internal subject outline pu王璞，human resource management – consultation and practice,...

Advanced Diploma of Higher Education in Business Administration

Student Handbook

HRM-201 HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT I

INTERNAL SUBJECT OUTLINE

Academic Year 2007/08Fall Semester

Level 5

This Programme Provides Students with Opportunities to Matriculate with Advanced Standing onto Degree Programmes at Member Institutions of the University of Wales, including:

University of Wales, Bangor University of Wales, Swansea

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TABLE OF CONTENT TABLE OF CONTENT ...................................................................................................... 2 INTRODUCTION TO THE MODULES ............................................................................ 3

MODULE AIMS ............................................................................................................. 3 SUBJECT CONTENTS ................................................................................................... 3 TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES ............................................................... 3 CORE TEXTS ................................................................................................................. 4 ADDITIONAL READING .............................................................................................. 4

STUDY MATERIALS ....................................................................................................... 5 TOPIC 1: THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF HUMAN RESORUCE MANAGEMNT & EEO ................................................................................................................................. 5

THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF HRM ........................................................................... 5 EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO) ................................................... 8

TOPIC 2: RECRUITMENT ......................................................................................... 13 JOB ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................... 13 HR PLANNING & RECRUITING .......................................................................... 16 EMPLOYEE TESTING & SELECTION ................................................................. 20 INTERVIEWING CADIDATES .............................................................................. 22

TOPIC 3: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT .......................................................... 26 TRAINING AND DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES ................................................... 26

TOPIC 4: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & APPRAISAL ............................... 32 TOPIC 5: COMPENSATION ..................................................................................... 37

ESTABLISHING STRATEGIC PAY PLANS ......................................................... 37 PAY FOR PERFORMANCE & FINANCIAL INCENTIVES ................................ 40

TOPIC 6: LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS .................................................... 44 TOPIC 7: EMPLOYEE SAFT & HEALTH .................................................................. 50 TOPIC 8: MANAGING GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES ....................................... 56 EXERCISES & CASES ANSWERS ........................................................................... 61

TOPIC 1: ................................................................................................................... 61 TOPIC 2: ................................................................................................................... 63 TOPIC 3: .................................................................................................................... 66 TOPIC 4: .................................................................................................................... 68

TOPIC 5: .................................................................................................................... 69 TOPIC 6: .................................................................................................................... 71 TOPIC 7: .................................................................................................................... 73 TOPIC 8: .................................................................................................................... 74

STUDENT STUDY SKILLS GUIDE .............................................................................. 77 HOW TO WRITE AN ACADEMIC ESSAY .............................................................. 77 HARVARD REFERENCING SYSTEM GUIDE ......................................................... 81

Citation in the text of your work. ............................................................................... 82 Bibliographic References at the End of Your Work .................................................. 84

PLAGIARISM ............................................................................................................... 93

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INTRODUCTION TO THE MODULES

MODULE AIMS

This module will introduce the key components of human resource management and its relevance in overall business management.

The aims of this module are to enable the student to:

Be aware of changing trends in human resource management and policies in business organizations.

Evaluate and apply credible policies relating to human resource management and its linkages to the business environment in general.

Grasp the dynamics of personnel policies and industrial relations. Analyze the areas in which human resource management affects business development. Think critically in understanding people in organizations.

SUBJECT CONTENTS

Discuss the role of human resource departments in an organization. Consideration for where conflicts-of-interest (ethical problems) can arise.

Show how the external environment (social, political, technological and economic) has an impact on personnel policies and practices.

Describe how government (including Chinese) legislation, employer associations and trade unions may affect employee relations.

Identify methods by which managers can influence the motivation and job satisfaction of employees.

Identify the purposes, main techniques and problems of human resource planning. Identify methods for formulating training policies, assessing training needs, developing and

evaluating a systematic training programme. Distinguish between management development and training and review different approaches

towards management development. Analyze the financial and non-financial factors influencing employees to join, stay and

perform dependably. Describe the needs for organisational change and the structural and human obstacles to

change, and construct a plan for implementing organisational change.

TEACHING AND LEARNING ACTIVITIES

The module will include the following components:• Tutorial Participation & Attendance• Assignments

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WARNING: All students are required to attend tutorials, and attendance will be taken. Failure to attend and participate in tutorials may result in being denied the chance to write the examination, and the student will then fail with a grade of zero.

CORE TEXTS1. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（Chinese Version. 第 9

版）, Ren Min University Press, 中国人民大学出版社, 2006. ISBN: 7-300-06832-4

2. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9版）, Tsinghua University Press, 清华大学出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-302-11827-2

ADDITIONAL READING1. John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（ English

Version. 第 9 版）, China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社, 2004. ISBN: 7-111-14274-8

2. George W. Bohlander & Scott A. Snell, Managing Human Resources 13th Ed., 人力资源管

理（English Version. 第十三版）, Northeast Economics University Press, 东北财经大学出

版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1

3. Wang Pu 王璞，Human Resource Management – Consultation and Practice, 人力资源管理

咨询实务 (Chinese Version), China Machine Press 机械工业出版社 2003. ISBN: 7-111-11163-x

4. Wayne Cascio, Managing Human Resources: Productivity, Quality of Work Life, Profits 6th

Ed., 人力资源管理 (Chinese Version,第六版), China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社 , 2006. ISBN: 7-111-18761-X

5. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6

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STUDY MATERIALS

TOPIC 1: THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF HUMAN RESORUCE MANAGEMNT & EEO

THE STRATEGIC ROLE OF HRM

It gives an overview of what Human Resource Management is and how it relates to the management process. It illustrates how managers can use HR concepts and techniques, line and staff managers’ responsibilities, HR’s role in strategic planning, and the plan of this book. Human Resources play a key role in helping companies meet the challenges of global competition. Strategic objectives to lower costs, improve productivity and increase organizational effectiveness are enabled by human resource strategies and technologies. You will learn how HR plays a strategic role in creating high performance work systems that employers need today to thrive.

The Manager’s Human Resource Management Jobs

The Management process involves the following functions: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. Staffing involves: conducting job analyses; planning labor needs and recruiting job candidates; selecting job candidates; orienting and training new employees; managing wages and salaries; providing incentives and benefits; appraising performance; communicating; training and developing managers; building employee commitment; being knowledgeable about equal opportunity, affirmative action, and employee health and safety; and handling grievances and labor relations.

A. Why Is HR Management Important to All Managers? Managers don’t want to make mistakes while managing areas such as hiring the wrong person, having their company taken to court because of discriminatory actions, or committing unfair labor practices.

B. Line and Staff Aspects of HRM – Although most firms have a human resource department with its own manager, all other managers tend to get involved in activities like recruiting, interviewing, selecting, and training.

1. Line Versus Staff Authority – Authority is the right to make decisions, to direct the work of others, and to give orders. Line managers are authorized to direct the work of subordinates. Staff managers are authorized to assist and advise line managers in accomplishing their basic goals. HR managers are generally staff managers.

2. Line Managers’ HRM Responsibilities – Most line managers are responsible for line functions, coordinative functions, and some staff functions.

C. Cooperative Line and Staff HR Management: An Example – In recruiting and hiring, it’s generally the line manager’s responsibility to specify the qualifications employees need to fill specific positions. Then the HR staff takes over. They develop sources of qualified applicants and conduct initial screening interviews. They administer the appropriate test. Then they refer the best applicants to the supervisor (line manager), who interviews and selects the ones he/she wants.

