Chapter 2

Definitions

1. Hyper-determinism: organizations have no choice

2. Hyper-voluntarism: organizations have complete choice

3. Strategic choice: degree of leeway in strategic decision-making

4. strategic planning: The process of defining the organizations values, purpose,
objectives and direction, crafting the strategy and allocating resources to pursue this
strategy . where your organization wants to be in five, ten, or fifteen years.
Or A systematic process involving a number of steps that identify the current
status, including mission, as well as identifying vision for the future, operating
values, needs (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats), goals, prioritized
actions and strategies, action plans, and monitoring plans and measures.

Strategic planning process

1. Establish mission, vision and values -
2. Identify objectives and goals more concrete and short-term than vision,
goals are what the organization wants to achieve now and in the short-term
- Goals can be hard (include numbers and so measurable) or soft
3. Analyze the environment and gather information from stakeholders
Environment scanning: systematic monitoring of the major external factors
influencing the organization to identify (forecast and assess) trends that might affect
the formulation and implementation of strategy (business and HR)
Scan and monitor the environment: technology, laws and regulations, economic
conditions, sociocultural factors and demographics, etc
Sources of information: competitive intelligence, journals, news, associations,
customers, suppliers, etc
Better to take a proactive not a reactive approach
SWOT analysis:
Internal: strengths (e.g. strong brand, excellent marketing and design capabilities)
and weaknesses (poor employee morale, low product quality, too much debt)
External: threats (new competitors, slowdown in market growth, a shift in buyer
needs and taste, restrictive trade policies) and opportunities (new markets,
increasing demand for industry product, falling trade barriers, etc)

Match opportunities with weaknesses (constraint)

threats with weaknesses (problem),
opportunities with strength (leverage)
threats with strengths (vulnerability)
 4. Identify competitive advantage
5. Determine competitive position and value proposition
Value proposition: statement of the fundamental benefits of the products or
services being offered in the marketplace.

6. Design and Implement strategy: putting strategy into action through

designing programs and procedures, i.e. identifying the steps needed to
get the job done and goal accomplished
7. Decide on how to evaluate and monitor performance
- On the organizational level: Balanced scorecard
- At the HR level: HR scorecard and KPIs (key performance indicators)

Ulrichs model of HR department roles in an organization

Strategic partner. Partnership with the entire organization to ensure

alignment of the HR function with the needs of the organization.

Change agent. The skill to anticipate and respond to change within the HR
function and in the company as a whole.

Administrative expert and functional expert. The ability to understand and

implement policies, procedures, and processes that relate to the HR strategic
plan.

Human capital developer. Means to develop talent that is projected to be

needed in the future.

Employee advocate. Works for employees currently within the organization.

Context is the set of facts and circumstances that surround an

organization

Internal Context: organizations unique history, administrative

heritage and organizational culture
 External Context: outside mechanisms that affect the
organization and forces it to adapt to its strategy and decision-
making

Vertical/strategic fit: fit or alignment between organizational strategy and

HR strategy and practices

Cost leader versus innovator versus differentiator

Four types of linkages: see next slide

Internal/horizontal fit: link between different HR practices e.g. Alignment

between recruitment and selection and compensation

What is an HR system? A coherent and consistent set of HR practices

that when combined togethr produce higher organizational
performance than the sum of using the individual HR practices
separately

Institutional or environmental fit: link between the HR strategy and

the institutional environment

Organizational fit: fit between HR strategy, practices and policies on one

hand and other organizational systems and life cycle stage on the other.

Person-environment fit: fit between the person (KSAs) recruited and

selected into a job and between the person (in terms of values and
personality) and the organization
(person-job fit & person-organization fit

Strategic HRM: Interrelated HR philosophies, policies and practices that

facilitate the attainment of organizational strategy and goals through people

Philosophies= values that shape policies and practices

Policies= direct and constrain practices

Practices= activities like recruitment, selection, compensation to

achieve HR and organizational goals

Human resource planning is a process that identifies current and

future human resources needs for an organization to achieve its goals.

Cost leader: specialized low-skill jobs requiring repeated behaviors and predictable
steps, low wages and benefits, try to substitute with technology.
Differentiator (e.g. quality products, superior customer service, more convenient
locations, better technology, valuable features, unique styling, brand-name
reputation).
Chapter 3

JOB group of positions that have similar duties, tasks, & responsibilities

POSITION set of duties & responsibilities performed by one person

A job is a general term, a position is more specific.

