Discussion

400 words with references

In recent years, we have observed an increase in foreign production throughout the world. What PEST factors would you consider to be most relevant to H & M’s HR managers when trying to figure out if they should open up a plant in Vietnam to make clothes?

Question B

Chapter 16 emphasized the processes required to implement a high-performance work system. What are the most critical ways to successfully implementing one?

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Chapter 16: Implementing HR Strategy: High-Performance Work Systems: 16.4a Building a Business Case for Change and Engaging Stakeholders Book Title: Managing Human Resources Printed By: Cedric Turner (cedric.l.turner@gmail.com) © 2016 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

16.4a Building a Business Case for Change and Engaging Stakeholders

Change can be threatening because it asks people to abandon the old ways of doing things and accept new approaches that, to them at least, are untested. Managers have to build a case that the changes needed to implement a high-performance work system are in place. Figure 16.6 shows how to “build a bridge” with the firm’s stakeholders such as its employees, the unions it works with, and other groups when implementing a high- performance work systems. One of the best ways to do so is to show these groups where the business is today—its current performance and capabilities. Then show them where the organization needs to be in the future. The gap between today and the future represents a starting point for discussion. When executives at TRW wanted to make a case for change to high-performance work systems, they used employee attitude surveys and data on turnover costs. The data provided enough ammunition to get a conversation going about needed changes and sparked some suggestions about how they could be implemented.

Figure 16.6

Building Cooperation with Stakeholders

Source: Adapted from the Conference Board of Canada.

Some research studies have found that unions can be a barrier to high-performance work systems, perhaps because unions are concerned that the efficiencies achieved might be so great that workers can be eliminated. To help get unions on board, managers should try to create “win-win” situations in which all stakeholders, including unions, gain from the

 

 

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implementation of high-performance work systems. Organizations such as Shell and Novartis have found that “interest-based” (win-win) approaches work best.

Similarly, multinational firms need to gain the support of their supply-chain partners and customers abroad. For example, Celestica, Inc., a Toronto-based provider of electronics manufacturing services and products, started out as a single, wholly owned subsidiary of IBM. Today, however, the spin-off company has dozens of electronics manufacturing and design centers around the world. Being sensitive to different cultures and their ways of doing business as well as building relationships with them has been critical to the success of Celestica’s high-performance work system.

Last, but certainly not least, getting the firm’s HR department on board is a crucial because it’s an enabler of a company’s human capital. When high-performance work systems are used in their firms, managers perceive their HR departments as having more strategic value.

Chapter 16: Implementing HR Strategy: High-Performance Work Systems: 16.4a Building a Business Case for Change and Engaging Stakeholders Book Title: Managing Human Resources Printed By: Cedric Turner (cedric.l.turner@gmail.com) © 2016 Cengage Learning, Cengage Learning

© 2020 Cengage Learning Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this work may by reproduced or used in any form or by any means – graphic, electronic, or mechanical, or in any other manner – without the written permission of the copyright holder.

 

 
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Barry Shore Of Global Project Strategy

Instructions:

Write a page with resources in APA format. Think back to a project that you have been involved with at work (preferably one that followed a structured process). If you have not been involved with a project at work, select a project from this list to evaluate:

  • Barry Shore of Global Project Strategy. (2009).attached below:

Evaluate the project based on accepted effectiveness theories and describe:

  • Goal/Team/Resources/Timeline
  • Challenges in implementation
  • Successes in Implementation
  • Overall success (include how you would measure this)
  • Lessons learned/what you do differently?

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December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj 5

Why Do Projects Fail? Project failure rates are certainly cause for concern, but consider that more and more organizations are adopting a project-based model of organization, called PBO, and it is not surprising to find that addressing failures and learning from them has become increasingly important (Eden, Ackermann, & Williams, 2005; Gray & Larson, 2006; Hyvari, 2006; Robertson & Williams, 2006; Thiry & Deguire, 2007).

Failures occur despite the fact that we have significantly improved the process of planning, executing, and controlling projects. Two contributions would include the Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) (2004) and the literature on critical success factors (CSFs) (Cooke-Davies, 2002; Fortune & White, 2006; Hyvari, 2006; Pinto & Slevin, 1987; Sutterfield, Friday-Stroud, & Shivers-Blackwell, 2006).

To help us understand how projects fail, it may be useful to classify the approaches represented by the PMBOK® Guide, Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI), Earned Value Management (EVM), Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM), and CSFs as the Rational Expectation view of project management. They assume that project leaders follow a rational and consistent approach to project management and strive to achieve spe- cific organizational goals (Bazerman, 1994; Beach & Connolly, 2005). It is a view that emphasizes what “should” be done. Argyris (1999) referred to this as the “espoused” theory of individuals and organizations.

There is, however, another view, and it focuses on the way in which indi- viduals within an organization actually behave and make decisions. Borrowing from the work of Simon (1955) and Tversky and Kahneman (1974, 1981), it can be classified as the “behavioral” view of project management. It emphasizes what individuals and groups “actually” do and how managers make decisions involving values and risk preferences (Bazerman, 1994). Argyris (1999) called this the “theory-in-practice.”

This article focuses on the behavioral view of project management and how an understanding of systematic biases—those common to the human decision-making process—can prove useful in diagnosing project failure. By studying these systematic biases, we can learn how decision makers respond to ambiguity, complexity, and uncertainty, as well as how their own particu- lar psychological processes influence project decision making (Schwenk, 1984). From this behavioral view we can learn more about why management approves an overly ambitious scope, why communications between teams is limited, why a manager might ignore signs that the project is going badly, or why a manager discourages the participation of a wider constituency in the project management process.

The article begins with a framework for analyzing project outcomes, introduces the systematic biases commonly associated with decision processes, briefly summarizes eight project failures, uses these biases as a diagnostic tool in understanding how these projects failed, and develops an approach that links these biases to the project culture of failed projects. The

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures Barry Shore, Whittemore School of Business and Economics, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

ABSTRACT �

Project success rates have improved, and much of the credit can be given to the knowledge, practices, and standards that have contributed to the professionalization of the field. Unfortunately, too many failures still occur. Because many of them can be traced to man- agement and decision-making practices, it might be useful at this stage to explore a set of systematic biases to determine if understand- ing them can help diagnose and perhaps even prevent failures from occurring. This article begins with a framework identifying the influ- ences on project outcomes, defines the systematic biases that may derail projects, summarizes eight project failures, uses the framework to diagnose those failures, and con- cludes by suggesting how organizational and project culture may contribute to these very common and natural biases.

KEYWORDS: project failure; project cul- ture; systematic biases; project success

Project Management Journal, Vol. 39, No. 4, 5–16

© 2008 by the Project Management Institute

Published online in Wiley InterScience

(www.interscience.wiley.com)

DOI: 10.1002/pmj.20082

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6 December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures P

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article concludes with two examples of how organizations have limited the damage from systematic biases.

The Interaction of Cultural, Leadership, Project, Management, and Behavioral Factors on Project Outcomes The outcome of a project can be related to the influence of cultural, leadership, project, management, and behavioral factors. These relationships are summa- rized in Figure 1. National culture can be defined as the values and belief sys- tems held by a group of individuals, learned early in life, and difficult to change (Hofstede, 1997). Given the international reach of an increasing number of projects, a contemporary view of project management must acknowledge the influence of national culture on the management of projects (Shore & Cross, 2005; Wang & Liu, 2007).

Organizational culture develops within the context of national culture and executive leadership. It can be defined as the shared perceptions of organizational work practices within organizational units (Hofstede, 1999). It also represents the particular ways of conducting organizational business and is instrumental in establishing the com- petence of the organization (Belassi, Kondra, & Tukel, 2007; Schein, 1985; van den Berg & Wilderom, 2004; van Marrewijk, 2007). While executive lead- ership shapes the culture of the organi- zation, project leadership shapes project culture (Turner & Müller, 2006).

Project culture is then the shared perceptions of project work practices, influenced by both the project leader and organizational culture. It is charac- terized by the way in which project planning, execution, and control are exercised.

The systematic biases, common to human decision processes and to be addressed in this article, influence management and team decisions, which in turn influence the planning, execution, and control of the project process.

Methodology The first step in this study was to iden- tify and define the systematic biases that have been studied in the decision literature (Bazerman, 1994; Beach & Connolly, 2005; Hammond, Keeney, & Raiffa, 2006; Keil, Depledge, & Rai, 2007; Tversky & Kahneman, 1974). These biases, defined in the next sec- tion, include the following: • available data, • conservatism, • escalation of commitment, • groupthink, • illusion of control, • overconfidence, • recency, • selective perception, and • sunk cost.

Establishing a clear distinction between them is difficult. For example, Keil et al. (2007) contended that selec- tive perception plays an important role in escalation of commitment. Langer’s (1975) illusion of control overlaps with overconfidence (Russo & Schoemaker, 1989). While the apparent overlap in the definition of these biases is prob- lematic, they have still proven useful in studying failures (Keil et al., 2007; Roberto, 2002).

In the second step of this study, the following project failures are briefly summarized: • Airbus 380, • Coast Guard Maritime Domain

Awareness Project, • Columbia Shuttle, • Denver Baggage Handling, • Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar

Lander, • Merck Vioxx, • Microsoft Xbox 360, and • NYC Police Communications System.

Project Culture

Organizational Culture

Project Outcome

Project Planning Execution and

Control Processes

National Culture

Systematic Biases

Project Goals

Budget Schedule

Complexity

Management and Team Decision

Processes

Project Standards PMBOK ® Guide

Executive Leadership

Project Leadership

Figure 1: Influence of cultural, leadership, project, management, and behavioral factors on project outcome.

Data for these projects was obtained from public and government sources. Case studies were written for each failure (Siggelkow, 2007). Twenty- two business professionals attending a graduate program in “Management of Technology” discussed the nine sys- tematic biases. The participants were then divided into five groups and pre- sented with summaries of the eight cases. None of these professionals was employed by the organizations includ- ed in the study. Using a modified Delphi Method, each group was asked to read the cases and reach consensus on the systematic biases that could best explain why the projects failed (Skulmoski, Hartman, & Krahn, 2007). Finally, each of the five groups present- ed their results and a discussion fol- lowed, during which consensus for the group as a whole was reached.

Systematic Biases Systematic biases represent common distortions in the human decision- making process. They reflect a particu- lar point of view that may be contrary to rational thought. Further, they are systematic in contrast to random errors that, on average, cancel each other out (Bazerman, 1994; Beach & Connolly, 2005). These biases are summarized in Table 1.

Project Failures This section briefly summarizes the full version of the eight case studies pre- sented to the 22 participants. At the end of each case is a summary of the con- sensus reached by the entire group.

Airbus A380 Airbus was founded in 1970 as a loose consortium of 16 independent aero- space companies with facilities in France, Germany, Britain, and Spain. In 2000, Airbus started the A380 project, the goal of which was to design and manufacture a superjumbo jet capable of carrying up to 800 passengers. The aircraft was to usher in a new era of travel.

In the fall of 2006, when the aircraft was in the assembly stage at Toulouse,

France, a preassembled wiring harness produced in the Hamburg, Germany, plant failed to fit into the airframe. The problem, according to several press reports, was that the wiring har- ness had been designed in Hamburg using an older version of CATIA, soft- ware commonly used in aircraft design. The assembly plant in Toulouse, how- ever, used the most recent version of the software. Unfortunately, the ver- sions were incompatible, and the ability to share design specifications between these two plants was compromised. As

a result, hundreds of miles of cabin wiring failed to fit. There was no choice but to halt production, postpone deliv- eries of the aircraft for two years, and redesign the wiring system. Not only was the cost expected to exceed $6 billion, but it also placed the program two years behind schedule. When this delay was announced, the stock lost one-third of its value. Worse, the copresident of the company was accused in June 2008 of selling his stock before the problems were made public.

December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj 7

Table 1: Summary of systematic biases.

Systematic Bias Definition

Available data A data-collection process that is restricted to data that is readily or conveniently available (Bazerman, 1994)

Conservatism Failure to consider new information or negative feedback (Beach & Connolly, 2005)

Escalation of commitment to Additional resources allocated to a project that a failing course of action is increasingly unlikely to succeed. (Keil &

Montealegre, 2000; Keil et al., 2007; Schwenk, 1984; Staw, 1981)

Groupthink Members of a group under pressure to think alike, and to resist evidence that may threaten their view (Haslam, 2004; Haslam et al., 2006; Janis, 1971)

Illusion of control When decision makers conclude that they have more control over a situation than an objective evaluation of the situation would suggest (Langer, 1975; Martz, Neil, & Biscaccianti, 2003)

Overconfidence Level of expressed confidence that is unsupported by the evidence (Bazerman, 1994; Fischoff, Slovic, & Lichtenstein, 1977; Russo & Schoemaker, 1989; Schwenk, 1984)

Recency Disproportionate degree of emphasis placed on the most recent data (Beach & Connolly, 2005; Chan, 1995)

Selective perception The situation where several people perceive the same circumstances differently; varies with the ambiguity of the problem or task (Dearborn & Simon, 1958; Russo & Schoemaker, 1989)

Sunk cost The inability to accept that costs incurred earlier can no longer be recovered and should not be considered a factor in future decisions (Beach & Connolly, 2005; Staw & Ross, 1987)

8 December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures

What had been apparent for a long time, and confirmed in Business Week and the Wall Street Journal, was that Airbus had failed to transform itself from a balkanized organization into an integrated company, and as a result suf- fered from a convoluted management structure. Managers, moreover, acted to protect their former constituency and made political rather than economic decisions (Gauthier-Villars & Michaels, 2007; Matlack, 2006).

When the research groups were presented with this case, they conclud- ed that several systematic biases could be identified, including selective per- ception, groupthink, illusion of control, and availability bias.

Selective perception occurs when a problem is viewed from a limited or narrow frame. This, the group conclud- ed, explained why the organization was unable to move toward an integrated enterprise and why, as a practical example, top managers acted to protect their former constituents, unaware that incompatible software would jeopard- ize the project.

Second, the research groups sug- gested that the insular nature of the separate organizations created a proj- ect culture that limited communication among these units. It created, they maintained, a breeding ground for groupthink, where each group was iso- lated from others in the organization. As a result, many of the practices and procedures within these organizational units went unchallenged.

Third, while management at the central facilities in Toulouse initially envisioned a centralized organization with some control over its divisions, the inability of these divisions to use the same version of CATIA suggested that this transition was far from effective. Senior management, the research groups concluded, suffered from the illusion of control.

The fourth explanation was attrib- uted to availability bias, in which management at each of the plants was limited to the data that was available to

them, and thereby concluded that the project was meeting its local objectives. From their perspective, they were on schedule and within budget.

Coast Guard Maritime Domain Awareness Project In 2001, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Coast Guard undertook a project that prom- ised to create the maritime equivalent of an air traffic control system. It was a project that would combine the use of long-range surveillance cameras, radar systems, and information technology to automatically identify vessels as they entered U.S. ports. It was also a project that would span 24 federal agencies responsible for the protection of water- ways and coasts.

In the first phase of the project, a complete surveillance system, called Project Hawkeye, was to be developed and implemented for the port of Miami. It would track larger vessels with radar, and smaller vessels, even jet skis, with infrared cameras. Finally, a software system would process the data to deter- mine which vessels posed a security threat and deserved closer scrutiny.

The first test of the system was declared a failure (Lipton, 2006). The cameras were ineffective in tracking the small boats, the radar system proved unreliable when it incorrectly identi- fied waves as boats, the Automated Identification System used for large boats failed to meet its objectives, and the software systems needed to make sense of the data had yet to be installed. Although some data from the system was available to the Coast Guard, they were unable to use it. Because the test failed, the implementation of this sys- tem in 35 ports was delayed until at least 2014.

When the research groups present- ed their conclusions, they focused on the complexity of working with 24 agencies. They concluded that since so many components of the system had failed, project leaders succumbed to the illusion of control bias; these lead-

ers assumed that they had control over the agencies and subcontractors, when in fact they did not. Control issues, the research groups continued, should have been resolved before the project was undertaken, not after.

The groups also suggested that selective perception contributed to the failure. Each separate agency focused only on its immediate task, with appar- ently little effort directed at integrating their role with that of others; there was no suggestion of a strategic relationship among vendors and agencies.

Columbia Shuttle On February 1, 2003, seven astronauts perished when their Columbia Shuttle disintegrated as it re-entered the earth’s atmosphere. During launch, a piece of foam insulation, similar in composition to a Styrofoam cup and about the size of a briefcase, broke away from the main propellant tank. The foam struck the left wing, seriously breaching the protective panels on its leading edge (Gehman, 2003).

It was not the first time that a sec- tion of foam had broken away during launch. In fact, it had happened on every previous flight. But on each of these flights, the spacecraft reentered the earth’s atmosphere without incident and safely returned home. Management assumed that it was a problem of minor significance and that it did not increase the risk level of the flight (Starbuck & Farjoun, 2005).

Many concluded, certainly just after the 2003 tragedy occurred, that technology was to blame. But a more thorough and comprehensive investi- gation, undertaken by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board (CAIB), concluded differently. It maintained that management was as much to blame for the failure as was the foam strike. The Board described a culture where, at every juncture, program man- agers were resistant to new informa- tion. It was a culture where people were unwilling to speak up, or if they did speak up, they were convinced they

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would not be heard. They also conclud- ed that the organizational failure was a product of NASA’s history, culture, and politics (Columbia Accident Investiga- tion Board, 2003).

The study participants concluded that NASA had created a culture in which systematic biases went unchecked. First, the participants identified the recency effect. Foam insulation had broken away on previous flights and caused no harm. To them this was confirmation that these recent events distorted the real danger presented by this problem.

Conservatism was also suggested, because the data from these previous flights was largely ignored by senior managers; they failed to revise their prior belief that the system was operat- ing properly. There was also evidence of overconfidence. During the flight, engi- neers, concerned that the foam strike may have caused a problem, asked a manager of the Mission Management Team (MMT) to request satellite imagery of the spacecraft. Management, howev- er, was apparently confident that there was no safety issue, and a decision was made against imagery. Had the imagery been authorized, and the damage dis- covered, the conjecture is that a rescue attempt would have had a reasonable chance of success.

Selective perception was suggested, since management of the shuttle pro- gram had shifted from an engineering focus to a managerial focus. This mor- phed the organization in such a way that engineering problems were less likely to be recognized and more likely to be dominated by schedules and budgets (Gehman, 2003).

Denver Baggage Handling The new airport in Denver, with a budget of $4.9 billion and originally scheduled for completion in October 1993, would be one of the nation’s largest public works projects of the 1990s (Brooke, 1995). It would cover 53 square miles and include five runways, with future expansion to 12 runways. Due to its size and the necessity to

move baggage quickly between flights, the airport would feature a completely automated baggage-handling system.

In April 1995, after many delays, the baggage system project was completed. Reporters were invited to attend a demonstration but instead witnessed a public disaster. Delivery carts were derailed, luggage was torn, and piles of clothes and other personal items were strewn beneath the tracks (Myerson, 1994). After scaling back the scope of the baggage system and making the necessary design changes, the airport finally opened, 16 months behind schedule and almost $2 billion over budget (Keil & Montealegre, 2000).

The baggage-handling project at Denver was more complex than any- thing that had been attempted before at any airport. Luggage was to be first loaded onto conveyor belts, much as it is in conventional baggage-handling sys- tems. These moving conveyors would then deposit the luggage into moving computer-controlled carts at precisely the right moment. The luggage would then travel at 17 miles per hour to its des- tination, as much as one mile away. This underground rail system would be com- pletely automated and would include 4,000 baggage carts traveling throughout the airport and under the control of 100 computers. It would be capable of pro- cessing up to 1,400 bags per minute.

After the system failed its public test, and after design changes were implemented, the system still had problems. Only United Airlines used it, and then only for outgoing flights. Other carriers turned to a hastily constructed manual system, since no contingent plans had been made should the automated system fail. Finally, in 2005, after a decade of frus- trating attempts to solve its problems, the system was abandoned. Under the lease agreement, United Airlines, one of the major stakeholders in the proj- ect, would still be liable for $60 million per year for 25 years.

In two papers that raised concerns about the scope and feasibility of the

project, deNeufville (1994, 2000) contended that this baggage-handling system represented an enormous technological leap over current practices. He concluded that the prob- lem of accommodating the variable demand made on the system, charac- terized in the literature as a classic line- balancing problem, would be difficult to solve.

After discussing the case, the research group identified overconfi- dence as a major factor in the failure. They referenced a quote in the case summary taken from the New York Times: “While the airport was being designed, United insisted that the air- port have the fancier baggage handling system, which it contended would sharply reduce delays” (Johnson, 1994). Overconfidence was also suggested in another quote from the New York Times (Myerson, 1994), in which Gene Di Fonso, president of BAE, the prime contractor for the project, declared, “Who would turn down a $193 million contract? You’d expect to have a little trouble for that kind of money.” With widespread support, the group con- cluded that no one questioned whether it could be done.

They also identified the sunk cost trap. In spite of years of disappoint- ments, when all the airlines, with the exception of United, opted out and used a manual backup baggage- handling system, the project continued. Both the City of Denver and United Airlines had already incurred high costs and were unwilling to disregard these past expenditures, even as their prob- lems persisted and grew worse.

