MGT 422 - Chapter 2 Vocab and Notes

MGT 422 - Chapter 2 - Strategic Human Resource Management

fixed costs

The costs that are incurred regardless of the number of units produced

variable costs

The costs that vary directly with the number of units produced

contribution margins

The difference between what you charge for your product and the variable costs of that product.

gross margin

The total amount of margin you made which is calculated as the number of units sold times the contribution margin

strategic management

An approach the addressing the competitive challenges an organization faces.

strategy

the skillful employment and coordination of tactics; artful planning and management

strategic human resource management (SHRM)

A pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals.

strategy formulation and strategy implementation

What are the two phases of strategic human resource management?

strategy formulation

The process of deciding on a strategic direction by defining a company’s mission and goals, its external opportunities and threats, and its internal strengths and weaknesses.

strategy implementation

The process of devising structures and allocating resources to enact the strategy a company has chosen.

1- Where to compete
2- How to compete
3- With what to/will we compete

What are the questions an HRM needs to ask when planning strategic choice?

administrative linkage, one-way linkage, two-way linkage, and integrative linkage

What are the four level of integration that exist between the HRM function and the strategic management function?

administrative linkage

What is the lowest level of integration?

administrative linkage

Which level of integration is HR’s function is to focus on day-to-day activities?

one-way linkage

In which level of integration does the firm’s strategic business planning function develop the strategic plan and then inform the HRM function of the plan?

1- The strategic planning team informs the HRM function of the various strategies the company is considering.
2- HRM executives analye the human resource implications of the various strategies and present the results of the analysis to the strategic planning team.
3- After the strategic decision has been made, the strategic plan is then passed to the HRM executive, who then develops functions to implement it.

What happens during the two-way linkage integration process?

integrative linkage

In what integration process is the HRM executive considered past of the integral member of the senior management team?

1- The organizations mission
2- Goals
3- External analysis
4- Internal analysis
5- Strategic choice

What are the five (5) components of the strategic management process that are relevant to strategy formulation?

goals

What an organization hopes to achieve in the medium- to long-term future.

external analysis

Examining the organization’s operating environment to identify strategic opportunities and threats

Internal analysis

The process of examining an organization’s strengths and weaknesses.

strategic choice

The organization’s strategy; the ways an organization will attempt to fulfill its mission and achieve its long-term goals.

1- Organizational structure
2- Task design
3- The selection, training, and development of people
4- Reward systems
5- Types of information and information systems

What are the five (5) important variables that determine success in strategy implementation?

organizational structure

A complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts business.

Customer Value

Strategy + Culture + Talent = ??????

vertical alignment

When HR practices and processes are aimed at addressing the strategic needs of the business, it is called _______

1- Job analysis and design
2- Recruitment and selection
3- Training and development
4- Performance management
5- Pay structure, incentives, and benefits
6- Labor and Employee Relations

What are the six (6) menus of HR practices?

job analysis

The process of getting detailed information about jobs.

job design

The process of defining the way work will be performed and the tasks that will be required in a given job.

recruitment

The process of seeking applicants for potential employment.

selection

The process by which an organization attempts to identify applicants with the necessary knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that will help it achieve its goals

training

A planned effort to facilitate the learning of job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior by employees.

development

The acquisition of knowledge, skills, and behaviors that improve an employee’s ability to meet changes in job requirements and in client and customer demands.

performance management

The means through which managers ensure that employees’ activities and outcomes are congruent with the organization’s goals.

cost and differentiation

What are the two generic strategy types proposed by Michael Porter or the Harvard Business School?

competitive advantage

According to Michael Porter with Harvard Business School, _____ _______ stems from a company’s ability to create value in its production process.

1- Reducing costs
2- Differentiating a product or service in a certain way that allows the business to charge a premium price relative to its competitors

What are the two (2) ways that value can be created?

overall cost leadership

The strategy that focuses on becoming the overall lowest cost producer in an industry is ____________.

differentiation strategy

The strategy that creates the impression that a companys product or service is different from that of others in the industry is known as ______________________.

role bahaviors

Behaviors that are required of an individual in his or her role as a jobholder in a social work environment.

external growth strategies

An emphasis on acquiring vendors and suppliers or buying businesses that allow a company to expand into new markets.

concentration

Strategies emphasizing market share or operating costs are considered _________ strategies.

internal growth

Strategies that focus on market development, product development, innovation, and joint ventures make up the ________ strategy.

