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Week two - Overview
Strategic Planning
The purpose of this module is to acquaint you with the importance of Human Resource Planning (HRP) and its
connection with strategic business planning.
Human Resources Planning is the window to Human Resources Management (HRM). Without a plan, it is
difficult to determine which activities should be put into place in order for the organization to meet its strategic
directions. HRP answers the basic questions for organizations - what is the supply and demand for staff to be
competitive, what skills should those staff have, where will you recruit them, what type of training is needed to
make them productive and what labour relations issues can you anticipate and deal with?
Learning Outcomes
After completing this module, you should be able to:
1. Describe the reasons for integrating HRP and strategic planning.
2. Explain the difference between qualitative and quantitative demand forecasting.
3. Outline the importance of the Human Resources Information System (HRIS) and the external labour
market in forecasting supply.
4. Identify methods for dealing with shortages and surpluses in the organization.
5. Describe the areas to consider when evaluating the effectiveness of planning decisions.
Weekly Readings
Managing Human Resources Chapter 2, "Strategy and Human Resources Planning"
What are your Thoughts?
2
A few years ago, it was easy to find a Blockbuster Video store that rented
movies on DVD and Blu-Ray in just about any mid to large size urban area in
Canada.
Question:
What changes in the external environment did this company fail to plan for that led to eventual bankruptcy?
Strategic Planning
Linking Strategic Planning and Human Resources
“Competing through people" is only an idea or a philosophy until it is put into practice. In order to put it into
practice, it is necessary to understand some of the systems and processes in organizations that link human
resources management and strategic management.
What is Strategic Planning?
Strategic planning is the process through which an organization decides on its corporate direction, objectives
and priorities and then aligns its resources to accomplish these objectives and priorities. Strategic plans have a
strong external focus on how the organization will position itself in the marketplace relative to competitors in a
way that will ensure long term survival, growth and the ability to create value.
What is Human Resources Planning?
Human resources planning (HRP) is the process that links the human resources needs of an organization to its
strategic plan to ensure that staffing is sufficient, qualified and competent enough to achieve the organization's
objectives.
People are essential to the production of the goods and services that an organization is providing. When
positions are vacant, or it is not possible to find skilled people to fill them, the bottom line suffers. HRP
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coordinates all of the HR functions in a way to ensure that you have the right person in the right job at the right
time.
Strategic Planning and HRP
HRP is a response to Strategic Planning. It makes sense for an organization planning its strategies and future
directions, to consider not only finances, profit margins and return on investment, but also to recognize that
people are the key to reaching those goals. So ideally, HRP and strategic organizational planning should be
done together as Strategic Human Resources Management (SHRM). Strategic Human Resource Management
means accepting and involving the HR functions as a strategic partner in the formulations and implementation of
the company's strategies through HR activities such as recruiting, selecting, training, and rewarding
personnel. Successful organizations recognize that all business decisions have HR implications, and all HR
decisions have business implications and if you do the two processes separately you will likely miss something.
In an organization that practices SHRM, the HR manager or director sits at the senior management table and is
involved in all of the decision making for the organization.
Linking Strategic Planning and Human Resources
4
Business/Corporate
Mission,
Vision,
and Values
Human Resources
Identify purpose
and scope
Capture underlying
Philosophy
Clarify long-term
direction
Establish enduring
beliefs and principles
Establish foundation
of culture
Guide ethical codes
of conduct
External
Analysis
Opportunities and
threats (OT)
Environmental
scanning (legal, ect.)
Industry/competitor
analysis
Demographic trend
External supply
of labour
Competitor
benchmarking
Internal
Strengths and
Analysis
weaknesses (SW)
Culture,
competencies,
Composition
Forecast demand
for employees
Core competencies
Forecast supply
of employees
Resources: People,
process, systems
Strategy
Formulation
Corporate strategy
Productivity and
Efficiency
Business strategy
Quality, service,
speed,
Innovation
Functional strategy:
alignment
External fit/
5
alignment
and
internal fit
Strategy
Implementation
Design structure,
systems, etc.
Allocate resources
Leadership,
communication,
and change
Evaluation
 Assessment
and
Reconcile supply
and demand
Downsizing, layoffs,
etc.
HR practice:
staffing,
training,
reward, etc.
Human capital
metrics
Balanced scorecard
benchmarking
 Ensuring
alignment
 Agility and
flexibility
Check your knowledge:
HR managers must be concerned with aligning HR planning and which of the
following?