The illusion of control was also identified for its role in keeping the project alive too long. It helped explain why, after evidence was presented at the beginning, a line-balancing prob- lem of this magnitude was very difficult to solve, and why, after an embarrass- ing preview of the system to reporters, management was still confident that it could fix the problems and control the outcome.

December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj 9

10 December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures

Mars Climate Orbiter and Mars Polar Lander As part of the NASA Mars Surveyor Program, the Mars Climate Orbiter was to orbit Mars and collect environmen- tal and weather data. But as the spacecraft approached its destination, telemetry signals fell silent, and a $125 million mission failed.

The root cause identified by NASA was the failure to convert between met- ric and English units. When the fatal error was detected, Noel Hinners, vice- president for flight systems at Lockheed, the company that built the spacecraft, said in disbelief, “It can’t be something that simple that could cause this to hap- pen” (Pollack, 1999). But it was.

Apparently, Lockheed had used pounds during the design of the engines, while NASA scientists, respon- sible for the operation and flight, thought the data was in metric units.

There were early signs during its flight that something was wrong with the craft’s trajectory, and an internal review later confirmed that it may have been off course for months (Oberg, 1999; Pollack, 1999). Project culture, however, required that engineers prove that something was wrong rather than “prove that everything was right.” This difference in perspective prevented the team from looking into the problem. Edward Weiler, NASA associate adminis- trator for space science, said, “The prob- lem here was not the error; it was the fail- ure of NASA’s systems engineering, and the checks and balances in our processes to detect the error” (Oberg, 1999, p. 34).

The Mars Investigation Panel report identified several contributing factors to the failure: the system engineering process did not adequately address the transition from development (Lockheed) to operations (NASA); inadequate com- munications between project elements; and inadequate staffing and training.

Within a few months of the Orbiter failure, the Mars Polar Lander, a related NASA project with a price tag of $165 million, suffered the same fate. Its flight was uneventful until it began its landing

approach. Then, during its descent to the rough terrain of the polar cap, telemetry signals fell silent. With no data to pinpoint the precise cause of failure, the teams investigating the accident speculated that the vehicle’s descent engines prematurely shut down. Unable to slow the descent, the speculation was that the engines quit when the Lander was 130 feet high, crashing into the sur- face of Mars at about 50 miles per hour. The inappropriate response of its engines was attributed to software glitches (Leary, 2000).

The prevailing culture at NASA of “Better, Faster, and Cheaper,” which defined the period when these projects were in development, has been high- lighted many times as the contributing factor behind these failures. Thomas Young, a former NASA official, said that they were trying “to do too much with too little.” He continued, “No one had a sense of how much trouble they were actually in” (Broad, 1999).

The prevailing culture was best expressed in an internal memo written by a laboratory official at the Jet Propulsion Lab: “There might have been some overconfidence, inadequate robustness in our processes, designs or operations, inadequate modeling and simulation of operations, and failure to heed early warnings” (Oberg, 1999, p. 35).

While the trajectory problem asso- ciated with the Orbiter and the engine ignition problem associated with the Lander could be characterized as tech- nical, the Mars Climate Orbiter Failure Board Report (2000) said that manage- ment failures were also to blame. They found that these projects suffered from a lack of senior management involve- ment and too much reliance on inexpe- rienced project managers. The Board also criticized the strategy where proj- ect managers in one organization (Lockheed) were responsible for devel- opment and a separate organization (NASA) was responsible for operations after launch.

The study group first identified the sunk cost trap. If the orbiter did not

launch on schedule, it would have to wait several months before its next opportunity to launch. With launch windows far apart, and with budgets unable to tolerate a substantial delay, managers were under pressure to meet the deadline; it was important not to “waste” the effort put into the project to that point.

Selective perception bias was iden- tified and used to explain why the engi- neers at the Jet Propulsion Lab, the design team, failed to coordinate with the operational team at NASA. In large- scale complex projects such as the Orbiter and Lander, with countless activities, contractors, and suppliers, it is very possible that teams may take a narrow view of their own activities. The risk is that the work of one team may be incompatible with the work of another.

Conservatism, the group contin- ued, explained why engineers failed to take action when they noticed that the trajectory of the spacecraft was off. They even held a meeting in Denver to address the issue, but it was never resolved. Even as the spacecraft approached its destination and data showed that it was drifting off course, controllers largely ignored the real data and assumed it was on course (Oberg, 1999).

Merck Vioxx In 2000, the New England Journal of Medicine published an article suggest- ing that Merck misrepresented clinical trial data on the risks of Vioxx, a drug used to treat arthritis pain. Suspicions were raised again when the Journal of the American Medical Association, pub- lished a paper in 2001 finding that those who took Vioxx were more than five times more likely to experience a cardiac event than those taking a commonly used over-the-counter anti- inflammatory drug, Naproxen. Merck denied these claims, insisting the find- ings were “flawed” (Topol, 2004). Then, under increasing pressure, they revised the Vioxx label in 2002 to reflect these added risks.

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During this period, Merck had undertaken a separate study focusing on the use of the drug in treating colon polyps. New data from this trial simply confirmed the risks that had been raised earlier.

Shortly thereafter, on September 30, 2004, five years after it had been introduced to the market, after 84 mil- lion people had taken the drug, and after three years of denying the drug could induce heart attacks and strokes, it was pulled from the shelves (Topol, 2004).

The legal consequences were signif- icant. Over 27,000 claims were filed contending that certain incriminating data were withheld during the FDA review process. In an early trial, a New Jersey jury ruled unanimously in March 2007 that Merck committed consumer fraud by intentionally suppressing, concealing, or omitting information on the risks of Vioxx. Eventually, Merck proposed an out-of-court settlement to the remaining complainants at a cost of over $5 billion (Berenson, 2007).

The study group identified organi- zation and project culture as important contributors to the Vioxx project fail- ure. They cited a Business Week article contending that Richard Clark, CEO, had watched the company degenerate into a “collection of fiefdoms” more focused on their own agendas than on the company’s agenda (Weintraub, 2007).

Financial pressures, the group con- tended, also shaped the culture. Drug discovery is a costly and lengthy process, fraught with risk. The average cost to bring a drug to market exceeds $1 billion. As drug trials proceeded from animal to human trials and even- tually to FDA review, it was not unrea- sonable to conclude that the pressure to continue with the project increased as investment increased.

These cultural problems, together with financial pressures, continued, creating a breeding ground for system- atic biases to emerge. The sunk cost trap was identified as the dominant

bias. After incurring nearly $1 billion to develop the drug, after generating $2.5 billion in sales during 2003, it was not difficult to understand why the compa- ny resisted pressure to remove Vioxx from the market.

While the sunk cost trap dominat- ed, conservatism was also identified as contributing to the failure, because Merck suppressed early data suggesting that the drug could have serious and sometimes tragic side effects.

Microsoft Xbox 360 When Microsoft rushed its Xbox video game console to market in November 2005, it had a one-year advantage over Sony and Nintendo. By 2007, Microsoft had sold over 11.6 million units at $279 to $479, depending on configuration.

Unresolved issues plagued the proj- ect from the beginning. When journal- ists and reviewers were invited to try the Xbox 360 in 2005, before it became available on store shelves, they encountered problems connecting it to the Internet (Croal, 2007). Shortly after it was introduced to the public, users complained that that the console dam- aged game disks, so much that they could no longer be used (Cliff, 2007). In 2005, Microsoft recalled the power cords, concerned that they posed a fire hazard (Wolverton & Takahashi, 2007). Then, in December 2006, in an appar- ent response to these and other issues, Microsoft extended the warranty from 90 days to one year.

But problems persisted. Blogs and forums complained about the “Red Ring of Death,” referring to a string of three lights that illuminate on the con- sole when a serious malfunction occurs. One survey found that the return rate was 33% (Cliff, 2007).

Then, in July 2007, Robbie Bach, president of Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division, said that there had been an “unacceptable high num- ber of repairs” (Taub, 2007). Shortly thereafter, Microsoft announced an extension of the warranty from one to three years at an expected cost of

$1 billion. This represented about $100 for every Xbox sold since its introduc- tion in 2005.

Later in the same month Microsoft announced that its top gaming execu- tive, Peter Moore, was leaving the com- pany, but denied that his departure was related to the Xbox’s engineering prob- lems (Wingfield, 2007).

Three systematic biases were iden- tified by the group. The first was con- servatism. In the face of a continuous stream of product returns and cus- tomer complaints, those who were responsible for the project were unwill- ing to acknowledge that the problem was serious, that customer satisfac- tion and loyalty were deteriorating rapidly, that the product needed to be redesigned, and that customer satisfac- tion needed to be addressed.

It was also suggested that manage- ment fell prey to the sunk cost trap. Considerable investment in the prod- uct had already been made, sales were strong, and since the division had yet to turn a profit, there was pressure to con- tinue at any cost. Returning to earlier stages of design, issuing a recall for the defective units, and replacing them with new units were apparently not realistic options.

Because Microsoft declined to com- ment on the exact cause of the prob- lem, which many suspected was tied to either a power cord or component that was overheating, it was concluded that groupthink was also an issue. The only public comment, made by Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division responsible for the Xbox, was that the company made manufacturing and production changes that should reduce hardware lockups (Taub, 2007). It was suggested by the group that this could be interpreted as protecting the company to prevent exposing its failures.

New York City Subway Communications System In New York City, police officers who worked underground in the city’s

December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj 11

12 December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures

extensive rapid transit subway system were routinely unable to communicate with officers working the streets above- ground. Incompatible systems were at fault. Not that this was a new problem to law enforcement and emergency organizations in New York City. On September 11, 2001, for example, it was not possible for police to communicate with firefighters and warn them that the World Trade Center towers were in jeopardy of collapsing.

As early as the 1990s, preliminary plans for an integrated communication system had been proposed. In 1999, a contract was signed with two firms. The project was scheduled for completion in 2004, with an approved budget of $115 million.

In 2001, a report warned of an inter- ference problem that could jeopardize the ability of the systems to work together. Rather than return to the design stage and study the validity of this concern, subcontractors continued with the project. It was completed in October 2007, but during the trial of the system it became apparent that inter- ference did indeed create serious communication problems. As a result, implementation was halted. Fixing the problem was expected to increase the cost of the project to $210 million.

The group linked the failure of the New York City Subway Communi- cations Project to conservatism, over- confidence, and illusion of control. Conservatism was suggested when the project managers failed to take the interference warning seriously enough to change their plans early in the proj- ect. Overconfidence was also suggested to explain why they ignored the warn- ing: project managers were apparently convinced that the proposed design would work or that all problems could eventually be solved.

Illusion of control was also identi- fied. The project management team presumably believed that they could fix the interference problem later, that somehow they had enough control to assure a successful outcome. Another

explanation is that they believed that the vendor would take responsibility to solve the problem.

Discussion A summary of the biases identified by the 22 participants can be found in Table 2. Four biases were mentioned more frequently than the others. Conservatism, or the failure to consid- er new information, was mentioned for the Columbia, Merck, Microsoft, and New York City Subway projects. Illusion of control was mentioned for the Airbus, Coast Guard, Denver Baggage, and New York City Subway projects. Selective perception was mentioned for the Airbus, Coast Guard, Mars, and Merck projects. Sunk cost was mentioned for the Denver Baggage, Mars, Merck, and Microsoft projects. Both groupthink and over- confidence were mentioned some- what less. Two biases, recency and available data, were mentioned only once, while escalation of commitment was not mentioned at all.

The results from this small sample prevent making conclusive statements about the dominant biases in project management, but the data begins to suggest that conservatism, illusion of control, selective perception, and sunk cost may be more common than the other biases. Whether they were iden- tified more frequently in this study because they were more easily under- stood by the participants or whether they actually contribute more than the others to project failure is difficult to conclude at this juncture. At the other extreme, the study suggests that esca- lation of commitment, available data, and recency are more difficult to iden- tify and may not contribute signifi- cantly to project failure.

It is rather surprising that escalation was not mentioned at all, because the Denver Baggage, Coast Guard, and the New York City Subway projects required additional funding after evidence became available that these projects were in trouble. One possible explanation

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Table 2:Sumary of biase saf fect ing each cas est udy.Av aila ble Esca latio nof llus ion ofSe lect ive Sunk Data Cons erva tism Com mitm ent Grou pthi nkCo ntro lOv erco nfid ence Rece ncy Perc eptio nCo stAirbus A38 0X XX XCo ast G uard Mar ine XXCo lum bia Shut tleX XXDe nver Bag gage XX XM ars Orbi ter XXM erck Vio xxX XXM icro soft Xbo x36 0X XXNe wY ork City Sub way XXDecember 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj 13

literature that focuses on the study of systematic biases. There is also a long tradition in the project management lit- erature that focuses on project failures. The objective of this article has been to determine if bringing these two tradi- tions together could prove useful in learning more about project failures and then in understanding how culture may provide the environment within which these biases may emerge.

Twenty-two professionals partici- pated in the study. They were intro- duced to systematic biases and then asked to determine which of these bias- es could help explain eight failed proj- ects. Their responses suggest that the vocabulary of systematic biases could prove very useful in understanding how the rational processes of project man- agement can be derailed by the human decision-making process.

What this result underscores is that the skills and techniques expressed in the rational view of project manage- ment, regardless of how aggressively they are pursued, may be insufficient to

Several of the dimensions used in van den Berg and Wilderom overlap with the Competing Values Model.

The nine systematic biases used in this article were mapped onto the Competing Values Model. The results are summarized in Table 3. For exam- ple, the available data bias suggests an organization and project culture char- acterized by an internal focus and a concern that external data may lead to unwelcomed changes. Airbus is an example of a case study in which this bias was observed. It can be concluded that the Airbus project culture, at the very least, could be characterized as having a preference for an internal focus and stability. One can hypothe- size from Table 3 that failed projects, in general, can be associated with organi- zational and project cultures character- ized by an internal focus and a prefer- ence for stability, not change.

Summary There is a long tradition in the organiza- tional psychology and decision-making

Cognitive Bias Competing Case in Which Cognitive Values Model Bias Was Observed

Available data Internal focus, stability Airbus

Conservatism Internal focus, stability Columbia, Merck, Microsoft, New York City Subway

Escalation of commitment Internal focus, stability

Groupthink Internal focus, stability Airbus, Microsoft

Illusion of control Internal focus, stability Airbus, Coast Guard, Denver Baggage, New York City Subway

Overconfidence Internal focus, stability Columbia, Denver Baggage

Recency Internal focus, stability Columbia

Selective perception Internal focus, stability Airbus, Coast Guard, Mars, Merck

Sunk cost Stability Denver Baggage, Mars, Merck, Microsoft

Note. The results suggest that the failed projects studied in this article reflect a project culture that can be characterized as having a preference for an internal focus and stability.

Table 3: Cognitive biases mapped onto the competing values model.

tion is that the 22 participants behaved somewhat like the project managers in these ill-fated projects and concluded that allocating additional funds to pre- vent failure was a reasonable strategy and did not constitute escalation. Another explanation is that escalation and the other biases mentioned less frequently, such as available data and recency, are very difficult to identify. Recognizing those biases may require inside informa- tion, usually difficult to obtain.

In addition to using systematic bias- es as a vocabulary for understanding failures, it is also useful to consider the role of culture, as suggested in Figure 1, in creating an environment within which these biases may emerge.

Culture does affect outcome. Hansen and Wernerfelt (1989) showed that organizational factors explain about twice as much of the variance in profit as do economic factors. Henrie and Sousa-Poza (2005), in a compre- hensive review of the literature, sug- gested that culture may be a significant factor in project failure. They also con- tended that culture is not widely report- ed in the literature, nor have there been many attempts to measure it. Ajmal and Koskinen (2008) also concluded that the failure of many projects can be attrib- uted to organizational culture, and that a significant role of the project manager is to merge several different organiza- tional and professional cultures into one project culture.

To link issues of organizational and project culture to systematic biases requires that organizational culture be measured. Five dimensions were identi- fied in van den Berg and Wilderom (2004), including autonomy, external ori- entation, interdepartmental coordina- tion, human resource orientation, and improvement orientation. Livari and Huisman (2007) used the Competing Values Model to measure culture. That model includes four dimensions: • internal focus, • external focus, • stability, and • change.

14 December 2008 � Project Management Journal � DOI: 10.1002/pmj

Systematic Biases and Culture in Project Failures

assure project success. If indeed, as suggested by the literature, systematic biases are common in the human deci- sion-making process, then there are fundamental reasons why project fail- ure should not be an unexpected result.

The study also provides some insight into the organizational and project cultures of failed projects. It suggests that when these systematic biases are overlaid on the Competing Values Model, failed projects appear to be related to organizational and project cultures characterized by an internal focus and stability. This suggests that those organizations protecting their own structures and management processes, as well as those organiza- tions resisting change and dismissing external threats, may have created an environment in which systematic bias- es should not be unexpected, even when the application of the traditional tools of project management is vigor- ously enforced.

Although the purpose of this study was to explore the usefulness of sys- tematic biases in understanding failed projects, additional work needs to be undertaken to validate the framework, results, and theories expressed in this article. This might include a larger number of participants, greater partici- pant training to better understand the systematic biases, the use of survey instruments to undertake more focused empirical studies, or additional in- depth case studies.

Unfortunately, studies of project failure, including the failures summa- rized in this study, are limited by the extent to which organizations are will- ing to reveal and discuss their failures. Because most are unwilling to do so, we are often limited to public projects or those projects whose products or serv- ices are subjected to government regu- lation, such as the Challenger and Vioxx failures. Regardless of whether an organization engages in a postmortem analysis within the organization or whether it is an independent study of the failed project, much is still left

hidden. Sometimes it is hidden to protect organizations, teams, project managers, and careers; at other times to protect brands, market share, or investments.

Because organizational culture and project culture may play an important role in creating an environment within which systematic biases emerge, and since culture, as Hofstede (1999) con- tended, is difficult and slow to change, a logical strategy for some organiza- tions would be to change management practices, which in turn may set into motion events that may minimize the emergence of systematic biases. Two examples are worth mentioning.

When Boeing established a radical- ly new approach to project manage- ment for the 777 project, it hoped that it would improve the outdated engineer- ing and management processes that had been in place for decades. At the center of this approach was an open culture requiring teams to include representation from engineering, pro- duction, management, suppliers, and customers. It was a culture that did not discourage conflict, and if a suggestion was ignored, team members were encouraged to take it to the next high- est level. It was a radically new approach to project management at Boeing and produced one of the most successful aircraft in its history (Cohen, 2000).

Another strategy is to create a cul- ture that reduces the fear of failure (Staw & Ross, 1987). Merck, recognizing that it may have gone too far in empha- sizing success and punishing failure, is now promising stock options to scien- tists who terminate unpromising proj- ects. They say it is not the loss they are rewarding, but the scientist’s willing- ness to accept the fact that the project lacks promise and that he or she is will- ing to move on (Weintraub, 2007). Certainly, one advantage of this cul- tural shift is that managers are less likely to succumb to the sunk cost trap.

In conclusion, the real objective of this study was not to conclusively relate

specific systematic biases to project failures. Moreover, it was to suggest a vocabulary that could prove useful by providing insight into why projects fail, as well as understanding how project culture may inadvertently create an environment within which these very natural biases emerge. The evidence from this study suggests that this vocabulary is worth further study. �

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Barry Shore is a professor of decision sciences in the Whittemore School of Business and Economics at the University of New Hampshire. He holds a BS in electrical engineering from Tufts University, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts, and a PhD from the University of Wisconsin. Prior to becoming a faculty mem- ber, he worked for Boeing, General Electric, and Hewlett-Packard. He has written four books and authored over 100 peer-reviewed research arti- cles that have appeared in such journals as the Communications of the ACM, International Journal of Project Management, International Journal of Technology Management, and Engineering Management Journal. In 2007, he was named a fellow of the Global Information Technology Management Association. He has been a consultant to a wide range of organiza- tions and is a member of the faculty in the University of Naples Federico Secundo’s (Italy) PhD program in science and technology management.

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HUMAN RESOUCES IN EVENT MANAGEMENT

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KAUFT King King Abdul-Aziz university university

FACULTY OF TOURISMFACULTY OF TOURISM

HUMAN RESOUCES IN EVENT MANAGEMENT

EM 625 Introduction to Human Resources in the

Hospitality Industry

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

Learning Objectives By completion of this presentation You should be able to:

Provide a brief overview of the hospitality and tourism industries and event industry.

Differentiate between events in terms of size, scope and type of event.

Explain how human resources management relates to the management of a hospitality and tourism organization.

Present an overview of human resources activities.

Recommended Textbook:

Hayes , D.K and Ninemeier , J.D.(2009) Human Resources Management in the Hospitality Industry.

Nickson, D. (2007) Human Resource Management for the Hospitality and Tourism Industries.

Wagen, L.V. (2007) Human Resource Management for Events: Managing the event workforce.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

 

 

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

Brainstorming Group work Activity:

What segments of Travel and Tourism Industry? ……….. ……….. ………..

