Chapter 1: The Dynamic Environment of HRM

Solution Manual for Fundamentals of Human Resource Management 12th Edition by

DeCenzo Robbins and Verhulst ISBN 1119032741 9781119032748
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Chapter 1: The Dynamic Environment of HRM

Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, students should be able to:

1. Discuss how globalization affects HRM practices.

2. Describe how human resource managers use technology.
3. Explain regulation and legislation issues relevant to HRM.
4. Identify trends in the composition of the workforce and how HRM must adapt.
5. Explain how HRM supports diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
6. Explain the contingent workforce and other methods used to control labor costs.
7. Explain how HRM supports continuous improvement programs.
8. Define employee involvement and list its critical components.
9. Outline emerging challenges facing HRM.

Chapter Overview

Natural and manmade disasters can be unpredictable and have a ripple effect that is not only
challenging for local employers, but also for multinational companies with interests in the
affected areas. The role of the HR professional can vary widely depending on the magnitude of
the disaster and the size of the company. Surveying your students about external factors in their
experience that have been disruptive at work will turn up a variety of HR challenges.

Chapter content includes external challenges facing today's dynamic business world, highlighting
globalization, legislation and regulation, HRM technology, workforce diversity, labor supply and

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management, contingent workforces, decentralized work sites, continuous improvement, work
process engineering, employee involvement, HRM challenges, and ethics.

Additional features of this chapter:

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Exhibits
1 – 1: Cultural Values
1 – 2: Relevant Laws Affecting HRM Practices
1 – 3: FedEx Corporate Diversity Mission Statement
1 – 4: Are Layoffs Justified? Dilbert Cartoon
1 – 5: Continuous Improvement Programs
1 – 6: Components of Continuous Improvement

Boxed Features
These features are located within the text and address current issues in HRM within the context
of the relevant learning outcomes. They are short and thought provoking with thought questions
at the end providing a great opportunity to provide a break in class lecture to check student
understanding. Questions may be posed to students individually, in small groups, as quick
cooperative learning assignments or as large group discussions.
Ethical Issues in HRM – Invasion of Privacy on page 7 discusses the organization’s
right to monitor employees versus a worker’s right to privacy through the use of some
interesting real-life examples.

Workplace Issues – Valuing a Diverse Workforce on page 10 describes the variety of

ways that organizations can meet the challenges of developing and motivating a diverse
work force.

Diversity Topics – Glass Ceiling Still a Barrier for Women Globally on page 12 has a
chart depicting the percentage of women in executive ranks in various countries
throughout the world.

Ethical Issues in HRM - Guidelines for Acting Ethically on page 19 offers thoughtful
suggestions for handling confusing ethical dilemmas.

Ethical Issues in HRM - Everyday Ethics on page 21 offers ethical lapses that may be
more familiar to students than those seen in the headlines.

Making Concepts Relevant in Your Classroom

In addition to the activities provided in the lecture notes, these suggested activities help students
apply chapter 1 concepts:

Ask students about current changes in the work environment which they have heard or
read about. These may include friends and relatives who have been through work
process engineering, their own employment as contingent workers, etc. Consider
assigning this as a pass/fail interview assignment. Ask the students what role they believe
the HR function played in helping organizations to manage these changes and what
factors determine whether these changes are managed effectively.

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Provide an overview of a local or regional organization that has global operations. lead a
discussion about how the local business was impacted by globalization. Ask the students
to discuss how HRM might have been involved in that change.

Assign to or provide for students: brief articles from newspapers and/or business
magazines that illustrate some current HR challenges. Have small groups of 3-6 students
each read and report on one of the articles. (You will need to address the acceptability of
Internet articles.)

You might also want to ask if any students have been to another country and what their
impressions were of the culture. This is also an opportunity to integrate students’
experiences as international students (in your country or abroad). Did the students
encounter any difficulties communicating? Did anything make them uncomfortable?
How did they adjust in those circumstances? Relate their answers to how HR supports
such situations.

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Chapter Outline And Lecture Suggestions

Introduction Slide 3

Human resource management is a subset of the study of management that focuses of how
to attract, hire, train, motivate, and retain employees.

