Chapter 1--The Challenge of Human Resources …testbankcart.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Sne-16e-ch01.doc · Web viewThe purpose of this chapter is to acquaint students with the

THE CHALLENGE OF HUMANRESOURCES MANAGEMENT

The purpose of this chapter is to acquaint students with the importance of human resources management (HRM) and how it contributes to the achievement of an organization’s overall objectives. In this chapter we discuss how people can be a source of competitive advantage, the competitive challenges facing firms, and the concerns of employees themselves. Students are made aware of some of the important efforts that both large and small companies are making to develop and utilize the talents of their people as well as the changes taking place in the work environment. We end the chapter with a discussion of the competencies HR managers and line managers need to possess in order to work together to make the most of employees’ talents.

CHAPTER LEARNING OUTCOMES

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11c h a p t e rc h a p t e r

Explain how human resources managers can help their firms gain asustainable competitive advantage through the strategic utilizationOf people.

Explain how globalization affects human resources management.

Explain how good human resources practices can help a firmachieve its corporate social responsibility and sustainability goals.

Describe how technology can improve how people perform and aremanaged.

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LEARNING OUTCOME 1

Discuss how cost pressures affect human resources management policies.

Discuss how firms can leverage employee differences to theirstrategic advantage.

Explain how educational and cultural changes in the workforceare affecting human resources management.

Provide examples of the roles and competencies of today’s HRmanagers.

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LECTURE OUTLINE

I. WHY STUDY HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT?

Figure 1.1 will be useful as you discuss this question. The answer to this question is much the same whether the student plans on a career in HRM or not. Organizations compete through people. Studying HRM gives students an understanding of the systems and processes needed to develop and utilize the talents and energies of employees in order for the firm to gain a competitive advantage.

A. Human Capital and HRM

The idea that organizations “compete through people” highlights the fact that achieving success increasingly depends on an organization’s ability to manage talent, or human capital. The term human capital describes the economic value of employees’ knowledge, skills, and capabilities.

II. COMPETITIVE CHALLENGES AND HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT

Highlights in HRM 1-3 and Figures 1.2 will be useful in your discussion of these challenges. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Commerce Clearinghouse have identified the most important trends facing human resources. Reinforce the idea that large and small companies are equally affected by these trends.

A. Challenge 1: Responding Strategically to Changes in the Marketplace

Given the pace of commerce, organizations can rarely stand still for long. In today’s

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2 Part 1: Human Resources Management in Perspective

highly competitive environments in which competition is global and innovation is continuous, being able to adapt has become the key to capturing Opportunities and Overcome Obstacles as well as the very survival of organizations. Programs focused on total quality management, Six Sigma efforts downsizing,

reengineering, outsourcing, offshoring, and the like are all examples of organizations making changes to modify the way they operate to be more successful. Some of these changes are reactive, while others are proactive and designed to take advantage of targeted opportunities.

To meet customers’ expectations, managers must focus on quality, innovation, variety, and responsiveness. Total quality management (TQM) is a set of principles and practices developed in the 1940s by Edward Deming after studying Japanese companies. The core ideas of TQM include understanding customers’ needs, doing things right the first time, and striving for continuous improvement. More recently, companies have adopted a more systematic approach to quality, called Six Sigma, which is a statistical method of translating a customer’s needs into separate tasks and defining the best way to perform each task in concert with the others. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award has provided the impetus for both large and small companies to rethink their approach to HRM.

Six Sigma initiatives work best when organizations make other changes in their HRM philosophies and programs. The connection of HR to Six Sigma begins with the formation of teams and extends to training, performance management, communications, culture, and even rewards.

Mention that programs such as TQM and Six Sigma balance two opposing forces: (1) the need for order/control (pulls organizations toward stability) and (2) the need for growth/creativity (drives toward disintegration). HR practices help managers balance these two forces and again, shift the focus of the HR department from routine, functional tasks to strategic personnel management.

Reengineering goes beyond TQM and Six Sigma to include more “fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in cost quality, service, and speed.” HR issues include creating an environment for change, ensuring effective leadership and communication processes, and reviewing and modifying administrative systems (e.g., selection, job descriptions, training, career planning, performance appraisal, compensation, and labor relations).

Spend some time discussing with students both the opportunities afforded by international business and the difficulties in managing a global workforce. Mention the challenges of different geographies, cultures, laws, and business practices such as offshoring. HRM issues such as staffing, training, compensation, and labor relations lie at the heart of these concerns. Mention to students that an entire chapter (Chapter 15) will be devoted to international issues in HRM.