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

The hospitality industry is one part of the larger travel and tourism industry that, in addition to hospitality, consists of: Transportation services organizations and Destination businesses.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

 

 

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

As recommended by the World Tourism Organization and adopted by the United Nations in 1991, the term tourism comprises “the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business, and other purposes”.

A successful experience in tourism combines:

A degree of novelty with a degree of familiarity.

Security of old habits with excitement of change.

A degree of risk with a degree of safety.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry The destination is defined as: “where the tourist experience occurs and where the benefits and costs of tourism development are felt”.

It is influenced by factors such as:

Cost levels at the destination.

The quality of service at the destination.

Culture and history of the destination.

The physiography / climate of the destination.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Reda Gadelrab January, 2021

 

 

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry Figure 1:Tourism Attractions

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

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Attractions

 

Cultural Geographical Events Recreation

Entertainment

Historical Sites Archaeological Sites Cuisine Monuments Industrial Sites Museums Ethnic Concerts Theatre Architecture

Landscape Seascape Parks Mountains Flora Fauna Coasts Islands

Mega event Community Festivals Religious Sports Trade shows Corporate

Sightseeing Golf Swimming Tennis Hiking Biking Winter Sport

Theme parks Amusement Casino Shopping Facilities Arts centre Sports complexes

Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

The for – profit and not – for – profit operations in the hospitality segment share a common goal:

“to provide lodging and/or accommodations including

food services for people when they are away from their

homes”.

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

Hospitality is rooted in the relationships that develop between hosts and guests, a dynamic which has existed since the first human societies emerged. Many people think of hotels and restaurants when they think of the hospitality industry, but it comprises numerous types of organizations. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, hospitality means “the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors or strangers with liberality and good will.” Figure 2 identifies three segments of the travel and tourism industry.

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

Figure 2: Overview of Hospitality Industry

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

The travel and tourism industry can be divided into three segments: 1. Transportation services, 2. Hospitality, and 3. Destination businesses.

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry Figure 3: Providers of Hospitality and Tourism Services

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

Lodging organizations within the hospitality segment include: hotels, conference centers, destination resorts, camp and park ground facilities, and inns.

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry Figure 4: Organization Chart of a Large Hotel

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry The foodservices segment can be divided into two general components.: 1- For – profit operations / Commercial include: hotels, restaurants, caterers, and retail operations such as grocery stores and service stations that provide prepackaged sandwiches, beverages, snacks, and other items.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

2-The other component, Not- for – profit operations / Institutional, includes food services offered by:

Educational facilities,

Healthcare institutions,

The military,

Business/industry organizations, Religious and charitable groups,

Correctional facilities, and

Transportation companies.

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Overview of Hospitality IndustryOverview of Hospitality Industry

Other hospitality segments include organizations such as: Events, Private clubs, Sports and recreational foodservice operations, Cruise ships, Vending businesses, and Amusement and theme parks.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events Importance of Events in our Lives:

Today, events are central to our culture as perhaps never before.

Governments now support and promote events as part of their strategies for economic development, nation building and destination marketing.

Corporations and businesses embrace events as key elements in their marketing strategies and image promotion.

Events spill out of our newspapers and television screens, occupy much of our time and enrich our lives.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events Events are phenomena that occur in a certain place at a certain time.

Each event has a beginning and an ending.

Events or festivals are carried out by a local community, and they have a premeditated plan.

Events and festival have not always been organized in order to gain financial benefit.

The main classifications of events are generally business, sporting and cultural.

It is important to attempt to define ‘event’ and ‘event product’.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events An event is generally a complex social endeavor characterized by sophisticated planning with a fixed deadline, often involving numerous stakeholders. An event product is the whole package of goods and services. This is primarily the event program but it also includes merchandise, food, service, the environment, transport, queues etc. it is “a unique blend of activities, which are the tools for achieving the overall event aims and satisfying customer needs”.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events A special event is a “unique moment in time celebrated with ceremony and ritual to satisfy specific needs”. While this definition clearly satisfies most events falling in the category of cultural events, it is not entirely satisfactory for many large- scale, commercial or corporate events such as product launches and other business events which are not necessarily celebratory.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events Events can be divided in four main categories:

1. Local / community Events

These events are not seeking for international or even national publicity. These kinds of events may be organized by a school, sport club or local shop. Generally they are small and linked to a particular geography like a many faceted event, as it brings together the local community, attracts tourists and effectively launches a product each year.

2. Major Events

These events are able to raise interest in media and also produce recognizable economic benefits. These are capable of attracting significant numbers of visitors and media coverage, offering potentially positive economic benefits. Typically, this could be a sporting event such as American football’s Super Bowl held in a different city every January. Premiere league also is another type.

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Overview of EventsOverview of Events 3. Hallmark Events

These events have gained worldwide interest and attract globally to the extent that people affiliate the event with a certain country or city. They need not automatically be bigger than major events, but they are synonymous with a particular place, such as the Frankfurt Book Fair (www.book-fair.com/ en/) in Germany.

4. Mega Events

They have a major effect on economics, tourism, employment rate and politics. These symbolic events are global and can influence the host country’s economy. They tend to be either sporting or tourist in nature, such as the FIFA World Cup. Hosting such events is risky, but there is a perception that the benefits could be very significant.

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Overview of HR in Hospitality IndustryOverview of HR in Hospitality Industry

Organizations in the hospitality industry tend to be Labor— Intensive.

Technology cannot provide the level of service that is integral to the expectations of many consumers.

Even the phrase, hospitality , refers to the friendly treatment of one’s guests, and this human touch must be provided by the organization’s staff members.

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Overview of HR in Hospitality IndustryOverview of HR in Hospitality Industry

Hospitality and tourism organizations require employees.

Success requires a full complement of staff members from owners/managers to entry – level employees who consistently attain required quality and quantity standards.

In this industry, the emphasis must be on human resources , and leaders must practice human resources management principles and practices.

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Overview of HR in Hospitality IndustryOverview of HR in Hospitality Industry

Human resources concerns ranging from: Compensation and benefits to Opportunities for training and professional development, as well as Beliefs about how they fit into the organization, are important to many staff members.

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Overview of HR in Hospitality IndustryOverview of HR in Hospitality Industry

Some human resources managers begin their careers in operating positions in a hospitality or tourism organization and then move into a specialized human resources position. Others begin in hospitality human resources and spend much of their career in progressively more responsible positions in that discipline. Still others with hospitality human resources duties move into similar positions in other industries.

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Events: a new context for HR managementEvents: a new context for HR management

Human resource management remains a key success factor even in smaller, locally based events.

Essentially, the main differences between the management of an event and the management of an ongoing business enterprise is that the event is generally intangible and untested, and there is only one chance to get it right.

In contrast, a retail store that doesn’t sell stock in the current month can put it all on sale the following month and hope to at least recover its costs.

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Contemporary human Contemporary human resource managementresource management

Formerly, the personnel function was associated quite narrowly with recruitment, selection and implementation of company policy.

However, contemporary human resource managers see their role as being more strategic and business oriented.

Where the event organization has this focus, whether in the form of a human resource department or the allocation of this function to relevant managers, there are considerable benefits.

At a strategic level, the event organization needs to decide which services should be contracted out and which kept in-house.

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Contemporary human Contemporary human resource managementresource management

Labour cost is frequently amongst the most significant of the costs associated with running an event.

The most significant issue for strategic planners is the temporary nature of most event-related employment.

Maximizing performance and achieving optimal levels of service is only possible through effective strategic human resource planning, which is undertaken by HR specialists and/or managers throughout the event organization.

Human resource management is a shared responsibility.

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How can the hospitality industry successfully How can the hospitality industry successfully compete for its employees?compete for its employees?

Some organizations have found creative alternatives that allow selected persons to become entrepreneurs. These persons manage a specific part of the business and receive a specified part of the profits from its successful operation. This may be a motivator for those with an entrepreneurial spirit.

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King Abdul Aziz University – Faculty of Tourism Human Resources in Event Management – Master in Event Management Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry

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How can the hospitality industry successfully How can the hospitality industry successfully compete for its employees?compete for its employees?

One example occurs when a bonus is paid to a hospitality manager based on performance that exceeds specified financial goals.

Other organizations offer creative profit-sharing plans to staff members for whom money is a motivator.

When revenues and expenses for a specific venue, such as a food or beverage outlet or a gift shop in a hotel, can be specifically allocated, additional opportunities for entrepreneurial arrangements become possible.

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Managing Human Resources in the Hospitality Organization

The staff members of every hospitality and tourism organization are its most important resource.

How their work is managed (facilitated) directly impacts the success or failure of the organization.

The basic management process is the same in almost any type of organization, and it consists of six basic functions that relate to all resources , including staff members:

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Managing Human Resources in the Hospitality Organization

The six basic functions of Human Resources Management that relate to all resources , including staff members:

1. Planning 2. Organizing 3. Staffing 4. Supervising 5. Controlling 6. Appraising

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Managing Human Resources in the Hospitality Organization

Level Of Management:

1. Top-Level Manager

2. Mid-Level Manager

3. Supervisor

Each person with management responsibility has obligations relating to each function.

Top – level managers tend to have longer – term, big – picture responsibilities,

Managers have more specific departmental – related duties, and

Supervisors serve as linking pins to connect upper levels of management with entry – level staff members in day – to – day operations.

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Managing Human Resources in the Hospitality Organization

“The Role of Human Resources Is Broader Than Just Filling Positions”.

Effective human relations procedures must be used to recruit and select staff members. However, human resources responsibilities extend beyond this and further than other stereotypical duties such as:

Planning staff parties, Approving employee vacations, and Collecting paperwork when new employees are hired.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Large hospitality and tourism organizations typically have human resources departments with staff specialists whose primary responsibilities focus on human resources concerns.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

“THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS HUMAN RESOURCES!”

Labor shortages are an ongoing challenge in hospitality industry, and much of a manager’s time is often spent in recruiting and training.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Reasons for labor shortages typically include: An inadequate number of persons desiring to work in the industry, Perceived low compensation, Very high employee turnover rates.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Employee turnover: The proportion of total employees replaced during a specific time period.

# Employees leaving during the year

= Turnover rate

# Employees in the work force

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Managers can use three basic strategies to address labor shortages, and each has human resources implications:

1. Keep the people currently employed; reduce the turnover rate.

2. Increase productivity. 3. Recruit from non-traditional labor

markets. Thus, selecting the right persons is helpful, as is providing well-thought-out orientation, training, and professional development programs for interested staff members.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Figure 5 reviews basic human resources activities and indicates the external and internal influences on these activities.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities

Recruiting/selecting: These tasks include:

Tactics and procedures to attract applicants to the organization (recruiting) and

Choosing the very best persons among them (selecting).

Training and development:

Preparing new staff members to do required work,

Updating their experienced peers, and

Providing opportunities for all interested staff members to conduct more responsible positions

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities Compensation and appraisal:

Personnel should receive pay and benefits commensurate with their contributions to the organization.

Performance appraisal provides input to help employees attain the on – job success that can yield promotions with higher compensation levels.

Protection and communications:

Safety and security concerns are of obvious importance to all employees.

In addition, effective communication that flows up, down and across the organization helps ensure that staff members know about issues that affect them.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities External Influences: Figure 5 indicates that human resources activities are impacted by external influences. These include:

Legislation . The impact of federal, state, and other laws on the hiring process.

Consumer preferences . What consumers desire must be identified.

Demographics .The characteristics of the local labor market and the guests.

Global issues . international and national events that encourage (e.g., sporting events and special commemorations) and discourage (e.g., violence and disease threats) travel.

Economy .The financial well – being of world markets and the country

Employee unions. that represents employees’ interests in numerous aspects of the human resources activities.

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Human Resources ActivitiesHuman Resources Activities Internal Influences: Figure 5 also suggests that there are internal organizational influences on human resources activities:

Policies .A policy can greatly influence how an organization feels about staff members.

Work Procedures . the amount of employee empowerment.

Corporate culture . The perceived worth of employees to the organization.

Long- and short- term plans . Longer – term plans such as expansion or downsizing and shorter – term plans such as rolling out a new program.

Management judgment and experience brought to the decision – making process.

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Diversity in the Hospitality WorkplaceDiversity in the Hospitality Workplace

Diversity: It means providing equal opportunities to persons of selected characteristics such as: age, gender, mental/physical abilities, sexual orientation, race, or ethnic heritage.

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Diversity in the Hospitality WorkplaceDiversity in the Hospitality Workplace

Overview Of Diversity: The hospitality and tourism industry has typically employed a large number of minorities as well as other persons who are seeking a short – term job (not a career).

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Diversity in the Hospitality WorkplaceDiversity in the Hospitality Workplace

Overview Of Diversity:

Hotels, restaurants, clubs, foodservices operators in noncommercial facilities, and others compete with potential employers in other industries for persons without specialized knowledge or skills to work at beginning wage rates in entry – level positions which leads to that employees can only work in low – paying and dead – end positions.

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Diversity in the Hospitality WorkplaceDiversity in the Hospitality Workplace

However, the industry in general, and many organizations more specifically, have implemented and publicized efforts to upgrade the industry’s reputation by making genuine efforts to offer career opportunities, with all of the advantages that accrue to them, to all interested persons.

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Human Resources ResponsibilitiesHuman Resources Responsibilities

What tasks are involved in the management of human resources in a hospitality or tourism organization? The short answer is: “ almost everything involved in the relationship between

staff members and the organization. ”

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Individual Assignment # Individual Assignment # 11

Title: Introduction to Human Resources in the Hospitality Industry. Points to be covered: 1. How might a staff human resources

specialist in a multiunit organization assist a property manager with the basic human resources activities noted in Figure 5 in slide 42?

2. Explain and discuss the importance of tourism sector in achieving the KSA’s Vision 2030.

3. Explain and discuss potential workforce opportunities for event sector in the KSA.

4. Explain and discuss the hospitality sector workforce regulations in the KSA.

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Individual Assignment # Individual Assignment # 11

Instruction for the assignment:

Type of attached file: word document file attached through course messages on the BlackBoard.

Name of word file: Assignment 1

Deadline: Saturday, 30/1/2021

Grades assigned: 10 Marks.

You should have a cover page for your assignment involving the following information: Course Name and its Code; Assignment Title; Student Full Name; Student ID No.; Submitted to whom, Date of Submission.

A list of References used should be added by the end of Assignment.

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THANK YOU

Thank you for being with me today and please feel free to ask any questions.

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Report Help

Creating a Report

In Week 3: Assignment 1, you began the Pre-Writing step for a report for your boss on Richard Hackman’s statement that using a team to complete a complex project may not be the best approach.

Your assignment this week is to continue the 3×3 writing process and complete the report.

Continuing your research using Scholarly sources and the Internet, complete the report. Your report must include the following:

· An outline of how you have formulated your response to Richard Hackman’s statement. Your outline should provide a reasonable framework for the report and show where you are going to use each of the pieces of information you found through your research

· An introduction to the report that explains the purpose of the report, the significance of the topic, and a preview of the main points to be discussed

· The body of the report that uses clear headings and topics arranged logically, in an appropriate tone

· Meaningful conclusions and practical recommendations in the report

· Multiple current and credible sources

Support your responses with examples.

Cite any sources in APA format.

 

 

Grading Criteria  
 

Provided an outline of how the response to Richard Hackman’s statement was formulated that provides a reasonable framework for the report.

 
 

Provided an introduction to the report that explains the purpose of the report, the significance of the topic, and a preview of the main points to be discussed.

 
 

Created the body of the report that used clear headings and topics arranged logically, in an appropriate tone.

 
Provided meaningful conclusions and practical recommendations in the report.  
 

Provided multiple current and credible sources in the report.

 
Written components.  
   

 

Report from week 3A1

 

Using a team to complete a complex project may not be the best approach” J. Richard Hackman

What are the first steps of the 3×3 writing process–the prewriting process?

The pre writing process involves the following steps as illustrated below;

Analyze; ask what the main message in the writing and how the message itself is to be delivered. The mode of deliver could be anything such as email, letter, memo or even a presentation.

Anticipate; in order to determine the tone of the message consider what type of audience you would be dealing with as well as their possible reaction when they receive the message eventually. For instance this writing will be meant for the boss consumption therefore the tone must be formal than if this writing would be directed to a fellow worker.

Adapt; is a combination of the middle analyses and the anticipation stages above. Adaptation according to Guffey (2008) is creating a message in order to make it suit the audience. In adapting the message we importantly consider how the audience will react to the message. As a writer try to narrow down to the specific audience and it’s requirement. By keeping the reader in mind business writer cultivate a proper relation with the reader and are in turn most likely to achieve their purpose.

What is the purpose of your report?

This report is to inform my company’s boss of the truth and the substance in J Hackmans statement concerning using groups to complete complex project. The statement states that using teams may not be the best approach when it comes to completing complex project. This report is to shade more light on the importance of this statement through a well drafted research.

Why are you writing this report?

This report is being report on request by my boss. He has stated that he needs a report on Hackmans statement since the statement is contrary to the business practice therefore it’s important that the information be proven right or wrong.

What do you hope to achieve with this report?

This report is aimed at ensuring that the boss is well informed on the matters that concern the use of teams to complete project. The report aims to satisfy the need of the company boss by presenting him with a well researched and written report that either asserts Hackmans statement or fully contradict it.

What is the best channel to send your report?

A report is a formal communication that is presented after a thorough investigation or research on a certain question or idea. Every report before is prepared must be authorized by the immediate individual in authority who tasks either a group or individual with the responsibility of researching or investigating.

What factors did you consider in making this decision?

In deciding the channel to use in sending the report I considered the level of formality involved in the report and the position of the individual who had authorized the report to be prepared. Formal reports must be delivered in person and in a formal session where proper notes are taken and kept for future reference.

Who is your primary audience?

In this report the primary audience is the boss who has requested for a researched report on the stated matter. A primary audience refers to that individual or group that the message is basically intended for.

 Do you have a secondary audience?

A secondary audience refers to that audience to whom the message was not basically intended but they can be able to get the message and make important use of it. In this report the secondary audience can be the board of directors who are the main policy makers in the company. They may take consideration of the report to change the policy of using teams to complete projects.

What is the appropriate tone for your report?

This report is official therefore the tone that will be used is formal. Formal tone is important when communicating official information especially that which is intended for the superiors. The boss here will understand better the information in the report if it is communicated in the most formal way.

What techniques will you use to help you achieve a positive tone?

A positive tone can be achieved through the use of formal address cues such as Sir. The audience in the report should be addressed as per their position in the organization rather than through their names and initials.

How are you going to ensure your report has a “you” view?

The report can attain the “you” view by ensuring that the ideas are original from what was the outcome of my personal research. The use of article I will also come in handy in ensuring that I take ownership of the information in the report.

Give an example of how you will make your report:

Conversational and professional

Following the request from the office of the Managing Director that a report is prepared as it concerns the use of teams to complete complex projects, I hereby present to your office the outcome of my research.

Courteous

Please allow me in my submission to highlight certain facts that I found quite interesting to this study.

Bias-free

The research does not only assert the position of the statement but also finds it important that certain aspects of the statement be criticized in the most objective manner.

Precise and vigorous

The report covered the following areas and had the following as the outcomes or the results, suggestions too have been provided for consideration by your office.

References

Guffey,M.(2008) Business Communication: Process & Product. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning,

Writing in the Disciplines: Business. Retrieved from             http://writing2.richmond.edu/writing/wweb/business/started.html

Raymond, G.(2012). Concepts in Business Writing, London, Sage

 
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Motivational Interviewing Role-Play Annotated Script

Demonstrate an understanding of Prochaska’s model and motivational interviewing by writing an annotated script for a role-play that captures the theories experientially. Address the following in your role-play:

 

·         What stage of change the client is currently in or various stages in relation to Prochaska’s model

·         An interpersonal stance and a questioning technique that exhibits motivational interviewing

 

o    Expressing empathy

o    Developing discrepancy

o    Rolling with resistance

o    Supporting self-efficacy

 

 

Submit your annotated script.

600-800words

 
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Compensation & Benefits Assignment

REW ARD AND COMPENSATION STRATEGY: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Sami A. Khan

The procurement, development and retaining of employees have never been so important than today in most of the organizations worldwide. Companies are relentlessly searching for ways to retain their core employees. Understand- ing the interlinkages between peljormance management strategy, training and development strategy. compensation strategy. and deployment of em- ployees has become very vital for attracting, motivating and retaining good employees. In this era of restructuring and downsizing, much needs to be done by the employers to motivate their employees. The companies who are restructuring themselves are finding it difficult to keep up the morale of their employees. In many cases. the huge incentive and performance related pay systems have failed, and the psychological contract between employees and employers is under the process of redefinition. To sustain the motivational level of employees. organizations must demonstrate to them a close link be- tween performance and rewards. This is the rationale which is advocated for the Lise of merit pay. But in spite of its attractiveness. the PRP and ESOP sometimes bring about results precisely the opposite from the desired ones. The role of H R manager has to be a facilitator’s one to encourage line man- agers in creating such an environment. The communication level between the different st’akeholders is also required to be high to dispel any misunder- standing and then a right kind of performance based work culture can be nurtured.

