Rayner and Adam-Smith (eds): Managing and Leading People Tutor
notes
Rayner and Adam-Smith (eds): Managing and Leading People Tutor
notes
The way in which this chapter is taught will clearly depend on
the level of the course (eg undergraduate or post-undergraduate or
postgraduate), the type of course on which it is used (eg CIPD,
general management programmes) and the mode of attendance (eg
part-time, full-time or modular). Individual lecturers will have a
clear idea of how their students learn most effectively and an
awareness of their own strengths and weaknesses. The activities
listed below can be interpreted according to these two factors.
9.1 CASE STUDY
Why work at IKEA?To think about ...
1 In what ways could an employer seek to assess qualities of
supportiveness, humility, willpower and simplicity among candidates
in the course of a recruitment and selection process? How accurate
do you think judgements made on these measures are likely to be?2
What selection methods could IKEA employ to assess whether
potential workers can develop skills and take on new directions and
responsibilities?
This opening case study is intended to point to the essentially
discursive nature of the area under consideration. In Question 1,
all of the qualities listed are open to subjective interpretation
(although that does not mean they cannot be captured). Accordingly,
the accuracy of judgements will not and cannot be total. Question 2
might include simulated activities, work placements and the
candidates past activities both in their working and on-working
lives assessed via discussion in interview and by scrutiny of
CVs.
Answers in this case might centre on the notion of employee fit.
There are advantages in selecting workers who will easily fit in to
an organisations way of doing things but be wary of producing
clones (who can inhibit creativity and be subject to groupthink).
There is a wider philosophical argument as to whether an employees
identity can and should be shaped by an organisations culture.