Explain to students that organizations that fail to change, don’t survive. Ask students what changes they think are most important today. Ask them how HRM issues are involved. Refer to the textbook for a list of some of the major reasons

Chapter 1: The Challenge of Human Resources Management 3

why change efforts can fail and how, by contrast, some companies manage change effectively.

B. Human Resources Managers and Business Strategy

Ten or 20 years ago, human resources personnel were often relegated to conducting administrative tasks. But that has changed. Executives know that human resource professionals can help them improve not only a company’s bottom line by streamlining employment costs but the top line by forecasting labor trends, designing new ways to acquire and utilize employees, measuring their effectiveness, and helping managers enter new markets.

C. Challenge 2: Competing, Recruiting, and Staffing Globally

Today companies of all sizes are seeking business opportunities in global markets, or are engaging in globalization in some way. In fact, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration, nearly 97 percent of all U.S. exporters are small companies, and these firms employ about half of all the private-sector employees in the nation. The World Trade Organization (WTO) and its 150 member countries are establishing free trade globally. The WTO utilizes the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) to establish rules and guidelines for over 97 percent of world commerce. On a regional basis, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), European Unification (EU), and APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) are the major agreements among many forged to establish freer trade among countries in various parts of the world. Two events will likely expand globalization further: China’s increasing commitment to free trade and the expansion of the EU country bloc.

Spend some time discussing with students both the opportunities afforded by international business and the difficulties in managing a global workforce. Mention the challenges of different geographies, cultures, laws, and business practices such as offshoring. HRM issues such as staffing, training, compensation, and labor relations lie at the heart of these concerns. Mention to students that an entire chapter (Chapter 15) will be devoted to international issues in HRM.

Also, make clear to students that globalization is not just for large companies. Even small companies such as SpringHill “go global.” In fact, nearly 97 percent of all U.S. exporters are small and medium-sized companies.

Emphasize that globalization, while controversial, is inevitable. Not only are employers going global, but so are employees too because the Internet has helped them locate the best opportunities worldwide, be they domestic or abroad.

1. How Globalization Affects HRM

For all of the opportunities afforded by international business, when managers talk about “going global,” they have to balance a complicated set of issues related to different geographies, including different cultures, employment laws, and business practices, and the safety of employees and facilities abroad. Human resources issues underlie each of these concerns. They include such things as dealing with employees today who, via the Internet and social media, are better


informed about global job opportunities and are willing to pursue them, even if it means working for competing companies or foreign companies.

D. Challenge 3: Setting and Achieving Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability Goals

Corporate Social Responsibility is simply good citizenship. Ask how many have heard about corporate social responsibility in some other class? If so, what did they learn about the concept? If not, based on either intuition or what they read in the text, ask them to summarize what that means to them. In order to broaden their understanding and challenge their thinking, ask your students what constitutes “social responsibility.” How is it determined? Who gets to decide what is or not socially responsible? To what extent should the corporation go along with what has been deemed socially responsible and to what extent should the corporation seek to persuade others as to its view regarding social responsibility?

Sustainability involves the ability to do business without causing damage to the environment and resources. As you did in discussing corporate social responsibility, ask students as to what extent it is possible for a business to do that without causing any damage whatever. To the extent that it is not possible in the extreme, ask how does the firm determine policy in that regard.

E. Challenge 4: Advancing HRM with Technology

Ask students to discuss the positive and negative aspects of computers. With advances in information technology, unlimited amounts of data can be stored, retrieved, and used in a wide variety of ways, from simple record keeping to online commerce and social networking. Advanced technology tends to reduce the number of jobs that require little skill and to increase the number of jobs that require considerable skill.

Discuss with students their experience with jobs that have moved from “touch labor” to “knowledge workers.” Ask them what kinds of skills these new jobs require. In many cases, employee responsibilities expand to include a richer array of activities, such as planning, decision-making, and problem solving. It may be the case that current employees can be retrained to assume new roles and responsibilities. Other times new employees have to be hired. Discuss whether or not as employees they would prefer to learn via regular training, just-in-time learning, or virtual learning environments.

