The University of Texas at Arlington
Graduate School of Business Administration
Department of Management
Management 5340
Strategic Human Resource Management
Dr. Gary C. McMahan
Office Hours and Communication: gmcmahan@uta.edu
Office: Business Room 224
Spring 2005
Phone: 817.272.3862
Fax: 817.272.3122
Course Intent: To provide the MSHRM graduate business student with an
understanding of managing people and the people function in organizations. I will
provide materials in many different forms to help the student integrate major managerial
and human resource concepts, strategic human resource management concepts, as we
explore the role of managing people at work. This is not a training course in HR;
however, I will attempt to provide both theoretical and practical ideas, cases and
applications.
Objectives of the Course:
During the course, the successful student will make progress toward attainment of the
following objectives:
1. Become familiar with the human resource management process and its key
elements:
a.
b.
c.
d.
Organization and human resource function goals and strategies
Human resource planning and analysis
Employee staffing – recruitment and selection
Organizational career management – training, performance management
and evaluation, and rewards/compensation
e. Employee retention and turnover – psychological contract
2. Understand that human resources are an asset (investment) to be developed rather
than a labor cost to be expensed
3. Comprehend the strategic fit of HR and the organization
4. Recognize the applicability of HR practices to organization success
5. Become acquainted with managerial decision-making through the study of HR
problem situations
6. Develop greater skill in decision-making, particularly in human resource problem
situations through emphasis on:
a. Observing and becoming sensitive to potential problem situations
b. Diagnosing problem situations
c. Identifying and stating a problem(s)
d. Selecting a course of action from a set of alternative HR solutions
e. Implementing and monitoring a chosen course of action
7. Develop a personal philosophy of human resource management that will enable
one to perform effectively as a manager
Course Readings:
Mello, Jeffery A., 2006. Strategic Human Resource Management, Second Edition.
Thompson/Southwestern Publishers. UTA Bookstore should carry this textbook.
Smith, Shawn, JD., & Mazin, Rebecca, 2004. The HR Answer Book: An Indispensable
Guide for Manager’s and Human Resource Professionals. American
Management Association, Publisher. Available through www.amazon.com or
your normal destination for book purchases.
Additional readings are assigned from time to time. Students are responsible for any
readings assigned during the course.
The HBS cases and readings for the course are as follows:
Corey, A Note on Case Learning (9-899-105)
Gittell & O’Reilly, Jet Blue Airways (9-801-354)
Holland, The Portman Hotel Company (9-489-104)
O’Reilly & Caldwell, Cypress Semiconductor A (HR-8A)
Klein & Garvin, PPG: Self Directed Work Force (9-693-020)
McManess & Sucher, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company (9-601-163)
Beer, Conducting a Performance Appraisal Interview (9-497-058)
Further contact information:
Harvard cases can be purchased at the educational rate from Harvard Business School
Publishing. Contact information is as follows:
Phone: 1-800-545-7685 or 617-783-7600 (outside U.S. and Canada)
Fax: 617-783-7666
Email: custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu
Web: http://caseclassroom.hbsp.harvard.edu
Mail: Harvard Business School Publishing
60 Harvard Way
Boston, MA 02163
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Attendance, Participation, Value-Added, and Group Involvement: Students are
required to attend class and participate in a positive, learning manner to classroom
discussions. If you are absent from a class meeting please make plans with a fellow
student or your case group members to get notes or handouts from the session you miss.
A group evaluation of each individual’s contribution may be used at the discretion of Dr.
McMahan.
Evaluation: Each student will be evaluated on the following scale:
Participation/Group Involvement/Case Discussions
Group Case Presentation and Analysis
Exam - Mello textbook readings
Course Report - Smith & Mazin analysis
TOTAL
20%
30%
20%
30%
100%
Grading Format: For the most part a traditional format of 90-100 A; 80-89 B; 70-79 C;
below 70 F is followed. Dr. McMahan may also institute a “natural break” for grading
purposes at the end of the term in determining a student’s final grade.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Group and Individual Case Preparation: Please read A Note on Case Learning prior
to beginning your case analysis. There is no “one best way” to analyze a case. After
reading the above material, design your own process for case analyses. You will most
likely improve on your design as your group works through cases and we discuss them in
class. Key Words: well-written, typed, double-spaced, interesting, cover page, creative,
and real. The Group analysis should go above and beyond the Case Briefing Sheet to
be discussed later in this syllabus.
Each group will hand in a written cases analysis within a few sessions of the session they
present their assigned case to the class. My expectation is that the case group assigned to
a particular case, will present an overview of the case and then engage the class in a
discussion of the case. All students should be prepared to discuss the case, but
particularly the group or groups assigned to lead a given case.
