CHAPTER 11
289 www.jambajuice.com
296 www.prenhall.com/ebusinessinaction
310 www.monster.com
311 www.workforce.com
311 www.hr.com
311 www.monster.com
312 www.showtimeonline.com
315 www.walmartstores.com/corporate
Best of the Web: Staying on Top of the HR World, page 296
Exploring the Best of the Web: Staying on Top of the HR World, page 310
HRLive, www.hrlive.com
Like all areas of business, the world of human resources changes quickly. To stay
informed about trends in recruiting, compensation, benefits, and employee satisfaction,
turn to HR Live. This comprehensive online resource provides HR professionals with
information about layoffs, employment markets and trends, labor statistics, recruiting
methods, and much more. The site also offers convenient links to job fairs and
conventions in a variety of industries so recruiters (and job seekers) can plan ahead.
1. Browse through some of the top recruiting markets for occupations that interest
you. How might an HR manager with a growing company use this information
to plan for recruiting new employees in the future? How might this information
figure in senior management’s decision about where to locate new facilities?
Question 1 directions: From the home page, click on the link Key Markets.
2. Read one of the recent reports about a company that laid off employees. Why
did the company lay off workers? How many were laid off, and over what time
period?
Question 2 directions: From the home page, click on Layoff Update and select any week.
3. Read the survey on the use of the Internet recruiting. Read the executive
summary for HR professionals. Are more HR professionals using the Internet to
recruit this year than last year? What advantages and disadvantages are listed
for this recruitment method?
Question 3 directions: From the home page, click on Hot Reports and scroll down to the
report ‘NetWorking’97.
Best of the Web: Digging Deeper at the Bureau of Labor Statistics, page 299
Exploring the Best of the Web: Digging Deeper at the Bureau of Labor Statistics,
page 310
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, www.bls.gov/
By now you're probably aware that the U.S. government has an agency for almost every
purpose. Many of these agencies gather facts and statistics on trends in the United States,
and the Bureau of Labor Statistics is no exception. When you need to research detailed
information about national or regional employment conditions--such as wages,
unemployment, productivity, and benefits--point your Web browser to this site.
1. Review the unemployment rate, average hourly earnings, and productivity for
the past several months. What do these numbers say about the health of the
economy?
Question 1 directions: From the home page, click on Economy at a Glance, then U.S.
Economy at a Glance.
2. Read one of the recent employee benefits surveys. How might this report be of
use to HR professionals?
Question 2 directions: From the home page, click on Surveys and Programs, then on
Compensation and Working Conditions, and Employee Benefits Survey.
3. Search the site using the search term “foreign labor statistics.” When the results
appear, scroll to the link Foreign Labor Statistics Home Page. What kinds of
reports are available? How could HR managers use these reports?
Question 3 directions: From the home page, click on Keyword Search of BLS Web pages
and enter the search term.
Best of the Web: Understanding Employee Ownership, page 302
Exploring the Best of the Web: Understanding Employee Ownership, page 310
National Center for Employee Ownership, www.nceo.org.
In recent years, employee ownership through ESOPs and stock options has become a
popular way for companies to reward and motivate employees. The National Center for
Employee Ownership (NCEO) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving
awareness of and participation in employee ownership programs. The NCEO Web site
contains free interactive educational activities and reports plus fee-based publications and
services. Explore the site to learn more about the ownership programs covered in this
chapter.
1. What are two types of ESOPs? How do they differ?
Question 1 directions: From the home page, click on Interactive and read the brief
introduction. Then click on an Interactive Introduction to ESOPs.
2. Are ESOPs usually accomplished through employee purchases or employer
contributions?
Question 2 directions: From the Interactive Introduction to ESOPs, go to ESOPs Nuts
and Bolts to test your knowledge.
3. Who is eligible to participate? How does vesting work?
Question 3 directions: From the home page, click on Library and scroll down to click on
How ESOPs work.
Explore on Your Own, pages 310-311
Review these chapter-related Web sites on your own to learn more about motivation, the
changing workforce, and employee-management relations.
1. Workforce magazine online, www.workforce.com, has the basics and the latest on HR
issues such as recruiting, laws, managing the workforce, incentives, strategies, tools, and
more. Read the current edition online.
2. The Wall Street Journal career journal online, www.careers.wsj.com/, has some
excellent advice for job hunting and making the most of your career. Not sure about a
career yet? Check out the job functions within key industries.
3. Monster.com, www.monster.com/, has 2000 pages of career advice, résumés and
salary information. Check out the job tip of the week. Get ahead in your chosen industry
or profession by talking to career experts, top managers, and colleagues. Research
various jobs that interest you.
A Case for Critical Thinking: Brewing Up People Policies, pages 311-312
Starbucks, http://www.starbucks.com/company/jobs/
Question 4. Why would Starbucks post information about company culture in this
section of the Web site? Why would job candidates be interested in learning about
the culture as well as the employee benefits and training at Starbucks?
Question 4 directions: Click on Company Overview to read about Starbucks. Next, click
on Job Center, then go to Working at Starbucks and read about the company’s culture.
Finally, click on Diversity, Benefits and More, and Learning and Career Development.
Part 4: Mastering Global and Geographical Skills: People Are the Same
Everywhere, Aren’t They?, page 313
Use the following Web sites to gather the research you need to complete this exercise:

International Trade Administration, Regional and Country Information,
www.ita.doc.gov. (Click on Countries and Regions, then on Country Commercial
Guides and select a country.)

U.S. State Department Background Notes, www.state.gov/. (Click on regions, then on
Background Notes, and finally on the region you are researching.)

Library of Congress Country Studies, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/cshome.html.
Companies that expand across national or cultural borders sometimes run into barriers
they don’t expect in human resources management. For example, Japanese automakers
were surprised when they tried to get workers in their new U.S. plants to join in for daily
warm-up exercises. Even though the activity is commonplace in Japan, it simply didn’t
catch on in the United States. And DaimlerChrysler’s U.S. managers were surprised by
the German manager’s extravagant travel and dining practices.
When companies operate across national and cultural borders, understanding cultural
expectations and norms is crucial to effective management. Some of the concepts to
consider involve personal space, conversational formalities (or lack thereof), friendliness,
willingness to “job hop,” respect for authority figures, and awareness of social class
distinctions.
You can identify a number of potentially important workplace issues by exploring a
country’s general culture. Egyptians, for instance, address each other by first names only
in informal, private settings. When in public, even good friends may add titles when
addressing each other. Egyptians tend to be more conscious of social classes than are
people in the United States. Moreover, they place great value on visiting friends and
relatives.
Assume that you’re the president of a financial-services firm based in Indianapolis and
that you’re ready to expand overseas. To ease your first attempt at international
expansion, you’re trying to find a country with workplace characteristics most similar to
those in the United States. Gather as much relevant information as you can about the four
countries that follow. Choose the one with work styles that feel most like those of the
United States, and explain your choice. In addition to the resources in your library,
explore the information available on the Internet. Possible Internet resources include the
Region and Country Information of the International Trade Administration, Background
Notes published by the U.S. Department of State, the Library of Congress’ Country
Studies, and the CIA World Factbook. Go to this text’s direct links to these resources
provided at the beginning of this section. (Your instructor may want you to do this as a
group exercise.)
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England
France
South Korea
Mexico