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of HR professionals

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of its employees
C o r r e c t
a n s w e r .

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of the immediate supervisors of its
employees

The knowledge, skills, and abilities of its top executives
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You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
One way human resource planning links to strategic planning is by providing a set
of inputs into which of the following?

The source of competitive advantage

The strategy implementation process

The strategic formulation process
C o r r e c t
a n s w e r .

The strategic analysis process
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Eldorado Electronics wants to move from the stagnant desktop computer industry
into the smart phone industry. To do so, however, it would have to make significant
changes to its approach to product development in order to gain an edge in this
competitive industry. What is the smartest next step for Eldorado Electronics?

It should consider how its strategic plans will affect HR needs and also how
its current HR status will affects its strategic plans
C o r r e c t
a n s w e r .



It should apply principles of strategic human resources management
It should engage in human resources planning
It should consider how its strategic plans will affect its HR needs
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
The dramatic shifts in the composition of the labour market that are occurring
require that HR managers become more involved in planning because these
changes affect the full range of a company's HR practices.
True
False
You got 1 of 1 points
The Steps In Strategic Planning: Step 1
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Mission Vision and Values
The Mission Statement for an organization answers the question “why does this company exist?” and
also identifies its scope of operation. The Mission is enhanced further by a description of the
company’s strategic vision, that is, what is its future direction…where are we going? It clarifies the
long-term direction of the company and its strategic intent. And finally, there are the core values of the
organization or the bedrock beliefs and principles that define what is important to an organization and
provide a foundation on which the organization makes its decisions. These values identify how a
company will act toward its customers, employees and the public in general. The values also place
limits on what behavior is seen as ethical and acceptable.
So the three questions to remember at this level are:
 Mission: Why do we exist?
 Vision: Where are we headed?
 Values: How will we act while we’re getting there?
Check your knowledge:
On the entrance to the Mac Pencil's factory are the words "to provide the world
with high-quality and dependable pencils"; What is this an example of?

Mission
C o r r e c t

Strategic Vision

Core resources

Core Values
a
n
s w e
r .
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
The vision statement ideally clarifies which of the following:

The strategic intent of the company

The long term direction of the company and its strategic intent
C o r r e c t
a n s w e r .
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

The short-term direction of the company
The CEO's goals for the company
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Which of the following best describes the core values of a company?



They are the basic purpose of the organization
They encompass the systematic monitoring of external opportunities
They provide a perspective of where the company is headed