Groups will be formed on the first full session of class. Once formed, groups should set
meeting and information sharing arrangements, task assignments, and completion
procedures. Management of the case group process and its output are the responsibility of
the group. Task and role assignments, group control functions, and leadership are to be
determined by each group. Members of each group should agree early in the term as to
the level and quality of acceptable performance of individuals and the group. Dr.
McMahan will not intervene in these matters unless extremely significant problems
develop within the group. The product must be delivered and the “show must go on.”
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Exam: The exam will be objective in format and primarily covering the text chapters.
Focus on comprehending what you are reading in the MELLO textbook when preparing
for the exam.
Course Report: The HR course report is an individual assignment. It should be based on
the HR strategy, policies, programs, practices, and processes and the business model and
strategies of an organization (the one where you work may qualify). It may require one
or more interviews with the Chief HR Executive, or other persons with considerable
knowledge of the firm’s business strategies and HR function. If you do interview a HR
executive, you can ask questions (obtain information) that focuses on the following:
1. What is the role of the human resource function/department in the firm?
2. To what extent is the human resource staff/department/chief HR officer involved
in strategic organizational decisions?
3. How is performance of the HR function (and chief HR officer) measured?
4. What was the most difficult organization problem faced by the HR department in
the last two or three years? How was it resolved?
5. What are some of the most pressing HR issues faced by the organization today?
Why?
6. What are key HR practices/programs/processes that comprise each link of the HR
process?
7. How do these key practices/programs/processes enhance individual/organizational
performance and strengthen the psychological contract?
8. How can key HR practices be changed and/or improved?
In preparing your report you can focus on a particular organizational strategy and trace its
impacts/implications through the HR process. Assess the effectiveness of the HR
practices and indicate the shared roles of HR professional and line manager. Obtain
copies of forms/documents such as a job description, employee selection scoring
template, performance evaluation forms, organizational career management or succession
plan, exit interview schedule, and any other item that helps to explain the employeeemployer psychological contract.
The report should be approximately 12-15 pages, exclusive of exhibits, and presented in a
narrative form with headings and sub-headings. The report will be evaluated primarily in
terms of content, but 20 percent of the report score will be allocated to organization,
compositional quality (style, spelling, grammar, and syntax), and appearance (typed or
word-processed, headings and sub-headings, etc.) The paper should be turned in no later
than the night of the scheduled final (see university schedule for actual date) under my
door Room 224 Business Building. If two of you work for the same business
organization, you can work together to obtain information. However, each of you must
prepare a different individual HR report.
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References and Periodicals:
The following is a partial list of references and publications available through the UTA
Campus Library and in most cases, directly online. Also, the largest American
professional organization in the HR field is the Society for Human Resource
Management. It has over 100,000 members and can be found at www.shrm.org. With a
membership in SHRM you can access vast amounts of information about human resource
management. HR Magazine is published by SHRM.
Periodicals
Academy of Management Journal
Academy of Management Review
Academy of Management Executive
Academy of Management Learning & Education
Administrative Science Quarterly
Business Horizons
California Management Review
Compensation Review
Fortune
Harvard Business Review
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management Review
Human Resource Planning
HR Executive Review, The Conference Board
HR Magazine
Industrial and Labor Relations Review
International Journal of Human Resource Mgt.
Monthly Labor Review
Organization Dynamics
Personnel Psychology
Sloan Management Review
Strategic Management Journal
Training and Development Journal
The Bureau of National Affairs and Commerce Clearing House publish considerable material on
all aspects of human resource management. These organizations release HR information on a
daily basis through numerous publications that focus on HR policies and practices, compensation
and benefits, safety and health, and many other areas.
The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Business Week are three excellent publications
for very current business data and information, including human resource management.
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Case Briefing Sheets: Attached to this syllabus are briefing sheets for the assigned cases. Each
briefing sheet provides a list of questions which student will answer during case discussions. If
you miss a case discussion, or appear to Dr. McMahan as unprepared, you must provide written
answers to the briefing sheet questions as a substitute. This substitution can be used only once.
Schedule of Classes, Cases, Text Readings, Quizzes, and Exercises
The following is a schedule of cases, quizzes, reading assignments, and exercises. While efforts
will be made by Dr. McMahan to relate text readings, case discussions, videos, other readings
and lectures, the student is ultimately responsible for learning and integrating the course content
and completing course requirements.
The text consists of relatively short, focused chapters and readings (reprinted articles). Read the
reprinted articles along with the chapters.