Information technology has also influenced the HR function directly. Human resource information systems (HRIS) allow organizations to store and quickly use judgment and decision models to institutionalize organizational knowledge. Ultimately, IT can provide a data and communications platform that helps HR link and leverage the firm’s human capital to achieve competitive advantage. The three ways that IT influences HRM are as follows: (1) operationally—by automating routine activities, alleviating administrative burdens, reducing costs, and improving internal HR productivity; (2) relationally—by providing line managers and employees with remote access to HR databases, supporting their HR-related decisions, increasing their ability to connect with other parts of the


corporation; and (3) transformationally—by expanding the scope and function of the HR department so that it can focus on the firm’s strategic direction versus routine tasks, including fostering corporate learning and employee goal development throughout the organization. Discuss with students their experience using the Web to learn about organizations and their HRM practices and policies.

1. From Touch Labor to Knowledge Workers

Advanced technology tends to reduce the number of jobs that require little skill and to increase the number of jobs that require considerable skill. In general, this transformation has been referred to as a shift from “touch labor” to knowledge workers, in which employee responsibilities expand to include a richer array of activities such as planning, decision-making, and problem-solving.17

2. Influence of Technology on HRM

Perhaps the most central use of technology in HRM is an organization’s human resources information system (HRIS). Because HR affects the entire workforce—everyone who works for the company must be hired, trained, paid, and promoted, usually through HR—the impact of HRIS has been dramatic.

F. Challenge 5: Containing Costs While Retaining Top Talent and Maximizing Productivity

1. Managing Benefits

Managing benefits, including sharply higher employee-healthcare costs, are one of the largest expenditures of any organization, particularly in service and knowledge-intensive companies. Organizations have tried a number of approaches to reduce costs, particularly labor costs. These include downsizing, outsourcing, offshoring, and productivity enhancements, each of which has direct impact on HR policies and practices.

2. Downsizing

Downsizing is the planned elimination of jobs. Since 2000, 3 million U.S. manufacturing jobs have been lost to low-wage nations such as China and India. But it’s not just U.S. firms suffering from this phenomenon. China and India have lost both industrial and white-collar jobs to countries with even lower wage rates. Most of the white-collar jobs lost in the last decade have been in knowledge-intensive industries. Engineering, accounting, information technology, and architecture have been among the hardest-hit U.S. professions.

3 Furloughing

Furloughing is alternative to downsizing. It involves taking time off with no or reduced pay.

4. Outsourcing

Outsourcing involves hiring someone outside the company to perform tasks that could be done internally.


5. Offshoring

Offshoring is the practice of moving jobs overseas. Because companies estimate that they can save 40 to 60 percent on labor costs, the practice is likely here to stay as globalization and free trade proliferate. But CEOs are no longer concerned only with how much offshoring can save them but how it can grow their businesses. They are finding that by if they save money by offshoring, they can rescue failing businesses, make better use of their skilled U.S. labor and deliver products more cheaply and quickly because they have employees across the globe working 24-7 on them. Nonetheless, offshoring is often associated with other costs, such as production time lost during the transition, the cost of domestic layoffs, language difficulties, foreign regulatory challenges, and political and economic instability abroad that can threaten operations.

6. Employee Leasing

In some cases, the outside vendors may actually hire the displaced employees. This is known as employee leasing. The value of employee leasing is that it allows an organization to maintain its working relationships but shift the administrative costs to a professional employer organization (PEO). PEOs also have the effect of aggregating the employees of different, small companies so that their workers can participate in 401k plans and receive other benefits they otherwise wouldn’t get. Many PEOs offer their employees flextime, job sharing, part-time employment, consulting arrangements, seasonal work, and on-call work.

7. Productivity Enhancements

In addition to cost-cutting efforts, organizations must find ways to increase productivity (i.e., the output gained from a fixed amount of inputs). Have students brainstorm ways of increasing productivity either by reducing costs or by increasing the amount that employees produce.

G. Challenge 6: Responding to the Demographic and Diversity Challenges of the Workforce

1. Ethnic and Racial Diversity in the Workforce

America’s employees continue to become more diverse. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that in 2014, minorities will make up an even larger share of the U.S. labor force than they do today—36 percent—and the white, non-Hispanic labor force will continue to comprise a smaller share. To adapt to shifting demographics, remain competitive, and gain a more diverse customer base, organizations are recruiting and training a more diverse workforce. Ask students to identify how demographic issues relate to HRM. Point out that managing diversity means being acutely aware of characteristics common to employees while also managing these employees as individuals.