HR must understand the implications of globalization, technology changes, workforce

diversity, labor shortages, changing skill requirements, changing skill requirements,
continuous improvement initiatives, the contingent work force, decentralized work sites,
company mergers, offshore sourcing of goods and services, and employee involvement.

Globalization Slide 4
Learning Outcome 1: Discuss how globalization affects HRM practices.

The globalization of business and increase in the number of multinational and

transnational organizations requires HR managers to acquire a global skill set that
involves managing a global workforce, understanding a wide variety of cultures and legal
environments and economic systems. Communication and technology become extremely
important HR competencies.

Understanding Cultural Environments Slide 5

Not all HRM theories and practices are universally applicable. Countries have
different:
Values
Morals
Customs
Political systems
Economic systems
Legal systems
Employees need to:
Prepare to adapt to cultures, systems, and techniques different from their
own.
Have appropriate knowledge, skills and cultural adaptability.
Understand businesses within their own social context.
HRM needs to address:
Language differences in a multi-lingual workplace.
Cultural variables such as status differentiation, societal uncertainty,
assertiveness, and individualism.
Group and individual conflict caused by differences in background,
language, and customs.
The differences between an individualistic society, like the United States,
and a collective society, such as Japan.

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Exhibit 1-1 Cultural Values on page 3 list examples of countries that value
individualism and those that value relationships.

Technology Slide 7
Learning Outcome 2: Describe how human resource managers use technology.

Technology alters world economies and the way people work.

Technology has changed the way information is created, stored, used, and shared.
Thomas Friedman studied globalization and the evolution of civilization. He contends
that technology has leveled the playing field, allowing individuals and small businesses
to compete in the global economy.

Working with Technology Slide 8

Technology presents opportunities and challenges for workers everywhere.
Information Technology
Creating and maintaining technology infrastructure of the organization.
Jobs for IT professionals are predicted to be among fastest growing
occupations through 2022.
Information Systems
Use technology to enhance organizational decision making.
Create organizational efficiencies and competitive advantage.
Knowledge Workers Slide 9
Use technology to acquire and apply information.
Technology skills are required in a wide variety of jobs, making it difficult
to find a career area that doesn't require technology skills.
Social media policies need to spell out rights and responsibilities when
employees use social media, blogs or any other public online forum.

Technology and HR Slide 10

Like most professions, technology has changed the way HR professionals work
Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) automate many HR tasks:
Employee access to payroll, benefits administration.
Applicant tracking, orientation, training and development.
Performance management.
Many, many others that will be covered in other chapters.
Software as a Service (SaaS)
Business model that provides software services online on a subscription
basis
Includes HRIS
Staffing Slide 11
HRIS software powers company career sites, job boards like
CareerBuilder and Monster
Tracks applicants and the hiring process
Provides online screening and testing for applicants
Training and Development

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HRIS software performs orientation, training and employee development

activities.
Services can be delivered to employees on demand, globally and in a cost
effective way.
Ethics and Employee Rights
Knowledge workers have lots of opportunities for distractions due to
internet access.
Social media
E-Mail
Shopping
Gambling
Porn
Electronic surveillance allows employee monitoring and presents ethical
problems.
Compensation and Technology
High demand tech skills can drive up salary and benefit offers.
Websites like Glassdoor provide a way for workers to trade salary
information.
Communication
Technology makes communication easier, but not necessarily better
Information sharing is easier and breaks down traditional organizational
barriers
Telecommuters
Technology facilitates decentralized work sites allowing workers to
telecommute from nearby or on the other side of the world.
Managing off-site workers can be a challenge for managers.
Competitiveness
Technology allows businesses to source, produce and distribute globally,
regardless of size.
Allows global pool of talent

Class Activity: Ethical Issues in HRM - Invasion of Privacy? Page 7

After students read this feature that profiles three examples of employee
monitoring that ended up in the courts, use small groups to address the ethical
questions for a few minutes and present their thoughts to the entire class.
When does an employer’s need for information about employee performance
cross over the line and interfere with a worker's right to privacy?
Is any type of monitoring acceptable as long as employees are notified ahead of
time that they will be monitored?

