Strategic HRM:
A North American Perspective
Day 1 – Morning Presentation
Barry Wright PhD
http://spartan.ac.brocku.ca/~bwright/
Or search: Barry Wright home page
Course Format
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Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday
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Format
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9:30 – 12:45 p.m.
2:00 – 5:15 pm
Lecture, Group Work, Presentation /Discussion
Marks
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Case Write-ups (group)
3 @ 10% = 30%
“Company” report (and presentation)
40%
Individual “Insight” Journal
30%
Format of Course
Lecture, small group discussion, large group
discussion, group work, group presentations
Morning
Afternoon
9:30 – 10:30 a.m. Lecture
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
10:30 – 11:00 a.m. Group work 3:00 – 3:30 p.m.
11:00 – 11:30 a.m. Break
3:30 – 4:00 p.m.
11:30 – 12:00 noon Group work 4:00 – 4:30 p.m.
12:00 – 12:30 p.m. Presentations 4:30 – 5:00 p.m.
12:30 – 12:45 p.m. Wrap-up
5:00 – 5:15 p.m.
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Presentations
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Small group work – groups of 5 or 6 – depends on
number of students in class
Given a case / problem and question to answer
Typed hand-in (short – 1 or 2 pages) and a
possible in-class presentation summarizing your
group’s thoughts
Question and Answer following presentations
Marks
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A – Outstanding (9-10)
B – Very good (7-8)
C – Acceptable (5-6)
F – Failure (4 or below)
Company Report
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Your group will choose an organization and do an
assessment of their Strategic HRM practices.
Most information can be found on the internet
including company annual reports (with a little
searching)
Key to the assignment is to critically assess their
SHRM practices
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Tell me what they are doing by comparing the company
specifically to what we are covering in this course. Make
recommendations for change (where needed).
Company Report
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Introduction – provide and overview of
the company
Discuss their SHRM practices
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Draw from the Seven practices and Four R’s
Recommendations
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(3,000 words)
Draw from the Seven practices and Four R’s
Conclusion
Insight Journal
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I want your to personally reflect on the material
covered in the course; generally, reflect on one
key point from each lecture (four different entries).
For each entry:
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discuss one ‘thing’ you found interesting;
relate it to something in your work past to demonstrate
your understanding;
then discuss how you will draw from this interesting
point to help develop your HR leadership actions in the
future.
Length of insight – I would expect at least one-half
page per entry but overall you decide how much
you will provide.
Class Leadership
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Please make a “sign” with your name
on it – this will allow me to connect you
with your class leadership
Task: the “HR Story” thus far
1.
Bring me an “up-to-date” on what SHRM
courses and experiences you have had so far.
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Time – 10 – 15 minutes
Course Outline
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Monday
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Introduction, Past-Present-Future, Seven Practices
Recruitment – selective hiring
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Tuesday
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Retention – employment security, status reduction,
comparatively high compensation
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CASE: Howe 2 Ski
Rouse – loyalty, commitment – self-managed teams,
decentralized decision making, diversity
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CASE: Getting Better Applicants
CASE: Attitude Survey
Wednesday
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Redevelop – training and development – at all levels
Group Presentations
Janusean Thinking
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In ancient Roman religion
and mythology, Janus is the
god of beginnings and
transitions
He looks to the future and
the past
Research – deeper you
reflect on the past – further
you can see into the future
North America
The Old Paradigm
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At the start of the 20th century, the North
American economy is relatively self-contained and
immune from foreign competition
The employment is full-time, long-term, and
relatively stable; the typical workplace is a large
firm
The corporation is a stable sovereign organization
with a clear division of labor
Everyone abides by the “social contract”
The Old Social Contract
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Permanence – in the employer-employee
relationship, i.e. long-term job security
Entitlements – to a job, a steady pay
advancements, and generous benefits
Paternalism – the company is viewed as a ‘family’
by employers and employees
Hierarchy – lines of authority and levels of status
are clearly defined; clear division of labor
Human Relations
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Following the “Hawthorne experiments,”
many managers accepted the basic idea that
workers responded not only to economic
inducements but also to psychological and
social influences
Quality of Work Life (1950s)
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Growing disaffection among workers with unchallenging jobs
and heavy-handed management prompted managers to
rethink the way work was organized and managed
Recessions, deregulation, and mounting foreign competition
brought considerable pressures to bear on managers.
Management learned that quality, not only cost, was a key to
market success.
New initiatives, such as self-managed work teams, increased
the value of people to management, (hence the shift from
the term “personnel management” to “HRM”) and opened
the door to a new conceptualization of how work is organized
and the role of HR specialists
TQM, Reengineering, &
Globalization (1980s)
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Trying to stay competitive, many companies took
up Total Quality Management and reengineering.
HR departments became more focused on serving
both external and internal customers, lowering
costs through process improvements, and
facilitating organizational change and
organizational learning initiatives
Recent Developments
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Profit / Customer focus – companies looked to
HR departments to take more long-term, profit
oriented perspective; HR is a source of
competitive advantage
New Technology – new technology allowed
outsourcing of many activities and handling
many administrative aspects of HR
electronically; firms focus more on “core
competencies”
Recent Developments
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Diversity – HR were asked to reconcile the
social demand that employment practices be
open and inclusive with respect to diverse
cultures and lifestyles and the need for highperforming, employees
Globalization – Global trade and global capital
mobility increased dramatically in the 21st
century; labour force contraction in NA
Lessons Learned
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Profit calls the tune – profit is the invisible
hand that guides and shapes all aspects of
company’s HR practices
Strategic – the more that labour issues have
the potential for impacting the bottom line,
the more that top management will start to
look at HR from a strategic perspective
Deregulation – has resulted in declining
unionization and wages in industries
Lessons Learned
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Contingency – HR practices that work well for one
company or in one situation may be an embarrassing
failure in another (don’t just follow the leader) – it
depends on your organization’s strategy (low cost
producer vs. differentiator)
Alignment - management must adopt a holistic,
systems view of HR and mix and match HR practices
so they interact with each other to maximize overall
performance
Human Resources are people – every person wants
to be treated with respect and fairness
A New SHRM Model
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High Performance Work System
Innovative Work Practices
High-Engagement Model
High-Commitment Model
Two Work Systems
HRM Practices
Command & Control
High Performance
Internal career
opportunities
Hiring mainly from outside
the firm
Very little use of internal
career ladders
Hiring mainly from within
the firm
Extensive use of well
defined career ladders
Training
No formal training provided
Extensive formal training
provided
Result-oriented
appraisals
Performance measured by
quantifiable output
Performance measured by
behavior-oriented measures
Incentives
Mainly extrinsic
Extrinsic and intrinsic
Little
High Benefits to outpaced
employees
Formal dismissal policies
Participation in decision
making
Little
High
Job descriptions
Jobs are clearly/tightly
defined
Jobs are broadly defined
Employment security
HRM Reality Implications
Employers (The 4 R’s)
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Recruiting – Get the best
Retention – Keep them
Rouse - Keep them motivated and
empowered
Redeveloping Skills – Keep their skills
current
Task
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Form teams (5 or 6)
Read Pfeffer article (Seven Practices)
Select your Company
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Be sure there is lots of information on the
company.