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D. From Line Manager to HR Manager: Line managers may make career stopovers in staff HR manager positions.

The Changing Environment of HR Management

A. HR’s Changing Role – Human Resource responsibilities have become broader and more strategic over time as organizations' human resource requirements have become more complex. The role of HR has evolved from primarily being responsible for hiring, firing, payroll, and benefits administration to a more strategic role in employee selection, training and promotion, as well as playing an advisory role to the organization in areas of labor relations and legal compliance.

B. Changing Environment - Globalization of the world economy and other trends have triggered changes in how companies organize, manage and use their HR departments.

1. Globalization – refers to the tendency of firms to extend their sales, ownership, and/or manufacturing to new markets abroad. For businesses everywhere, the rate of globalization in the past decade has been enormous, and has several strategic implications for firms. More globalization means more competition, and more competition means more pressure to lower costs, make employees more productive, and do things better and less expensively.

2. Technological Advances – have been forcing, and enabling, firms to become more competitive. HR faces the challenge of quickly applying technology to the task of improving its own operations.

3. Exporting Jobs – has been prompted by competitive pressures and the search for greater efficiencies.

4. The Nature of Work – is changing due to new technological demands. In addition, the shift from producing products to producing and delivering services is a contributor to the change from “brawn to brains”. Dramatic increases in productivity have allowed manufacturers to produce more with fewer employees. In general, the jobs that remain require more education and more skills. The shift to using nontraditional workers such as those who hold multiple jobs, “contingent” or part-time workers or people working in alternative work arrangements has enable employers to keep costs down.

5. Human Capital – refers to the knowledge, education, training, skills, and expertise of a firm’s workers. There is a growing emphasis on the importance of knowledge workers and human capital and the HR management systems and skills needed to select, train, and motivate these employees.

6. Workforce demographics – are changing. The workplace is becoming more diverse as increased numbers of women, minority-group members, and older workers enter the workforce. The aging labor force presents significant changes in terms of potential labor shortages, and many firms are instituting new policies aimed at encouraging aging employees to stay, or at attracting previously retired employees.

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Measuring HR’s Contribution: Strategy, Metrics, and the HR Scorecard

HR’s central task is always to provide a set of services that make sense in terms of the company strategy. Trends of globalization, increased competition, a changing workforce and more reliance on technology have two main implications for how companies now organize, manage, and rely on their HR operations. First, HR managers must be more involved in partnering with their top managers in designing and implementing their companies’ strategies. Second, the focus on operational improvements means that all managers must be more adept at expressing their departmental plans and accomplishments in measurable terms.

A. An Emphasis on Performance – Management expects HR to provide measurable, benchmark-based evidence for its current efficiency and effectiveness, and for the expected efficiency and effectiveness of new or proposed HR programs. Management expects solid, quantified evidence that HR is contributing in a meaningful and positive way to achieving the firm’s strategic aims.

B. Metrics – HR managers need a set of quantitative performance measures (metrics) they can use to assess their operations. These metrics allow managers to measure their HR units’ efficiency.

C. The HR Scorecard – is a concise measurement system, showing quantitative standards or “metrics” used to measure HR activities, employee behaviors resulting from these activities, and to measure the strategically relevant organizational outcomes of those employee behaviors. The scorecard highlights the causal link between HR activities, emergent employee behaviors, and the resulting firm-wide strategic outcomes and performance.

D. The High Performance Work System (HPWS) – The general aim of the HPWS is to maximize the competencies and abilities of employees throughout the organization.

The New HR Manager

New proficiencies – are required of the HR Manager today in: human resources, business, leadership, and learning.

The Need to “Know Your Employment Law” – is increasingly important as a growing web of HR related laws effects virtually every HR decision. Equal employment laws, occupational safety and health laws, and labor laws are among the areas in which HR professionals need to be knowledgeable.

Ethics and HR – have gained increasing exposure as a result of ethical lapses in corporate behavior. It is clear that ethics needs to play a bigger role in managers’ decisions. HR has an important role in promoting ethical behavior at work and will be explored more fully later in the text.

HR Certification – through the Society of Human Resource Management has become increasingly important as human resource management is becoming more professionalized. Certifications of PHR (professional in HR) and SPHR (senior professional in HR) are earned by those who successfully complete all the requirements of the certification program.

HR and Technology – Technology improves HR functioning in four main ways: self-service, call centers, productivity improvement, and outsourcing. More firms are installing Internet and computer-based systems for improving their HR operations. Technology also

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makes it easier to outsource HR activities to specialist service providers by allowing them to have real-time Internet-based access to the employer’s HR database.

Improving Productivity Through HRIS – The HR Portal. HR portals provide employees with a single access point or “gateway” to all HR information. Portals streamline the HR process, enables HR to redeploy its assets focus more on strategic issues

Reading: Core text p1-20, The Strategic Role of Human Resource Management

EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY (EEO)

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) gives a history of equal opportunity legislation, outlines defenses against discrimination allegations, gives examples of discriminatory practices, describes the EEOC enforcement process and suggests proactive programs. Affirmative Action programs have come under fire in recent years, even by some members of protected groups. A very critical issue is whether Affirmative Action represents “a leg up” assistance for those who have been historically discriminated against, or if it becomes a "crutch" that hinders their motivation and ability to compete and perform. While this is a delicate and potentially volatile issue, helping students see and understand both sides of the argument will help them understand the depth of these issues.

Equal Employment Opportunity 1964-1991

1. The Fifth Amendment (ratified in 1791) states, “no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of the law.”

2. The Thirteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868) outlawed slavery, and courts have held it bars racial discrimination.

3. The Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868) makes it illegal for any state to “make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges and immunities of citizens of the United States,” and the courts have generally viewed this law as barring discrimination based on sex, national origin, or race.

4. Section 1981 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code, passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1866, gives all persons the same right to make and enforce contracts and to benefit from the laws of the land.

What the Manager/Employer Should Do

i. Take all complaints about harassment seriously.ii. Issue a strong policy statement condemning such behavior.

iii. Inform all employees about the policy prohibiting sexual harassment and of their rights under the policy.

iv. Develop a compliant procedure.v. Establish a management response system that includes an immediate reaction and

investigation by senior management.vi. Begin training supervisors and managers to increase their own awareness of the issues.

vii. Discipline managers and employees involved in sexual harassment.viii. Keep thorough records of complaints, investigations, and actions taken.

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What the Employee Can Doi. File a verbal contemporaneous compliant or protest with the harasser and the harasser’s

boss stating that the unwanted overtures should cease because the conduct is unwelcome.ii. Write a letter to the accused.

iii. If the unwelcome conduct does not cease, file a report regarding the unwelcome conduct and unsuccessful efforts to get it to stop with the harasser’s manager and/or to the human resource director.

iv. If the letters and appeals to the employer do not suffice, the accuser should turn to the local office of the EEOC to file the necessary claim.

v. The employee can also consult an attorney about suing the harasser for assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and injunctive relief and to recover compensatory and punitive damages if the harassment is of a serious nature. The Federal Violence Against Women Act of 1994 provides another avenue women can use to seek relief for violent sexual harassment.