INTRODUCTION

1fhe decade of the 90s will be known for mergers, acquisitions,restructuring and downsizing in business history. Companies. started looking beyond the internal boundaries for repositioning them- selves to face the eventuality of the new, complex and fast-changing busi- ness scenario. Though this was a difficult proposition for them as the rules ofthe game were changing very fast, some ofthem grabbed this opportunity nicely and became winners whereas some lagged behind. Gary Hamel re-

Management & Change. Volume 4. Number I (January-June 2000) ~ 2000 Institute for Integrated Learning in Management. All Rights Reserved.

 

 

92 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

marks that, “simply catching up to where others have been is necessary to stay in the game, but the winners will be those companies who have the ability to invent fundamentally new games.” He is of the view that what- ever any organization needs to know to create the future, it can. Microsoft knew what it wanted as did CNN. He poses a question: Why was it CNN rather than the BBC that created the global news network?!

In fact, the success of the company depended on its adaptability, re- ~ponsiveness and the extent of new learning. A business strategy with a facilitating structure, system and processes acquired more attention in the firms at the tail end of the twentieth century. The people management func- tion also gained more status in the last decade, though now it is under much pressure to deliver results serving the business strategy of the firm. Much have been written about business strategy and its importance in creating competitive advantage. Anderson (1997) prescribes in this regard that a com- plete business strategy should have three key components: (i) an operating strategy (ii) a financial strategy, and (iii) a people strategy. He suggests that the HR and the corporation’s management group should engage themselves in the strategic management process which links business strategy, organiza- tional capability and people strategies. Discussing his experiences at Amoco Corporation, he avers that the HR function has developed a “Renewal Star” framework (Figure-I) which is the focus of the corporate-wide change pro- cess. The people and reward strategies are important ingredients of this change process at Amoco.

LINKAGES BETWEEN THE BUSINESS STRATEGY AND RE- WARD AND COMPENSATION STRATEGY

The procurement, utilization, development and retention of employees have never been so important in most of the organizations worldwide. Companies are relentlessly searching for ways to retain their core employees. Adoption of merit payor performance-related pay, employee stock option plans (ESOP), gain-sharing and profit-sharing plans are very common practices being used to lure the core workers in recent times. The shift from “compliance” to “commitment” has forced managers to regularly search for newer ways of providing motivational inputs to reinforce self-regulated behaviour among employees in the organization. In fact, the reward and compensation strat- egy has become one of the important parts ofHR strategy. Ina country like India, it assumes a central focus of the HR strategy (Figure-2). In India, the

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• Mission, Vision, Values, Goals and Strategies

• Strategy Reformulation

• Amoco Performance Management Process

• Amoco Management Learning Center

• Recruiting • Career Management • Diversity

• Recognition and Reward • Amoco Performan.ce Share Plan • Variable Pay • Gainsharing

Figu re-I: Amoco Renewal Star: Integrating Activities

• Business Units • Decentralization • Delegation of Authority • Corporate Centers Study

• Cost Management • Management Principles • Task Force • Assessment Process (Surveys) • Continuous Improvement:

Project Spring Business Process Reengineering Continuous Improvement! Employee Involvement Quality Customer Focus

Source: Based on Anderson (\ 997: 20).

 

 

94 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

aggregate wage bill of 100 large companies having a turnover of more than Rs. 300 crore in 1998-99 has increased by 13.2 percent from Rs. 8,344 crore in 1997-98 to Rs. 9,447 crore. Even companies like Tata Steel, TELCO, Grasim, Associated Cement, Reliance, Mahindra & Mahindra, Century Tex- tiles, Voltas, and Eveready among others have failed to check the rise in their wage cost.2

Figure-2: Relationship Between Business Strategy and Compensation. Strategy

Business Strategy

~ HRStrategy

Deployment < “II > Performance St'”t~ Reward& . ~ilt,gy

~ comp,n’inst,ateg,lC(,

Training & Development Strategy

Competitive Advantage

To understand the interlinkages between the performance appraising strategy, training and development strategy, compensation strategy, and de- ployment strategy is very vital for HR managers for attracting, motivating and retaining good employees. This has been stressed by the proponents of both schools ofHR strategy, i.e., hard approach (Michigan School) and soft approach (Harvard School).3

Beaty and Schneier (1997) using Treacy and Wiersema’s (1995) model suggest HR executives to align their compensation strategy with the organization’s primary strategic path to competitive advantage. These paths may be: (i) operational excellence, (ii) product leadership, and/or (iii) cus- tomer intimacy (Table-1).

An operational excellence strategy following firm is a low price pro- vider. It builds operational systems that contiimally reduce cost while offer-

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i ~-~-

Table-l Strategic Choice of the Firm and its Relationship with Reward, Performance, and Development Strategies

HR Strategies

Work D~sign

Performance Measures

Rewards

Development

Operational Excellence

• Centralized/Controlled • Strict policies/procedures

• Total cost productivity • Errors • Waste • Abandoned calls • Lost customers/accounts • Net sales head count • Times/deadlines met

• Team productivity awards • Profit sharing tied to

performance criteria • Skill-based pay

• Strong orientation on expectations, rules

• Predictable career ladder

Product Leadership

• Coordinated • Teams (cross functional)

• % Sales from new products (e.g., lastJ years)

• Margin • Sales growth • Customer growth • Industry accolades/recognition • Copyrights • Patents

• Team innovation awards • Competency-based pay

• Employees responsible for learning

• Mandatory Competency growth • Feedback on professional

competency growth

Customer Intimacy

• Autonomy • Know the customers’ needs

• Customer guarantees • Customer retention rate • No. of referrals from

current customers

• Individual awards • System awards • Nonfinancial awards • “Fee for Service” awards

• Oriented toward long-term focus with customer

• Not a lot of leaders • Acts as a consultant to

customer/partner

Source: Adapted from Beatty and Schneier (1997: 32)

 

 

96 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

ing a quality product which adds greater value to its customers than the competitors’ products. The right kind of behaviour can be reinforced using gain sharing plan of compensation in this kind of scenario (Stack, 1992; Becker and Huselid, 1997). A firm with an operational excellence strategy focuses on short-term production objectives, avoids waste, and is concerned more about the quantity. Some of the examples include: Federal Express, Dell, and Nucor (Beatty and Schneier, 1997).

An organization pursuing product leadership strategy puts primacy on innovation, has long-term focus, is antibureaucratic, is driven by learning, has high tolerance for ambiguity and offers a greater degree of risk-taking to its employees. These firms provide their employees with cross-functional collaboration and encourage a high degree of creative behaviour and entre- preneurial mindset. Companies like Sony, Glaxo, Merck, 3M and Intel among others are true product leaders in this regard. Whereas, firms such as Four Seasons, Airborne, Roadway, Home Depot, and Cott following a customer intimacy strategy focus on providing unique customer solutions and treat it as the source of their competitive advantage. In these organizations, reward management plays a critical role and focuses more on the primary contact of employees with customers to reinforce employee networking, communi- cation and relationship-building with the customer to enhance the degree of customization (Beaty and Schneier, 1997).

The relationship between the strategic choices and reward and com- pensation strategy of a firm is quite evident from Table-I. But it depends to a large extent on the history, culture, mindset of the workforce, and owner- ship of the firm to adopt a mix of reward strategy which facilitates the right kind of learning inculcating the right kind of behaviour among its employ- ees. Beaty and Schneier (1997) advocate that besides HR’s role in executing the business strategy, the role of managing a cultural transformation by shaping the mindset and behaviour that impact on the firm’s operational and finan- cial outcomes is very important for HR managers. The reward strategy adopted to reinforce the right kind of mindset and behaviour among people is the most lethal weapon in the hands of HR managers in this regard. In fact, for retaining good people, the compensation decisions have become very strategic in the present scenario. “Compensation strategy has become central to many companies’ businesses and they are concerned less about acquiring physical resources and more about how their human resources can efficiently exploit them,” is the view expressed by Richard Walker, who has recently written a report on “Motivating and Rewarding Managers” for the

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Khan 97

EIU, a sister company of The Economist. Albert Knab, head of compensa- tion and benefits at the Stuttgart offices of Daimler Chrysler, a company which is going through a cultural change, also opines that “compensation policy is central to supporting the company culture” (The Econolllist, 1999). But the adoption of compensation and reward strategy poses certain funda- mental questions which are supposed to be answered before going for its execution. The traditional job evaluation method is becoming irrelevant and most of the companies are adopting skill or competency based compensa- tion plans these days. They are identifying compensable skill and compe- tency blocks and adopting mechanisms to certify these blocks and translate them into pay packages. Some of the objectives of these plans as enunci- ated by Lawler (1994) are as follows:

To signal the employees that continuous learning is valued and is a key to the organization’s success; To provide employees an incentive or reward to acquire additional skills and competencies which are relevant in the company; To remove job barriers to encourage flexibility or multi skilling; To establish a workable, agreed-upon pay structure; To explain/reduce disputes in terms of skill differences; and To ensure that the pay arrangement supports other human resource programmes such as training and career planning.

DESIGNING RELEVANT SKILLS AND COMPETENCIES

In traditional job evaluation methods, the jobs are valued in terms oftheir relative worth and their contribution to the overall organizational goals. Apart from grading, ranking, factor comparison, and point methods, the Hay method is widely used in organizations. More than 5,000 employers use it world- wide, and 130 out of the 500 largest US corporations have been using this method for long. This method uses a combination of both factor and point methods of evaluation. Hay chart lays emphasis on three key areas of a job know how, problem solving and accountability factors inherent in a job. Many companies have redefined their old Hay-charts to suit the demands of the emergent business scenario. Hallmark is one of the good examples in this regard. When Hallmark Cards realized that the original Hay factors were no longer adequately reflected in what they wanted to value in their work and business strategy, they changed its structure to infuse the elements ofteam-

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98 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

involvement, leadership and cross-functional expertise (Milkovich and Newman, 1996).

Table-2 Revised Hay Factors at Hallmark Cards

ORIGINAL FACTORS PROPOSED FACTORS

1. Know-how 1. Capacity Functional expertise Business system Managerial skills Integrating resources Human Relations Teaming skills

2. Problem solving 2. Improvement opportunities Environment Context Challenge Challenge

3. Accountability 3. Scope Freedom to act Empowerment Impact of end results Impact of end results Magnitude Reach

Source: Adopted from Milkovich and Newman (1996: 141).

Companies who are adopting cultural change to meet the needs of the market place in the new business scenario are also adopting a competency framework linking it with an open and honest performance management system and gradually moving towards the paying for performance plan. They are paying their people for acquiring relevant competency which is also referred by specialists as DNA 4 of the organization. This DNA gives life to the firm and helps it in developing relevant organizational capability. Glaxo Wellcome, UK (GWUK) which employs 1500 employees and is val- ued at over £30 billion is the leading pharmaceutical company which had successfully adopted this kind of competency framework. GWUK assess- ing its employees around these competencies gave the right kind of rein- forcement, that was needed in certain areas of operations. The company adopted BPR in the year 1994-95 which led to the alignment of a number of human resource strategies. The business imperative for change arose from

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Khan 99

the employees’ needs at all levels to respond much more flexibly and quickly to the changing business reality. At GWUK, a reward and development strategy was adopted to drive this change and to acquire organizational capa- bility for delivering the highest level of competence. GWUK adopted a com- petency framework and defined competency as “what you know, what you do and how you do it which, when applied by an individual or a team, leads to proactive outcomes for GWUK.” The company identified 20 core com- petencies which were needed to be acquired by everyone across the busi- ness regardless of their individual roles and functions. It also adopted a performance management system to help employees to “build up a picture” of what they should achieve which also acted as a “development checklist” for employees and managers to identify the gap which can be bridged by experiential learning. The performance management system was “feedback- rich” with the intention of supporting the strong communication culture of the organization. The important thing to observe here was that the pay re- view was not kept directly connected to the developmental needs of the employees. In fact, assessment of performance and competence contributed towards the determination of pay but the performance appraisal system was successfully positioned as first and foremost an ongoing development and monitoring tool. The managers at Glaxo Wellcome also believed that nothing fails quite as badly as a failed reward scheme and they continued to learn about the differential competencies of the high performers. These steps con- tributed to -agreat extent in achieving success at GWUK (Stredwick, 1997). The interventions experienced at Glaxo can be benchmarked and replicated elsewhere to put in place the right kind of competencies and capabilities required by individuals, teams, and organization as a whole.

STRATEGIC COMPENSATION ISSUES

Some of the basic questions which are to be addressed at the time of adopt- ing a reward and compensation strategy by the compensation specialists today, are: i) Whether pay is going to be job-based or skill/competency-based; ii) In the case of pay for performance, whether it will be individual or

team-based; iii) The extent of equity and market positioning of the firm; whether the

finn is trying to be a market leader, a laggard or in-between these two situations, benchmarking from the market and adopting it with some

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100 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

time difference; Table-3

Core Competency Framework at GWUK

DIMENSIONS COMPETENCIES

1. Personal Qualities

2. Planning to Achieve

3. Business and Customer Focus

4. Supportive Leadership

5. Working With Others

Source: Based on Stredwick (1997: 30).

• Personal accountability • Personal organization

Self-development • Creativity and innovation • Flexibility • Continuous improvement

Gathering, analyzing and interpreting data to produce information

• Problem solving and decision making • Establishing a plan • Implementing and monitoring achieve-

ment • Company environment • Business environment • Customer focus • Effective leadership • Empowering • Team-working, managing conflict and

being supportive • Developing colleagues

Giving and receiving feedback • Networking and building relationships

Communication

iv) The degree of standardization of the package across the functions and levels;

v) The balance between base pay, added pay, deferred payment, long- term and short-term benefits, and services; and

vi) The degree of involvement of the line managers in the designing and implementing of the reward strategy. Lawler (1984) prescribes nine fundamental strategic issues to be con-

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Khan 101

sidered carefully at the time of designing the compensation strategy given in Table-4. He talks about the basis of pay, mode of pay for performance, extent of internal and external equities, degree of centralization of the reward strategy, degree of hierarchy in reward, reward mix, process issues regarding compensation decision-making, and modes and channels of its communica- tion, and congruency of the reward system. In the present situation, when the pay variance is becoming wider, equity is a tricky issue though a good number of companies are benchmarking and market pricing their key jobs. Issues such as the extent of centralization and hierarchy of reward are of grave importance and it depends to a great extent on the culture, history and vision of the company while deciding these issues. It is evident from the experiences of many successful companies that a reward system is highly circumstantial. Some times, firms lose their focus because of the lack of congruence in their reward strategy and its non-alignment across the organi- zation. These are the issues which can motivate or de motivate employees, help retain or force people to quit. Therefore, firms should be very careful while designing the reward and compensation strategy and more impor- tantly in implementing it to give the right kind of signal to employees.

Table-4 Strategic Issues in the Design of Compensation Systems

1. The Basis for Rewards 2. Pay for Performance 3. Market Position 4. Internal-External Pay Comparison-Orientation 5. Centralized-Decentralized Reward Strategy 6. Degree of Hierarchy 7. Reward Mix 8. Process Issues:

• Communication Policy • Decision-making Practices

9. Reward System Congruence

Source: Based on Beaumont (1996: 104) who adapted from Lawler (1984: 131-46).

Gomez-Mejia and Welboume (1996) also identify issues which are stra- tegic and need to be considered while designing compensation programmes. They categorize them into three following categories:

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102 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

a) the criteria or bases for determining pay levels; b) the design of the compensation system; and c) the administrative framework.

These issues are to be dealt with cautiously and in line with the business strategy while adopting them. Gomez-Mejia and Welboume (1996) also classify them as mechanistic and organic compensation strategies depend- ing on the nature of these issues and orientation of the firm. They are of the view that the organic compensation strategy where emphasis is more on skill, performance, risk taking, and qualitative aspect of performance are practised by the firms which have dynamic growth whereas the mechanistic and bureaucratic organizations which are relatively old and matured, and looking for maintaining their current market share pursue mechanistic com- pensation strategy in most of the cases (Gomez-Mejia and We1boume, 1996).

Table-S Strategic Compensation Patterns

MECHANISTIC COMPENSATION STRATEGY

Basis for Pay Job Seniority Emphasis Individual Appraisals Short-telm Orientation Risk Aversion Corporate & Division Performance Internal >External Equity Hierarchical Emphasis Quantitative Performance Measures Design Issues Pay Level> Market Fixed Pay> Incentives Frequent Bonuses Reliance on Intrinsic Rewards Administrative Framework Centralized Secrecy Policies No Participation Bureaucratic Policies

ORGANIC COMPENSATION STRATEGY

Skills Performance Emphasis Group and Individual Appraisals Long-Term Orientation . Risk Taking Division Performance External >Internal Equity Egalitarian Emphasis Qualitative Performance Measures

Pay Level < Market Incentives >Fixed Pay Deferred Income Reliance on Extrinsic Rewards

Decentralized Open Communication PaI1icipation Flexible Policies

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Khan 103

WHAT MOTIVATES EMPLOYEES?

In this era of restructuring and downsizing, much needs to be done by the employers to motivate their employees. The companies who are restructur- ing themselves are finding it difficult to keep up the morale of their employ- ees. In many cases, the huge incentive and performance-related pay system has failed. The psychological contract between the employees and employ- ers is under the process of redefinition.

In such a scenario, where the firms are looking for knowledge manage- ment and adapting themselves to behave like a learning organization, the availability of self-regulated, committed and motivated employees gives them a competitive edge over others. Lester Thurow (1999) proclaims that “the dominant competitive weapon of the twenty-first century will be the edu- cation and skills of the workforce.” Companies are offering an array of benefits to motivate their workers. Some of the present practices are: over- time and holidays; retirement plans and insurance benefits; general and special fringe benefits; tax-advantage programmes; vacation and sick leaves; employee services/assistance; special work-related expenditure plan; edu- cational expenditure plans; etc.

Attracting, developing and retaining employees are posing a challenge to employers. They are looking more concerned now. It is more evident in those sectors where turnover of employees is very high, e.g., software, where the attrition rate is more than 25 percent. Milkovich and Newman (1996) find that employers generally look concerned for four types of behaviour of their employees: i) How do we get good .employment prospects to join our -company? ii) How do we retain these good employees once they join? iii) How do we get employees to develop skills for current and future

jobs? iv) How do we get employees to perform well on their current job?

But the concern of the employers is not being seen translated most of the time due to the lack of the will on their part to understand what moti- vates the employees despite the fact that a number of motivational theories right from the content to the process theories are there to explain the behaviour of employees. It is well understood that motivation is the inner feeling and drive of the person which force him/her to behave in a certain way. In this regard, the Vroom’s Expectancy Theory of motivation is worth mentioning

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104 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

which helps managers to understand the behaviour of the people in a better way. Vroom (1964) identifies three factors which constitutes motivation. These are: expectancy, instrumentality, and valence.

Figure 3: Vroom’s Expectancy Theory

Efforts ~ Level of hi Result I~I Reward____ ~I /1 Performanc~ •.•……1′— _ t I Motivation 1-<—–

M=ExVxI [Where M = Motivation, E = Expectancy, V = Valence, and I = Instrumental- ity].

In this theory of motivation, the three important factors play critical roles and there is a linkage among them which is required to be established and managed while designing compensation and reward plans.

The first and foremost important factor is the valence, i.e., the attrac- tiveness of the reward. The HR and line managers have to act judi- ciously in choosing the reward mix which can attract employees across the organization. It is a difficult task and it depends to a great extent on the perception of the individuals whether a reward is a reward. A de- centralized approach empowering line managers to have more discre- tion in deciding the reward mix can play an important role in maintaining the higher level of valence among employees. Otherwise, a reward will not be a reward. In fact, some kind of perception of management strategies is also required to play up the importance of the reward in such a scenario. It is the person not the job who is going to be paid in the present time. Though firms are intensively trying to adopt creative com- pensation strategies, what it depends on is how you sell your reward. The relationship in this regard is also important. Managers who regard themselves more as valuable individuals like stars and less as members of a team have to change their attitudes. It is not possible to rely on mere money to recruit and motivate people. Dave Beirne, a silicon valley headhunter says grandly that “I never sold compensation, I sold psychic reward” (The Economist, 1999). The second important factor is the instrumentality factor inherent in a

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Khan 105

motivational design. It is the belief among employees that if they work hard and perform, their performance will be rewarded accordingly. HR managers are supposed to create a well-defined performance appraisal system which appreciates and rewards performers. The message has to reach the employees that the performance appraisal system is objective, open, and bias-free. Unless the employees feel so, it will be difficult to motivate them. Rewarding employees for their performance is a rein- forcing exercise and it gives a message to the people that the system cares for the performers and rewards them. Line managers are also required to be objective, honest and bias-free in implementing appraisal systems and reassuring the employees in regard to pay for performance. Communication methods adopted by the organization also playa critical role in reaffirming the faith of employees in ajust and objective reward strategy. The third and the most important element of motivation identified by Vroom is expectancy. Expectancy is the employee’s faith and belief in his or her ability to perform the required task. To inculcate this feeling among employees, the HR and line managers have to play an active role in providing learning opportunities for the growth and development of the workforce. It also requires to create an environment based on trust and empathy helping the workers to learn the required skills to perform better. Mentoring, coaching and counselling interventions also play an important role in increasing the confidence level of employees and helping them to have more experimentation. An environment needs to be created where mistakes are tolerated and new learning is encour- aged through experimentation. In an age oflearning organizations, incul- cating this kind of behaviour among employees is very much required. Therefore, any compensation strategy is required to be highly linked with the performance strategy and the training and development strat- egy of the firm. In a true sense, the objective of the performance man- agement system should be a developmental one which is better than an evaluative one since it will help employees in instilling faith in them- selves and extend the sense of ownership in them.