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Regulations and Legislation Slide12

Learning Outcome 3: Explain regulation and legislation issues relevant to HRM.

The legal landscape affecting HR changes daily thanks to federal, state and local laws
and court decisions.

Legal Compliance is a major HR responsibility that includes:

Recordkeeping
Reporting
Safety monitoring
Communicating employee rights
Many others

Exhibit 1-2 Relevant Laws Affecting HRM Practices page 8 lists a few of the more
noteworthy federal laws of the last century. These and many others are addressed in
depth in following chapters.

Workforce Composition Trends Slide 13

Learning Outcome 4: Identify trends in the composition of the workforce and how
HRM must adapt.

Workforce and labor market are usually used interchangeably to refer to the population of
available workers.

Not Getting Younger

The number of workers over 65 is growing globally.
Baby Boom generation is in the process of turning 65 and has a variety of
reasons for not retiring including:
Staying active.
Good health.
Income and standard of living.

More Demographic Shifts

Globally, the number of women entering the workforce is growing.
Hispanic and Asians are fastest growing ethnic groups.

Is There a Shortage of Skilled Labor?

Some skills are in higher demand than others.
Skilled trades such as electricians, carpenters, cabinetmakers, welders and
health care workers are in short supply in the world's largest economies.
Shortage is expected to worsen as few young people are preparing for
skilled trades viewed as "blue-collar.
Organizations often have too many staff in some areas and shortages in others.

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Class Activity: Diversity Topics - Valuing a Diverse Workplace page 10. Recruiting
the best talent can be a challenge when the skills needed are scarce and it's hard to
communicate your opportunities to the available talent pool. That's when being seen as
not only an "Equal Opportunity Employer" but as an inclusive employer who embraces
diversity can be an advantage. Survey students for ways to attract a diverse workforce,
then compare their answers to the suggestions in this feature.

Diversity and Inclusion Slide 14

Learning Outcome 5: Explain how HRM supports diversity and inclusion in the
workplace.

HR's Challenge:
Create a culture that welcomes diverse groups of people by addressing different
lifestyles, family needs, and work styles.
Attract and maintain a work force that is reflective of the diversity in the general
population.
Increased sensitivity to group differences.
Accommodate different values, needs, interests, and expectations of employees.

Workforce Diversity Slide 15

Varied personal characteristics of workforce
Many organizations go beyond EEO laws to also recognize and protect:
Politics
Spirituality
Socioeconomic status
Family
Culture
In addition to legally protected characteristics
Inclusion refers to a culture of acceptance.

Diversity and Work-Life Balance Slide 16

Different groups have different needs and expectations out of life and work:
Age groups
Ethnic groups
Lifestyle
Requiring workplace flexibility for:
Family responsibilities
Leisure time
Quality of life
Global differences in culture and time
Again, technology helps and complicates the issue.

Exhibit 1-3 FedEx Corporation Diversity Mission Statement page 11 is an

example of how businesses value diversity so highly that they create a specific

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mission statement to emphasize those values. Does your college or any local
organizations have a Diversity Mission Statement?

Diversity Topics - Glass Ceiling Still a Barrier for Women Globally page 12
provides some surprising statistics on the percent of women in senior
management positions. The biggest surprise? China has more than twice the
percentage of women executives as the U.S.

Labor Costs Slide 17

Learning Outcome 6: Explain the contingent workforce and other methods used to
control labor costs.

Labor costs are frequently an organization's biggest expense.

Core employees make up the most expensive part of the workforce because of training
and benefit costs to name a few.

HR is required to control labor costs in a variety of ways:

Reduced hours
Reduced pay
Downsizing
Outsourcing
Offshoring
Contingent labor
Managing expense of:
o Employee benefits
o Workers compensation and disability claims

Downsizing
Also referred rightsizing
May be necessary due to
Economic pressure
Strategic changes
Structural changes
Increased efficiencies
Outsourcing moves work to outside sources such as contractors.