Equal Employment Opportunity 1990-91 - Present

The Civil Rights Act (CRA) of 1991 places burden of proof back on employers and permits compensatory and punitive damages.

a. Burden of Proof was shifted back to where it was prior to the 1980s with the passage of CRA 1991; thus, the burden is once again on employers to show that the practice (such as a test) is required as a business necessity. For example, if a rejected applicant demonstrates that an employment practice has a disparate (or “adverse”) impact on a particular group, the employer has the burden of proving that the challenged practice is job related for the position in question.

b. Money Damages – Section 102 of CRA 1991 provides that an employee who is claiming intentional discrimination (disparate treatment) can ask for 1) compensatory damages and 2) punitive damages, if it can be shown the employer engaged in discrimination “with malice or reckless indifference to the federally protected rights of an aggrieved individual.”

c. Mixed Motives – CRA 1991 states: “An unlawful employment practice is established when the complaining party demonstrates that race, color, religion, sex, or national origin was a motivating factor for any employment practice, even though other factors also motivated the practice.” Employers cannot avoid liability by proving it would have taken the same action – such as terminating someone – even without the discriminatory motive. Plaintiffs in such so-called “mixed motive” cases recently gained an advantage from a U.S. Supreme Court decision in Desert Palace Inc. vs. Costa, where the court decided that the plaintiff did not have to provide evidence of explicitly discriminatory conduct, but could provide circumstantial evidence.

The EEOC Enforcement Process

A. Processing a Charge – Under CRA 1991, the charge generally must be filed within two years after the alleged unlawful practice took place in writing and under oath, by (or on behalf of) either the person claiming to be aggrieved, or a member of the EEOC who has reasonable cause to believe that a violation occurred. The EEOC can either accept it or refer it to the

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state or local agency. After it has been filed, the EEOC has 10 days to serve notice on the employer, and then investigate the charge to determine whether there is 120 days. If charges are dismissed, EEOC must issue the charging party a Notice of Right to Sue. The person has 90 days to file suit on his/her own behalf. If EEOC finds reasonable cause for the charge, it must attempt a conciliation. If conciliation is not satisfactory, it can bring a civil suit in federal district court, or issue a Notice of Right to Sue to the person who filed the charge.

B. Conciliation Proceedings – Under Title VII, the EEOC has 30 days to work out a conciliation agreement between the parties before bringing suit. If the EEOC is unable to obtain an acceptable conciliation agreement, it may sue the employer in federal district court.

C. How to Respond to Employment Discrimination Charges. The EEOC will: 1) investigate the charge; 2) set the fact-finding conference; 3) make a determination and attempt a conciliation; and 4) suggest voluntary mediation.

D. Mandatory Arbitration of Discrimination Claims is becoming an acceptable alternative to litigation. As many courts may come to view compulsory arbitration as an acceptable alternative to litigation, the following are suggestions to employers:1. Review all employment discrimination suits filed against them to determine whether

they involve an employee subject to some type of agreement to arbitrate. Decide whether to move to compel arbitration of the claim.

2. Consider inserting a mandatory arbitration clause in the employment application or employee handbook.

3. To protect against appeal, institute steps to protect against arbitrator bias; allow the arbitrator to afford a claimant broad relief and allow for a reasonable amount of fact-finding.

Diversity Management and Affirmative Action Programs

A. Managing Diversity – means taking steps to maximize diversity’s potential advantages while minimizing the potential barriers, such as prejudices and bias that can undermine the functioning of a diverse workforce. One diversity expert concluded that five sets of voluntary organizational activities are at the heart of any diversity management program: 1) provide strong leadership; 2) assess the situation; 3) provide diversity training and education; 4) change culture and management systems; 5) evaluate the diversity management program.

B. Boosting Workforce Diversity – Employers use various means to boost workforce diversity. Some employers try to boost and manage diversity through voluntary affirmative action programs. The aim is to voluntarily enhance employment opportunities for women and minorities.

C. Equal Employment Opportunity Versus Affirmative Action – Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age, has an equal chance for a job based on his/her qualifications. Affirmative action goes beyond equal employment opportunity by requiring the employer to make an extra effort to recruit, hire, promote, and compensate those in protected groups to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination.

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D. Steps in an Affirmative Action Program – There are eight steps in an affirmative action program:

1. Issue a written equal employment policy2. Appoint a top official with responsibility and authority to direct and implement

the program3. Publicize the equal employment policy and affirmative action commitment4. Survey present minority and female employment by department and job

classification to determine locations where affirmative action programs are especially desirable.

5. Develop goals and timetables to improve utilization of minorities, males, and females in each area where utilization has been identified.

6. Develops and implements specific programs to achieve these goals (the heart of the plan)

7. Establish an internal audit and reporting system8. Develop support for the program both internally and externally

The good faith effort strategy emphasizes identifying and eliminating the obstacles to hiring and promoting women and minorities on the assumption that eliminating these obstacles will result in increased utilization of women and minorities.

E. Reverse Discrimination – The courts have been grappling with the use of quotas in hiring, and particularly with claims by white males of reverse discrimination. Many cases addressed these issues, but no consistent answer has emerged.

F. Recruiting Minorities Online – In practice, many minorities are less likely to be using the Internet, for instance, and less likely to hear about good jobs from their friends. One option is to direct recruiting ads to one or more of the online minority-oriented job exercises.

Reading: Core text p25-58, Equal Opportunity and the Law

EXERCISE

1. Explain what HR management is and how it relates to the management process.

2. Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all managers.

3. Illustrate the HR responsibilities of line and staff managers.

4. Why is it important for a company to make its human resources into a competitive advantage? How can HR contribute to doing so?

5. Which of the environmental, organizational, and individual challenges identified in this chapter will be most important for human resource management in the twenty-first

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century, in your opinion? Which will be least important? Use your own experiences in your answer.

6. Explain the difference between affirmative action and equal employment opportunity?

7. Assume you are the manager in a small restaurant; you are responsible for hiring employees, supervising them, and recommending them for promotion. Working individually or in groups, compiles a list of potentially discriminatory management practices you should avoid.

8. Working individually or in groups, discuss how you would set up an affirmative action program.

Case: Core text: P22: Application Case: Jack Nelson's Problem

1. What do you think was causing some of the problems in the bank home office and branches?

2. Do you think setting up a HR unit in the main office would help?

3. What specific functions should it carry out? What HR functions would then be carried out by supervisors and other line managers? What role should the Internet play in the new HR organization?

Readings:

1. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, Tsinghua University Press, 清华大学出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-302-11827-2: Chapter 1 & 2.

2. John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社, 2004. ISBN: 7-111-14274-8: Chapter 1, 2 & 3.

3. George W. Bohlander & Scott A. Snell, Managing Human Resources 13th Ed., 人力资

源管理（English Version. 第十三版）, Northeast Economics University Press, 东北财

经大学出版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1: Chapter 1 &2

4. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 1, 2, 3 & 4.

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TOPIC 2: RECRUITMENT

JOB ANALYSIS Dessler explains the uses of job analysis information and carefully describes the methods of conducting a job analysis. The tasks of writing job descriptions and job specifications are also outlined. Finally, he discusses the trends of enlarging and de-jobbing positions.

There is a tension in today's organizational environment between: a) the desire and need to clearly define jobs and job expectations, and b) the trends toward job enlargement and "de-jobbing." The news is filled with examples of companies, who have moved toward the enlargement of jobs (usually coupled with reorganization, restructuring, or downsizing) for various reasons. This would be a good point to examine some of the issues companies are facing with respect to expectations for clear job analysis, design, descriptions, and specifications.