Eg. as my job, I am a teacher. But to be specific, my position is

Elementary Gifted Specialist.

TASK separate, distinct & identifiable work activity

Key areas of accountability- several tasks that are performed by an individual

which have the same broad goal(s) and for which the individual is responsible
for producing results.

Objectives: outcomes, better if they are specific and measurable (i.e. hard
goals)

Standards: Yardstick to evaluate how well employees have achieved each

objective

Information on acceptable and unacceptable performance,

such as

Quality

Quantity

Cost

Time

JOB DESIGN process to ensure that individuals have meaningful work & one
that fits in effectively with other jobs

JOB DESCRIPTION written summary of the content & context of the job,
outlining the tasks, duties, & responsibilities of a job, as well as performance
standards of each job

What does the job entail?

JOB SPECIFICATION written statement of the KSA & other characteristics

(human requirements) that are necessary for performing the job effectively &
satisfactorily
 Knowledge: body of information, usually of factual or procedural
nature that allows an individual to perform a task successfully

Skill: individual level of proficiency or competency in performing a

specific task.

Ability: A more general enduring trait or capability an individual

possess at the time when he or she begins to perform a task.

Other attributes: work experience

JOB CONTENT

Duties & responsibilities, i.e. work activities e.g. cleaning, selling,

teaching, painting, etc

Job demands, i.e. human behaviors, e.g. lifting weights, walking long
distances

Machines, tools, & equipment

Performance standards

JOB CONTEXT

Physical, organizational & social context

Work conditions, & work schedule

HUMAN REQUIREMENTS

KSA- knowledge, skills, abilities

Education, Experience & personal attributes (personality, interests,

values, work styles, etc.)

JOB DESCRIPTION

A document produced as an output of job analysis and emphasizes

the tasks carried out in the job and the context.

JOB SPECIFICATION

Another document produced as a result of job analysis and focuses on

the human requirements (KSA and competencies) required to
perform the job satisfactorily
Problems in job analysis

Neglected job analysis

Too vague

Costly and time-consuming process

Contamination (unimportant or invalid behavior

O*Net

New organizations often start with external benchmarks like

O*net and then work from there in developing their own job
descriptions and specifications using the other above
methods.

1. Position Analysis Questionnaire

A detailed questionnaire containing 194 items to evaluate job characteristics and

relate them to human characteristics in six different dimensions:

Information input

Mental processes

Work output

Relationships with others

Job context

Other job characteristics

2. Functional Job Analysis

a. Analyzes any job using three dimensions:

i. People (important interpersonal relationships on the job)

ii. Data (obtaining, using and transforming data)

iii. Things (physical machinery, resources, environment)

 3. Critical Incident Method: A qualitative process of job analysis that produces
behavioral statements along a range from superior to ineffective
performance on the job. Used for behaviorally anchored scales (BARS)
4. Competency Modelling: A competency is any knowledge, skill, ability, value,
attitude or combination that is essential to performing job and that
differentiates superior from solid performance

Core competency: characteristics that every member of the

organization should have

Role or specific competencies: characteristics shared by

different positions within an organization; so only members in
these positions are expected to posses these competencies.

Ethics/ integrity:

Exhibits integrity across all business situations and under stress

Builds trust and self-confidence through mutually respectful, ongoing

communication

Intellectual capacity:

Can quickly assimilate information. Recognizes complexity in

situations, challenges assumptions and faces up to reality. Capable of
handling multiple, complex situations. Communicates clearly,
concisely and with appropriate simplicity.

Nurturing innovation (specific for leaders):

Creates and sustains an environment that supports experimentation,

rewards risk-taking, reinforces curiosity, and challenges the status quo
through freedom and openness without judgement.

Job enlargement= more tasks added to job,

Job enrichment= more responsibility, challenge and skills used in job

Empowerment: to give an employee the means, ability and authority (or

power) to complete his/ her tasks independently

Quality of work life: are the employees able to satisfy personal needs and
desires?

Work-life balance, e.g. flexible work schedules

 Opportunities for development and growth

Participation

Community work

Job rotation: repeated rotation across jobs/ departments in an organization

Job engagement: An engaged employee is able to give his best every day, he
is fully absorbed in and passionate about his work, is committed to the
organization and its interests and goals, and is ready to put discretionary
effort into his job.

Job crafting: putting the employees in the drivers seat, making them
responsible for designing their jobs to add more meaningfulness and purpose
in it and make them more motivated and engaged.