Contingent Workforce Slide 18

Saves money for the organization due to
Lower costs
Increased flexibility in scheduling
Examples include:
Part-time employees
o Typically work less than 40 hours per week
o Temporary employees
o Also called "temps"

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Employed for short term assignments

o Contract workers
o Contractors are not employees
o May be called freelancers, subcontractors or consultants

Contingent Worker Issues:

Core employees often receive more generous amenities than contingent workers.
Contingent workers may perceive their treatment to be less favorable and view
themselves as less critical to the organization.
What are they entitled to?
Compensation
Training and development
Scheduling
Move to full-time?
Pay and benefits conflicts
Pay rates do not include benefits, causing perception problems.
Contingent workers moving to full-time often find lower net pay when
benefits and deductions are considered.
Classifying employees correctly Slide 19
Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) sets standards for many employment
issues including pay and who is and is not an employee.
Department of Labor(DOL) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) enforce
employment relationship guidelines:
Behavioral: how much control does employer have over worker
activities?
Financial: how much control does employer have over pay,
expense? reimbursement, purchase of supplies and other materials.
Relationship: does a contract define the relationship, what types of
benefits are provided, what promises have been made?

Offshoring Slide 20
Moving jobs to another country, usually for economic reasons.
Lower labor costs
Lower production costs
Tax advantages
Weaker union environment
Favorable business climate with fewer regulations
A variety of types of jobs have been outsourced including Human Resources.
Reshoring involves returning jobs to home country.

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Continuous Improvement Programs Slide 21

Learning Outcome 7: Explain how HRM supports continuous improvement programs.

Continuous improvement involves constant efforts to provide better products and service
to customers, with today’s definition of customer including everyone both external and
internal to the organization.

Quality management
Concepts have existed for over 50 years and include the pioneering work of W.
Edwards Deming.
Key components of continuous improvement are listed in Exhibit 1-7.
Intense focus on the customer
Concern for continuous improvement
Improving quality of everything the organization does
Accurate measurement of operations
Empowering employees
Kaizen is the Japanese term for commitment to continuous improvement.

Work Process Engineering

Involves radical, quantum changes to entire work processes.
Differs from the incremental change usually obtained through continuous
improvement programs.

How HRM Can Support Improvement Programs

Helping employees cope with the emotional aspects of conflict and change
Providing skills training.
Adapting HR systems, such as compensation, benefits, and performance
standards.

Employee Involvement Slide 22

Learning Outcome 8: Define employee involvement and list its critical components.

How Organizations Involve Employees

Organizational culture must support involvement.
Top management must also support involvement.
Employees at all levels will need to delegate some of their activities and
responsibilities.
Emphasis needs to be on participative management using group decision
making
Involvement of employees on work teams.

Employee Involvement Implications for HRM

HRM must provide training to help empower employees in their new roles.
Involvement programs can achieve greater productivity, as well as increased
employee loyalty and commitment.

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Other HRM Challenges Slide 23

Learning Outcome 9: Outline emerging challenges facing HRM.

To be honest, it isn't necessary to look any further than your favorite news source to find
emerging challenges. They change every day. Your students will have their own list, but
let's start with this one.

Economy
Recessions mean layoffs.
HR professionals are confronted with challenges that accompany a
recession with layoffs, lower morale, worker resentment, and the need to
retrain those that remain.
The benefit of a recession is that higher unemployment makes it possible
to attract and hire better qualified people when the need arises.
Economic recovery is often slow and uneven.
Employers may be cautious about hiring.
Contingent workers may be utilized.
Labor shortages may exist for some skills in some areas.
Workers may need retraining to cope with either recession or recovery.

Mergers
Involve two or more organizations joining in ownership.
Acquisitions involve one organization taking ownership and control of another.
Used for financial gain:
Entering new markets
Acquiring technology or patents
Achieve economies of scale
HR responsibilities
Communication
Facilitate culture
Merge workforces

Labor Unions
Employees organize to secure better wages, hours and working conditions.
HR typically would rather not have to deal with employee unions.
Unions are on the decrease in the U. S. except for the public sector and service
jobs.
Covered in depth in chapter 14
Ethics
Ethics is a set of rules or principles that defines right and wrong conduct.
“Right” and “wrong” are often difficult to distinguish.
Code of ethics state an organization’s primary values and the ethical rules it
expects organizational members to follow.