2. Age Distribution of the Workforce

The U.S. labor force is aging, as are the work forces of more developed countries such as Japan, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the percentage of people 65 and older in the United States will


continue to increase into the year 2025. This is placing a strain on businesses looking for new talent. To smooth out the gap, HR managers are taking measures to attract older employees and retain would-be retirees, for example, by offering them flexible and part-time work hours while continuing to pay their insurance benefits.

3. Gender Distribution of the Workforce

Women now constitute over half of the U.S. workforce. Approximately 71 percent of mothers with school-age children are employed in some capacity. Moreover, the educational attainment of women is increasing relative to men. Employers who want to attract talented women and retain them need to provide equality for women with respect to employment, advancement opportunities, and compensation. In addition, many firms are trying harder to better accommodate working mothers (and fathers) with programs like job sharing, telecommuting, flexible hours, and child- and eldercare programs.

Encourage students to discuss employment conditions, as they exist today for working mothers and what steps employers and the larger society should take to accommodate them

H. Challenge 7: Adapting to Educational and Cultural Shifts Affecting the Workforce

In recent decades, the educational level of the U.S. workforce has risen dramatically. But it’s not just workers with four-year degrees that are in great demand. Companies are also having trouble finding skilled workers such as pipe fitters, motorcycles mechanics, and air traffic controllers, to name a few.

There is a widening gap between the educated and the noneducated. Some individuals are functionally illiterate (i.e., unable to read, write, calculate, or solve problems at a level that enables them to perform even the simplest technical tasks).

1. Cultural and Societal Changes Affecting the Workforce

The attitudes, beliefs, values, and customs of people are derived from the culture and affect employee behavior on the job and the environment within the organization. The impact includes reactions to work assignments, leadership styles, and reward systems.

2. Employee Rights

Federal laws grant employees the right to equal employment opportunity, union representation, if desired, a safe and healthful work environment, a pension plan that is fiscally sound, equal pay for men and women performing essentially the same job, and certain privacies in the workplace. Mention to students that these issues are all addressed in detail in later chapters of the textbook.

3. Privacy Concerns of Employees

Since passage of the federal Privacy Act of 1974, employers have been giving increased attention to employee rights to privacy. The act applies to records maintained by federal government agencies and has led to the passage of several


state privacy laws. The passage of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 protects the disclosure of employees’ medical information; the Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 protects certain electronic communications. In the global environment, some countries prohibit the transfer of employee data to countries with inadequate protection laws, like China.

Explain to students that not all employee communications in the workplace (e-mail and instant messaging, for example) are legally private. Ask students to discuss whether or not they think these communications should be. Then ask students if they were owners, rather than employees of a company, if they would have a different opinion.

Point out that the information employees post on the Web—either on social networking sites like Facebook or on job-hunting sites such as Monster.com—have also become subject to scrutiny by employers. Electronic surveillance in the workplace is also becoming an issue. Chapter 13 discusses the content of privacy programs, along with the privacy employees can expect while on the job.

4. Changing Attitudes toward Work

Employees today are less likely to define their personal success only in terms of financial gain. Today many more workers, especially younger ones, are saying that achieving a good work-life balance is a higher priority than “moving up the corporate ladder.” Ask students to comment about their views toward work relative to, for instance, the views of their parents or relatives. How important is climbing the corporate ladder to them?

5. Balancing Work and Family

Work and family issues are connected in social, economic, and psychological ways. “Family-friendly” HR policies may include unconventional hours, day care, part-time work, job sharing, pregnancy leave, parental leave, executive transfers, spousal involvement in career planning, assistance with family problems, and telecommuting. However, because the majority of employees have no children under age 18, firms must balance their family-friendly programs against the programs they provide for their other workers. Family-friendly benefit options are discussed in Chapter 11.

III. PARTNERSHIP OF LINE MANAGERS AND HR DEPARTMENTS

Emphasize to students that managing people is every manager’s business, and successful organizations are those that combine the expertise of HR specialists with the experience of line managers to develop and utilize the talents of employees to their greatest potential. Addressing HR issues is rarely the responsibility of HR departments acting alone. Instead, HR managers work side by side with line managers to address people-related issues of the organization.