The Nature of Job Analysis

Job analysis – The procedure for determining the duties and skill requirements of a job and the kind of person who should be hired for the job by collecting the following types of information: work activities; human behaviors; machines, tools, equipment, and work aids; performance standards; job context; and human requirements.

Job description – A list of a job’s duties, responsibilities, reporting relationships, working conditions, and supervisory responsibilities – one product of a job analysis.

Job specification – A list of a job’s “human requirements”: the requisite education, skills, personality, and so on – another product of a job analysis.

A. Uses of Job Analysis Information

1. Recruitment and Selection – Job descriptions and job specifications are formed from the information gathered from a job analysis, which help management decide what sort of people to recruit and hire.

2. Compensation – The estimated value and the appropriate compensation for each job is determined from the information gathered from a job analysis.

3. Performance Appraisal – Managers use job analysis to determine a job’s specific activities and performance standards.

4. Training – Based on the job analysis, the job description should show the job’s required activities and skills.

5. Discovering Unassigned Duties – Job analysis can help reveal unassigned duties.

6. EEO Compliance – The U.S. Federal Agencies’ Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection stipulate that job analysis is a crucial step in validating all major personnel activities.

B. Steps in Job Analysis

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1. Decide how the information will be used because that will determine what data will be collected and how it should be collected.

2. Review relevant background information, such as organization charts, process charts, and job descriptions.

3. Select representative positions to analyze because there may be too many similar jobs to analyze, and it may not be necessary to analyze them all.

4. Analyze the job by collecting data on job activities, required employee behaviors, working conditions, and human traits and abilities needed to perform the job.

5. Verify the job analysis information with job incumbents and supervisors to confirm that it is factually correct and complete.

6. Develop a job description and job specification from the information.

Methods of Collecting Job Analysis Information

An HR specialist (an HR specialist, job analyst, or consultant), a worker, and the worker’s supervisor usually work together in conducting the job analysis. Job analysis data is usually collected from several employees from different departments, using interviews and questionnaires. The data is then averaged, taking into account the departmental context of the employees, to determine how much time a typical employee spends on each of several specific tasks.

A. The Interview: The three types of interviews managers use to collect job analysis data are: individual (to get the employee’s perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities, group (when large numbers of employees perform the same job), and supervisor (to get his/her perspective on the job’s duties and responsibilities).

1. The Pros & Cons – of using an interview are that it is: simple, quick, and more comprehensive because the interviewer can unearth activities that may never appear in written form. The main problem is distortion.

2. Typical questions – “What is the job being performed?” “In what activities do you participate?” “What are the health and safety conditions?”

3. Interview guidelines – a) the job analyst and supervisor should identify the workers who know the job best and would be objective; b) establish a rapport with the interviewee; c) follow a structured guide or checklist; d) ask worker to list duties in order of importance and frequency of occurrence; and e) review and verify the data.

B. Questionnaires: Structured or unstructured questionnaires may be used to obtain job analysis information. Questionnaires can be a quick, efficient way of gathering information from a large number of employees. But, developing and testing a questionnaire can be expensive and time consuming.

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C. Observation: Direct observations are useful when jobs consist of mainly observable physical activity as opposed to mental activity. Reactivity can be a problem with direct observations, which is where the worker changes what he/she normally does because he/she is being watched. Managers often use direct observation and interviewing together.

D. Participant Diary / Logs: The employee records every activity he/she engages in, in a diary or log along with the amount of time to perform each activity to produce a complete picture of the job. Employees may try to exaggerate some activities and underplay others.

E. Quantitative Job Analysis Techniques

1. Position Analysis Questionnaire (PAQ) is a questionnaire used to collect quantifiable data concerning the duties and responsibilities of various jobs, on five basic activities: a) having decision-making/communication/social responsibilities, b) performing skilled activities, c) being physically active, d) operating vehicles/equipment, and e) processing information.

2. Department of Labor Procedure (DOL) is a standardized method for rating, classifying, and comparing virtually every kind of job based on data, people, and things.

3. Functional job analysis: 1) rates a job on data; people; things; the extent to which specific instructions are necessary to perform the task; the extent to which reasoning and judgment are required to perform the task; and mathematical ability required to perform the task; and 2) identifies performance standards and training requirements.

F. Using Multiple Sources of Information: Where possible, collect job analysis data using several types of collection techniques and respondents. Potential inaccuracies in peoples’ judgments could lead to inaccurate conclusions.

Writing Job Descriptions

A. Job Identification – contains the job title, the FLSA status, date, and possible space to indicate who approved the description, the location of the job, the immediate supervisor’s title, salary and/or pay scale.

B. Job Summary – should describe the general nature of the job, and includes only its major functions or activities.

C. Relationships – occasionally a relationships statement is included. It shows the jobholders’ relationships with others inside and outside the organization.

D. Responsibilities and Duties – The Department of Labor’s Dictionary of Occupational Titles can be used for itemizing the job’s duties and responsibilities.

E. Standards of Performance and Working Conditions – states the standards the employee is expected to achieve under each of the job description’s main duties and responsibilities.

Writing Job Specifications

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A. Specifications for Trained Versus Untrained Personnel: Writing job specifications for trained employees is relatively straightforward because they are likely to focus on traits like length of previous service, quality of relevant training, and previous job performance. Writing job specifications for untrained employees is more complex because they are more likely to specify qualities such as physical traits, personality, interests, or sensory skills that imply some potential for performing or being trained to perform on the job.

B. Job Specifications Based on Judgment: Job specifications may come from educated guesses or judgments, or from competencies listed in web-based job descriptions. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles is also a useful source. Research Insight – One researcher found that regardless of the job, the following are some examples of generic job-related behaviors: industriousness; thoroughness, schedule flexibility, attendance, off-task behavior (reverse), unruliness (reverse), theft (reverse), and drug misuse (reverse).

C. Job Specifications Based on Statistical Analysis

1. Basing job specifications on statistical analysis is more defensible, but a more difficult approach than the judgmental approach.

2. The aim of the statistical approach is to determine statistically the relationship between 1) some predictor or human trait such as height, intelligence, or finger dexterity, and 2) some indicator or criterion of job effectiveness.

3. The five steps in statistical analysis are: a) analyze the job and decide how to measure job performance; b) select personal traits like finger dexterity that you believe should predict successful performance; c) test candidates for these traits; d) measure these candidates’ subsequent job performance; and e) statistically analyze the relationship between the human trait and job performance.

Job Design

Job design is concerned with structuring jobs that best contribute to organizational efficiency while facilitating employee job satisfaction. As practiced today, job design takes into account both the technological and the human considerations needed to perform the job successfully.

Reading: Core Text: P60-85: Job Analysis

HR PLANNING & RECRUITING It explains the process of forecasting personnel requirements, discusses the pros and cons of eight methods used for recruiting job candidates, describes how to develop an application form, and explains how to use application forms to predict job performance.

Despite lots of publicity and widespread knowledge of EEO laws, many organizations still ask questions that are highly suspect, and some questions that are clearly violations of federal regulations. It may be useful to discuss causes of this and the potential consequences of those violations.