HR in Alignment and HR Heroes are videos made available by the SHRM foundation. Portions
of each video will be shown during several case discussions. Conducting a Performance
Appraisal Interview is not a case; it is a special note with helpful information in conducting an
employee performance review.
Session/Date
Topic
Text Chapter
Case/Exercise/Video
Due Dates
1
1/19
Introduction
2
1/26
HR and the Organization
1
3
2/2
HR Process
2
HR Alignment
4
2/9
Strategic Management
3
JetBlue
5
6
2/16
2/23
Strategic HR
HR Planning
4
5
HR Heroes
7
3/2
Job and Work Design
6
Portman Hotel
Group ____
8
3/9
Staffing: Recruitment and
Selection
8
PPG Self-Directed
Group ____
9
3/23
9
Ritz-Carlton
10
3/30
Training and Org.
Development
Performance Management
10
Cypress
11
4/6
Compensation
11
Form Case
Groups
Group ____
Group ____
Group _____
6
12
4/13
Retention & Turnover
13
4/20
Exam
14
15
4/27
5/11
Global Human Resources
Course Report - Room 224
12
14
Slide report under door
Course Report
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More on the Course Cases:
Although not designed nor developed together, some attempt has been made to relate the
textbook readings with each case. Some chapters may be helpful in analyzing the cases;
others may not yield much help. Each case has integrative aspects which we will build
upon as we work through the cases.
Case
Relevant Textbook Chapters
Jet Blue:
Portman Hotel:
PPG:
Ritz-Carlton:
Cypress:
1, 2, 3 plus integrative aspects
6, plus integrative aspects
5,7,10 plus integrative aspects
9, plus integrative aspects
6, 12, 13 plus integrative aspects
THE FINE PRINT
NOTE: This Course Schedule is subject to change. The reading assignments are not
necessarily tied to the topic for that specific evening. The goal of the
case/lecture/video/discussion format is not to cover everything in the chapters to any
degree. The graduate student is responsible for the material in the book in addition to all
lecture, discussion, video, group, and case material.
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INDIVIDUAL LOG/RECORD OF EVALUATIONS/SCORES
MANAGEMENT 5340
Spring 2005
STUDENT ___________________________________________
Requirement
Weight
Score
Participation/Value-Added
20%
_____
Case
30%
_____
Exam
20%
_____
Course Report
30%
_____
Course Grade
_____
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MANAGEMENT 5340
Spring 2005
Student Case Group Information Sheet
GROUP HR NAME ___________________________________
Member Name
Email Address
1
2
3
4
5
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MANA 5340
JETBLUE AIRWAYS: STARTING FROM SCRATCH
Briefing/Assignment Sheet
(Or questions to organize and guide discussion)
This case is concerned with how an entrepreneurial venture can develop a successful business
model by emphasizing elements that can be a source of competitive advantage. The challenge
faced by JetBlue is to grow the firm and its operations at a reasonably rapid rate without unduly
taxing its various resources and damaging its key assets. The following questions can be used to
frame your analysis and guide class discussion:
1. How is JetBlue similar to or different from Southwest Airlines?
a. Consult the Mello textbook on performing a comparative analysis
2. If you owned and/or managed a venture capital fund would you invest in JetBlue? Why
or why not?
3. What are the key features (or potential success factors) of JetBlue’s business model?
4. What is your evaluation of the degree of alignment of the corporate strategy (and
business model), HR practices, and organization values and culture of JetBlue? Refer to
the Mello text.
5. Is the objective of remaining union-free realistic and how important is being non-union to
the business model and HR practices and systems?
6. Uses the models (framework) contained in Chapter 3 of the Mello text and prepare a brief
situational and strategic analysis. A SWOT analysis can be used to do this. Also, go to
the web site of Jet Blue to obtain current information.
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MANA 5340
THE PORTMAN HOTEL COMPANY
Briefing/Assignment Sheet
(Or questions to organize and guide discussion)
This is a complex case that contains information on Portman’s strategy and business
model, HR systems and practices, and the performance of a crucial group of employees,
the personal valets. The plan is not working and expectations of various internal
stakeholders are not being realized. Soon after the hotel’s grand opening, the situation
began to unravel. What went wrong? What can be done to correct the situation, or what
action planning is necessary? How does Portman make adjustments to facilitate success?
In analyzing Portman make sure you thoroughly understand the design of the original
system(s), or how plans/processes/people were supposed to work. Also, carefully review
the business context (environment) and Portman’s business model and strategy. Finally,
what are the options for improvement?