A. Responsibilities of the Human Resources Manager

The major activities of HR managers include the following:


Advice and Counsel—The HR manager often serves as an in-house consultant to supervisors, managers, executives, and boards of directors.Service—HR managers also engage in a host of service activities, such as recruiting, selection, testing, planning and conducting training programs, and hearing employee concerns and complaints.Policy Formulation and Implementation—HR managers generally propose and draft new policies or policy revisions to cover recurring problems or to prevent anticipated problems.Employee Advocacy—HR managers listen to employee concerns and represent their needs to other managers

B. Competencies of the Human Resources Manager

Business Mastery—This requires an understanding of the economics of the business, its financial capabilities, and its competitors and customers. HR managers with these capabilities are able to “join the team” of other managers in the organization and help develop the firm’s strategic direction. HR Mastery—HR professionals should keep abreast of changes in areas such as staffing, development, appraisal, rewards, team building, and communication.Personal Credibility—Credibility and trust are earned by developing personal relationships with the firm’s stakeholders, demonstrating the good values of the firm, and standing up for what is right.

ANSWERS TO END-OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Contrary to what many managers might say, people are not always an organization’s most important asset. In fact, many times managers adversely affect the impact employees can have on the organization (e.g., by designing jobs that don’t let individual talents show, by not giving employees input into decisions, and so on). Employees can be the most important asset and directly impact the competitiveness of an organization under certain circumstances.

2. Some of the most basic concerns about opening up an office in another country include legal, cultural, and administrative differences. Students should be made aware of the options an organization has in terms of hiring people from the host country versus sending over expatriates. Depending on the people hired, training issues become important, as do issues related to pay, career development, and the like. Chapter 15 focuses directly on these concerns in international HRM.

3. The answers to this question will vary depending on the person and his or her values and background. Some students are more focused on day-to-day personal needs and others on broader societal or global concerns. In general, most students would prefer to be identified with a firm that does not have a bad reputation. The important thing is not the answer but the amount of thought put into it.

4. Again, there is not necessarily a specific correct answer. Any answer is at least partially speculative. Regardless of how students respond, it seems reasonable that as long as an


organization consists of human beings that HR functions will need to be carried out by someone even if it is being done as an additional duty for a person whose primary job is something other than HR.

5. This is an interesting opinion question. Perhaps you can divide the class into discussion groups who will report back to the class with their perspective. Most likely your class will conclude that it is indeed possible to demoralize employees by cuts in pay and benefits or by creating schedules and working conditions that would normally be unacceptable. It is also possible that a group of people could experience those same problems and have high morale if they believe they are doing so for a worthy cause or that what they are enduring is only temporary and will result in a far better situation in the future.

6. Probably most students will focus on the pros and say that the U.S. benefits from its diverse population. Some students will take that position because that is what they believe and others will do because they think that is what the instructor believes - and those students want to make an “A!” However, challenge the students to cover both sides. Those who manage to suggest some cons will likely touch upon problems of communication and culture clash. In regards to any problems, it might be well to ask for ideas as to how such problems can be minimized.

7. The answer to this question is fairly obvious. HR needs to know these things in order to form policies which will enable the firm to survive and grow. Educational requirements impact recruiting, training and tuition reimbursement. Expectations affect recruiting and most HR policies.

8. It is probably impossible to answer this question definitively. It is meant to stimulate conversation about the complementary roles within HRM—how they fit together and support the business. Without any one of the roles, the pyramid topples. In today’s organizations it may be the case that personal credibility and/or ethics is the most central role. Without it, nothing else much matters.

ANSWERS TO USING THE INTERNET ACTIVITIES

Internet Exercise #1, page 6

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)http://www.shrm.org

Question:Visit the SHRM website and search for HR disciplines. List and briefly describe current HR disciplines. Which of these are you most interested in learning about? Why?

Answer:

http://www.shrm.org/


Student answers will vary on which HR disciplines they are most interested in. Current HR disciplines listed on the SHRM website include the following:

Benefits Business Leadership Compensation Consulting Diversity Employee Relations Ethics and Sustainability Global HR Labor Relations Organizational and Employee Development Safety and Security Staffing Management Technology

Source: http://www.shrm.org/HRDISCIPLINES/Pages/default.aspx

Internet Exercise #2, page 27

Department of Laborhttp://www.dol.gov

Question: Visit the U.S. Department of Labor website and research training programs. What is the DOL currently doing to educate U.S. workers and prepare them for the workforce?

Answer:

The Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration (ETA) funds job training programs to improve the employment prospects of adults, youth, and dislocated workers. Training programs can vary from state to state depending on the skills that are needed to compete for jobs in the local area. All programs are aimed at boosting workers' employability and earnings. The ETA website provides program and news updates on grants, funding opportunities, on-the-job training, and unemployment insurance data.