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Planning and Forecasting

Human resources planning (HRP) is the process of anticipating and moving people into, within, and out of the organization. HRP is done to achieve the optimum use of the firm’s human resources, so that it has the correct number and types of employees needed to meet organizational goals. Strategic human resources management (SHRM), by contrast, can be thought of as the pattern of human resource planning and deployment activities that enable a firm to achieve its strategic goals.

Strategic Planning and HR Planning: Linking the Processes: Ideally, HRP and strategic organizational planning should coincide. On the front end, human resource planning provides a set of inputs into the strategic formulation process in terms of what is possible; that is, whether the types and numbers of people are available to pursue a given strategy. On the back end, strategic planning and HRP are linked in terms of implementation concerns, such as determining if people are available internally or externally to implement the strategic organization plan. The ability to act and change the organization rapidly to pursue different strategic opportunities is referred to as organizational capability.

Mission, Vision and Values: Because all business issues have people implications, all human resource have business implications. As a result, HR managers need to engage in strategic planning alongside other top managers. The firm’s mission is the basic purpose of the organization. It is the reason for the organization’s existence. The firm’s strategic vision is a perspective on where the company is headed and what it can become in the future. The firm’s core values are the enduring believes and principles that a company uses a foundation for its decisions. These are the underlying parameters of how the company will act toward its stakeholders and the public in general.

A. Forecasting Personnel Needs –Forecast revenues, then estimate the size of the staff required to achieve this sales volume.

1. Trend Analysis means studying a firm’s employment levels over a period of years to predict future needs.

2. Ratio Analysis means making forecasts based on the ratio between (1) some causal factor, like sales volume, and (2) number of employees required, like number of salespeople.

3. The Scatter Plot shows graphically how two variables (such as a measure of business activity and a firm’s staffing levels) are related.

4. Using Computers to Forecast Personnel Requirements – The use of software programs can enable employers to quickly translate projected productivity and sales levels into forecasts of personnel needs, while estimating how personnel requirements will be affected by various productivity and sales levels.

B. Forecasting the Supply of Inside Candidates

1. Manual Systems and Replacement Charts – Simple manual devices can be used to keep inventories and development records to compile qualifications information on each employee. Personnel replacement charts show the present performance and promo-

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ability for each position’s potential replacement. Position replacement cards can also be created for each position to show possible replacements as well as their present performance, promotion potential, and training.

2. Computerized Information Systems are used to track the qualifications of hundreds or thousands of employees. The system can provide managers with a listing of candidates with specified qualifications after scanning the database.

3. The Matter of Privacy – Employers must balance an individual’s right to privacy while making HR information legitimately available to those in the firm who need it.

C. Forecasting the Supply of Outside Candidates – This may involve considering general economic conditions and the expected rate of unemployment. Helpful sources include: Business Week, Fortune, the Economist, the Wall Street Journal, and prepared reports from the U.S. Council of Economic Advisors, the regional Federal Reserve banks, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Public Health Service, the U.S. Employment Service, and the U.S. Office of Education.

Effective Recruiting

Recruiting is a more complex activity than most managers think it is. Recruitment efforts should make sense in terms of the company’s strategic plans. Some recruiting methods are superior to others, depending on who you are recruiting for and what your resources are. The success you have with your recruiting actually depends on non-recruitment HR issues and policies.

A. Organizing the Recruitment Function – Companies make a choice to centralize their recruiting efforts or to decentralize to various locations. Advantages of centralizing are that it is easier to apply the company’s strategy priorities company-wide. In addition, it reduces duplication, makes it easier to spread the cost of new technologies over more departments, and builds a team of recruitment experts, and makes it easier to assess the effectiveness of the function. However, if divisions are autonomous or needs are varied, decentralization is a more sensible choice.

Line and Staff Cooperation – Since the recruiting HR manager is seldom responsible for supervising the performance for the vacant position, he/she must communicate with the supervisor to find out exactly what the job entails.

B. Measuring Recruiting Effectiveness – Assessing the quality of each recruitment source will help HR managers to determine where the most cost effective recruiting sources are and thus determine where they want to direct their recruiting dollars. An example of GE Medical is described here as a best practice in terms of measurement techniques.

A High-Performance Example – GE Medical applies best practices measurement techniques to the job of hiring highly technical workers.

C. The Recruiting Yield Pyramid – is used by some employers to calculate the number of applicants they must generate to hire the required number of new employees.

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Internal Sources of Candidates

A. Finding Internal Candidates – To be effective, promotion from within requires using job posting, personnel records, and skill banks.

B. Rehiring – There are pros and cons of rehiring former employees. On the positive side, they are known quantities and are already familiar with the organization. On the other side, former employees may return with negative attitudes, and also sends a message to current employees that the way to get ahead is to leave and come back.

C. Succession Planning – The process of ensuring a suitable supply of successors for senior or key jobs. It can include the following activities: determining the projected need for managers and professionals by company level, function, and skill; auditing current executive talent to project the likely future supply for internal sources; planning individual career paths based on objective estimates of future needs and assessments of potential; career counseling based on the needs of the individual and the firm; accelerated promotions, with development targets against the future needs of the business; performance-related training and development; planned strategic recruitment to fill short-term needs and to provide people to meet future needs; and actually filling the positions.

Outside Sources of Candidates

A. Advertising: media, constructing the Ad & Employment Advertising’s effectivenessB. Employment Agencies: Public and Nonprofit Agencies and Private Agencies.

C. Temp Agencies and Alternative Staffing: Benefits and Costs; Know Your Employment Law; Guidelines for Success. And Alternative Staffing refers to the use of nontraditional recruitment sources.

D. Offshoring/Outsourcing White Collar and Other Jobs – Hiring workers abroad is becoming more and more common. There are several specific issues that the HR manager should keep in mind when considering this option.

E. Executive Recruiters, also called headhunters, are special employment agencies retained by employers to seek out top-management talent for their clients.

F. On Demand Recruiting Services (ODRS) – This service provides short-term specialized recruiting to support specific projects without the expense of retaining traditional search firms. Basically, recruiters get paid by the hour or project, instead of a percentage fee. Two trends – technology and specialization – are changing the executive search business. Executive recruiters are being more specialized, and large ones are creating new businesses aimed specifically at specialized functions or industries.

G. College Recruiting involves sending employers’ representatives to college campuses to prescreen applicants and create an applicant pool of management trainees, promo-table candidates, and professional and technical employees.

H. Referrals and Walk-Ins are alternatives for identifying potential candidates.

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I. Recruiting via the Internet – More and more people are going online to look for jobs. This can be a cost effective method of finding qualified candidates.

1. Applicant Tracking – Web based ads often produce so many applicants that many firms must use applicant tracking software.

2. Using an E-Recruiting Applications Tracking ASP – Applications service providers, such as Recruitsoft.com, are strategically partnering with HR departments of many companies to streamline the recruiting process.

3. Designing Effective Internet Recruiting Programs - It is a mistake to take newspaper ads and transpose them to the Web. Instead, when posting on job sites such as Monster.com, use compelling keywords which provide good reasons why candidates would want to work for your company. See Figire 5-10 for examples of ineffective and effective web ads.

Reading: Core Text: P90-122: HR Planning & Recruitment

EMPLOYEE TESTING & SELECTION It gives an overview of the selection process, testing concepts, types of tests, and selection techniques. It also addresses legal and ethical questions surrounding the area of testing and selection.

Most companies desire reference and background information to make employment decisions, however, most companies also have policies against giving out any information on current or past employees beyond basic job titles and dates of employment. Students need to see the tug-of-war between privacy rights and employer needs for background and predictive information.