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Sarbanes - Oxley (SOX)

Established in 2002 after colossal ethical failures resulted in bankruptcy of Enron
and Worldcom.
HRM is largely responsible for ethical training.

Class Activity: Ethical Issues in HRM - Guidelines for Acting Ethically page
19 provides practical guidelines for making ethical decisions that avoid
embarrassing problems for people and businesses. As a class activity, use a recent
newsworthy example of unethical behavior and apply each of these six guidelines.
Can the action by justified by any of them?

Sustainability
Involves responsible and ethical ways of
Living
Doing business
Employing individuals
Individuals prefer to work for employers they perceive to support sustainability.
HRM helps achieve sustainability by promoting:
Energy conservation
Recycling and other "green" initiatives
Ethical business practices
Community involvement and volunteer activities
Sustainable production resources
Safe workplaces
Inclusive culture

Class Activity: Ethical Issues in HRM - Everyday Ethics page 21 Students

often find it difficult to relate to examples of unethical behavior by people in large
corporations or government. After reading these "everyday" examples of
unethical but not illegal behavior by managers or owners, ask students to provide
their own examples and explain how HR could provide ethical training to prevent
the behaviors and the undesirable results of those behaviors.

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HRM Workshop

The HRM Workshop includes several different types of activities requiring students to apply
chapter concepts aligned with the learning outcomes. Suggested answers follow this
introduction.

Reviewing Important Concepts: Chapter review questions aligned with chapter

learning outcomes. Designed to require critical thinking skills.

Evaluating Alternatives: Thought provoking questions that require students to apply

chapter concepts and consider the purpose, application and consequences of HRM
decisions from different perspectives. Aligned with chapter learning outcomes.

Research and Communication Skills: HR managers need a variety of skills, but one of
the most important may be the ability to keep current. In the words of a wise HR
Director, "Having your certification is good, but that knowledge is only current for so
long. My question to new HR professionals is 'Can you do the research?'"

These activities require students to research HR best practices and how they are
implemented in local or global organizations, and exercise communication and
presentation skills so necessary for success as an HR professional. Activities vary in the
type of research and presentation required, but evaluation forms or rubrics may be used to
communicate expectations and facilitate easier grading. The form below can be accessed
on the website and contains basic elements for grading activities. You may wish to
customize it by changing requirements or adding point values.

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Activity Evaluation Form

Objective/Criteria Performance Indicators

Below Requirements Needs Improvement Meets Expectations Exceptional

Length Insufficient length to Length significantly Adequate length to Length requirement

discuss issues and apply under minimum. fully discuss issues and used carefully to
relevant concepts. apply relevant concepts. provide excellent
On the low side of content.
length requirement.

Format Many errors Few errors in grammar Error free Professional quality
punctuation, spelling or product.
typos.

Research Relevant concepts are Concepts from the text Relevant concepts from Thoughtful and
not applied or are are mentioned, but the chapter material are insightful discussion of
applied on a surface explanation and applied in adequate the concepts learned in
level that does not application indicate a depth to indicate chapter material as they
indicate depth of minimal level of understanding of the apply to the activity.
understanding beyond understanding of concepts and issues.
knowing the relevant concepts and
definitions. issues.

Presentation Paper or presentation Paper or presentation Paper or presentation is Paper or presentation is

contains many errors contains errors or free of errors. creatively and
and lacks shows a lack or professionally
professionalism or was preparation that presented.
not presented. distracts from the
message.

Making a Difference Service Learning Projects: Service learning activities help

students practice HR skills, gain experience, develop a stronger resume, increase
employability and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability. These activities can be
assigned to groups or individuals. A sample assignment with requirements and grading
materials is available as a download from the text website.

