Discussion

5/26/2020 Print Preview

https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?eISBN=9781285872643&id=30222998&nbId=116383&snapshotId=116383&dockAppUid=101& 1/2

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

 

 

5/26/2020 Print Preview

https://ng.cengage.com/static/nb/ui/evo/index.html?eISBN=9781285872643&id=30222998&nbId=116383&snapshotId=116383&dockAppUid=101& 2/2

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.