TOTAL REWARD SYSTEM

Reward is a wider term and it includes a non-compensation dimension apart from the compensation one. All rewards that can be classified as monetary

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106 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

payments and in-kind payments comprise the compensation component of a reward. All other rewards constitute the non-compensation system. Henderson (1997) describes a non-compensation system as situation- re- lated rewards not included in the compensation package. There are an infi- nite number of components which relate to the work situation and to the physical and psychological well-being of each worker. Any activity which has an impact on the intellectual, emotional, and physical well-being of the employees and is not specifically covered by the compensation system can be termed as non-compensation system (Henderson, 1997).

Table-6 Components of a Total Reward System

1. Compensation Wages, cormnissions and bonuses 2. Benefits Vacations, health insurance 3. Social interaction Friendly work place 4. Security Stable, consistent position and re-

wards 5. StatuslRecognition Respect, prominence due to work 6. Work variety Opportunity to experience differ-

ent things 7. Workload Right amount of work (not. too

much, not too little) 8. Work importance Is work valued by society? 9. Authority/ControVAutonomy Ability to influence others; control

own destiny 10. Advancement Chance to get ahead 11. Feedback Receive information helping to im-

prove performance 12. Work conditions Hazard free 13. Development opportunity Formal and informal training to learn

new knowledge/skills/abilities

Source: Based on Milkovich and Newman (1996:305)

Henderson (1997) identifies some of the dimensions ofnon-compensa- tion system as follows:

Enhancing the dignity and satisfaction from the work performed; Enhancing physiological health, intellectual growth, and emotional ma-

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turity of the empluyees; Promoting constructive social relationships at workplace

• Designingjobs that require adequate attention and effort; Allocating sufficient resources to perform work assignments; Granting employees sufficient control over the job to meet personal demands; and Offering a supportive leadership environment to the employees. Milkovich and Newman (1996) also categorizes the reward system

consisting of both compensation and non-compensation dimensions into 13 categories as given in Table-6. Barring the first two, all are non-compensa- tion components. Some of the factors such as friendly workplace, stable, consistent position and rewards, respect, workload, work importance, au- tonomy, advancement, element of feedback, work conditions and learning opportunities are worth mentioning in this regard. In today’s organizations which are becoming more flexible, flat, networked, diverse and global, these kinds of reward inputs will surely playa facilitating role in helping them in achieving competitive advantage for excellence.

PERFORMANCE RELATED PAY (PRP)

Companies world over are adopting different strategies to motivate their workers to contribute more. They are recognizing the worth and value of their skills and competencies. To reinforce positive behaviours in employ- ees, to learn relevant skills and competency and to use them while at work, many companies in the decade of 90s adopted merit payor performance- related pay. Most of the specialists agree that performance based pay re- sults in a better individual and organizational performance (Milkovich and Newman, 1996; Cooke, 1994; Heneman, 1992). In a study, 663 companies reported an increase in their earning by $2.34 for every $1 spent on perfor- mance-based pay. Likewise, one study of841 union and non-union compa- nies found gainsharing and profit sharing plans increased individual and team performance by 18 to 20 percent (Cooke, 1994).

But there are a number of questions which are required to be answered before adopting a PRP. Schuler and Huber (1990: 308) present ten difficult questions and suggest organizations find answers to these before implement- ing a PRP system. These are:

Is pay valued by employees? What is the objective ofPRP?

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108 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

Are values of the organization conducive to PRP? What steps would be taken to ensure that employees and management are committed to the system? Can performance be accurately measured? If not, what type of an ap- praisal system will be used? How frequently will performance be measured or evaluated? What level of aggregation (individual, group or organization) will be used to distribute rewards? How will pay be tied to perf0J!TIance (e.g. merit increase, bonus, com- mission, incentive)? Does the organization have sufficient financial resources to make per- formance-based pay meaningful? What steps will be taken to control and monitor the system? To sustain the motivational level of employees, organizations must cl.em-

on strate to them a close link between performance and rewards. This is the rationale which is advocated for the use of merit pay. However, inspite of its attractiveness, the PRP sometimes brings about results precisely the op- posite from the desired one. Common among them are dissatisfaction, dis- couragement, and decreased performance (Campbell, Campbell and Chia, 1998; Gomez-Mejia and Balkin, 1992; Hughes, 1986; and Kanter, 1987).

Whatsoever the critics ofPRP say, one thing is clear that organizations are devising reward strategy in such a way that they can reward the efforts and contribution of the performers. More companies are adopting bonus plans or gainsharing plans based on specific performance goals. In this kind of scenario, nobody is guaranteed an annual pay increase. The “entitlement era” is going to be over and one has to earn the increase by giving a purpose- ful contribution in that regard. In fact, in recent times, the across-the-board- pay increase is becoming less prevalent and the existing situation is forcing employees to give their best. But PRP will be a failure if it cannot be fair and consistent in measuring performance. To negate this, employees are required to be involved in the designing, developing and operation ofPRP. It should be able to create a work culture conducive to an objective and fair appraisal system and its appreciation by its stakeholders also. The involvement ofline managers and key managers in designing and developing the PRP is very much required. They also need more power and discretion to reward the subordinates to reinforce the designed objectives being pursued by the PRP. The role of the HR manager has to be a facilitator’s one to encourage line managers in creating such an environment. The communication level be-

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tween the different stakeholders is required to be high to dispel any misun- derstanding and then a right kind of performance based work culture can be nurtured.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)

Though there are a number of approaches to provide incentives, merit pay, gain sharing and bonuses, nothing has proved to be more successful than employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) in recent times. This is the maxi- mum that an employee can think of, i.e., his or her share in the stock of the company. For the last two decades or so it has been making waves in the US wage market. Past surveys have also indicated that the companies providing ESOPs are 1.5 times more profitable than the conventionally-owned com- pany (Marsh and McAllister, 1981):

ESOP is a means for employees to buy stock in the firm. These stocks are sold to employees in lieu of their payor pay increases. Sometime, they simply pledge to buy stock as a way of helping the company pay-off a debt (Werther and Davis, 1996). For providing ownership to the employees, the employer creates a trust known as employee stock bonus trust (ESOT) and contributes stock to it. It is a tax-exempt employee trust in US. ESOPs can be enjoyed in two ways: (i) stock bonus ESOP, where employer contributes to ESOT but he cannot use it as a mechanism for obtaining funds, and (ii) a leveraged ESOP, where employer uses the tax benefit granted to an ESOT and obtains fund for various purposes (Henderson, 1997).

The magic wand, stock option has churned out many billionaires in US, and America today has more of them relative to size of the workforce than it had even in the early years of the century. Many of them are e-founders, creators of Silicon Valley’s successes. A recent survey of350 large Ameri- can Companies by William M. Mercer, a consultancy firm, found that the chief executives’ median total compensation was $8.6 m. A majorpercent- age of this package came through stock options. Walt Disney head, Michael Eisner earned $ 576 m. in the year 1998 which. was roughly equal to the GDP of the Seychelles and much of it was acquired through realising vast option gains. Likewise, Mel Karwazain, head of CBS, a network television company got $ 200 m. In the same period, he took only $ 9.8 m. in the form of salary and bonuses and the rest came in stock options. Ira Kay, director of human capital g~owth at Watson Wyatt, a New York based consultancy firm, thinks that the prevalence of stock options in US and its relative ab-

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110 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

sence elsewhere is one of the main reasons for the Americans’ superior economic performance. Options provide the motivation to run companies better (The Economist, 1999). But now the stock option plan is also reach- ing to the other side of the world. A country like Japan, where the salary spread is more evens because the Japanese believe that employees should share profits equally in the interest of group harmony, is also experiencing change in this regard. About 150 out of 3,000 listed companies in Japan introduced share options for their employees last year (Management Today, 1999).

In India too, a good number of companies ranging from public sectors to private sectors to MNCs have taken lead in offering stock options to their employees. Notable among them are: Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC), Infosys, Wipr06, Satyam Computers, Sonata Software, Aditi Soft- ware7, Proctor & GambleS, Mastek, Cadence Design, GE, and Hughes Softwares. The multinational corporations are finding themselves at a dis- advantageous position because of the Reserve Bank ofIndia guidelines as employees are not allowed to hold foreign stocks directly. However, MNCs have found a solution to it and the shares are being held on their behalf which can be given in rupees equivalent when employees want it. The other bigger problem employees are facing is the higher rate of income tax, and the phenomenon of double taxation. Under the current Indian rules, an em- ployee is liable to pay a 33 percent income tax on the difference between the granted price and the market price of the share which has a very discourag- ing impact on the attitude of employees. Again, if the employee sells the shares, he is liable to pay capital gain tax on the difference between the exercise price of the option and the sale price. It is proving to be a significant hindrance in enjoying the benefits of ESOP. Presently, the matter is pending before the court (Outlook, 2000).

Some of the Indian companies, who have recently introduced stock option plans, are: Kinetic Motors Ltd.9, Jindal Polyester’O, Birla Sun Life AMC (BSLAMC) I I , Kothari Pioneers, Pharmacia & Upjohnl2, McDonaldu, Enron, Intel, Gray Cell, Mind Tree’\ Zee Telefilms’5, Dabur

‘6, SRFI7, Max India1s, Zip Telecom’9, NIIT20 and Information Technology (India) Ltd. (ITIL)21.

But stock option plans at times prove to be a stumbling block also as it was observed in the case of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler merger.22 One should also be very careful that rewarding individuals may not hurt those who perform well in teams. The greatest risk in this regard is the widening

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gap of pay and benefits between the senior managers and the rest. Unfor- tunately, very few employers think like B. Ramlinga Raju, chairman, Satyam group.n The group has adopted recently an employee venture capital scheme in addition to the stock option scheme, which encourages people to come out with their ideas. Commenting on the scheme, Raju says that “it is to encourage creative ideas thereby creating opportunities for individuals with bright ideas” (The Times of India, Sept. 20, 1999).

CONCLUSION

In the infonnation age, where employees with their scarce skills can live in one country and work in another, the challenges are huge before the HR managers in formulating the reward strategy. The globalization process is trying to reduce the gap in pay across the country but it is being seen realized more in IT sector alone. The pay variance has become wider in recent times. The gap between the senior managers and the shopfloor people has widened. The stock option plan has benefited a few elite managers or knowl- edge workers. It is a paradoxical situation for most of the companies as they are trying to adopt softer issues of people management through empower- ment and team-building strategies but they have not been able to pass the benefit of the performance and contribqtion across the organization which is hurting the team feeling and morale of the workforce. The widening gap between the senior managers and the rest has further reinforced this kind of feeling among employees. Furthermore, the restructuring and downsizing has negated to a great extent the efforts of cultivating the fruit of a creative compensation design. When companies are distributing pink slips24 to their workers, it becomes a difficult job for the poor HR manager to come out with a strategic compensation tool to sustain and raise the motivation and morale of the employees. PRP in a good number of cases has also failed to deliver its strategic edge because of the absence of a well-understood perfor- mance management system, and matching work culture and environment. This can be done by actively involving line managers in the designing and implementing of PRP plan. Ultmost care has to be taken by managers in creating an honest and able performance management system in this regard. Otherwise, “giving an award to an individual for an entire team’s perfor- mance can quickly prove to be highly divisive … and it makes little sense for a manager to bestow an award that demotivates other members of the work team” (Ford and Newstrom, 1999).

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112 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

In the present business scenario, where HR managers are forced to be actively involved in the management of cultural change, system and struc- ture, relationship, politics, information, and new learning, the management of performance and reward is central for attracting, developing, retaining and motivating employees. The level of needs in this regard also goes up if a company is passing through the pangs of downsizing and restructuring.

It is the psychological contract between the employer and employees which has become more important now and the psychological experience of ownership on the part of employees is more critical for organizational effectiveness. HR managers have to learn to diagnose and doctor this pyschological experience of ownership on the part of employees while adopt- ing PRP or ESOP (Khan, 1999). Line managers are also required to be involved in this process. In fact, they have to own this process whereas the role ofHR is to network with them. The adoption of a reward mix is a very tricky issue and HR and line managers have to work as a team spending more time on deciding these strategic aspects of compensation manage- ment. Line managers have to be given more discretion and power through the decentralization of the compensation administrative process where they can have the feeling of discretion over the reward issue. In this kind of scenario, the reward management can contribute to create value addition through effective management of competencies.

Though specialists are critical about the impact of the ESOPs in bringing team feeling and its availability also to the elite and previleged ones, employ- ees are harvesting the benefits of ESOPs in a few cases. We need more employers like N. R. Narayana MurthyZ5,’the chairman ofInfosys to make ESOP more pervasive. Murthy wanted to create a thousand millionaires in his company, and he has done it in two years’ time. There is no company other than Infosys in India where good number of drivers, attenders, electri- cians, plumbers and other employees low down in the pecking order are millionaries (in Indian rupee) in their own right (The Times a/India, Feb. 19, 2000).

The success of a reward and compensation strategy depends to a great deal on the attitudes of the managers in creating a high degree of commit- ment, involvement and cooperation among employees. It has to ensure that employees’ contribution and performance are rewarded accordingly, and is aligned with other people policies, practices, and programmes towards de- veloping the organizational capability and competency for achieving the objectives and goals of the firm.

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NOTES

1. Hamel (1999) observes that “it wasn’t that CNN spent more time building scenarios about the future. All of the things that you needed to create CNN were visible to anyone who cared about how the world was changing. You had cable television eroding the monopoly of the traditional broadcasters. You had people who didn’t come home every night at an hour when they could watch the 6 0′ clock news or the 90′ clock news or whatever. You had satellite technology that made it possible to put a team anywhere in the world and get a signal out. Anybody who was willing to challenge their own assumption could see those things.” And it was CNN who was willing not the BCC, ac- cording to Gary Hamel.

2. Human capital is proving to be more expensive now. The share of wage bill in sales tumover has increased from 7.4 percent in the year 1996-97 to 7.5 percent in 1997-98 and to 7.9 percent in the year 1998-98 in India, see Human Capital, November, 1999. In fact, in the year 1997-98, top 50 business houses in India paid Rs 12839.5 crores, i.e., 47.1 percent of the total wages and salaries paid by the private sector enterprises (CMIE, 1999).

3. The Michigan school puts primacy on the business strategy of the firm and its interconnection with the organizational structure and key HR systems, i.e., selection, appraisal, rewards, and development. The Harvard approach which is also refened to as the soft approach to HRM emphasizes on the responsi- bility and capacity of managers to manage workplace relations by bringing a unitary, integrative, and individualistic system. Reward system is one of the key policy areas of soft approach other than employee influence (participa- tion), human resource flow, and work systems (work organization) (Mabey, Salaman and Storey, 1998: 61). Both schools identify reward management as an important strategic HR tool. See also, Fombrun, Tichy and Devanna (eds.), 1984; Beer et al., 1985; Blyton and Turnbull (eds.), 1992; Hendry and Pettigrew, 1986; and Saini and Khan (eds.), 2000.

4. . Sandra 0 ‘Neal calls competencies as “The DNA of Organization.” 5. In Japan, the annual income of a CEO is on an average only about 10 times that

of an entry level employee, see Management Today, 1999. 6. A booming stock market is the most important factor driving the stock option

search in the IT industry. Azim Premji is the richest Indian and the third richest person in the world. Wipro had 300 millionaire employees. A few weeks later, it had 1,600 millionaire and now it has some 32 billionaires among its stakeholders (Outlook, 2000).

7. As per the Nasscom estimate, some 10,000 infotech sectors have been vested with 18 million shares in 151 companies that might be worth Rs. 12,000 crores at current market capitalization levels (Outlook, 2000).

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114 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

8. At Proctor & Gamble, 700 employees have been given stock options with a five year vesting period (Outlook, 2000).

9. Kinetic Motors Ltd. is the first company who offered ESOP to employees after the new SEBI guidelines allowing the companies to enjoy the benefit of ESOP (The Times of India, Sept. 17, 1999).

10. Jindal Polyster Ltd. (JPL), a Rs. 310 crore company decided to issue ten lakh equity shares of nominal values ofRs. 10 each to employees including execu- tive and non-executive directors (The Times of India, Sept. 17, 1999).

11. Birla Sun Life planned to issue 5-10 percent of the equity capital under a phantom share option plan (Human Capital, Dec., 1999).

12. Phalmacia & Upjohn India, an MNC, has given stock options to its 170 mar- keting and sales personnel (Human Capital, Dec., 1999).

13. McDonald has offered stock option plan to its 40 employees and it will offer to more employees in the near future (Outlook, 2000).

14. At Mind Tree, even the entry-level employees have been given stock options (Outlook, 2000).

15. Some 4.6 lakh stock options convertible into equity shares of Rs. 10 each were given to some 65 employees of Zee and its associate companies (Out- look, 2000).

16. Dabur has offered 25,000 equity shares to 50 key executives at a discount price ofRs. 300, nearly a quarter of the scrip’s market price (Outlook, 2000).

17. SRF has issued about 28 lakh shares appreciation right to all its employees including the factory workers (Outlook, 2000).

18. Max India has reserved some 5 percent of its issued capital for employees (Outlook, 2000).

19. At Zip Telecom, 210 employees will collectively reap Rs. 132 crore if all goes well according to the company plan (Outlook, 2000).

20. NUT is also diluting 5 percent of its cunent equity to grant 1.3 million shares to its 800 employees (Outlook, 2000).

21. ITIL, a software company who generates 70 percent of its revenues from ex- ports also announced stock option to its 250 employees in the first go at a discount rate of 43 percent of the cunent market price (The Times of India, Feb. 18, 2000).

22. When Daimler-Benz announced its plan to merge with Chrysler, German news- papers were aghast at the size of the options given to Chrysler’s executives (The Economist, 1999).

23. Sat yam Computer alongwith Wipro and Infosys forms the top three IT com- panies in India. Its chairman B. Ramlinga Raju is of the view that employee capital scheme will enable the £(}mpany to generate multi-fold value cre- ation as a venture capitalist, and it will be a win-win situation as per him (The Times of India, Sept. 20, 1999).

24 . AT&T Corp., the number one US long-distance telephone company, has

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trimmed its slower-growing businesses to cut $ 2 billion in expenses, and thousands of employees have to be downsized. On Feb. 1, 2000, the com- pany gave pink slips, i.e., the notice of 60 days to hundreds of managers and workers saying they would lose their jobs in two months’ time (The Times of India, Feb. 5, 2000).

25. The astonishing entrepreneur N. S. Narayanamurthy is referred to as the man who started the stock option phenomena in Indian IT industry. Keeping just 7.7 percent equity for himself, he distributed the rest to the public and empolyees (Outlook, 2000).

REFERENCES

Anderson, R. Wayne (1997) “The Future of Human Resources: Forging Ahead or Falling Behind?” Human Resource Management, 36 (1).

Beatty, R. W. and C. E. Schneier (1997) “New HR Role to Impact Organizational Performance: From ‘Partners’ to ‘Players’,” Human Resource Management, 36 (1).

Beaumont, P. B. (1996) Human Resource Management: Key Concepts and Skills. London: Sage.

Becker, B. E. and M. A. Huselid (1997) “Managerial Compensation Systems and Firm Performance,” Academy of Management Journal, Special Issue on Managerial Compensation and Film Performance.

Beer, M., B. Spector, P. Lawrence, D. Mills and R. Walton (1985) Human Resource Management: A General Manager’s Perspective. New York: Free Press.

Blyton, P. and P. Turnbull (eds.) (1992) Reassessing HR Strategies. London: Sage. Campbell, D. J., K. M. Campbell, and Ho- Beng Chia (1998) “Merit Pay, Performance

Appraisal and Individual Motivation: An Analysis and Alternative,” Human Resource Management, 37 (2), summer.

CMIE (1999) Corporate Sector, May. Mumbai: Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy.

Fombrun, C. J., N. M. Tichy and M. A. Devanna (eds.) (1984) Strategic Human Resource Management. New Yark: John Wiley.

Ford, Robert and John Newstrom (1999) “Dues-Paying: Managing the Costs of Recognition,” Business Horizons, July-August.

Gomez-Mejia, L. R. and D. Balkin (1992) Compensation, Organizational Strategy, and Firm Pelformance. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western Pub. Co.