Case Applications:
Each chapter includes two cases in the textbook and two continuing cases on the textbook
website.
Case A in the text is a hypothetical case. It is closely aligned with the chapter learning
outcomes and requires students to use critical thinking skills to apply concepts.
Case B is pulled from the headlines and court cases. It is also closely aligned with
learning outcomes and requires students to use critical thinking skills.
Case C is the popular Team Fun! continuing case involving brothers running a sports
equipment manufacturing company. Freshly updated and aligned with chapter learning
outcomes and some new thought provoking questions.
Case D is a new continuing case that follows a couple as they build an online active wear
company and cope with the challenges and changes of managing human resources in a
growing start-up.

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Reviewing Important Concepts

1. How have globalization and changes in workforce composition contributed to the

need for understand diversity and inclusion in our organizations? (LO 1, 4, 5)

HR managers to acquire a global skill set that involves managing a global workforce,
understanding a wide variety of cultures and legal environments and economic systems.
HRM needs to address language differences in a multi-lingual workplace, cultural
variables such as status differentiation, societal uncertainty, assertiveness, and
individualism. Group and individual conflict can be caused by differences in background,
language, and customs.
Varied personal characteristics of workforce within the organization require many
organizations to go beyond EEO laws to also recognize differences in politics,
spirituality, socioeconomic status, family lifestyle, culture in addition to legally protected
characteristics.
Inclusion refers to a culture of acceptance. Workforce changes require HRM to create a
culture that welcomes diverse groups of people by addressing different lifestyles, family
needs, and work styles. Attract and maintain a work force that is reflective of the
diversity in the general population.

2. Describe ways HRM uses HRIS to provide information and services more
efficiently. (LO 2)

Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) automate many HR tasks such as payroll,
benefits, employee handbooks, training, applicant tracking, online screening and testing
for applicants. Services can be delivered to employees on demand, globally and in a cost
effective way.

3. Explain the legal issues relevant to the workplace and HRM. (LO 3)

Court decisions, federal, state and local laws all affect HR and change quickly. Legal
compliance in the areas of recordkeeping, reporting, safety monitoring, communicating
employee rights and Equal Employment laws is a major responsibility.

4. Explain the roles HRM plays in dealing with current employment challenges such as
mergers, offshoring, the economy, and ethical issues. (LO 9)

Mergers, offshoring, and the economy all can lead to layoffs. Morale suffers as
employees who survive layoffs feel fear and resentment. Retraining becomes necessary
as retained workers assume increased responsibilities. Benefits may need to change to
save money and key employees may be difficult to retain as they begin to look for
employment with another firm they consider to be more stable. HR professionals can
assist employees in all of these processes by providing a well-planned communication
strategy. Employees want honest, current information that includes future goals of the

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organization, anticipated benefits and a preliminary timeline for future changes. Multiple
methods of communication are necessary in these situations.

5. What is the purpose of a continuous improvement program? What role does HRM
play in assisting continuing improvements? (LO 7)

Continuous improvement involves constant efforts to provide better products and service
to customers, with today’s definition of customer including everyone both external and
internal to the organization.
HRM assists by helping employees cope with the emotional aspects of conflict and
change, providing skills training and adapting HR systems, such as compensation,
benefits, and performance standards.

6. What are the necessary ingredients for a successful employee involvement program?
(LO 8)

Organizational culture and top management must support involvement. Employees at all
levels will need to delegate some of their activities and responsibilities. Involving
employees on work teams. Emphasis on participative management using group decision
making. HRM must provide training to help empower employees in their new roles.

7. Explain what ethics are and how organizations and HRM can promote ethical
behavior. (LO 9)

Ethics is a set of rules or principles that defines right and wrong conduct, what is
considered "right” and “wrong” in the organization. HRM can establish ethics training
and a code of ethics that states an organization’s values and the ethical rules it expects
organizational members to follow.