They are the strong enduring beliefs and principles used by the company to
make decisions
C o r r e c t
a n s w e r .
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Strategic Planning: Step 2
Internal Analysis
As organizations conduct external analyses of environmental opportunities and threats, they also
analyze their internal strengths and weaknesses. Internal analysis provides strategic decision makers
with an inventory of organizational skills and resources as well as performance levels.
Internal analysis focuses especially on the “the three C’s”: capabilities, composition and culture.
Core Capabilities
Core capabilities consists of a combination of three resources: processes, systems
(technologies) and people. Processes are standard routines for how will be done and results
accomplished. Systems include information systems, databases, proprietary technologies, etc. And
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"people" included the knowledge, skills and abilities of employees who are most critical to creating
value for customers. McDonald’s, for example, has developed core capabilities in management
efficiency and training. Organizations can achieve a sustained competitive advantage through people
if they are able to meet the following criteria:
a. Resources must be valuable – because they can increase effectiveness and/or efficiency
b. Resources must be rare – because they are not easily available to the competition
c. Resources must be difficult to imitate
d. Resources must be organized – so they can be deployed easily and quickly
Composition
Managers need to know whether people are available internally or externally to
execute an organization’s strategy. Using a "Human Capital Map", different skill groups in any
organization can be classified according to the degree to which they create strategic value and are
unique to the organization. Research suggests that employment relationships and HR practices for
different employees vary according to which segment they occupy in the matrix. The four
classifications include:
Strategic Knowledge Employees
Strategic Knowledge Employees - Includes employees who tend to have unique skills that
are directly related to the company’s strategic direction and are difficult to replace. Companies tend to
make long term commitments to these employees and invest significantly in their training and
development.
Core Employees
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Core Employees - These are employees who have skills that are quite valuable to the
organization but are not particularly unique or difficult to replace and whose skills could be used in any
number of businesses e.g. sales people. Because their skills are transferable, it is quite possible that
they could leave to go to another organization so managers frequently make less investment in
training and development and tend to focus more on paying for short-term performance
achievements.
Supporting Labor
Supporting Labor - This group typically has skills that are of less strategic value to the firm and
are generally available in the labour market (such as clerical workers, maintenance workers, and staff
workers in accounting and HR). Individuals in these jobs are increasingly hired from external agencies
on a contract basis to support the strategic knowledge workers and core employees. The scope of
their duties tends to be limited, and their employment relationships tend to be transaction based,
focused on rules and procedures, with less investment in development.
External Partners
External Partners - This group of individuals has skills that are unique but are not directly
related to the company's core strategy (such as lawyers, consultants and research lab scientists).
These individuals have skills that are specialized and not readily available to all firms. Companies
tend to establish longer-term alliances and partnerships with them and considerable investment is
made in the exchange of information and knowledge.
Culture
Managers conduct culture audits to example the values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations
(VABEs) of their workforces. Cultural audits can consist of surveys and interviews to measure how
employees feel on a number of critical issues. Cultural audits can link employee attitudes on a variety
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of factors to things like customer satisfaction and revenue increases. Cultural audits can also be used
to determine whether there are different groups or subcultures within the organization that have
distinctly different views about the nature of the work and how it should be done. Knowing a
company’s corporate culture is a source of competitive advantage and firms are beginning to engage
in what is called values-based hiring which is the process of outlining the behaviours that exemplify a
firm’s corporate culture and then hiring people who are a fit for them.
Check your knowledge:
Which term refers to the integrated knowledge sets within an organization that
distinguish it from its competitors and deliver value to customers?




Organizational Competencies
Individual Competencies
Human Capital
Core Capabilities
Check #4
Which of the following can be used to classify different skill groups in an
organization by the degree to which they create strategic value and are unique?




Internal environmental scanning.
A human capital map.
Strategic planning.
A skills inventory.
Check #2
Which term refers to the examination of the attitudes and activities of a company’s workforce?

Trend analysis.

Behavioural modelling.
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
Environmental scanning.

A cultural audit.
Check #4
Strategic Planning: Step 3
Formulating Strategy
Forecasting techniques provide a lot of specifics about the supply and demand of labour but it is important not to
lose sight of the larger strategic picture. SWOT analysis – an exercise that identifies the strengths, weaknesses,
opportunities and threats – helps managers to combine the various sources of information into a broader
framework for analysis. Strategy formulation builds on SWOT analysis to use the strengths of the organization to
capitalize on opportunities, counteract threats, and alleviate internal weaknesses.
Strategies can focus on:
 Corporate Strategies such as growth and diversification, mergers and acquisitions and strategic
alliances and joint ventures
 Business Strategies such as low cost or differentiation
 Functional Strategies such as vertical fit (the connection between business objectives and the major
initiatives in HR) and horizontal fit (the degree to which the entire range of HR practices focus on the
same workforce objectives and are mutually reinforcing)
Check your knowledge:
An organization's growth hinges on which of the following:
13

C
o
All of the above.
r r e c
t
a
n
s
w
e

Increased employee productivity.

A greater number of employees.

Employees developing or acquiring new skills.
r
.
r
.
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
What is a major reason why many mergers do not go well?

Strategic planning failures.

A competitive business environment.

C
o

Cultural inconsistencies and conflicts.
r r e c t
a n s w
e
Failures in context analysis.
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
In what way can HR best help ensure that a strategic alliance or joint venture goes smoothly in the beginning?

Plan labour supply needs for both organizations.

Teach employees about the other organization.