Gomez-Mejia, L. R. and T. M. Welbourne (1996) “Compensation Strategy: An Overview and Future Steps,” in Gerald R. Ferris and M. Ronald’Buckley (eds.) Human Resource Management, Perspectives. Context, Functions, and Outcomes. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Hamel, Gary (1999) “Reinventing the Basis for Competition,” in Rowan Gibson

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116 Reward and Compensation Strategy: Issues and Challenges

(ed.) Rethinking the Future. London: Nicholas Brealey Pub. Henderson, Richard I. (1997) Compensation Management in a Knowledge-based

World. NJ: Prentice Hall. Hendry, C and A. Pittigrew (1986) “The Practice of Strategic Human Resource

Management,” Personnel Reveiw, 15 (5). Hughes, C (1986) ‘The Demerit of Merit,” Personnel Administrator, 31: 40. Kanter, R. (1987) “From Status to Contribution: Some Organizational Implications of

the Changing Basis for Pay,” Personnel, 64 (1): 12-37. Khan, Sami A. (1999) “What Human Resource Managers Need to Know in the 1\ew

Millennium,” Paradigm, 3 (2), July-December. Lawler III, E. E. (1984) “The Strategic Design of Reward System,” in Fombrun, Tichy

and Devanna (eds.) (1984). Lawler 1Il, E. E. (1994) “From Job-Based to Competency-Based Organizations,”

Journal o.fOrganization Behaviour, 15: 3-15. Mabey, C, G. Salaman and 1. Storey (1998) Human Resource Managemenr: A

Strategic Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell Pub. Marsh, 1110mas and Dale McAlhster (1981) “ESOPs 1ables,” Journal o/COIporation

Lmv, Spring. Milkovich, George T. and Jerry M. Newman (1996) Compensation, Fifth Edition.

Chicago: IIwin. Management Today (1999) “The MT Global Salary Survey,” April. O’Neal, Sandra (1994) “Competency: The DNA of the Corporation,” Perspectives

in Total Compensation, Winter. Saini, Debi S. andSami A. Khan (2000) Human Resource Management: Perspectives

for the New Era. New Delhi: Response Books (A Division of Sage India) .. Schuler, R. S. and V. L. Huber (1990) Personnel and Human Rsource Management.

St. Paul, Minn.: West Pub. Stack, 1. (1992) The Great Game 0/Business. New Yark: Double day/CulTency. Stredwick, John (1997) Cases in Reward Management. London: Kogan Page. The Economist (1999) “A Survey of Pay,” May 8th. Thurow, Lester (1999) “Changing the Nature of Capitalism,” in Rowan Gibson (ed.)

Rethinking the Future. London: Nicholas Brealey. Treacy, M. and F. Wiersema (1995) “Making Culture Change Happen and Making it

Last: Using Structure, Systems and Skills as Change Levers,” in L. A. Berger (ed.) Handbook o/Culture Change. Burr Ridge, IL: Business One/Irwin.

Vroom, Victor H. (1964) Work and Motivation. New York: Wiley. Weliher, Jr., W. B. andK. Davis (1996) HR and Personnel Management. New York:

McGraw Hill.

Sami A. Khan, Ph. D., is Associate Professor and Coordinator-HR..l\1 Area, at the Institute for Integrated Learning in Management (IILM), Lodhi Institutional Area, Lodhi Road, New Delhi-I 10 003. Earlier, he was with the Shri Ram Centre

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for Industrial Relations & Human Resources, New Delhi. His areas of special interest include Strategic Human Resource Management; Labour Management Relations; Training and Development; Compensation Management; Organizational Design and Development, and Strategic Management and HR Benchmarking. He was a member of the research team which conducted an all India Study on the Problems and Prospects of Rehabilitation of Voluntary Retired Workers at Shri Ram Centre for Industrial Relations and Human Resources (SRC), New Delhi. The report has been published by SRC as a book. He has recently co-edited a book, Human Resource Management: Emerging Perspectives in the New Era (Response Books, A Division of Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2000). He is also the associate editor of Management & Change. the journal ofllLM.

Management & Change, Volume 4, Number I (January-June 2000)

 
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HRMD630 MIDTERM EXAM

HRMD 630 Mid-Term Exam

 

This is an open book exam that must be completed as an individual assignment. There are 20 multiple-choice questions (1.5 points each = 30 points), 5 short-answer (5 points each = 25 points), and 3 essay questions (15 points each = 45 points).

 

Please submit only your answers through Assignments. USE THE PROVIDED ANSWER SHEET FOR THE MULTIPLE CHOICE. Your file should be a word (preferred) or .pdf document and label your file with last name, MTE (i.e. StengerMTE). Short Answer should only be ½ page and essays, no more than 2 pages each. You can append your written answers to the multiple choice sheet or submit a separate file.

 

Multiple Choice Questions

 

1.) A software company has a high turnover rate. What staffing strategy would be most appropriate?

 

A) hiring people with the potential to be promoted over a period of years

B) hiring people quickly even if their skills are not as high as required

C) slowing down the hiring process to try to find better recruits

D) filling vacancies quickly with people who are able to perform with minimal job training

2.) An FTE is defined as:

 

A) a full-time equivalent employee

B) an independent contractor working at least 36 hours per week

C) an applicant that is searching for work on a full time basis

C) a plan for recruiting full-time workers

 

3.) Janson Engineering has found it difficult to recruit experienced project managers to lead its many projects. Which of the following would be a proactive action that may help close current and future gaps?

 

A) adjusting the mix of employees versus contractors

B) working with local universities and colleges to create courses that focus on project management skills

C) source candidates from similar industries with project management skills

D) all of the above

E) A & B only

 

4.) Which of the following is not a step in workforce planning?

 

A) look at internal and external factors to estimate job demand

B) calculate the replacement need

C) look to the future for redundancies

D) conduct a strategy meeting to analyze selection methods

E) all of the above are steps in workforce planning

 

5.) Employment-at-will is an employment relationship which ________.

 

A) allows either the employee or employer to terminate the employment at any time

B) offers blanket protection to employers for all employee discharges

C) allows an employer to terminate employment only for a just cause

D) offers employees a contract for a definite term of employment

 

6.) Which of the following examples would qualify the company to hire the intern as an unpaid employee?

 

A) a local college engineering student is hired to help with filing and data entry for a small engineering firm.

B) an accounting student is given an opportunity to shadow one of your company’s accounting employee’s prior to starting work with the company in the fall.

C) the local university has an internship requirement for their Computer Science majors. The internship is for six weeks and the student must report weekly to their advisor to review their progress.

D) your organization is hiring college students whose parents work at the company for the summer.

 

7.) Which of the following is the first step in the typical workforce planning process?

 

A) identifying the firm’s business strategy

B) articulating the firm’s strategic staffing decisions

C) developing and implementing action plans

D) conducting a workforce analysis

 

8.) The job analysis technique that uses worker oriented job elements is the ________.

A) task inventory method

B) job elements method

C) position analysis questionnaire

D) structured interview method

 

9.) In analyzing a job of a stenographer that is to be advertised as a vacancy, an employer found that the ________ for the job was rapid typing skills.

 

A) bona fide occupational qualification

B) employee value proposition

C) desirable criteria

D) essential function

 

10.) Which of the following would be classified as a skill rather than knowledge, ability or other characteristics?

 

A) Familiarity with OSHA laws.

B) Operating a forklift.

C) Mentor and coach others.

D) Communicate efficiently in writing and orally.

 

11.) DAK Corporation had kept all its hiring plans on hold during the last four quarters because the economy was in a state of recession. DAK manufactures oil filters, air filters, and spark plugs for several major auto manufacturers. The company is analyzing market trends in order to reassess its hiring strategy for the coming year. Which of the following, if true, would best support the argument for restarting hiring?

 

A) The previous recession had only lasted a year.

B) Though there was a decline in profits compared to the previous year, the company recently reported the best numbers in its industry.

C) Auto manufacturers have aggressively started hiring more staff.

D) One of DAK’s fiercest rivals has started laying off its employees.

 

12.) A systematic process of identifying and describing the important aspects of a job and the characteristic a worker needs to perform the job well is a ________.

 

A) legal audit

B) job analysis

C) bona fide occupational qualification

D) job specification

 

13.) Which of the following establishes a prima facie case of discrimination based on disparate treatment?

A) plaintiff applied for a job/promotion; the job was filled by an applicant of another race or gender

B) plaintiff is part of a protected class; he/she applied for a job/promotion etc.; selection ratio for those similarly situated was less than 80 percent

C) plaintiff is part of a protected class; he/she applied for a job/promotion etc.; was rejected, but the job remained open or was filled by someone else

D) the selection ratio for protected class A (the minority group) is less than 80 percent of the selection ratio for protected class B (the majority group)

 

14.) The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 protects people _______.

 

A) 30 years of age or older

B) 40 years of age or older

C) 50 years of age or older

D) 60 years of age or older

 

15.) The Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act ______.

 

A) ensures that members of the uniformed services can return to their civilian employment after their military service ends

B) ensures that veterans are equally represented in the workforce

C) provides job training to members of the uniformed services to assist them in transitioning to civilian jobs

D) requires that a job board be maintained for the sole use of veterans transitioning to civilian jobs after their service ends

 

16.) A hotel chain that is recruiting front desk receptionists receives 200 applications from males and 100 applications from females. 100 out of 200 men are hired and 25 out of 100 women are hired. Which of the following statements is true of the hotel chain’s hiring policy?

 

A) There is evidence of a disparate impact of the hiring process on males as a group.

B) There is evidence of a disparate impact of the hiring process on females as a group.

C) There is no evidence of any disparate impact.

D) There is evidence of disparate impact against both males and females.

 

17.) Which of the following is a characteristic of independent contractors?

 

A) They have a continuous relationship with the employer.

B) They do not receive benefits from the employer.

C) They control the processes and results of their work.

D) They do not pay their employment taxes, the employer does.

 

18.) Which of the following visually shows each of the possible successors for a job and summarizes their strengths, present performance, promotion readiness, and development needs?

 

A) scatter diagrams

B) perceptual maps

C) talent inventories

D) replacement charts

 

19.) Which of the following is NOT a reason cited in your readings that a company would want to consider current employees as a valuable resource for finding qualified new hires?

 

A) Current employees generally refer only individuals they believe would make exceptional employees.

B) Applicants hired through employee referrals are more likely to be given a realistic preview of the job which helps them make a good decision as to whether they would fit with the organization.

C) Heterogeneity of a firm is affected positively by this method.

D) This method of recruitment will help to locate qualified candidates that may have not been looking for a job.

 

20.) Which of the following is NOT a benefit of hiring interns?

 

A) Provides an opportunity for you to assess a student directly

B) Allows for extra hands to help with administrative tasks

C) Allows a student to get a good view of what working for your organization would be like.

D) Gives the organization an opportunity to find good quality hires for future opportunities.

 

 

Short Answer Questions

 

Respond to all five of the following questions. You should use the Grading Rubric for Written Assignments in the Content area for this MTE (Look at Week 6 materials and Resources) to help you when submitting your responses. Please remember that grammar and spelling are important! You will receive five points maximum for each question.

 

 

1. What is the public policy exception to employment at will? Give one example of a termination that may be construed as an exception to employment at will based on public policy.

 

2. Define disparate impact and disparate treatment. How do they differ?

 

3. Define job description and job specification and describe how they are used.

 

4. Compare and contrast replacement charts and succession planning?

 

5. Discuss the different ways in which a firm can deal with temporary employee surpluses.

 

 

 

 

Essay Questions

 

Respond to all three of the following questions. You should use the Grading Rubric for Written Assignments in the Content area (Look at Week 6 materials and Resources) to help you when submitting your responses. Please remember that grammar and spelling are important! You will receive 15 points maximum for each question.

 

 

Question 1: What is affirmative action? What is an affirmative action plan?

 

 

Question 2: You have just taken on the role of Director of Recruiting at a grocery chain. The first thing you notice is that the Careers page and the website for your company does not represent your company’s desire to be an employer of choice. You have embarked on a quest to change that and your CEO has asked what you think about the company’s website. He has noticed that Fortune Magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” in 2016 listed three grocery stores in the top 100. They are:

(a) Nugget Markets

(b) Wegmans Food Market

(c) Whole Foods Market

Your CEO has asked you to research their websites and provide an evaluation of what you see. You should access the websites of these markets and conduct the following analysis:

 

Consider and specifically evaluate the design factor considerations (specifically address organization website design information found in your readings) Using this information provide an analysis to your CEO of these websites along with suggestions that would improve the recruitment section of each one.

 

Please remember – your response should be written for a CEO to read. Grammar, style, and punctuation are important for good communication in HR but CRITICAL when you are communicating with the executive suite. Remember – executives do not want to read a novel – you must learn to be brief but get your points across effectively. Your final analysis is worth a total of 15 points. No more than 2 pages should be submitted for this question and use citations where required!

 

 

 

Question 3: The We Deny Everything Insurance Company (WDE) handled a massive volume of claims each year in the corporate claims function, as well as in its four regional claims centers.  Corporate claims were located in sunny California and the regional offices were located in Atlanta, Cleveland, Providence, and Las Vegas.   Corporate claims were headed by the senior vice president of corporate claims (SVP).  Reporting to the SVP were 2 managers of corporate claims (MCC-Life and MCC Homeowners/Residential) and a highly skilled corporate claims specialist (CCS).

 

Each regional office (4) was headed by a regional center manager (RCM).  The RCM was responsible for both supervisors and claim specialists within the regional office. The RCM’s reported to the vice president of regional claims (VPRC).  This is the structure before reorganization (I suggest you draw a chart for your own reference).

 

WDE decided to reorganize its claims function by eliminating the 4 regional offices (and the RCM position) and establishing numerous small field offices throughout the country.  The other part of the reorganization involved creating 5 new CCS positions.  The CCS position was to be redesigned and upgraded in terms of knowledge and skill requirements.  It was planned to staff these new CCS positions through internal promotions from within the claims function.

 

The plaintiff in the case was Ron Whyme, a 53 year old RCM.  Since his job was being eliminated, Ron was asked by the SVP to apply for one of the new CCS positions.  The other RCM’s, all of whom were over the age of 40, were also asked to do so.  Neither Ron nor the other RCM’s were promoted to the new CCS positions.  Other candidates were also bypassed, and some of them were also over the age of 40. The promotions went to 5 claim specialists and supervisors from within the former regional offices, all of whom were under age 40.  Two of the newly promoted employees had worked for, and actually reported to Ron, as the RCM.

 

Ron was not happy.  Upon learning of his failure to be promoted, Ron wanted to determine why he was not promoted.  What he learned led him to feel he has been discriminated against because of his age.  Ron retained experienced and expensive legal counsel, Bruce Lincoln.  Lincoln, a high-powered litigator, met informally with the SVP to try to determine what had happened in the promotion process and why his client Ron had not been promoted.  Lincoln was told that there were a large number of candidates who were better qualified than Ron and that Ron lacked adequate technical and communication skills for the new job of CCS.  The SVP refused to reconsider Ron for the job and said that the decisions were “final”.  Ron, through his attorney Lincoln, then filed a suit in federal district court, claiming a violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (1967).  Lincoln then subpoenaed numerous WDE documents and files including the personnel files of all applicants for the CCS positions.

 

Based on discussions with Ron and the subpoenaed documents, the following information emerged about the promotion process actually used by WDE.  The SVP and the 2 MCC’s conducted the total process.  They received no input from the VPRC or the HR department.  There was no formal written job description for the new CCS position, nor was there a formal internal job posting as required by company policy.  The SVP and the MCC’s developed their own list of employees that they thought might be interested in the job, including Ron, and then met to consider the list of candidates.  At that meeting, the personnel files and previous performance appraisals of the candidates were not reviewed or consulted. After deciding on the 5 candidates who would be offered the promotion (all 5 accepted), the SVP and the MCC’s did browse the personnel files and appraisals of only these 5 employees to check for any disconfirming information about the employees.  None was found.

 

Inspection of the files by Lincoln revealed no written comments suggesting age bias in past performance appraisals for any of the candidates, including Ron.  Also, there was no indication that Ron lacked technical and communication skills.  All of Ron’s previous appraisal ratings were above average, and there was no evidence that Ron’s performance had declined recently.  An interview with the VPRC (Ron’s boss) revealed that he had not been consulted at all during the promotion process.  Ron’s boss could not believe that Ron had not been promoted and in fact said that he was “shocked beyond belief”.  In his opinion, there was “absolutely no question” that Ron was qualified in all respects for the CCS job.

 

Based on the facts above your must respond to Part A and Part B below:

 

Part A: Prepare an analysis that presents a convincing disparate treatment claim that Ron has been intentionally discriminated against on the basis of his age. Do not address the claim as a disparate impact one. (Hint: Look at the elements for a prima facie case of discrimination in Week 2)

 

Part B: Prepare a rebuttal, from the viewpoint of WDE, to the disparate treatment claim.    

 

 

8

 
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Discussion And Responses:

View the videos and share how the various aspects in the video apply to you current or previous work experience. YOU MUST STATE THE TERMS, MODELS, OR CONCEPTS FROM THE COURSE TEXTOOK THAT APPLY TO WHAT YOU SAW IN THE VIDEO AND EXPLAIN HOW AND WHY THEY APPLY. What terms or ideas that you saw in the video were most important to you? Explain why you think they are important to organizations or managers? You must reference these terms with intext citations in proper APA format. If you mention a term or concept that is not your own, then you must put a reference at the end of the sentence from either the video or the textbook in APA format. This discussion assignment should be much more then book report of you re-stating what happened in the video. The goal is for you to analyze what took place in the context of the terms in the book. Your post must be at least 300 words long.  YOU MUST ALSO POST TO THE POSTS OF 3 DIFFERENT CLASSMATES TO GET FULL CREDIT.

Color blind or color brave? | Mellody Hobson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKtALHe3Y9Q

Consultant Verna Myers Reveals Strategies for Incorporating Diverse Ideas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPQtkU9Z4rI

How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace | Janet Stovall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvdHqS3ryw0

Inclusive Diversity: The Game Changer | Toni Carter | TEDxIdahoFalls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuK3FGwVJTs

The Surprising Solution to Workplace Diversity | Arwa Mahdawi | TEDxHamburg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtUlRYXJ0vI

To get full credit you must fully address the following:

USE THE INFORMATION BELOW AS A CHECKLIST TO ENSURE THAT YOU WILL GET FULL CREDIT.

  1. Post was minimum of 300 words and you must post to at least twice to another classmate post or post to two different classmates which a post that asked a question or makes a comment that is more than 30 words long.
  2. Analyzed and synthesizes theory and/or practice to develop new ideas and ways of conceptualizing and applying course content.
  3. Addressed relevance to current trends/events/climate in the industry.
  4.  Built on the discussion by adding own examples, course materials, asking questions, etc.
  5. Responded to the question with intext citations in APA format. (This means paragraphs must have references embedded in them.

View the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbyJdMz-Ato

Link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FrJeRrLYe0

Link

https://blog.apastyle.org/apastyle/2011/10/how-to-create-a-reference-for-a-youtube-video.html

  1. Used multiple terms and concepts from the course text, readings, and media to support answers.  These terms must be cited in proper APA format.
  2. Analyzed and synthesizes theory and/or practice to develop new ideas and ways of conceptualizing and applying course content.
  3. Addressed relevance to current trends/events/climate.
  4.  Built on the discussion by adding own examples, course materials, asking questions, etc.
  5. Demonstrated graduate level writing with correct grammar, sentence structure, spelling, punctuation, and APA format.
  6. Wrote in full paragraphs with a sentence structure and paragraph structure of responses are clear, logical, and easy to follow. The M.E.A.L writing approach is often the most effective. Link on the writing approach:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL_AmnVKD0g

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3Y6AQ8UG_U

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF_PoOz2Tl4

Use the above items as a checklist that your assignment is complete before your final submission.

Responses:
1) 

The first thing I have learned since the first day I came to the United States three years ago was that do not talk about race, politics, and religions in the U.S… It is fascinating after watching this week video talking inclusive diversity and inclusion, I start thinking all the advice people had been given to me as an Asian student who had never thought about any of the subjects before. According to the videos, there are three main things everyone can contribute to building an inclusive diversity environment–speak out, include majorities, and start from yourself.

“If you see something, please say something”. The slogan has been widely used in public places. However, as I mentioned above, when first came here, the first lesson I learned was not to talk about races. According to Mellody Hobson, color blindness refers to a learned behavior where people pretend they do not notice race (2014). Here is the question, if we don’t see the problem, how do we solve it? So the first step is to reveal it, to raise people’s awareness. Creating a positive inclusive climate from a top-down would be the best solution to raise awareness, yet, it will also require the involvement of majorities to address the problem (Robbins & Judges, 2017, p127).

Who are majorities that we should have enrolled in inclusion discussion? Like Arwa Mahdawi mentioned, probably white, tall, straight men who name John (2016). I once had the chance to be a volunteer at United Nation for the conference regarding women rights. For the sessions I attended, there are only a few males were sitting in the conference room. It was said that thousands of women came to the conference to fight for their rights but only a handful of men were there to listen. As stated by Janet Stovall, the host of the conference ought to acknowledge the real problem, set goals with real numbers, and present some real consequences (2018). As an individual, what we can do is to change ourselves from color blind to color consciousness.

Women, people of color, LGBTQ, etc., there are many different groups people can be assigned to. Everyone has to have a color in the United States, white, black, yellow, brown, and it cannot be chosen by yourself but you have to be treated based on the color. One person cannot change the world, but if we are all aware of inclusive, the world can be so colorful and united. If you are in an administrative role, deliver the message to the recruitment team to target specific demographic groups that are underrepresented in the workplace (Robbins & Judges, 2017, p126). If you are an educator, start adding some lessons to foster students awareness of inclusive diversity. Don’t think you can’t make an impact on other people because you can.

