OPEN UNIVERSITY OF MALAYSIA (OUM)

PROGRAMME

MAJOR COURSE ASSIGNMENT 1

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

MASTERS PROGRAMME

Felix Ewoe Kofi Senunyeme

(MTSMBAJ180046Y)

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 Question 1

a. Explain the steps in determining the strategic management process

Strategic management refers to the process of identifying and executing an

organization’s mission by matching its capabilities with the demands of its environment.

It is a continuous process that appraises the organization and industries in which the
organization is involved, appraises its competitors, and fixes goals to meet all the
present and future competitors and then reassesses each strategy.

The strategic management process is about defining an organization’s strategy. Hence, it

is the process by which managers make a choice of a set of strategies for the
organization that will enable it to achieve better performance.

The strategic management process has the following steps:

1) Define the Business Mission and its Vision

In determining the strategic management process, the first step is developing the
mission and vision statements of the organization. Whilst the vision states ‘where
the organization will be in the future’, the mission statement states ‘the
organization’s present business and its purpose for existence’. It is important to
note that mission is formulated in the light of the vision.

Hence, this step involves the clarification of what the company is, who they do
business for, what it is in business to do and where it wants to be in the
foreseeable future. Therefore, the ability of the strategy-makers to establish
these 3 things helps the organization to zone in on the ultimate goal so they
know where to focus their energies.

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2) Perform External and Internal Audits

This step is also known as environmental scanning. It involves collecting,

scrutinizing and providing information for strategic purposes. Analysis is key in
the strategic management process because the information gained in this stage
shapes the next two stages.

In conducting the audit, it is important to examine any external or internal issues

that can affect the goals and objectives of the organization. It is also important to
identify both the strengths and weaknesses of the organization as well as any
threats and opportunities that may arise along the path.

3) Strategy Formulation

The next step in the strategic management process is the strategy formulation.
Here, the strategy makers look at reviewing the information collected from
completing the analysis or environmental scanning, formulate corporate,
business and functional strategies. The strategy formulation process looks at
deciding the best course of action for accomplishing organizational objectives
and hence achieving organizational purpose.

4) Strategy Implementation

Strategy implementation involves putting the strategy into work or action. It

includes designing the organization’s structure, distributing resources,
developing decision making process, and managing human resources.

It is an important stage of the strategic management process in that if not done

well it is very possible for a well-designed strategy to fail. Hence, adaptability of
strategies and implementation process should be clearly mentioned while
formulating strategy. It is the strategic management’s responsibility to take care

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 of strategy implementation in accordance with the requirements of the
organization.

5) Evaluate Performance

After implementation, strategy evaluation is key in determining whether or not

the strategy had an impact, especially, in terms of profit maximization, cost
minimization or achievement of long-term or short-term goals. Key strategy
evaluation activities include appraising internal and external factors that are the
root of present strategies, measuring performance, and taking
remedial/corrective actions.

b. HR professionals should be part of the firm’s strategic planning executive team.

Evaluate what entails in the workforce planning that is reflected in the firm’s strategic
planning.

Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and

making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. It involves a set of
procedures for making decisions about the organization's long-term goals and
strategies.

The strategic plan focuses on how the organization will position itself relative to its
competitors in order to ensure its long-term survival, create value, and grow.

Human Resource Planning, by comparison, is the process of anticipating and providing

for the movement of people into, within, and out of an organization. In its entirety, the
purpose of human resource planning is to help managers deploy their human resources
as effectively as possible, where and when they are needed, to accomplish the goals of
the organization.

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Two very important ways workforce planning is reflected in a firm’s strategic planning is
through strategy formulation and strategy implementation.

Human resources planning feeds into the strategic formulation process in terms of what
is possible, as a result of whether or not a firm has the types and numbers of people
available to pursue a given strategy.

A typical example of this is when Vodafone Ghana Limited, for instance, decided to move
into Mobile Money Transfer to compete with the likes of MTN. In doing that, one of the
issues they had to address was whether they had the talent needed to succeed in that
arena.

Workforce planning is again reflected in strategic planning through strategy

implementation. Once an organization has devised its strategy, the executives must
make resource allocation decisions to implement that strategy, including decisions
related to the organization’s structure, processes, and human capital.

Thus, workforce planning decisions affect and are affected by strategy planning. As
James Walker, a noted Human Resource expert puts it, "Today, virtually all business
issues have people implications; all human resource issues have business implications:'

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 Question 2

Discuss at least FIVE (5) responsibilities of line and staff (HR) managers. Provide examples
to support your discussion.

A line manager is a manager who is authorized to directly manage other employees and
operations of a business while reporting to a higher ranking manager.

In other words, a line manager is responsible for the direct supervision and management of
employees in their work. Thus, he/she plays a crucial role in human resource management. A
typical example of a line manager in an organization is a marketing executive. Even though
he/she is not directly involved in production, he/she directly contributes to the firm's overall
objectives through market forecasting and generating product or service demand.

A staff manager, on the other hand, assists and advises line managers in accomplishing their
basic goals. In other words, staff managers are heads of departments who supports the line
managers of the organization in an advisory or support capacity by providing them with
information and advice. A typical example of a staff manager in an organization is the head
of human resources, head of accounting, etc.

