MGT 3320 Exam 1 Study Guide, LSU Spring 2022

human resource management

-the policies, practices, and systems that influence employees' behavior, attitudes, and performance

-Contributes to employee and customer satisfaction, innovation, productivity and development of a favorable reputation in the company's community

Hr's 3 product lines and activities in each

-administrative services and transactions (hiring, staffing, compensation)

-business partner services (Developing effective HR systems and helping implement business plans, talent management)

-strategic partner (Contributing to business strategy based on considerations of human capital, business capabilities, readiness, and developing HR practices as strategic differentiators)

How can HRM decrease time spent on administrative tasks to increase its strategic role?

1) Implementation of a shared service model

-----Includes centers of expertise or excellence, service centers, and business partners as central places for administrative and transactional tasks

2) Use of technology to reduce HRM's role in administrative tasks, maintaining records, and providing self-service to employees

-----Shift to self-service gives employees online access to HR information (e.g., training, compensation) and frees up HR manager time for important employee issues

3) Outsourcing

-----Most commonly outsourced activities:

-Benefits administration (e.g., flexible spending accounts, health plan eligibility status)

-Employee relocation

-Payroll

-----Most common reasons for outsourcing:

-Cost savings

-Increased ability to recruit and manage talent

-Improved HR service quality

-Protection of the company from potential lawsuits by standardizing processes such as selection and recruitment

How can HRM companies compete?

-environmental, social, and governance practices

-globalization

-technology

Competing through environmental, social, and governance practices

-Deal with the workforce and employment implications of the economy

-Understand and enhance the value of intangible assets, including human capital

-meet stakeholder needs

-Emphasize customer service and quality

-Recognize and capitalize on workforce demographics and diversity

-Deal with legal and ethical issues

Competing through globalization

-Enter international markets

-Offshoring and reshoring of jobs

Competing through technology

-Consider applications of social networking, artificial intelligence and robotics

-Use HRIS, mobile devices, cloud computing, and HR dashboards

-Consider high-performance work systems and virtual teams

Which workforce issues did Rainer Strack discuss in his TED Talk? How are those issues related to the U.S. workforce and what are the HRM implications?

1) Labor shortage and skill mismatch

2)-The US does not have a labor shortage, rather than a shortage of workers willing to accept the working conditions they are given

-52% of jobs require training beyond high school, but only 43% of people have access to this training

-Business are having to hire lower skilled workers that they have to "upskill"

-Competing through technology and globalization

How do labor costs influence profitability?

1) Fixed costs are costs incurred regardless of the number of units produced.

2) Variable costs are costs that vary directly with the units produced.

3) (Contribution) margins are the difference between what you charge for your product and the variable costs of that product. They are called contribution margins because they are what contributes to your ability to cover your fixed costs.

4) The gross margin is the total amount of margin you made and is calculated as the number of units sold times the contribution margin.

What is the strategic management process and what is HRM's role in it?

-The process for analyzing a company's competitive situation, developing the company's strategic goals, and devising a plan of action and allocation of resources (organizational, human, and physical) that will help a company achieve its goals

-Strategic HRM is a pattern of planned human resource deployments and activities intended to enable an organization to achieve its goals

strategy formulation

-Strategic planning groups decide on a strategic direction by defining the company's mission and goals, its external opportunities and threats, and its internal strengths and weaknesses.

-Includes mission, goals, external analysis, internal analysis, and strategic choice

-Role of HRM: Monitor potential labor shortages, competitor wage rates, gov regulations etc

Deliver input for internal strengths and weaknesses related to the workforce

strategy implementation

-The organization follows through on the strategy that has been chosen. This includes structuring the organization, allocating resources, ensuring that the firm has skilled employees in place, and developing reward systems that align employee behavior with the strategic goals. This process entails a constant cycling of information and decision making.

-Affected by HRM

-----Organizational structure

-----Types of information and information systems

-Primary responsibility of HRM

-----Task design

-----Selection, training, and development of people

-----Reward systems

Wendy's example

-Mission = "create joy and opportunity through food, family and community"

-Vision = "we will become the world's most thriving and beloved restaurant brand"

-Goals

Build breakfast daypart

Digital acceleration

Expand footprint / global growth

Sustainability

-From the interview video:

-The type of linkage between HR and the strategic management team?

integration

How can HRM and the strategic management process be linked?

1)Administrative linkage

-Strategic planning

-HRM function (separate)

2)One-way linkage

-Strategic planning → HRM function

-Two-way linkage → ← HRM function

3)Integrative linkage is connected with HRM

What are the general strategic types and required role behaviors?

--Cost strategy → companies define the skills they require for efficient production and invest in training employees in these skill areas

--Differentiation strategy → employees are expected to exhibit role behaviors that include cooperating with others, developing new ideas, and taking a balanced approach to process and results

What are the different directional strategies?