C

o
Assess the compatibility of the two organizational cultures.
r r e c t
a n s w e r .
Systematically monitor employee morale for both organizations.
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Value creation is what the firm adds to a product or service by virtue of making it; it’s the amount of benefits provided
by the product or service once the costs of making it are subtracted.
True
=T
False
Forecasting
A Critical Element of Planning
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Although an internal analysis of the three C’s may reveal a great deal about where the organization is today,
managers must continually forecast both the needs and the capabilities of the firm for the future in order to do
an effective job at strategic planning.
Managers must focus on at least three key elements: 1) forecasting the demand for labour, 2) forecasting
the supply of labour, and 3) balancing supply and demand considerations.
Demand
Forecasting Demand for Employees
Forecasting is the HR activity of estimating in advance the number and types of people needed to meet
organizational objectives. There are two approaches to forecasting:
1. Quantitative Approaches - uses statistical or mathematical techniques. One example of
this type of approach is trend analysis which involves forecasting a firm’s employment requirements
on the basis of some organizational index. It is one of the most commonly used approaches for
projecting HR demand and is typically done in several stages. Other more sophisticated statistical
planning methods include modeling or multiple predictive techniques.
2. Qualitative Approaches – these approaches are less statistical and are used in
organizations where there is no historical information and where the environment is not very stable. It
includes techniques such as management forecasts (which are essentially the opinions/judgements of
supervisors, department managers, experts, or others knowledgeable about the organization’s future
needs) and the Delphi technique which involves soliciting and summarizing the judgements of a
preselected group of individuals.
Qualitative approaches tend to be more popular today simply because of the rapid change in organizations.
However, whenever possible, the two approaches should be combined to increase the reliability of forecasting.
Supply
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Forecasting Supply of Employees
Just as an organization must forecast its future requirements for employees, it must also determine
whether sufficient numbers and types of employees are available to staff the openings it anticipates having. It
starts with an examination of what is already available internally in terms of staff and skills and continues with an
examination externally of what staff could be obtained if a firm needed to look for staff in the external labour
market.
An internal supply analysis can begin with the preparation of staffing tables - graphic representations of all
organizational jobs along with the numbers of employees currently occupying those jobs and perhaps also
future employment requirements derived from demand forecasts.
Another technique called Markov analysis shows the percentage (and actual number) of employees who
remain in each of a firm’s jobs from one year to the next, as well as the proportions of employees who are
promoted, demoted, or transferred or leave the organization.
Staffing tables, a Markov analysis and turnover rates tend to focus more on the number of employees in
particular jobs. Other techniques are more oriented toward the types of employees and their skills, knowledge
and experiences. Skill inventories can be prepared that list each employee's education, past work experience,
vocational interests, specific abilities and skills, compensation history and job tenure. Up-to-date skill
inventories allow an organization to quickly match forthcoming job openings with employee backgrounds. When
data is gathered on managers, the inventories are called management inventories.
Both skill and management inventories can be used to develop employee replacement charts which list current
jobholders and identify possible replacements, should openings occur. Replacement charts can be used with
other pieces of information for succession planning – the systematic process of recognizing and creating
future leaders who are able to take the positions of the old ones when they leave the organization for any
reason.
Quality of fill is a newer metric that is used to measure how well new hires are performing so that the company
will have enough top performers to achieve its strategic objectives.
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Balancing
Gap Analysis
Once a company has assessed both supply and the demand for employee skills, talent and know-how, it can
begin to understand its human capital readiness or the current supply of critical talent within the company
compared to its need for that supply. Any difference between the quantity and quality of employees required
versus the quantity and quality of employees available represents a gap that needs to be closed. Once the
assessment of the firm's human capital readiness is complete, managers have a much better foundation on
which to build their strategy going forward and the specific requirements for developing the talent to implement
their strategy.
Check your knowledge:
Which of the following best describes forecasting human resources needs?


C
It is difficult and should only be done on rare occasions
o
It estimates the number and type of people that are needed to meet organizational objectives
r r e c t
a n s w e r .

It should rely strictly on quantitation approaches, which utilize sophisticate analytical models

It is scientific and relatively error-free
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Kappa Technology is a firm in the high-technology sector. It needs to hire individuals with very specific knowledge and
abilities and it needs to do so quickly. Which aspect of employee forecasting will most important for this company?

C
o
Skills Inventories
r r e c t

Staffing Tables

Markov Analysis

Succession Planning
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
17
What is the difference between trend analysis and management forecasts?