Responsibilities of Line and Staff Managers

 One compelling responsibility of a line manager is recruitment and hiring of talent to

fill team positions. Line managers play a key role in ensuring that the right talent is
acquired/hired and are placed on the right job.

 Again, a line manager provides training and support to new hires as well as cross-
training of employees to ensure job rotation. A line manager is, thus, responsible for
conducting needs assessment, analyzing skills gaps, developing curriculum,
delivering new-hire orientation and providing developmental training for staff and
also training employees on jobs that are new to them.

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  Line managers are also responsible for ensuring that employees’ health and physical
condition are protected and are in the right shape. They approach employee health
and safety from a strategic point by incorporating employee wellness as a part of the
overall mission to ensure a safe work environment.

 Line managers are also responsible for ensuring that employee’s job performance is
improved. In other words, they are responsible for improving the job performance of
each person in the organization by evaluating overall team and individual
performance and delivering performance reviews, providing coaching and
performance feedback to all team members and individuals.
 Finally, line managers provide the responsibility of starting new employees in the
organization in the form of orientation. Line managers provide training and support
to new hires and acquaints them to the new environment.

Conclusion

In performing each of these responsibilities, staff managers assist and advise line managers in
accomplishing the goals and objectives of the organization. They do work in partnership with
each other to be successful. As a result, key HR responsibilities of staff managers include
providing information, advice and assistance in hiring, training, evaluating, rewarding,
counselling, promoting, and firing of employees, among others.

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 Question 3

a. Job analysis is very essential to every organization. As a HR manager of your company,

discuss FIVE uses of job analysis information.

Job analysis involves gathering and analyzing information about the content and the
human requirements of jobs, as well as, the context in which jobs are performed. In
other words, it is a procedure through which the duties and skill requirements of a job is
determined and the right person hired for it.

Job analysis information can be used for the following;

 Job analysis information helps in human resource planning. Thus, information
gathered is analyzed to develop tangible results in the form of job description and
job specification, which serves as a basis for determining the duties and
responsibilities a particular job possesses and the qualifications, skills, knowledge,
and potentials required to perform the job.
 Information provided by job analysis serves the basis for job evaluation. Job
evaluation is key to every organization’s job analysis process as it serves as a basis
for determining the relative value of appropriate compensation for each job
based on the demands of the job. Therefore, information contained in the job
description and job specification provides a base for determining worth of a job
to the enterprise and for determining salary and wages for the job.
 Job analysis information is also used as a basis for employee’s performance
appraisal. Managers use job analysis to determine a job’s specific activities and
performance standards. The information provides the criteria used to assess
employee performance directly related to duties and responsibilities.
 Again, information from job analysis is used in determining the training and
development needs of employees. The requirements of the job enables
management to know the deficiencies and training needs of employees. Here

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 again, job descriptions and job specifications reveal what is needed from
employees to be able to perform a particular job.
 Job analysis information helps in disclosing the environment where job is to be
performed. Being aware of the environment ensures that hazardous and
unhealthy conditions prevailing within the organization are taken care of by
providing adequate safety and welfare measures. This, ultimately helps in
reducing accidents at the workspace.

b. Recruitment and selection processes are series of hurdles aimed at selecting the best
candidate for the job. As the HR manager of AFM Ltd., examine the steps you will
follow to accomplish this objective.

The recruitment and selection process is very crucial and if the process goes bad, it
affects every aspect of the organization. In order to increase efficiency in hiring and
retention and to ensure consistency and compliance in the recruitment and selection
process, as the HR manager of AFM Ltd, I will first of all decide what positions within the
organization needs to be filled through personnel planning and forecasting.

Secondly, a candidate pool needs to be built by recruiting internal or external candidates.

Having recruited the candidates, the next step will be to have candidates complete
application forms and undergo initial screening interviews.

The screening interview session shall then be preceded by the use of selection tools
aimed at identifying viable candidates.

Finally, I will then decide on who to make an offer to, by having a panel – supervisor and
others – interview the candidates.

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 Question 4

Interview is a critical process to ensure the best candidate is employed for the job.
Examine some factors that can lead to a wrong selection decision.

Some factors that can lead to wrong selection decisions during an interview session
include;
 Both the interviewee and interviewer not knowing precisely what the job entails
and what sort of candidate is best suited for the job. The end result is that
interviewers end up making decisions based on incorrect stereotypes of what a
good applicant is, as well as interviewees applying for the wrong jobs.
 Again, wrong selection decisions could also be made when interviewers make
snap judgments about some candidates during the first few minutes of the
interview. That is to jump into conclusion immediately after asking a few
questions.
 The tendency of some interviewers having more favourable view of candidates
who are physically attractive, preference for a particular gender, tribe, etc. In
some cases, some interviewers have less favourable view of persons who have
physical disabilities, etc and these lead to wrong selection by interviewers.
 Another reason why selection goes wrong is as a result of some interviewer
behaviors. For example, an interviewer inadvertently sending expected answers
to interviewees, talking so much that applicants have no time to answer
questions, allowing the interviewee to dominate the interview and acting more
positively towards a favourite candidate, among others.

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