More specifically, and to assist with your review and analysis, the following questions
should focus your attention:
1.
What is the Portman business model and what was the personal valet arrangement
trying to accomplish?
2.
What are the key features (or elements) of the HR system and how were they
supposed to function? What organization culture value (or attribute) was being
emphasized with each feature? What was the expected outcome (or goal) of each
feature? Finally, what was the outcome/result associated with each
feature/value/goal?
3.
Why isn’t the system working and what are the problems?
4.
How did the 5-Star system deal with the problems? Did it work, or were
improvements experienced following implementation of 5-Star?
5.
What are various options for system improvement and what steps
(implementation) would you take to bring about improvement?
6.
Analyze the personal valet position using the Hackman/Oldham job
characteristics model. (See the Mello text)
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MANA 5340
PPG: DEVELOPING A SELF-DIRECTED WORK FORCE (A)
Briefing/Assignment Sheet
(Or questions to organize and guide discussion)
This case deals with a firm that has been pursuing implementation of innovative work
force techniques/methods. As you review case material and proceed with analysis and
determining what to do (1) develop an understanding of a self-directed work force and
why PPG wanted such an arrangement, (2) evaluate PPG’s approach to employee
selection and development, and (3) identify the underlying tensions at Berea and propose
means for relieving these tensions. More specifically:
1.
What is a self-directed work force and how does it function?
2.
What does management gain (and lose) with a self-directed work force?
3.
What type of employee does this arrangement require? How do you make sure
you get these people? (See the Mello text.)
4.
What type of work (tasks) and task environment would seem to benefit from a
self-directed approach to work force management?
5.
Is the PPG situation appropriate for a self-directed work force arrangement?
6.
How can PPG exercise control in a self-managed work situation?
7.
What are the underlying tensions and how can they be relieved as PPG continues
to move toward more self-direction by its operators?
8.
Identify production tasks and HR tasks/decisions that could be handled by PPG
self-directed work teams.
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MANA 5340
THE RITZ-CARLTON HOTEL COMPANY
Briefing/Assignment Sheet
(Or questions to organize and guide discussion)
This case deals with a situation in which a very successful training and hotel opening
process are being seriously challenged by a real estate development group, or the owners
of a new Ritz-Carlton facility. Essentially, the case discussion and analysis will examine
how a successful service operating system is developed and to explore the question of
when and how it should be changed. Specific questions for discussion are as follows:
1. What are the basic characteristics or key principles of the Ritz-Carlton business
model?
2. What is the essence of the Ritz-Carlton experience? What is the Ritz-Carlton
selling?
3. How does the Ritz-Carlton create “Ladies and Gentlemen” in only 7 days? What
systems and processes produce (or contribute to) a successful service operating
system in just seven days? See the Mello text for information about how training
and development can help a firm gain a competitive advantage.
4. Brian Collins, hotel owner, has asked James McBride, Ritz-Carlton general
manager, to lengthen the amount of time spent training hotel employees before
the hotel opening. Should McBride lengthen the 7 Day Countdown? Why or
why not? Or, what are the benefits and costs of extending the countdown?
5. Assume Collins prevails, how do you extend training or what changes might be
made to accommodate a much faster ramp-up to the 80% occupancy level?
6. Or, is this the time that McBride should consider a total overhaul of the hotel
opening process? If yes, what should be changed, and how should he go about
doing it? What’s different about experimenting in a service business?
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MANA 5340
CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR (A): VISION, VALUES, AND KILLER SOFTWARE
Briefing/Assignment Sheet
(Or questions to organize and guide discussion)
This case illustrates and highlights several management and organization themes, including the
leadership of T.J. Rogers. Our discussion will examine HR practices, corporate mission and
strategy, and critical success factors. Some questions for review and discussion are as follows:
1.
How would you describe the Cypress business model and the firm’s mission and
strategies? How did the business model change in the early 1990s?
2.
What are the values that T.J. Rogers has imprinted on the organization? How would
you characterize his leadership style and behavior?
3.
Are the vision, core values, and systems congruent with success?
4.
Will the goals and performance management system produce the desired results, both
in the short and long run? Why or why not? Alternatively, would you expect any
dysfunctional consequences to develop from the goals and performance management
system?
5.
Could Cypress adopt a 360° performance management and feedback system? Why or
why not? Review pages 312-320 of the Mello text for information about 360°
systems.
6.
Do the HR systems/practices fit the culture of Cypress and the employee performance
expectations of Rogers? Explain.
7.
How closely are HR systems/practices aligned with the initial business model? Is
alignment maintained with the changed business model of the early to mid 1990s?
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