1) Concentration = focusing on what they do best

-Maintenance of current skills

-Skill-based training

-Retention-focused compensation

-Performance management focused on behaviors

2) Internal growth = set out to increase market share are geographical reach (expand from the inside out)

-Constant hiring, transferring and promoting

-Changes in necessary skills

-Incentive-focused compensation

-Training for market knowledge, technical and interpersonal skills

3) Mergers and acquisitions (external growth)

-Evaluation of merger opportunities (esp. Organizational culture)

-Training in conflict resolution

-Integration and standardization of practices

4) Downsizing

-"Surgically" reduce the workforce by cutting only the workers who are less valuable in their performance

-Boost morale of remaining employees

-Opportunities for cultural change and fresh ideas

What is a learning organization?

an organization whose employees are continuously attempting to learn new things and apply what they have learned to improve product or service quality

What are the 3 different types of HRM activities and examples for each?

1) Transactional

-Day to day

2) Traditional

-Recruitment and selection

3) Transformational

-Knowledge management

Why should HR adopt a customer-oriented approach?

For the HRM function to become truly strategic in its orientation and contributing to the organizational strategic management process, HRM must view itself as a separate, strategic business unit and engage in strategic management to effectively serve its internal customers (line managers, strategic planners + employees)

How can an HRM strategy be developed?

Scan the external environment → identify strategic business issues → identify people issues → develop HR strategy → communicate the HR strategy

Approaches to strategy development

1) HR-focused - articulation of people outcomes based on analysis of what HR is currently doing

2) People-linked - clear alignment of HR activities and people issues and outcomes

3) Business-linked - assessment of what HR is currently doing, identification of people issues and outcomes to focus on, determine how people issues and outcomes translate to business issues and outcomes

4) Business-driven - identification of business issues, determination of how people fit with business issues and of needed people outcomes, development of HR systems focused on meeting those needs

The basic process, incl. the GM/auto industry case

1) Scan the external environment

-More electronic vehicles

-More regulation

-Fluctuating gas prices

-Pandemic-induced supply chain issues

-More ride shares

2) Identify strategic business issues

-Innovation

-Parts shortages

-Changes in production line/set up

-Investments needed

3) Identify people issues

-Smaller workforce

-Different skills

4) Develop HR strategies

-Training

-Recruitment and selection

downsizing/involuntary turnover

-Strategic partnerships to get the right skills

-Rewards, performance management

What are the different approaches to assessing HRM effectiveness?

Audit and Analytic approaches

Key indicators used in the audit approach

-reviews the various outcomes of the HRM functional area using key indicators and customer satisfaction measures for:

Staffing, equal employment opportunity, compensation, benefits, training, employee appraisal and development, succession planning, safety, labor relations, overall effectiveness

What is estimated in the analytic approach

(determines whether the intro of a program or practice has the intended effect)

- estimates the financial costs and benefits resulting from an HRM practice

How can HRM improve its effectiveness and efficiency?

-Redesign and reengineering of HRM processes

-Outsourcing of HRM processes

-Use of HR information systems

What are the current global changes?

1) EU (European Union)

-Confederation of 27 European nations

-Single market

-----Goods, capital, people, and services flow freely

-Euro is common currency of 19 nations

-Increasing uniform legal regulation

-----Regulations automatically apply to all EU countries as soon as they take effect

-----Directives give EU countries some leeway with respect to transposing EU orders into national law

-Recent exit of the United Kingdom ("BREXIT")

-----Reintroduction of customs and regulatory checks for trade between EU and UK

-----Complication of professional licensing, introduction of visa and immigration requirements for individuals moving between EU and UK

2) USMCA (Unites states - mexico - canada agreement)

-Free market agreement between canada, us, and mexico

-----In effect since july 1, 2020

-Replaced the north american free trade agreement (NAFTA)

-----Increased us investment in mexico due to lower labor costs for low-skilled employees

-Goal: create more balanced, reciprocal trade between the member nations

3) Growth of Asia

-New significant economic forces, including singapore, hong kong, malaysia, have joined japan

-China has established a sizeable economy

-----Large population

-----Markets open for foreign investors

4) General agreement on tariffs and trade (GATT)

-International framework of rules and principles to reduce trade barriers globally

-Replaced the WTO

What are the different factors affecting HRM in global markets? (Read more in notes)

-culture

-human capital

-political legal system

-economic system

How is culture defined?

-The set of important assumptions (often unstated) that members of a community share

What are Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions and how do they manifest themselves?

Individualism → collectivism

Power distance (Low) → power distance (high)

Uncertainty avoidance (low) → uncertainty avoidance (high)

Masculinity → femininity

Long-term orientation → short-term orientation

How does human capital affect companies' decisions of where to locate?

--Countries with low human capital attract facilities that require low skills and low wage levels

--Countries with high human capital attract foreign investment that created high-skill jobs

What implications do different political-legal systems have for companies and HRM?

US laws and societal expectations may require stricter standards in foreign facilities than what the foreign nations' laws would require

Practices used in the U.S. may not be usable in a company's foreign facilities

How do different economic systems (dis-)incentivize the development of human capital?