True

True or False:
Companies with an internal growth strategy channel their resources towards building on exisiting strengths.

external growth strategy

An emphasis on acquiring vendors and suppliers or buying businesses that allow a company to expand into new markets.

True

True or False:
A company with an external growth strategy attempt to expand a company’s resources or strengthen its market position through acquiring or creating new business.

concentration strategy

A strategy focusing on increasing market share, reducing costs, or creating and maintaining a market niche for products and services.

internal growth strategy

A focus on new market and product development, innovation, and joint ventures.

people issues

What is the major reason that mergers and acquisitions do not always live up to expectations?

downsizing

The planned elimination of large numbers of personnel, designed to enhance organizational effectiveness; also known as “right sizing”

1- emergent strategies
2- enhancing competitiveness

What are the two (2) ways in which HRM can provide a strategic competitive advantage?

intended strategies

The result of the rational decision-making process used by top managers as they develop a strategic plan.

emergent strategies

Consist of the strategies that evolve from the grassroots of the organization and can be thought of as what organizations usually do, as opposed to what they intend to do

legacy

The former workers who no longer work for a company but to whom the company still owes pensions and other financial obligations are referred to as the company's _______ workforce.

customers

A business model is a story of how a company will create value for

_______ while making a profit.

strategic management

When an organization creates a plan to address the competitive challenges it faces, it engages in a process known as ______________.

make an economic difference

Ultimately, the choices an organization makes when implementing a strategy are important because they:

organizational structure

What element of an organization is defined as a complex set of values, beliefs, assumptions, and symbols that define the way in which a firm conducts its business?

1- how to be world class
2- which environments to compete in

Which of the following does the value chain help determine?

How to compete

Which strategic decision is a company addressing when it decides to compete on reliability instead of cost and delivery?

human resource

Job analysis and design, recruitment and selection, and training and development are all types of ______ ________ management practices?

cultural

An organization improves its chances of delivering value to customers when its _______ align with customer value.

generic strategies

Similarities in the ways companies attempt to compete within a single industry are known as __________.

value chain

Which of the following is a model that categorizes the major operational functions of an organization according to their capabilities?

role

The behaviors required of a person who holds a certain job in a certain social work environment are known as _______ behaviors.

recruitment

The process by which applicants are sought for potential employment is known as _____________________.

joint ventures

innovation

market development

Which of the following are likely aspects of an "internal growth" strategy?

Which aspect of the business will create the most customer value

Which capability needs to be world class

Which of the following does the value chain help determine?

strategy

Depending on a company's Blank______, it can require different role behaviors.

Intended

______ strategies result from proactive decisions made through the rational decision-making process used by managers developing the organization's strategic plan.

internal

When an organization pursues a(n) ___________ growth strategy, it attempts to build on existing strengths by channeling its resources, such as product development, in that direction.

human capital

The main component that serves as the "raw material" for a learning organization is ultimately its ______.

generic strategies

Similarities in the ways companies attempt to compete within a single industry are known as __________.

emergent

The strategies that are defined as what organizations actually do as opposed to what they intend to do are known as ______ strategies.

learning

Organizations that emphasize monitoring the business environment, absorbing and using that information to make decisions and restructuring themselves to compete in the environment they exist in, are known as ________ organizations.

e. contaminated

When Lynn meets with Janet, she essentially argues that Janet’s measure of Willy’s phone and Internet behavior is a(n) ________ measure of performance because his performance has been not been affected and, therefore, these other behaviors are irrelevant.

a. comprehensive

b. deficient

c. accurate

d. unreliable

e. contaminated

c. acceptability

Lynn makes it clear to Janet that she does not agree with the evaluation of Willy’s work and that it is inadequate in capturing his performance, which indicates that using phone and Internet time as part of an evaluative tool have low ________ to Lynn (and most likely Willy).

a. strategic congruence

b. validity

c. acceptability

d. reliability

e. developmental purpose

c. balanced scorecard

Janet is basing her decision to put Willy on administrative leave solely due to his excessive phone and Internet usage, while it is claimed that his performance has not, in turn, suffered. Janet would gain a more comprehensive perspective of Willy’s performance from using a(n) ________ approach to performance evaluation.

a. objectives

b. proMES

c. balanced scorecard

d. quality

e. quantity

d. horns

Janet assumes that Willy is not performing well because of a different negative behavior that she knows about, for example, the excessive amount of time he is spending on the phone and Internet. In turn, she makes a ________ rating error that leads to him being put on administrative leave.

a. halo

b. leniency

c. contrast

d. horns

e. strictness