Source:

http://www.dol.gov/

http://www.shrm.org/HRDISCIPLINES/Pages/default.aspx


http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/training/index.htm

http://www.dol.gov/dol/topic/training/index.htm


VIDEO CASE DISCUSSION GUIDE

Encourage students to consider what went wrong when The Fruit Guys attempted to expand. Few details are given in the video, but the CEO clearly learned that he needed to have a more formal arrangement with any new people and that he needed to retain control of his own operations.

Guide students to think in terms of how different laws and taxes governing employment will need to be considered as The Fruit Guys continue to operate. You might explain to students that these laws vary to some degree among U.S. states, which might be another consideration as the company expands. Be sure to let students know that The Fruit Guys may have to deal with union situations at some point, which is a topic that will be discussed in depth later in the course. Then encourage students to think about how Californians might have different tastes than people in other regions of the U.S., which may affect how they do business. Some students may bring up that these regional variations might also affect the company’s supply of fresh fruit.

This might be a good time to encourage students to think about how start-up companies often operate with a fairly loose HR and leadership structure that needs to become more formalized as they grow. Also ask students to consider what skills and abilities the company will need in its’ employees at all levels in order to expand, and how that might influence the company’s HR strategy.


NOTES FOR END-OF-CHAPTER CASE STUDIES

Case Study 1: New HR Strategy Makes Lloyd’s A “Best Company”1. The case does not specify the skills that Black thinks that the workforce in general needs to

work successfully in the area of HR but based on the focus of her efforts and on what she has indicated regarding the ideal characteristics of future HR professionals, there are several things that are obvious. Regarding HR professionals, they need to develop certain attitudes and understanding and be able to focus. As she put it, “They must understand change and transformation, excel at operations, and balance tactical and strategic thinking and acting. They will have to be able to manage and navigate organizational complexity and ambiguities and not be afraid to say no occasionally in order to establish appropriate boundaries with the business.” For the general workforce, their demonstration of the ability to respond positively to change was a plus for her and a characteristic that will need to be maintained and enhanced for the future.

2. Outcomes include not only a more positive internal organizational environment in which employees can function more effectively but widespread publicity regarding that environment (the newspaper recognition of the firm as one of the Top 100 Best Companies to Work For) makes it easier to attract valuable talent to the firm.

3. Some of the challenges of establishing HR policies for a global company include culture (along with religion), communication, laws, and economic systems. A policy that is viewed as desirable in one country might be viewed as evil in another. Language barriers and subtleties in the way information is presented create the risk of misunderstanding. Laws in some countries might prohibit certain policies. The economic system and related values might make it difficult to implement some policies. Encourage students to add to this list and suggest specific applications.

4. Situations that might require an HR manager to say “no” could involve almost any HR policy or objective which might pay off for the firm but not for a given person, department or team. Black spoke of the need to say no in order to establish appropriate boundaries – without specifying what those boundaries might be. Perhaps an example might be the manager of a given department who has a vision of what he or she wishes to accomplish and may wish to be given priority regarding new hires who have certain skills but HR might be obligated to make those hires available to other parts of the firm where they can be used to greater advantage. Ask students to give examples of instances in which a manager must avoid pleasing everyone if he or she is to be successful.

Case Study 2: Shell’s Top Recruiter Takes His Cues From Marketing1. Recruitment by its very nature involves marketing. Firms who have an abundance of highly

qualified applicants trying to sell themselves in pursuit of a limited number of jobs do not need to recruit. However, marketing not only seeks to sell something to a customer but to do so in way that will result in a delighted customer – one who will be satisfied with product or service. Effective recruiting needs to do the same. Recruiting needs to result in an employee who will enthusiastically blend into the firm. In addition to recruiting, training will be more effective if it is “sold” to the trainees. Implementation of various HR policies will be more


successful if employees implement them because they want to do so – not just because they have to comply.

2. Answers will vary depending on the student. To become an employer of choice a firm needs to understand the needs and values of the type of employees the firm seeks to attract. What is their age, educational level, values, etc? It might be difficult for an oil company to attract candidates who believe that the petroleum industry is a primary cause of global warming but perhaps by positioning the firm as one that is taking action to reduce any negative effects it might then be successful in recruiting. There is no correct answer to the question – the important thing is the thought put into the answer.

3. Opinions will also vary on this question. Depending on the size of your class, perhaps you might form the class into two debate teams to discuss the question. The correctness of the statement may depend on the industry but to the extent that industries grow at a faster pace than the growth in the number of qualified applicants, Singh may be prophetic.

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