To conclude, “diversity is a number, inclusion is about to impact” (Stovall, 2018). It is not about how many minorities you have in your organization but how do your organization treat them. If everyone speaks out what they see, majorities aware of inclusive, and we are all starting from our own, we will see significant differences in our lives.

2)

This week discussion concentrates on topic like racial discrimination and inclusion of diversity in the workplace. “Evidence suggests that some people find interacting with other racial groups uncomfortable unless there are clear behavioural scripts to guide their behavior” (Robbins & Judge, 2017). The videos  are informative on the varied experiences of the speakers, where they share how minority are working forward for the equal opportunities and tackling stereotype approaches but also emphasis how diversified group working for any organization can bring numerous creative ideas on the table, which would be beneficial for the company to understand different audiences mindset and plan project strategies accordingly to deliver customers need.

Firstly, Mellody Hobson (2014) conducted a Ted talk, narrates about ‘Color Blind’ where she explains to end the racial discrimination and she adds how white people who does not experience any indiscrimination can ignore the racism  topic in their life. People who are not white and undergoes different aspects of discrimination specific being the race has a different version of this colorblind ideology. Example: In an event, where Mellody & her friend were supposed to go for an editorial lunch meeting and when they showed up in the room, the lady asks her ‘where are your uniforms’? (Mellody Hobson, 2014). This is true for all those people who are not white and live in United States, where they have undergone racism and have been treated differently and not the same way just like White’s. “Most research shows that members of racial and ethnic minorities report higher levels of discrimination in the workplace” (Robbins & Judge, 2017). Mellody Hobson (2014) emphasis to be a ‘Color Brave and not Color Blind’. “We have to be willing as teachers, parents and entrepreneurs to have proactive conversations about race with honesty, understanding and courage, because it is the smart thing to do” (Mellody Hobson, 2014).

Secondly, where the speaker Janet Stovall discusses ‘how to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace’ Janet Stovall (2018) describes, how she wrote ‘Project 87’ where in Davidson city, enrolled 100 black students, hired 10 black professors, create 5 black courses, hired 1 black dean, it was a challenge for Davidson as now it was a question on their commitment as they pointed out real problems, real numbers and their consequences’. (Janet Stovall, 2018). Working over this project for few years, the project did progress resulting in “185 black students, 16 black or multiracial professors, 4 black deans, she emphasizes how the college changed due to the power of single – mindedness” (Janet Stovall, 2018). “As economic globalization continues to expand, the very idea of diversity management must expand to include a diversity of cultures and situations” (Robbins & Judge, 2017). United States is one such country which have welcomed all kind of people from different countries, following different cultures. “organizations will have to carefully consider how to create diversity strategies given the variety of perspectives on diversity across countries” (Robbins & Judge, 2017). On the other hand, Toni Carter (2018) shares her views on how she loved working on creating diversity in community and at the same time got lucky to work in the diversity team for a job that paid her bills. She emphasizes in a Ted talk that, “diversity can only be practised when everyone around are involved in it” (Toni Carter, 2018). She observed that “majority group of people neglect the diversity criteria and thus are not on the same page of being inclusive” (Toni Carter, 2018). The real game changer moment is explained here with an example of a workforce with and without having diversified people. “Evidence from a study of more than 6,000 workers in a major retail organization indicated that in stores with a less supportive diversity climate, African Americans or Hispanics made significantly fewer sales than White employees, but when the diversity climate was positive, Hispanics and Whites sold about the same amount and African Americans made more sales than Whites. Whites sold about the same amount whether there was a positive diversity climate or not, but African Americans and Hispanics sold far more when there was. There are obvious bottom-line implications of this research: stores that fostered a positive diversity climate were able to capitalize on their diverse workforce and make more money” (Robbins & Judge, 2017).

To sum up, people in any organization needs to be acknowledged and required to understand the distinct characteristics of diversity and inclusion. Both the concepts are intertwined, and it affects the results. When the diverse group are represented equally but are not inclusive at the workforce, there talent won’t be noticed which would result in less participation at workplace and thus won’t foster creative ideas, hence it would not lead to any business growth. “Effective diversity management increases an organization’s access to the widest possible pool of skills, abilities, and ideas” (Robbins & Judge, 2017).

3)

In today’s society, diversity plays a significant role in many companies and organizations (Robbins & Judge, 2016). According to Robbins and Judge (2016), diversity is “the extent to which members of a group are similar to, or different from one another (p. 355). As discussed in the textbook, there are two levels of diversity which are surface-level-diversity and deep-level-diversity (Robbins & Judge, 2016). Surface-level diversity focuses on the biographical characteristics of an individual’s noticeable features such as age, sex, race, and ethnicity (Robbins & Judge, 2016). Whereas deep-level- diversity is unnoticeable traits that an individual has such as personality, values, and work ethics (Robbins & Judge, 2016). To get past and minimize workplace diversity, an individual should focus on diversity from a deep-level point of view (Robbins & Judge, 2016). If an individual focuses on diversity from a surface-level point of view, many false assumptions can be made from the initial first impression (Robbins & Judge, 2016).

The videos for this week revolve around workplace diversity and inclusivity, which can be a sensitive subject (Robbins & Judge, 2016). Up until now, I have not studied organizational diversity in depth, but I do not entirely agree with the majority of the topics that were mentioned in the How to get serious about diversity and inclusion in the workplace video by Janet Stovall (2018). The methodology that Janet implemented ended up having great results (Stovall, 2018). However (and I may be missing the point here), how does an organization set up a hiring process that only allows individuals within a certain age, sex, race, or any other characteristic apply for the job? I do feel that diversity is essential in organizations; however, I think the individual that is hired should be the best-qualified person for that particular position. With that being said, discrimination and biographical characteristics such as gender, race, age, etc. should not play any role in the hiring decision (Robbins & Judge, 2016). Therefore, it should be based strictly on the abilities and qualifications of the person that is being hired (Robbins & Judge, 2016).

I thought that Toni Carter (2018) done an excellent job of explaining how she implemented diversity management within her organization by eliminating diversity through inclusion. Carter (2018) closed with stating “I’m convinced that if all of us get on the same journey to inclusive diversity, we can create the solutions that our young people need for the next generation.” I feel that this approach will demonstrate the importance of diversity and can be used at any level. Therefore, it can be taught in early stages and then implemented throughout the careers of many individuals.

 
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Option 2

Option #2: Kemko Manufacturing
Section 1: Principle Components Discussion
Section 2: Simulation Analysis forScenario B
Section 3: Case Study Analysis based on theKemko Manufacturing case study (Kerzner, 2017, pp. 755-757).

To inform your decision, go to the Project Management Simulation: Scope, Resources, Schedule V2 (https://hbsp.harvard.edu/import/663930) at Harvard Business Publishing online. Once you have registered, you will be able to view the “Prepare” section to read about the project management process at Delphi Printers and learn how to run the simulation. Please note that, it is important, you select the Option you would like to work on this week because based on the Option you choose, the instructor will be able to assign the right Scenario (Scenario A if you choose Option 1 or Scenario B if you choose Option 2) to you to work on. Please specify your choice in your submission this week. Once the instructor assigns a Scenario to you based on the Option you’ve selected, you will be able to start performing the simulation.

For this Module 2 Portfolio Project Milestone, you must draft the framework of the Portfolio Project paper for the option you selected. This draft must be a properly organized CSU-Global formatted paper with the following key elements:

  • Running header with designation of Portfolio Project option clearly designated.
  • Cover page with designation of Portfolio Project option clearly designated.
  • Paper title with designation of Portfolio Project option clearly designated.
  • Introduction to include, as complete as possible, a brief descriptive overview of the Portfolio Project and a brief preface of your essay paper (one to three paragraphs).
  • Main body of your essay paper with APA style section level-1 headings for Section 1: Principle Components Discussion; Section 2: Simulation Scenario Analysis; and Section 3: Case Study Analysis. Include APA style section level-2 headings for bullet items or key elements within each main section. For the first three Section 1: Principle Components bullet items, include a brief, yet substantive, synopsis of each item (one to three paragraphs for each subsection level-2 bullet item):
  • Project, Program, and Portfolio Management distinction;
  • Project Selection; and,
  • Project Charter. Additionally, develop a basic, 1- page Project Charter template based on the PMBOK® Guide (6th ed.) that could be used for small-to-medium projects in a global organization. Include your Project Charter template as an appendix in your paper.
 
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9-1 Final Project Submission: Human Resources Strategy Proposal And Professional Reflection

Final Strategic Plan 30

The Arc of the United States Strategic Plan Final Proposal and Implementation

I M Great

The Arc of the United States Final Strategic Plan

Southern New Hampshire University

Table of Contents

Cover Letter………………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Vision and Mission…………………………………………………………………………………… 5

Analysis and Decision Making………………………………………………………………………. 7

Outlook and Approach……………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Risk Management…………………………………………………………………………………….11

Customer Service and Negotiation……………………………………………………………………14

Data Analysis…………………………………………………………………………………………16

Acceptance of Strategy………………………………………………………………………18

Talent Development and Workforce Planning………………………………………………19

Return on Investment………………………………………………………………………..21

HR Strategy………………………………………………………………………………….24

Ethics and Legality…………………………………………………………………………..25

Final Strategic Plan 1

References…………………………………………………………………………………………… 28

Human Resources Department

1825 K St. NW Ste. 1200, Washington, DC 20006

T: (202)123-4567; E: imgreat@arcus.org

Peter Berns/ Executive Director

1825 K St. NW Ste 1200

Washington, DC 20006

September 20, 2017

Re: The Arc of the United States Strategic Plan

Dear Peter Berns,

The Arc of the United States has been instrumental in promoting and protecting the rights of individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities across the United States. In addition to legislation and advocacy, The Arc of the United States strives to open opportunities for the people they support to be fully included in their communities.

As we look to expand globally, The Human Resources Department seeks to be a key partner in reaching our strategic goals and be a support in the future direction of the organization. The Human Resource department will align the needs, mission, and goals of the organization with a strong, capable workforce. We will take a cross-cultural approach and offer cultural training to put the right talents and skills in place so we can continue to assist people with developmental and intellectual disabilities have the opportunities and have full inclusion in their communities here in the U.S. and abroad. Our employees are the key to our success in this endeavor and our goal is to create a workforce that will enable us to meet our strategic goals.

______________________________________________________________________________

Strategies

______________________________________________________________________________

Final Strategic Plan 2

The Human Resource Department will use evidence-based strategies and data-driven analysis to study the demographics of our employees, identify a changing skills base, and study trends to see if there are any gaps that need to be addressed. We will also use the HRIS to monitor hiring

practices, turnover, and retention. The HR Department will be a critical member in the strategic plan and by utilizing these evidenced based strategies, we will position ourselves to have a workforce that is both competent and culturally diverse. This will allow the organization to support the mission, vision, and goals and attain departmental goals and objectives.

The Arc of the United States has proven themselves as an organization that puts integrity and transparency at the forefront of everything we do. The Human Resource Department will take an integrity-based approach to ethics. Not only will we remain in compliance under the law, we will emphasize the importance that management plays in the ethical behaviors of our employees (Harvard Business Review, 1994). The Human Resource Department will focus on encouraging good behavior as opposed to punishing bad behavior (State Services Commission, 2002). Not only will we maintain compliance in ethics from a legal standpoint, we will offer guidance through training and education to all employees. Our Core Values will guide us and influence the work we do.

In summary, the Human Resource Department will be an active team member in The Arc of the United States strategic planning team. We will support the mission, vision, and goals through our most valuable resource, our employees. We will work to meet our goals through:

1. Creating a SWOT and using this as our starting point to determine the areas where we need to improve and where there are opportunities for us as we look to expand into the global market.

2. Creating a performance and employee management system that includes policies and procedures that encourage positive, ethical behavior.

Final Strategic Plan 3

3. Evaluating our current workforce as well as future needs and be sure we are hiring and placing the right employee in the right positions to ensure we reach our goals and meet future demand.

4. Creating a succession plan to ensure that we are recruiting and developing employees for future roles and positions within the company.

5. Analyzing current data that we have collected through our HRIS as well as existing data to ensure we have a competent and culturally diverse staff to meet the needs of the individuals we support. We will also analyze the competition and monitor environmental factors (economy, attitudes toward work, financing and governmental regulations and statutes).

6. Increasing our Return on Investment by reviewing our compensation and benefits program, tracking and reducing turnover, and training and development.

7. Offer cultural diversity training and hire staff that are culturally diverse to meet the needs of the people we support.

We look forward to discussing our role as a strategic partner and meeting our mission and goals one employee at a time.

Sincerely,

I. M. Great

Human Resources Director

Final Strategic Plan 4

The Arc of the United States

Vision and Mission

The Arc of the United States is a nonprofit organization that believes in the inherent value of all people and works daily through advocacy and legislation to ensure that people with developmental and intellectual disabilities are included in every aspect of their communities. The Arc of the United States has proven itself as a respected leader in promoting the rights of people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. The Arc of the United States mission statement reads as follows: The Arc promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion and participation in the community throughout their lifetimes. A mission statement is ultimately a statement of purpose. The Arc of the United States believes that every person should have the same rights and be fully included in the community in which they live.

The Arc of the United States is also guided by nine core values:

1) Equity

2) Community

3) Self-determination,

4) Diversity

5) Guiding Principles Participatory Democracy

6) Visionary Leadership

7) Public Interest

8) Collaboration

Final Strategic Plan 5

9) Transparency, Integrity and Excellence (arc.org, n.d.).

It is important that the HRM strategic plan take these core values and mission and hire create a workforce that can help us reach our goals and continue to effectively support people intellectual disabilities around the world.

The Arc of the United States has a strategic framework for their future that covers the dates from 2010- 2019. In this strategic plan they identify eight goals that they want to accomplish by 2019 and the strategies they need to take to reach those goals. In addition to these goals, the Strategic Framework for the Future of the Arc lists the strategies they will take to reach each of these goals. As The Arc of the United States looks to expand across borders, these goals will impact the people we support and guide us. The Arc’s goals over the ten year period, 2010 – 2019, are to ensure that:

1. Infants, children and youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) have access to the supports and services they need to live in their family homes, to succeed in school and to partake in all of the experiences of childhood (TheArc.org).

2. Adults with I/DD have the opportunity to lead lives of their own choosing, free from poverty, to be employed, to reside in the community, and to live independently with ready access to whatever services and supports they need (TheArc.org).

3. People with I/DD have the opportunity to participate in civic activities, volunteerism and community service, religion, arts, culture and recreation alongside their peers without disabilities (TheArc.org).

Final Strategic Plan 6

4. Individual members of the public value, respect and accept people with I/DD as equal members of society (TheArc.org).

5. Quality health education, health promotion and health care are widely available and accessible, enabling individuals to avoid known environmental causes of I/DD and to prevent secondary health problems for people with I/DD (TheArc.org).

6. The Arc is a powerful advocate for people with I/DD, leading a vibrant, engaged, and growing movement of people with I/DD; their family members, friends, and colleagues; and the nonprofits organizations that serve them, committed to the full inclusion of people with I/DD in society (TheArc.org).

7. The Arc is a catalyst advancing best practices among all community-based service providers and the preeminent provider of inclusive services and supports for people with I/DD and their families (TheArc.org).

8. The Arc is a household name, well-known and responsive, well-managed, responsibly governed, and sustainable nonprofit federation (TheArc.org)

It is important that the leadership be committed and be the example for the mission, goals and core values. Leaders of this organization, including human resource leadership, must create a vision that helps employees see the possibilities that are in front of them, make sure that everyone is moving in the same direction, and effectively execute the vision until it becomes a reality (SHRM, n.d.). The human resources department believes in promoting the mission and values of The Arc of the United States through leadership, recruitment, high performance, and effective business processes. We will let the mission guide us to continue to provide excellence in service and advocacy.

Analysis and Decision Making

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The Human Resource department must determine our human resource needs and recruit and train employees who can help this organization expand and meet the goals for the future. In

order for the human resource department to make decisions regarding our workforce, we must start with completing a SWOT analysis and determine any competency gaps. We understand that our expansion will require us to take a close look at our policies, procedures, job descriptions, employment laws so they align with the needs and regulations of the population we serve in these areas.

The SWOT analysis will help us consider what strengths the HR department has that can be used to help lead the organization in the direction desired by the leadership team, what opportunities, what weaknesses we need to overcome so we can recruit, retain and offer appropriate trainings (SHRM, 2012). We must also look at the external factors that offer us opportunities and pose possible threats to our organization. We will look for opportunities such as new technology, unfulfilled needs of customers and beneficial changes in employment laws (SHRM, 2012). The threats will be analyzed so we can identify areas that could cause difficulty in the future. Some threats that we must look at are federal regulations that affect the people we support, employment laws, and a changing workforce.

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Once we complete the SWOT analysis we must determine where there are competency gaps. Conducting a gap analysis for human resources gives leaders a reading on future employment requirements by identifying the competencies their vision requires and comparing them to those available from current employees (Brunot, n.d.). This analysis will allow us to plan and make informed decisions regarding our staffing. We will be able to project for future staffing needs. We will look at what new jobs will we be implementing and what skills and competencies are needed and in what timeframe do those positions need to be filled. In our field of nonprofit that is very regulated and our hope to expand across borders, we will also need to consider if there are any employment policies or legislation that will affect recruitment and

retainment efforts. The gap analysis will allow us to take a closer look at our current staff and take inventory of what positions we currently have, look into the workforce and plan for any retirements or promotions, and turnover rates.

Once the gap analysis is completed, we will see where the gaps between our current staffing and what staffing needs will arise in the future. The human resource department will strategically make adjustments and restructure our workforce as necessary so we have the right people with the right skills in the right places to minimize risk and maximize our resources (Brunot, n.d.).

Outlook and Approach

While considering expanding globally, we must be sensitive to the different cultures of the employees and the people we support. We must also be aware of the trends and issues that may affect our employees and our organization. The Human resource department will hire employees from different cultural backgrounds so that we have the diversity that is in the best interest of all stakeholders. There are many steps that the Human Resource department will take to ensure we improve cultural responsiveness and capitalize on diversity.

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The first step we will take is conducting a PEST analysis. Although not all of the information is related to culture and diversity, understanding these elements will allow us to look at different aspects of the different cultures. By conducting this analysis, we can better understand the market and align our strategies and hiring procedures to our mission and goals. We will look at the political factors that may impact our industry and the people we hire. We know that this industry is heavily regulated by the state and government and that much of our funding comes from the federal level. The Human resource department will look at the funding sources and the regulations on a global level to be sure we understand the laws, policies that

affect our industry as well as our hiring practices. The economy of other countries can have an impact in our success to reach our strategic goals. We must take time to look at recession, employment and unemployment rates, and the funding climate that will have an effect on our budget. The social aspect of this analysis will give us idea of the demographics and the cultural trends of different countries help us determine how a society feels about the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and be able to recruit those who have the same beliefs that align with ours. Technology will be important because as we expand, it will be important to have a system that can track the aspects as they pertain to our workforce such as recruitment, turnover, pay and benefits. It will be important for the human resource department to have the technology that will allow them to meet our employee needs from across the country.

Cultural training will be of high priority as we will be hiring people from different cultures and supporting people from different cultures. An inclusive work environment requires a clear understanding of both the inherent and acquired diversity within an organization (Ollila, 2017). While staying within employment laws, the human resource department will utilize social media and our HRIS to expand our pool of applicants and potential employees. We will be sure to update all of our material and forms to be sure that all cultures are represented.

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We will offer cultural training and start a cultural diversity committee in each location. The cultural diversity committee will send out Topics of the Quarter so that supervisors can discuss relevant cultural topics. The committee will set annual goals that address cultural diversity throughout the organization. Policies and procedures will be updated regularly and our system will be updated and fields added to our electronic system. We will become an organization that celebrates differences by encouraging people to discuss differences and as we become global, we will need to be sure that all holidays are celebrated accordingly.

Risk Management

It is the responsibility of the HR department to be sure we are operating morally and legally and attending to the safety and well-being of all people who are involved with the organization bit internally and externally. Not only do we need to act within the law, we also need to make difficult decisions that can affect the integrity of the organization. We must look at all areas where problems can occur and look into how we can eliminate or lessen the risk to our organization. Some areas that we will are minimizing risk are the areas of compensation, hiring, health and safety, supervision, employee conduct, and how to deal with employees who are leaving the company.

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In the area of compensation, we will have performance evaluations that are reflective of the job that the person is doing but also one that relies not only on job duties but have goals that drive the employee to engage in ethical behaviors and that promote collaboration and teamwork. Incentives must be carefully thought out and must beneficial and financially feasible for the organization. We will create a performance evaluation that focuses on job performance but that will also focus on safety efforts of the employee, how well to they communicate and get along with others in their department and if they are utilizing best practices while at work. We will implement SMART goals to each performance evaluation. SMART stands for, specific, measurable, achievable, result-oriented, and time-bound. This will help the HR department in determining that the goals are not only beneficial and dependent on pay incentives but they are clearly written to assist the organization and the employee in meeting our strategic goals. We must be sure that not only can we offer incentives based on the organizations financial ability but also that we offer incentives that foster collaboration and teamwork.