Why Careful Selection Is Important

Selecting the right employees is important for three main reasons. 1) employees with the right skills and attributes will perform more effectively; 2) the cost of making a wrong hire can become exorbitant considering the time and money invested in the selection and training process; and 3) the legal implications of incompetent or negligent hiring

Basic Testing Concepts

A. Reliability refers to the consistency of scores obtained by the same person when retested with the identical or equivalent tests.

B. Validity refers to evidence that performance on a test is a valid predictor of subsequent performance on the job.

a. Criterion Validity shows that scores on the test (predictors) are related to job performance.

b. Content Validity shows that the test contains a fair sample of the tasks and skills actually needed for the job in question.

C. How to Validate a Test

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1. Analyze the Job and write job descriptions and job specifications.

2. Choose the Tests that measure the attributes (predictors) important for job success.

3. Administer the Test selected to old or new employees for concurrent and predictive validation.

4. Relate Test Scores and Criteria through a correlation analysis, which shows the degree of statistical relationship between (1) scores on the test and (2) job performance.

5. Cross-validate and Revalidate by performing steps 3 and 4 on a new sample of employees. Testing Guidelines: 1) use tests as supplements; 2) validate the tests; 3) analyze all your current hiring and promotion standards; 4) keep accurate records; 5) begin your validation program now; 6) use a certified psychologist; and 7) test conditions are important.

D. Equal Employment Opportunity Aspects of Testing – Employers must be able to prove (1) that their tests are related to success or failure on the job (validity) and (2) that their tests don’t unfairly discriminate against minority or nonminority subgroups.

E. Using Tests at Work – Various types of tests are widely used by employers today.

F. Computer-Interactive Training is increasing replacing pencil-and-paper and manual tests.

Types of Tests

A. Tests of Cognitive Abilities – Cognitive tests include tests of general reasoning ability (intelligence) and tests of specific mental abilities like memory and inductive reasoning.

B. Tests of Motor and Physical Abilities – Employers may use various tests to measure such motor abilities as finger dexterity, manual dexterity, and reaction time. They may also want to measure such physical abilities as static strength, dynamic strength, body coordination and stamina.

C. Measuring Personality and Interests – can be used to assess personal characteristics as attitude, motivation, and temperament.

1. Effectiveness – The difficulties notwithstanding, personality tests can help companies do a better job of screening.

2. The "Big Five" - Industrial psychologists emphasize five personality dimensions as they apply to personnel testing: extroversion, emotional stability, agreeableness, conscientiousness, and openness to experience.

3. Interest Inventories compare one’s interests with those of people in various occupations.

D. Achievement Tests – measure what a person has learned.

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E. Web-based Testing – is increasingly used for testing and screening applicants.

Work Samples and Simulations

A. Work Sampling for Employee Selection

1. Rationale for Work Sampling – Work sampling technique measures how a candidate actually performs some of the job’s basic tasks making it harder for applicants to fake answers. This method tends to be fairer and exhibit better validity than test designed to predict performance.

2. Developing a Work Sampling Procedure – The basic procedure is to choose several tasks crucial to performing the job in question and to test applicants on those identified tasks.

B. Management Assessment Centers: A two-to-three-day simulation in which 10 to 12 candidates perform realistic management tasks, under the observation of experts who appraise each candidate’s potential.

C. Video-Based Situational Testing typically presents the candidate with several scenarios, each followed by a multiple-choice question.

D. The Miniature Job Training and Evaluation Approach involves training candidates to perform a sample of job tasks, and evaluating their performance.

Background Investigations and Other Selection Techniques

A. Background Investigations and Reference Checks – Most employers check and verify an applicant’s background information and references, including driving record, check for criminal charges or convictions, and credit check.

B. Using Preemployment Information Services

C. The Polygraph and Honesty Testing

D. Graphology (handwriting analysis) assumes that handwriting reflects basic personality tests.

E. Physical Examination – Once an offer is made and the person is hired, a medical exam is usually the next step in the selection process.

F. Substance Abuse Screening – Because drug abuse is a serious problem for employers, it is common practice for most employers to conduct drug screening just before employees are formally hired.

Reading: Core Text: P127-154: Employee testing & Selection

INTERVIEWING CADIDATES

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It gives an overview of types of interviews and their features. It discusses common mistakes in interviewing, and outlines effective interviewing techniques.

While structured interviews have been shown to be more valid than non-structured ones, some managers tend to resist structured interviews in favor of trusting their own skills as an interviewer.

Basic Features of Interviews

A. Types of Interviews include: appraisal interviews, exit interviews, and selection interviews.

1. Structured vs Unstructured Interviews – Unstructured or nondirective interviews generally have no set format. Structured or directive interviews generally identify questions and acceptable responses that are specified in advance and the responses are rated for appropriateness of content.

3. Interview Content: Types of Questions – Interviews can be classified according to the nature or content of their questions, such as situational interviews, job-related interviews, behavioral interviews, and stress interviews. Puzzle questions are also popular today, and are used to see how candidates think under pressure.

B. Administering the Interview

1. Personal or Individual Interviews – tend to be one-on-one where two people meet alone and one interviews the other by seeking oral responses to oral inquiries. A panel interview is where a group (panel) of interviewers questions the candidate together. A mass interview is where a panel interviews several candidates simultaneously.

2. Computerized Interviews – involve computers administering the interview. Typically the questions are presented in a multiple-choice format, one at a time, and the applicant is expected to respond to the questions on the screen by pressing a key.

C. Are Interviews Useful? – Studies confirm that the validity of interviews are greater than previously thought, especially if they are structured and depending on the traits they are assessing.

Designing and Conducting the Effective Interview

The Structured Situational Interview procedure is as follows: Step 1: Job Analysis; Step 2: Rate the Job’s Duty; Step 3: Create Interview Questions; Step 4: Create Benchmark Answers; and Step 5: Appoint the Interview Panel and Conduct Interviews.

Reading: Core Text: P161-177: Interviewing Candidates

EXERCISE:

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1. What is the difference between a strategy, a vision, and a mission? Please give one example of each.

2. What is job analysis? How can you make use of the information it provides?

3. We discussed several methods for collecting job analysis data—questionnaires, the position analysis questionnaire, and so on. Compare and contrast these methods, explaining what each is useful for and listing the pros and cons of each.

4. Explain how you would conduct a job analysis.

5. What are the pros and con of five sources of job candidates?

6. What is the difference between reliability and validity? In what respects are they similar?

7. Give some examples of how interest inventories could be used to improve employee selection. In doing so, suggest several examples of occupational interests that you believe might predict success in various occupations including college professor, accountant, and computer programmer.

8. Explain and illustrate the basic ways in which you can classify selection interviews.

9. Why do you think “situational interviews yield a higher mean validity than do job related or behavioral interviews, which in turn yield a higher mean validity than do psychological interviews?”

Case 1: Core Text P124: Application Case: Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do.

1. Identify some of the established selection techniques that underlie Trilogy’s unconventional approach to attracting talent?

2. What particular elements of Trilogy’s culture most likely appeal to the kind of employees it seeks? How does it convey those elements to job prospects?

3. Would Trilogy be an appealing employer for you? Why or why not? If not, what would it take for you to accept a job offer from Trilogy?