Evaluating Alternatives

8. “Diversity and inclusion is nothing new. Thousands of immigrants came to the

United States in the early 1900s and they integrated into the workplace just fine.
Pay them a fair wage and treat them equally. That's all workers want.” Evaluate
this philosophy of managing workplace diversity and explain your personal opinion
on the best way to manage workforce diversity and inclusion. (LO 1, 4, 5, 9)

Although workers welcome fair wages and equal treatment, much has changed in the last
100 years. Workers have more rights. Employers need workers with skills that didn't exist
100 years ago. Organizations are global in reach. Expanded views of diversity require
employers to consider employee expectations of quality of life, requiring HRM to adapt
workplaces in order to recruit and maintain the best talent. Economic fluctuations, labor
unions, ethical issues and sustainable work practices all complicate the employer -
employee relationship.

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9. Juliet is the owner of a design firm that survived the recession, but just barely. Her
firm has grown 25% each of the last 2 years, but she is wary of hiring any full-time
employees. “Firing half of my staff was the most stressful thing I've ever done” she
explained. “I'll just keep hiring contract designers. There's a lot of good talent out
there with fresh ideas and they don't have any expectation of a permanent job.”
Evaluate Juliet's point of view and explain the advantages and disadvantages of
using contingent workers instead of full-time core employees. Explain what you
think she should do. (LO 6)

Students may see the value of any one of several alternatives including agreeing with
Juliet and relying heavily on contingent workers, reducing or eliminating the use of
contingent workers, hiring full-time workers.
Advantages of using contingent workers including cost savings and increased flexibility
should be mentioned as well as the disadvantages of contingent workers perceiving their
treatment to be less favorable and view themselves as less critical to the organization.

Research and Communication Skills

These activities require students to research a topic and report the findings to the instructor or the
class. They can be assigned to either individuals or groups and are designed to develop critical
thinking, research and presentation skills necessary for HR. Grading can be simplified by using
the grading rubric above.

Activity Summaries

10. Students will research the HRM activities of a local organization with a visit or by using
their website. All HRM functions are to be observed along with their use of technology.
Findings are presented with presentation slides. (LO 2, 6)

11. Technology based businesses require knowledge workers and this activity requires
students to investigate effect of technology on the human resource aspects of a
technology-based business (e.g., Barnes and Noble, Verizon, Facebook, Apple, or
Netflix). Findings are presented with presentation slides. (LO 2)

12. Workplace diversity videos of two different employers are researched and presented. (LO
5)

Making a Difference: Service Learning Projects

Overview: Service Learning Projects provide students with opportunities to develop and
demonstrate HR skills and build a professional network that will assist in getting a job in HR.
The activities that relate to this chapter on Selection are a variety of projects that involve
volunteer activities at your college. A sample assignment with requirements and grading
materials is available at the front of the Instructor's Manual and as a download from the text
website.

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Case Application 1-A: Growers' Choice

A boring internship suddenly gets interesting when the antiquated, but common HR policies and
practices of an organic grocer collide with a manager's attempt to do the right thing. Students are
asked to diagnose what went wrong, what needs to be done to fix it and how technology can be
used.

Questions:
1. In what ways could HRIS software make the HR department more efficient at
Growers' Choice? How could it have prevented the problem with the falsified time
sheets? (LO 2)

HRIS software could automate the process of recording time and requests for time off as
well as all payroll functions. It could also handle applicant tracking, training and
development, performance management, payroll, benefits administration, succession
planning and talent management. Using an HRIS system could have prevented the
problem in a couple of ways. Either the bookkeeper could have used the software
remotely from home, or more likely, the software would have eliminated the need for her
position entirely.

2. Explain the legal and ethical issues involved in the case. (LO 3, 9)

Growers' Choice is legally obligated to keep track of worker's hours and pay. The lack of
security of their current paper system may create data security and employee privacy
issues. Their treatment of the injured employee creates ethical and possibly legal issues.
Failing to accommodate her injury shows a lack of inclusion for people with disabilities
and may also violate the Americans with Disabilities Act which will be discussed in
depth in chapter three. The manager's choice to lie to upper management about taking the
documents out of the store is definitely unethical, but students may feel that his actions
were justified, leading to a discussion of when unauthorized employee actions are
unethical or ethical. Grower's Choice decision to press charges also presents interesting
ethical issues.

3. How can Growers' Choice improve their views of diversity and work/life balance?
(LO 5)

Recognizing the need to accommodate workers with disabilities and understanding how
to adapt the workplace for different employee needs for work/life balance is necessary.