C
o

Trend analysis is quantitative and management forecasts are qualitative
r r e c t
a n s w e r .
Trend analysis is used to analyze the business environment and management forecasts predict
labour needs

Trend analysis has proven success and management forecasts have major shortcomings

Trend analysis uses organizational indexes and management forecasts utilize statistical techniques
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Which of the following is a graphical representation of all organizational jobs along with the numbers of employees currently
occupying those jobs and future employment requirements?

An Organization Chart

A Skills Inventory

Career Planning

C
o
A staffing table
r r e c
t
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
What is the most important information obtained from a Markov Analysis?

Human Capital readiness

What types of employees work in each department

C
o

What positions are going to be coming open and will require a new hire
r r e c t
a n s w e r .
How many individuals are in each job in each department
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Which of the following is the process of identifying, developing, and tracking key individuals so that they may eventually assume toplevel positions?

Replacement Selection

Target Forecasting

C

o
Succession Planning
r r e c t
Predicted Change
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1

Embed
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
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The Steps In Strategic Planning: Step 4
Strategy Implementation
Through HRP, organizations strive for a proper balance between demand considerations and supply
considerations. If demand exceeds supply, then organizations have a variety of options that can be used such
as: hiring full time employees, having current employees work overtime, recalling laid-off workers, using
temporary or contract workers, and outsourcing or offshoring some of their business processes. However, when
forecasts show a surplus of employees, an organization has to look at a different set of options: restricting or
freezing hiring, reducing the hours of current employees, layoffs, demotions, terminations, reduction through
attrition and early retirement (with or without incentives). Below is some additional information about three major
strategies for dealing with surplus employees: layoffs, attrition and termination.
Layoffs
Layoffs are usually based on either seniority or ability. In unionized environments, the criteria for determining an
employee’s eligibility for layoff are usually set forth in the collective agreement and layoffs are usually based on
seniority. When seniority is often used to downsize, organizations run the risk of retaining a workforce that is not
appropriate for the future ahead. Wherever possible, a clear understanding of where the company is headed is
important so that the workforce that is left contributes to future outcomes. The practice of using seniority as the
basis for deciding which workers to lay off may also have a disproportionate impact on women and minority
workers who often have less seniority than other groups.
Under the umbrella of layoff strategies, there are several work reduction options: reduced workweek, reduced
shifts, and transfers to related companies.
Attrition
19
Attrition refers to the gradual voluntary reduction of the workforce through quits, retirements and deaths. Most
organizations can easily estimate how many people will leave the organization and so can slowly reduce the
workforce through natural means.
Attrition must be supplemented by other practices. Hiring freezes are usually implemented at the same time as
the organization adopts a strategy of workforce reduction through attrition. A hiring freeze means the
organization will not hire new workers as planned or will hire only in areas critical to the success of the
organization.
Some organizations attempt to accelerate attrition by offering incentives to employees to leave. These
incentives include cash bonuses for people to leave during a specified period, accelerated or early retirement
benefits, and free outplacement services. Some of the community colleges in the Ontario that were operating at
a deficit, offered incentives to staff to take early retirement in order to reduce salary costs and lower the debt.
Using attrition has some advantages and some disadvantages. Employees may gain a feeling of value from
their employer through this strategy and work even harder to develop their competencies to manage the
potential gaps for those employees leaving the organization. However, as those who leave the organization will
not be replaced, the remaining employees may become responsible for assuming the additional workload or a
service or program may be deleted.
Termination
Termination is the permanent removal of an employee from the organization. The purpose of terminations is to
reduce the size of the workforce and save salary dollars. Termination is different from firing in which an
employee is released for such causes as poor performance, high absenteeism or unethical behaviour. A
termination strategy begins with the identification of employees who are in positions that are no longer
considered useful or critical to the company’s effectiveness. Employers cannot terminate without some form of
compensation to the employee. Severance pay is a lump-sum payment given to terminated employees on the
basis of years of service and salary. Severance pay and notice periods for termination vary considerably from
one organization to another. Every province has legislation such as the Employment Standards Act which
establishes minimum standards for termination and severance pay.
20
Check your knowledge:
Which term refers to reducing the workforce through the departure of employees who resign or retire?