4. What suggestions would you make to Trilogy for improving their recruiting processes?

Case 2: Core text: P182: Application Case: The Out-of-Control Interview

1. How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm, or carelessness on the part of the firm's management? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview process at Apex Environmental?

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2. Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If you're not sure, is there any additional information that would help you make your decision, and if so, what is it?

3. The job of applications engineer for which Maria was applying requires: (1) excellent technical skills with respect to mechanical engineering; (2) a commitment to working in the area of pollution control; (3) the ability to deal well and confidently with customers who have engineering problems; (4) a willingness to travel worldwide; and (5) a very intelligent and well-balanced personality. What questions would you ask when interviewing applicants for the job?

Readings:

1. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9版）, Tsinghua University Press, 清华大学出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-302-11827-2: Chapter 3, 4, 5, & 6

2. John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（ English Version. 第 9 版）, China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社, 2004. ISBN: 7-111-14274-8: Chapter 6, 7,& 8

3. George W. Bohlander & Scott A. Snell, Managing Human Resources 13th Ed., 人力资源管

理（English Version. 第十三版）, Northeast Economics University Press, 东北财经大学出

版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1: Chapter 3, 4 & 5

4. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 5, 6,7 & 8

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TOPIC 3: TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

TRAINING AND DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES

It is devoted to the issue of ongoing training and development of employees. Needs analysis, techniques, purposes, and evaluation are all covered. Additionally, the chapter points out the importance of new employee orientation and lists some of the important things to cover during that process.

New employee orientation has been shown to have measurable and positive effects on employee retention and satisfaction. In spite of this, many organizations do not have a formalized orientation process and each employee gets a different orientation to the organization. For those students who have been employed, it may be useful to discuss their experiences and frustrations or satisfaction with orientations.

Orienting Employees

Employee orientation programs provide new employees with the basic background information required to perform their jobs satisfactorily. Orientation programs today are moving away from routine discussion of company rules to emphasizing the company’s mission and the employee’s role in that mission, on boarding them early as a key member of the team.

The Training Process

A. The Strategic Context of Training – Training refers to the methods used to give new or present employees the skills they need to perform their jobs. Training today plays a key role in the performance management process, which is a key process for employers to ensure employees are working toward organizational goals. Overall, training has a fairly impressive record of influencing organizational effectiveness, scoring higher than appraisal and feedback, and just below goal setting in its effect on productivity.

B. The 5 Phase Training and Development Process – 1) needs analysis; 2) instructional design;3) validated;4) implement the program; and 5) evaluation.

C. Training, Learning, and Motivation

1. Make Learning Meaningful – Material that is meaningful is usually easier for trainees to understand and remember.

2. Make Skills Transfer Easy – Make skills and behaviors easy to transfer from the training site to the job site.

3. Motivate the Learner - Provide as much realistic practice as possible; reinforcecorrect responses immediately; letting trainees pace themselves; creating a perceived training need in the trainees’ minds; and scheduling effectively.

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D. Analyzing Training Needs – Two main ways to identify training needs are: task analysis (an analysis of the job’s requirements) and performance analysis (an analysis to verify if there is a performance deficiency).

E. Task Analysis: Assessing New Employees’ Training Needs – A task analysis can be use to determine the training needs of new employees. A task analysis record form can also be used. It contains the following information: task list; when and how often performed; quantity, quality performance standards; conditions under which performed; skills or knowledge required; and where best learned.

F. Performance Analysis: Assessing Current Employees’ Training Needs - There are several methods that can be used to identify an employee’s training needs, including: supervisor, peer, self, and 360-degree performance reviews; job-related performance data; observation by supervisors or other specialists; interviews with the employee or his/her supervisor; tests of things like job knowledge, skills, and attendance; attitude surveys; individual employee daily diaries; and assessment centers.

Training Methods

A. On-the-Job Training (OJT) – means having a person learn a job by actually doing it, and involves the following: preparing the learner; presenting the operation; doing a tryout; and follow-up.

B. Apprenticeship Training – is a structured process by which people become skilled workers through a combination of classroom instruction and on-the-job training.

C. Informal Learning – involves learning through day-to-day unplanned interactions between the new worker and his/her colleagues.

D. Job Instruction Training – refers to teaching a new employee the logical sequence of steps in a job step-by-step.

E. Lectures – quick and simple way to provide knowledge to large groups.

F. Programmed Learning – is a step-by-step self-learning method: 1) presenting questions, facts, or problems to the learner; 2) allowing the person to respond; and 3) providing feedback on the accuracy of the answers.

G. Literacy Training Techniques – Companies are responding the functional illiteracy by testing job candidates’ basic skills, and setting up basic skills and literacy programs.

H. Audiovisual Based Training – Tools include: films, PowerPoint presentations, video conferencing, audiotapes, and videotapes.

I. Simulated Training – is a method in which trainees learn on the actual or simulated equipment they will use on the job, but are actually trained off-the job.

J. Computer-Based Training – is where the trainee uses computer-based and/or DVD systems to increase his/her knowledge or skills. CBT programs have real advantages including reducing learning time, cost effectiveness once designed and produced, instructional consistency, mastery of learning, increased retention, and increased trainee motivation.

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K. Electronic Performance Support Systems (EPSS) – are sets of computerized tools and displays that effectively automate and integrate training, documentation, and phone support, thus enabling individuals to provide support that’s faster, cheaper, and more effective than the traditional methods.

L. Distance and Internet-Based Training – Distance learning methods include traditional paper-and-pencil correspondence courses, as well as tele-training, videoconferencing, and Internet-based classes.

1. Tele-training – where a trainer in a central location teaches groups of employees at remote locations via television hookups.

2. Videoconferencing – allows people in one location to communicate live via a combination of audio and visual equipment with people in different locations–another city or country or with groups in several cities.

4. Training via the Internet – Internet based learning programs are increasingly popular. Some companies simply let their employees take online courses offered by online course providers while others use their intranets to facilitate computer-based training.

What Is Management Development?

Management Development is any attempt to improve managerial performance by imparting knowledge, changing attitudes, or increasing skills. The general management development process consists of (1) assessing the company’s strategic needs (2) appraising the managers’ current performance and (3) developing the managers. Succession planning is part of this process, and is the process through which a company plans for and fills senior level openings.

A. Managerial On-The-Job Training methods include: job rotation; coaching/ understudy

approach; and action learning.

a. Job Rotation – moving management trainees from department to department to broaden their understanding of all parts of the business.

b. Coaching/Understudy Approach – where a trainee works directly with a senior manager or with the person he/she is to replace, and the latter is responsible for coaching the trainee.

c. Action Learning – programs give managers and others released time to work full-time on projects to analyze and solve problems in departments other than their own.

B. Off-the-Job Management Training and Development Techniques

a. The Case Study Method – presents a trainee with a written description of an organizational problem.

b. Management Games – computerized management games allow for the trainees to be involved.

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c. Outside Seminars – offered by many companies and universities.

d. University-Related Programs provide executive education and continuing education programs in leadership, supervision, and the like.

e. Role Playing is aimed at creating a realistic situation and then having the trainee assume the parts (roles) of specific persons in that situation.

f. Behavior Modeling involves showing the trainee the correct way to do something, letting the trainee practice the correct way, and giving the trainee feedback on his/her performance.

g. Corporate Universities and In-House Development Centers are being established by many companies to expose prospective managers to realistic exercises to develop improved management skills.

h. Executive Coaches are being used by firms to improve their top managers’ effectiveness. An executive coach is an outside consultant who questions the executive’s boss, peers, subordinates, and sometimes, family, in order to identify strengths and weaknesses, and to counsel the executive so he or she can capitalize on those strengths and overcome the weaknesses.