In our hiring processes, we must minimize risk by making sure we are abiding by all employment and discrimination laws that are in place in all areas we serve. We must also employ the right people with the right skills for the right job. We will implement 30-60-90 day performance reviews to be sure that the employee is meeting all expectations in the probationary period. The 30 day review will be a simple review of whether or not the employee is grasping the job duties and understand the policies and processes of the company. At the 60 day review, we will look at whether or not the employee is meeting the expectations of the position and put goals into place that can help the employee succeed in the position. At the 90 day evaluation, we will determine whether or not the employee is a suitable candidate. If not, we will terminate employment at that time. If they are a good candidate, we will set the SMART goals for them to begin working on for the remainder of the year.

In the area of health and safety, we will be sure that there are effective safety measures to protect our employees and minimize risk. Every geographical area will have risks that are specific to that area and we need to have a safety committee to address any safety needs or issues. We will conduct regular safety checks and provide the necessary equipment needed to remain safe. The safety committee will report on safety concerns and issues each quarter and the information will be related back to the HR department so that safety measures can be implemented and so that we can protect the agency form rising insurance claims as well as abide by the regulations set by OSHA and any other regulating body.

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We must also mitigate risk through our managers by training them on the important role they play. The supervisor must follow the performance management process as outlined above but they must also meet with their staff at a minimum of monthly and be sure that their staff are receiving the necessary training. We will conduct regular training to managers and supervisors

to discuss areas of concern, issues that have arisen and employment laws that must be adhered to in order for the organization to remain compliant and to keep employees’ safe.

Employee conduct is always a difficult task because employees deal with issues related to the job and issues related to their personal life that can affect their performance and conduct. We will be sure that each employee understands the policies and procedures, signs the employee handbook upon hire, provide ongoing training and development and be sure they understand the expectations of the job they are performing and the larger organizational goals. We will give each employee the opportunity to correct their behavior unless the infraction was one that requires termination. We will coach each employee in ways that they can improve their performance and set goals so they clearly understand the expectations and have a guide to help them correct the issue.

We must also minimize risk by making sure that we have a solid process in place for exiting employees. All employees whether resigning or terminated will go through an exit interview. There will be a set of standard questions asked as well as the opportunity to discuss the issues behind their departure. We will take this information and use it to improve our processes and address any issues found. We will have a process for collecting any company property (keys, computer, phone), be sure that they are immediately deactivated from the electronic system including passwords, access to client information, and client files. We will also be sure that we are adhering to the payout of any unused vacation or leave and abiding by all employment laws.

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In addition to all of the items listed above, succession planning is another important part of mitigating risk. Having a succession plan in place can decrease disruption within the company and reduce turnover and recruiting costs. Having a plan to replace key employees

internally can decrease disruption when they leave the company but it also keeps the company stable and secure in times of change. We will work closely with leadership to identify and develop talent. We will assist in identifying potential candidates for certain roles, put a plan in place to develop the necessary talent, and track and monitor the process closely. HR has access to and communicates with employees often so we can more easily identify potential candidates and share our thoughts with leadership. We will put mentoring processes in place and offer trainings that offer internal candidates the opportunity to grow and develop into future roles.

The HR department will continually assess for risks because our employees and the people we support are our greatest risk. We will continue to monitor all risks and make decisions about what risks need to be avoided, what risk we are willing to accept in order to meet the goals of the organization while staying compliant and within the law, and look into areas where we need to make adjustments in our practices. This is an ongoing task that will require the HR department to continually monitor to keep the company safe and minimize risk.

Customer Service and Negotiation

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The success of an organization does not come from one employee, it comes from the collective work of all members of a team. Although we have incentives for employees based on their performance reviews, it is important that we put goals in the performance evaluation that reflect and encourage teamwork. To foster teamwork, we will focus on having regular departmental meetings to discuss and gather information form the whole team and get ideas from the team on ways they can improve together. We will offer incentives that foster teamwork such as offering the department a pizza party or a day where they can all come in late or leave early. The HR department has to encourage teamwork by making sure that the suggestions and ideas are acted upon and that the employees feel their ideas and concerns are being heard. We have

many different departments from direct support professionals to our public policy department where the goals are very different. We also have several employees that work remotely so it is our responsibility to help them to understand how their work affects the larger organization.

Trust is a very important part of the success of any organization. If an employee trust the HR department and its management, the retention rate will improve. To ensure that we build a culture of trust, we will communicate open and honestly and do what we say we will do. We will start by creating an employee engagement survey that will go out twice annually. Once the results of the survey are in, we will discuss the results with the senior management team and identify and develop systems and programs that are of the highest importance to the employees. The design of the engagement survey is important because we have to ask questions about things that we can measure and in turn take action on. Once we analyze the results, we will discuss the results with the entire organization, both good and bad, and discuss in detail what action we will take to address these issues and a timeframe by which we hold ourselves to. The survey is just a starting pint but if acted on accordingly, we will build the trust of the employees and allow them to see that we value their opinions and that together we can accomplish the strategic goals set in place.

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Teamwork and trust cannot be built unless there is open and honest communication that flows vertically and horizontally. The vison may be clear to all employees however, how to get there may be interpreted differently by employees. With the organization growing, we must utilize technology to reach all of the employees. We must utilize ways to communicate the employees that are in the office each day as well as employees that are working offsite or across the world. Technology and social media has given us the opportunity to communicate

instantaneously. We must find ways to communicate effectively so we can reach our organizational goals.

Change communication includes leadership laying out what is going to change and what isn’t, but also includes the conversations that happen when employees go to their direct managers with concerns and questions (Painter, 2014). We must train our managers who come in contact with the employees regularly the importance of two-way communication. We have to train the management to effectively communicate and include them in on meetings where we discuss our strategic goals and give them guidance on how they can promote the goals of the organization effectively. We also have to be transparent in the things we share with employees. We have to communicate what is working and what is not and we cannot just pick and choose only the positive things that are occurring. To build teamwork and trust through communication, we have to openly discuss our failures and the processes we are taking to correct them and get back on track. Success depends on every person in the organization. If we truly believe this, we have to have open and honest communication through all stages of the process.

Data Analysis

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Analyzing data is not just about understanding data-driven HR and the usual metrics, but specifically how HR can connect what it’s doing to business outcomes. HR should not only align with the business but drive the business by making better decisions about the workforce (Biro, 2016). Improving our HRIS so that we can forecast for the future and make better business decisions that support the strategic plan in areas such as, turnover, retention, risk, and forecasting for the future. To be more effective, the HR department has to have the ability to move away from the manual processes and have information systems that can accurately and quickly render relevant data. Payroll is one of, if not, the largest expense for an organization. Many decisions

regarding hiring, retention, rewards, etc… are done through an HR professional gut feeling or a corporate system that has been in existence for a long period of time. Many HR departments base their decisions on where the applicant went to school, what grades they earned and their references. Although, these may be important, it is not the only thing that is important when determining whether or not the employee will be successful. The HR department needs to increase its knowledge of data analytics and determine what questions need to be answered and what analytics need to be set up to get those questions answered. This can be costly to implement initially but if utilized correctly, it can save the company a great deal in costs and increase revenue. Many may think that data is not necessary in HR however, we can find things through data analysis that can help in our recruitment, retention, risk management, and decision making that can increase revenue and more effectively help us in reaching our goals as we expand into other markets. Many HR departments measure these areas from different databases or files that are controlled by different people within the department. We need to implement a system that we can all access easily and enter the necessary data to get the needed results. Although many believe that the old way of doing things is working, we as an organization that is expanding services and hiring people from different areas to support our mission and goals, we need a centralized system that gives us scientific, quick results so we can move in the direction we have set forth for the organization.

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We believe that our proposal as outlined above will put us in the position necessary to expand our advocacy and services. We realize that our department will need to take a more strategic role to meet the needs of the people we support, our employees, and our organization as a whole. Using this strategic approach, we will be able to work as a business partner with the leadership team to mitigate risks associated with our expansion, create a culturally sensitive

workforce, and track and analyze data so we can address trends more efficiently and effectively. If this proposal is accepted, we will take some of the following steps to implement the HR strategic plan and address some of the following areas.

Acceptance Strategy

As the The Arc of the United States is positioning itself to expand its advocacy and services to other parts of the country, it is important that the Human Resource Department be involved in reaching the strategic goals that have been identified. Although administrative duties will still be a part of the Human Resource Department, we must be a part of business decisions so we can council the leadership on how those decisions impact the workforce and the financial bottom line. The core of any organization and its strategic plan is the people, hence why it is critical that we are at the table and a partner in this strategic plan (Righeimer, n.d.). Our employees will ultimately be the determining factor for the success of in reaching our strategic goals and gaining a competitive edge. A strategic approach that is aligned with HR ensures that an organization’s employees, skills, and abilities contribute to the achievement of its

business goals (Huselid, Jackson, & Schuler, 1997).

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Should the HR proposal be accepted, we will first take an inventory of our current HR Department and adjust the department so we can ensure we have the rights skills in each area to be a strong strategic partner. We will move from a traditional HR model where the majority of our function is dedicated to administration to a transformed model where we focus more on strategy and policies. In order to do this, we will identify skills we need in our department to ensure we are successful and we will determine any competencies that are needed and relate those to our future roles and responsibilities (Madden, 2012). We will conduct a SWOT analysis to determine our areas of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. We will build on our

strengths, address our weaknesses, take advantage of the opportunities, and identify areas of threat. With these results we can identify where we have gaps and conduct an analysis to look at what are future workforce needs will be and compare them to what we currently have with our current staff.

Administrative duties will be completed by HR generalists so that the strategic HR personnel will have more time to manage the talent of the organization, develop future organizational leaders, and help the organization achieve the highest level of workforce performance (Madden, 2012). With our new transformed model, we will spend the majority of our time aligning our strategies with the strategic business goals and support the operations of the organization (Madden, 2012).

The HR Department will have a strong understanding of the business, have an HRIS that allows us to analyze data regarding employee retention, return on investments, trainings, succession planning, just to name a few. We will think systematically so that we understand how certain changes impact other areas of the organization and how it impacts the goals set in place. We will adapt to any changes that occur and be prepared to adjust as necessary.

Talent Development and Workforce Planning

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The Arc of the United States only has around 50 employees, however, they have over 700 local and state chapters and have a membership of over 140,000. As we expand our services, we will need to hire a wide array of employees from lobbyists, public policy, state executive directors, and a large number of managers and direct support professionals. The HR Department will look at the employment needs of each area we expand into and look at the key workforce challenges that we currently face as well as the needs of the communities we will serve. We know we currently have challenges with turnover, an inadequate supply of mental health

professionals, and regulatory and policy challenges. We do a good job of hiring a diverse workforce but we must be sure we continue to strive for a diverse workforce in all areas.

The Human Resource Department will assess our current and future needs of the people we support as well as the communities we will be serving. We will do this through completing both organizational and individual needs assessments. The organizational assessment will allow us to determine the skills and abilities we already have within our workforce as well as forecast for future needs. Doing this will help in determining what we will need to do to reduce any problems and weaknesses that already exist and enhance our strengths and competencies. We will look at factors such as our changing demographics as we expand, political trends in the locations we expand into, technology needs, and the economy of the future areas (OPM.gov, n.d.).

While completing the individual assessments, we will look into how well employees are doing their jobs and their ability to do different jobs and step into different roles. After we determine this, we can put training programs in place that address the current and future needs of our employees.

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Prior to the assessments, we will set goals and objectives and look at data and results of any prior needs assessments that have been completed. We will also look at our current job descriptions and past performance evaluations. Once the assessments are completed, we will analyze the data and make determinations on what areas we need to focus and address any problems and issues. Once the issues are identified, we can put together trainings that address the issues and create a cost/benefits report to determine the costs of the trainings and compare them to the benefits that The Arc will incur.

We realize that training may not be the only solution to our workforce needs. We may be able to also determine any performance gaps that currently exist or that may exist in the future. We will also communicate the expectations of the organization, provide support, and communicate the behaviors that are needed and desired in order to achieve our goals as we expand. It will also be important for us to put into place succession planning. The Arc of the United States is heavily rooted in policy and advocacy and we must be sure that we have employees who understand federal public policy and advocacy and who have the skills and ability to educate policy makers and elected officials about the needs of the I/DD community. These roles are responsible for communicating our strategic goals and change policy to best support individuals with I/DD and their families. We realize that there are many positions that are critical for the success of the organization and that if not filled, could cause our progression towards our goals to halt. Many of the positions such as or lobbyists, public policy positions, legal, and advocacy require a great deal of knowledge and expertise. These are positions that are critical to our success and we must begin to train current employees to take over these roles if necessary. We will identify employees for key positions, and offer development opportunities through mentorships. Identified employees will participate in the mentoring programs so they can learn the needs of the position and develop the necessary skills to take over key roles if necessary. We will not only look at exceptional employees who are motivated and want to move up in the company but we realize that we have a large pool of knowledgeable volunteers that have skills and abilities that can be useful for the key roles in the future.

Return on Investment

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There are many metrics that need to be studied in order to show how HR contributes to the return on investment. One of the highest costs that we incur is our cost of people/employees.

We understand people being such a high expense, we need to show the economic value through metrics. We will utilize our HRIS to run these metrics and report the return on investment in many areas. We will be hiring many people in the future as we grow and we need to be sure that we are being financially responsible in our hiring, retention, benefits, and productivity.

The first areas we will measure is the average time it takes us to hire and fill positions. This will be helpful for the organization because it will show whether or not we have an efficient recruitment process and give us insight on positions that are harder to fill. We know that money can be lost if a position stays vacant and it can prove to be difficult for those employees who have to take on the duties while the position is vacant.

We will also be tracking the cost per hire and the turnover rate. Tracking the turnover rate is very important because it will allow us to look at the cause of the turnover. We will be able to see if people are leaving because there is a mismatch between the person and the position or the person and the company (van Vulpen, n.d.). We understand that it takes a significant amount of time for an employee to learn their job effectively and when they leave early, it can be expensive. This metric will allow us to make the necessary changes to match employees with the right job.

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There are many different positions within the organization and they all play very important roles. Since we have a great deal of employees who bill for services and we depend on this for revenue, we will also track revenue per employee. This will help us to see the quality of our hired employees and see whether or not the position is essential for the organization if we are losing revenue due to this position. We can look at the data and determine if this position os key or if the duties can be handled by another employee or position.

We also must look at the costs of our benefits and compensation. Included in this will be the non-essential benefits that are offered to employees. Since we will be hiring several new employees as we expand, we have to be sure that the benefits and compensation are in line with our budget. Of course, we will be looking at the amount it costs the organization to offer benefits and compensation, but we will also look at how many employees are happy with their compensation compared to the expectations of their job and the pay scales for all employees. We will compare this data with previous years and be sure that we are compensating employees accordingly. To get the data regarding whether or not an employee is happy with their compensation compared to the expectation of their job, we will survey employees and input the data received. If non-essential benefits are offered, we will look at whether or not this is a cost that is having a direct impact on productivity and if the employees are utilizing these benefits. If the answer is no, these benefits can be eliminated.

We also must track our training and development as this can have a direct impact on our turnover rate. We know that turnover can be costly for the organization and it is often related to the lack of training and development of our employees. We again will survey employees to see if they are happy with the learning and growth they are receiving and if they are receiving on the job training in order to be successful. As we expand, we understand the importance of proper training and development in reaching our goals and having a strong workforce with a low turnover rate. We have to be sure that we are offering training that is relevant to the positons and the areas in which they will be working.

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Lastly, we need to look at our culture and how it aligns with our success. This can be difficult to measure because it is not something that is tangible or can be described simply by numbers but it is a very important metric that must be addressed. Culture are a set of behaviors

that determine how things get done in a company (Besner, 2015). Some areas to consider is how well we communicate with our employees. Are we available to hear employee concerns and suggestions? Does the organization have a method by which they can share important information to all employees? We must also be sure that our employees are safe and healthy. Organizations who put the wellness of their employees at the forefront, they find that the employees who are happy and more productive. This can affect our bottom line and save on any medical costs that can come from health or safety issues.

These are just a few areas that we will measure but we understand that with our global expansion, we will need to continually look at our return on investment and look at other areas that affect our organization and employees.

HR Strategy

Our strategic goals are all about creating the same life and opportunities for people with I/DD that we all have. Our responsibility as the HR Department is to have the right people with the right skills in place to reach these goals. We realize we must align our goals with the organizational goals. HR needs to take a comprehensive approach that aligns its actions with the entire organizational strategy. The ultimate goal is for HR to support an

organization through the management of human capital, which is the major subset of the

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broader organization’s strategy. (Righeimer, n.d.). It is human capital that affects all areas of an organization. We must take a more strategic role in order to reach our strategic goals. Although our administrative duties are still very important, we must move towards a more strategic approach. Our department will align our systems with the organizations strategies and ensure that we have a workforce that is strategically focused.

Historically, HR has been seen from an administrative lens as a department that focuses solely on the number of people hired, retention rates, and training. We want to expand into a strategic partner and have the ability to be at the table to discuss how HR is an important partner in supporting our strategic objectives through our most valued asset, our employees.

We will take inventory of the skills and competencies within our department to be sure we can perform at a strategic level. We will focus our efforts internally on becoming more knowledgeable of the business, the financials, and being consultative in nature. In order to track data, we will need to be sure we have the technical skills so we can share information regarding our workforce to the leadership team. We will become more business oriented so we can become more strategically involved. As mentioned above, we will have metrics in place that provide a framework for the organization’s strategy. We will look at our competency gaps and look at what is needed to close those gaps. We will create a strong culture that aligns with our vision and mission. We will align our HR goals with the larger organizational goals. And, we will share our knowledge with the leadership team so we can reach our strategic goals and have the necessary workforce in place to provide the skills necessary to support the people and families we support. HR is what is going to drive our strategic process.

Ethics and Legality

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The Arc of the United States has always prided itself in its integrity and transparency. We believe in always being ethical and abiding by all legal requirements. As we expand and grow, we will continue to work ethically and abide by all laws and policies that are in place in all areas across the world. We will remain compliant at all times and be sure we have the knowledge necessary in our department to minimize any possible risks associate with ethics and laws.

Human Resources has a great deal of ethical and legal responsibility. HR recruits, trains, and is responsible for the workforce. Along with this comes a great deal of possible ramifications if we do not act in an ethical and legal manner. Our team will hold regular trainings so that we stay knowledgeable regarding legal and ethical issues. As we move to a more strategic approach, we will be sure that our HR Department has the necessary certifications, education and training. We will offer continuing educational opportunities through training, webinars, and education to ensure compliance.

The HR Department must act as role models for all of the employees. We must be knowledgeable in ethical decision making because any unethical action that is taken by HR can have a negative impact on the entire organization.

The success of our business is dependent on our trust and confidence of our employees and stakeholders (SHRM, 2014). We will always act with integrity and be honest in all of our business endeavors. We will create a working environment that is rooted in respect. We will be sure that all employees feel like they are supported and respected and where they can freely voice concerns and issues without fear of retaliation. We will train our managers how to create a strong, ethical team and give them training on communication techniques.

We cannot only say that we will act ethically in all areas, but we must also have buy in from top leaders who model the behavior we seek to receive from our employees. Prompt action must be taken to ensure that appropriate steps are taken to deal with ethical issues as they arise.

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We will abide by our code of conduct and have policies and procedures in place that address both ethical and legal issues. Each new hire should be given a copy of the code of conduct upon hire and every office should have these hanging in a shared space for employees and other stakeholders to see.

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Our Human Resource Department will be sure that we are aware of and abiding by all laws and regulations that guide employer-employee relations. This will become extremely important as we expand into other areas because we must abide by laws that are set in place in all countries we do business is. Our employees are our biggest resource and we want to always act in an ethical and legal manner. As we move forward as a strategic partner, we will protect the organization by hiring the right talent, offer adequate education and training, provide each employee with an employee handbook and update it regularly, conduct regular compliance audits in our department, and communicate often.

References

A Clear Path Forward: Strategic Framework for the Future of the Arc 2010-2019. (n.d.). Retrieved September 30, 2017, from www.thearc.org

Besner, G. (2015, June 03). The 10 Company Culture Metrics You Should Be Tracking Right Now. Retrieved October 20, 2017, from https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/246899#

Board of Directors & Staff. (n.d.). Retrieved October 1, 2017, from http://www.thearc.org/who-we-are/staff

Brunot, T. (n.d.). What Is a Gap Analysis for Human Resources? Retrieved October 02, 2017, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/gap-analysis-human-resources-61949.html

Charting Impact Report. (2011, May 17). Retrieved October 1, 2017, from http://www.thearc.org/document.doc?id=4100

Compliance-based versus integrity-based ethics management: a typology. (n.d.). Retrieved September 20, 2017, from http://www.ssc.govt.nz/node/5743

Gormandy White, M. (n.d.). Strategic Leadership Solutions: Building Vision, Alignment, and Execution. Retrieved September 30, 2017, from https://al.shrm.org/sites/al.shrm.org/files/Strategic%20Leadership%20Solutions.p

Huselid, M, Jackson, S, & Schuler, R. 1997. Technical and Strategic Human Resource

Management Effectiveness as Determinants of Firm Performance. Academy of

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