1)Provides incentives for human capital development

-Socialist systems

-----Free education, but little economic incentive to develop human capital due to lack of rewards

-----Redistribution of wealth through higher income taxes

2)Capitalist systems

-Higher cost to develop human capital, but higher economic incentive to do so

-Rewards for individual efforts through lower income taxes

What are the 3 government branches, how are they connected, and how to they influence HRM?

1) Legislative - makes laws; Executive - carries out laws; Judicial - interprets laws

2) Connected by the Constitution, most are elected while some are appointed by other branches, can give Executive Orders to carry out laws, etc

3) They make, carry out, and interpret laws regarding workplace protocol, practices, etc

What are the major congressional laws and executive orders for equal employment opportunity?

1) Equal Pay Act of 1963 - men and women in the same organization who are doing equal work (i.e., skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions are the same) must be paid equally; differences legally allowable if they result from differences in seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or any factor other than sex; applies to employers engaged in interstate commerce

2) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 - employers cannot discriminate against individuals based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin; as per a Supreme Court ruling on June 15, 2020, discrimination based on homosexuality or transgender status is a form of discrimination based on sex ("the first cannot happen without the second"); applies to organizations with 15 or more employees working 20 or more weeks a year that are involved in interstate commerce: state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor organizations

3) Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 - employers cannot discriminate against employees 40 years of age and older; applies to organizations with 15 or more employees working 20 or more weeks a year

4) Rehabilitation Act of 1973 - requires employers to engage in affirmative action for individuals with disabilities; applies to executive agencies, contractors and subcontractors receiving more than $2,500 annually from the federal government

5) Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 - requires employers to take affirmative action toward employing Vietnam veterans; applies to federal contractors and subcontractors

6) Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 - prohibits workplace discrimination against veterans; requires employers to put veterans back into their civilian jobs after military service (under certain conditions)

7) Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978 - establishes discrimination on the basis of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions is a form of unlawful sex discrimination; employers may not single out pregnancy or related conditions for special procedures to determine an employee's ability to work; health insurance must cover expenses for pregnancy-related conditions; applies to employers with more than 15 employees

8) Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) - employers cannot discriminate against individuals with disabilities in the workplace; employers are required to provide reasonable accommodations to enable the individual with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job; applies to employers with more than 15 employees

-----Disability is defined as (1) having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, (2) having a record or past history of such an impairment, and/or (3) being regarded as having such an impairment by an employer, whether the employee has one or not

9) Civil Rights Act of 1991 - adds the right to compensatory and punitive damages in cases of discrimination under Title VII and the ADA; intentional or reckless discrimination must be proven

10) Executive Order 11246 (issued by President Johnson in 1965) - prohibits discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin and requires employers to take affirmative action to ensure against discrimination; applies to federal contractors and subcontractors receiving more than $10,000 annually from the federal government; federal contractors receiving more than $50,000 annually must have a written affirmative action plan on file

11) Executive Order 11478 (issued by President Nixon in 1969) - requires the federal government to base all its employment policies on merit and fitness, while race, color, sex, religion, and national origin should not be considered; applies to federal contractors and subcontractors receiving more than $10,000 annually from the federal government

12) Executive Order 13672 (issued by President Obama in 2014) - amends Executive Orders 11246 and 11478 to further include protection of individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity

What characteristics are included in the protected classes and which laws established them?

1) Race

Thirteenth Amendment; Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; Executive Orders 11246, 11478

2) Color

Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; Executive Orders 11246, 11478

3) Religion

Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; Executive Orders 11246, 11478

4) Sex (incl. LGBTQ)

Equal Pay Act of 1963; Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1967; Executive Orders 11246, 11478, 13672

5) National origin

Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964; Executive Orders 11246, 11478

6) Age

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

7) Disability status

Rehabilitation Act of 1973; Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

8) Veteran status

Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974; Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994

What does the EEOC do?

1) EEOC enforces Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the ADA, and the Civil Rights Act of 1991

In cases of discrimination, EEOC attempts reconciliation between the two parties outside of the court system through settlements and court decrees

When do different types of discrimination occur?

1) Disparate treatment - individuals in similar situations are intentionally treated differently because of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, or disability status

2) Disparate impact - a facially neutral employment practice disproportionally excludes a protected group from employment opportunities

3) Failure to provide reasonable accommodation - reasonable accommodation places a special obligation on an employer to affirmatively do something to accommodate an individual's disability or religion

What is a bona fide occupational qualification?

characteristics that are necessary, rather than preferred, for a job

What is sexual harassment and how can it manifest itself?

1) Sexual harassment - unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature

2) Quid pro quo harassment - submission to conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual's employment; submission to or rejection of conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting that individual

3) Hostile work environment - conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonable interfering with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment

What is the Occupational Safety and Health Act?

authorizes the federal government to establish and enforce occupational safety and health standards for all places of employment engaging in interstate commerce

sets and enforces standards, conducts inspections, issues citations and penalties, provides training, outreach, education and compliance assistance

How can workplace violence be prevented?

1) environmental controls

2) administrative controls

3) behavioral controls