4. Research: Examine the Careers section of two to three supermarket chains in your
area. What evidence do you find of HR use of technology?

Examples may include online applications, job search, online job descriptions, applicant
tracking that involves creating a profile for job searches, recruitment videos, realistic job
preview videos.

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Case Application 1-B: A War for Talent

The U.S. Navy may not be the first employer that comes to mind when you think of employers
that are making efforts to help employees with work/life balance issues. However, the Navy has
made improvements to maternity benefits, parental leave, and flexible work options with the goal
of increasing retention and recruitment. Realizing that they are in competition for the most
talented women and men in Generation Y, the Navy must be seen as competitive with the private
sector on the issues that Generation Y values: flexibility and family over career and employer.

1. Contrast the differences and similarities of the challenges of managing the human
resource functions in the Navy from the public sector employers.

The Navy faces the same challenges as the public sector, including: recruiting new
employees for the organization, training those employees in specialized positions,
assisting them with attaining their educational goals and managing their careers,
encouraging the retention of those employee and having shortages of employees trained
in certain areas and a surplus of employees trained in other areas. The Navy is also
similar to the public sector in that routine HR functions such as: performance appraisal,
compensation, discipline, dismissal and retirement are also present. The Navy differs
from the private sector in that the number of employees recruited in the former case is on
a much larger scale, training is very specialized, retention commitments are for specific
time periods in the Navy and if Navy employees are leaving, they are encouraged to
transfer to reserve status or a civilian position within the Navy. These varied options are
not available for public sector employees.

2. How do the economic, technological and cultural environments affect human

resource management in the Navy and other branches of the armed forces?

Recent technological changes have allowed the Navy to have a strong social media
presence on such sites as Facebook and Twitter. These sites are one source that the Navy
has used to address such issues as diversity. In addition, the Navy has responded to the
changes in the cultural environment with a strong diversity mission statement and affinity
groups that allow minority and special interest group to share concerns. An understanding
of the impact of the above economic, technological and cultural environments on HR
issues in the Navy can be extended to other branches of the armed forces.

3. What role does work/life balance play in recruiting and retention?

Human Resources should help the organization identify the need to modify, create and
support work/life practices. This is done, in part, by making sure HR management
understands the diverse needs of the workforce. By being attuned to the needs of the
company’s workforce, an organization can migrate to a culture that supports these needs
while still accomplishing its goals. Flexibility around work schedules is key. Supporting
a “new” way of working that is not tied to traditional daily work hours and recognizing
an employee has a life away from work, will develop a work/life balancing culture and
help to recruit and retain employees who need this flexibility in their work/life.

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Since the culture of an organization flows from the top, highly visible leaders should set
an example regarding work/life balance issues, these examples that are set will then be
followed by employees. Without actual actions by others of these examples, it is highly
unlikely that employees will believe work/life balance is valued, regardless of what is
included in any policy statements, training programs, or the like. If employees believe
work/life issues are valued, they are more likely to want to accept a job and then remain
in an organization that has such values.

4. Research: How well have the Navy's recruiting and diversity initiatives worked?
Explore the Navy's recruiting and diversity websites as well as news and current
events for evidence of successes and failures in their efforts to manage diversity and
hire and retain people with critical skills.(LO 5)

The Navy's website, navy.com has a career section with many efforts to connect with
diverse groups including interviews with sailors of diverse backgrounds. Other sources of
information about the success of their efforts include the Department of Defense, Defense
Equal Opportunity Management Institute, Navy Live ( the Navy's official blog), and
Navy Times.

Online Case Application 1 - C: Team Fun!

Questions:
1. Explain how TEAM FUN! is currently affected by globalization and globalization issues they
may face in the future. (LO 1)
2. How does government regulation affect Team Fun? (LO 3, 4, 9)
3. What other external factors and challenges in chapter 1 seem most relevant to Team Fun?
(LO 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9)
4. How would employee involvement and continuous improvement programs benefit Team
Fun! and help Kenny and Norton get in touch with what's going on? (LO 7)

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