Termination

A worker loan-out program

C
o

Attrition
r r
e
c
t
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
A hiring freeze
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Organization is a unionized textiles manufacturing company that is downsizing. What will Organization most likely use when
deciding whom to lay off first?

The payroll

Talent

C
o

Seniority
r r e
c
t
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
What skills and abilities the company needs to thrive
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
statement best describes a hiring freeze?

It is usually only successful during times of economic crisis

It discourages competent employees

C

o
It is a workforce attrition strategy
r r e c t
a n s
w
e
r
.
It leaves more talented labour for the competition
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
Decisions about employee layoffs are usually based on seniority and/or performance.
True - T
False
You got 1 of 1 points
Attrition and early retirement are means for organizations to reduce excess labour.
21
True = T
False
You got 1 of 1 points
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
The Steps In Strategic Planning: Step 5
Evaluation and Assessment
It is important that an organization decides, in advance, how often it will monitor its planning and what criteria
will be used to determine success. For example, benchmarking – comparing the organization’s processes and
practices with that of other companies that are recognized leaders – allows the organization to measure how
fast and how far it has progressed with its plan. Two types of metrics are used – human capital metrics (which
assess aspects of the workforce) and HR metrics (which assess the performance of the HR function itself).
Benchmarking alone will not give a firm a competitive advantage.
One of the tools for mapping a firm’s strategy to ensure strategic alignment is the balanced scorecard. It is a
performance metric used to identify and improve various internal functions of a business and their resulting
outcomes. The balanced scorecard looks at four areas - financial, customer, processes and learning – and
identifies the key metrics that will be measured and are necessary to meet the overall goals of the organization.
Horizontal fit - the degree to which internal HR practices are aligned with one another - can be used in
evaluation but by itself it is not sufficient to ensure strategic alignment.
And finally, no organization can survive if it does not continue to keep itself meaningful and fresh to its
customers. Organizational capability is the capacity of the organization to continuously act and change in
pursuit of sustainable competitive advantage and successful HRP helps increase this capability. Flexibility is
required and includes:
 Coordination flexibility - rapid reallocation of resources to new or changing needs
22
 Resource flexibility - having people who can do many different things in different ways

Check your knowledge:
Which of the following is a method for measuring a firm's strategic alignment?

SWOT Analysis

Markov Analysis

C
o

Using a Balanced Scorecard
r r e c t
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
Benchmarking
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1

Embed
Which term refers to an enthusiastically adopted tool for mapping a firm’s strategy in order to ensure
strategic alignment?


C
Target Forecasting
o
Balanced Scorecard
r r e c t

Replacement Selection

Predicted Focus
a
n
s
w
e
r
.
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
An organization states that teamwork and working together are important in its strategy but gives bonuses to
individuals who excel independently. What is this an example of?

C
o
A misalignment of internal fit
r r e c t
a n
s
w

A misalignment of strategy and HR

A misalignment of external fit

A misalignment of functional strategy
You got 1 out of 1 points
1/1
e
r
.
23
© Durham College. All rights reserved.
Avie Products Inc. Case Study
Scenario
Avie Products Inc. is planning to add a third shift to its production schedule.
It currently has 450 workers involved in all aspects of its fertilizer business,
best done in Canada. A recent surge in demand from its global customers
is driving the need for more workers; however, Simi Meher, the CEO, is
concerned that the surge may be temporary, especially in light of the recent
economic downturns in the global environment where Avie does business.
Questions
1. Which approach would be the best for Avie use to forecast demand
for its products?
2. What HR planning would assist Avie in determining how many
additional workers it would need for the third shift?
3. Assume that Avie goes ahead with the third shift. What can the
company use to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy in a year's
time?
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4. If the demand for Avie's product should drop in the future and the
company is required to lay off some of the staff on the third shift, what
would be the best way to determine who, on this shift, should be laid
off? (Note that Avie is not unionized.)
Completing your Posts

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Use the "Start a New Thread" button and post your
response independently in your groups discussion forum.
Once you have done so, the posts of other group members will
become visible. Review each group members post and provide a
substantial response to at least one other group members viewpoint.
ALL posts for this discussion are due by the end of Week 2 @ 11PM
ET
Reminder: For full marks (10% overall grade) you are to complete 5 of the 7
Case Studies.