes

    • Employee rights

      • Equal employment opportunity

      • Union representation

      • Safe & healthful work environment

      • Benefits

      • Equal pay

      • Privacy in the workplace--54% companies have employee data privacy policies

      • ["Employment at will" & "right to work"]

    • Changing attitudes--personal fulfillment, balance work/family

      • Single-parent families

      • 51% women now single

      • HR--flex hours, job sharing, pregnancy leave, parental leave, executive transfers, spousal involvement in career planning, assistance with family problems [EAPs], telecommuting [ADAM], benefits for families vs. singles (increasing resentment by singles of family-friendly benefit plans)

• Partnership with line managers

  • HRM

    • Advice and counsel--employment issues, external trends

    • Service--recruiting, selecting, testing, planning, training...

    • Policy formulation

    • Employee advocacy

    • Unions

    • HRM 6 (p. 36)

  • Line manager

    • Ultimate responsibility

  • Partnership--helping people manage people more effectively