Managing Organizational Change and Development

A. What to Change – When organizations are faced with the need to manage change, there are five different aspects that can be targeted including strategy, culture, structure, technologies and attitudes and skills.

B. Overcoming Resistance to Change: Lewin’s Change Process – The most difficult part o implementing an organizational change is overcoming employees’ resistance to it. Psychologist Kurt Lewin formulated a classic explanation of how to implement change in the face of resistance. His change process consists of three steps: 1) unfreezing; 2) moving; 3) refreezing.

C. How to Lead the Change: A 10 Step Change Process – The ten steps outlined here are 1) establish a sense of urgency; 2) mobilize commitment through joint diagnosis of problem 3) Create a guiding coalition; 4) develop a shared vision; 5) communicate the vision; 6) help employees make the change; 7) generate short term wins; 8) consolidate gains and produce more change 9) anchor the new ways of doing things in the company culture; 10) monitor progress and adjust the vision as required.

D. Using Organizational Development – Organizational Development is a special approach to organizational change in which the employees themselves formulate the change that required and implement it, often with the assistance of a trained consultant. OD has several distinguishing characteristics, including action research; applied behavioral science knowledge to improve the organization’s effectiveness; its ability to change attitudes, values and beliefs of employees so that they can implement the technical, procedural, or structural changes needed; and it changes the organization in a particular direction

1. Human Process Applications

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2. Techno structural Interventions3. Human Resource Management Applications4. Strategic OD Applications

Evaluating the Training Effort

A. Designing the Study – The evaluation process of choice is controlled experimentation, which uses both a training group and a control group (that receives no training) to assess their before and after performance in order to determine the extent to which performance in the training group resulted from the training itself rather than some organization-wide change.

B. Training Effects to Measure – Four basic categories of training outcomes can be measured: 1) Reaction; 2) Learning; 3) Behavior, and 4) Results.

Reading: Core text: P185-212: Training and Developing Employees

EXERCISE:

1. What are some typical on-the-job training techniques? What do you think are some of the main drawbacks of relying on informal on-the-job training for breaking new employees into their jobs?

2. Describe the pros and cons of five management development methods. 3. Do you think job rotation is a good method to use for developing management trainees?

Why or why not? 4. John Santos is an undergraduate business student majoring in accounting. He has just failed

the first accounting course, and is understandably upset. Explain how you would use performance analysis to identify what, if any, are John's training needs.

Case: Core text: P214: Application Case: Reinventing the Wheel at Apex Door Company

1. What do you think of Apex’s training process? Could it help to explain why employees “do things their way” and if so, how?

2. What role do job descriptions play in training?

3. Explain in detail what you would do to improve the training process at Apex. Make sure to provide specific suggestions, please.

Readings:

1. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, Tsinghua University Press, 清华大学出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-302-11827-2: Chapter 7

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2. John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社, 2004. ISBN: 7-111-14274-8: Chapter 6, 7,& 8



经大学出版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1: Chapter 6

4. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 9, 10, & 11

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TOPIC 4: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & APPRAISAL

This topic gives an overview of the performance appraisal process and the different tools and methods available. The main topics covered include the performance management process, appraisal methods, appraisal performance problems and solutions, and the appraisal interview.

Despite lots of attention, money and effort, performance appraisals remain an area with which few managers or employees are satisfied. The following questions may be worth discussing. Is it just that we don't have a good enough system yet, is there an intrinsic problem with performance appraisals, or is it just human nature to dislike them?

Basic Concepts in Performance Appraisal and Performance Management

A. Comparing Performance Appraisal and Performance Management – Performance appraisal is part of a total integrated process of performance management, which consolidates goal setting, performance appraisal, and development into a single, common system, the aim of which is to ensure that the employee's performance is supporting the company's strategic aims.

B. Why Performance Management? – Performance management's emphasis on the integrated nature of goal setting, appraisal and development reflect Total Quality Management concepts. Second, it reflects what many studies have shown that traditional performance appraisals are useless and counter-productive. Third, it is a process that recognizes that every employee' s efforts must focus on helping the company to achieve its strategic goals.

C. Defining the Employee's Goals and Work Efforts – At the heart of performance management is the idea that employee’s effort should be goal directed, which involves clarifying expectations and quantifying them by setting measurable standards for each objective. Some guidelines for effective goal setting are:

1. Assign Specific Goals2. Assign Measurable Goals3. Assign Challenging but Doable Goals4. Encourage Participation

An Introduction to Appraising Performance

A. Why Appraise Performance – For several reasons; 1) they play an integral role in the employer's performance management process; 2) the appraisal lets the boss and subordinate develop a plan for correcting any deficiencies, and reinforce those things he does correctly; 3) they serve a useful career planning purpose; and 4) it plays a part in salary decisions.

B. Realistic Appraisals - It is important that a manager be candidate when a subordinate is underperforming.

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C. The Supervisor's Role – Supervisors must be familiar with basic appraisal techniques, understand and avoid problems that can cripple appraisals, and know how to conduct appraisals fairly. The HR Department serves as policy-making and advisory role.

D. Steps in Appraising Performance – 1) define the job; 2) appraise performance; and 3) provide feedback.

E. Graphic Rating Scale Method – the simplest and most popular appraising performance technique, is where a scale is used to list a number of traits and a range of performance for each, then the employee is rated by identifying the score that best describes his/her performance level for each trait.

F. Alternation Ranking Method – is where employees are ranked from best to worst on a particular trait, choosing highest, then lowest, until all are ranked.

G. Paired Comparison Method – involves ranking employees by making a chart of all possible pairs of employees for each trait and indicating which is the better employee of the pair.

H. Forced Distribution Method – is where predetermined percentages of rates are placed in various performance categories; similar to grading on a curve.

I. Critical Incident Method – is where a supervisor keeps a record of uncommonly good and/or undesirable examples of an employee’s work-related behavior, and reviewing it with the employee at predetermined times.

J. Narrative Forms – involve rating the employee’s performance for each performance factor, writing down examples and an improvement plan, aiding the employee in understanding where his/her performance was good or bad, and summarizing by focusing on problem solving.

K. Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) – combines the benefits of narratives, critical incidents, and quantified scales, by anchoring a scale with specific behavioral examples of good or poor performance. The five steps in developing a BARS are: 1) generate critical incidents; 2) develop performance dimensions; 3) reallocate incidents; 4) scale the incidents; and 5) develop final instrument.

i. Research Insight – Three researchers developed a BARS for checkout clerks at a grocery store.

ii. Advantages of BARS: more accurate gauge; clearer standards; feedback; independent dimensions; and consistency.

L. The Management by Objectives (MBO) Method – requires the manager to set specific measurable goals with each employee and then periodically discuss his/her progress toward these goals, and consist of six steps: 1) set the organization's goals; 2) set departmental goals; 3) discuss departmental goals; 4) define expected results; 5) performance reviews; and 6) provide feedback.

M. Computerized and Web-Based Performance Appraisal – generally enables managers to keep notes on subordinates during the year, to rate employees on a series of performance traits, and then generate written text to support each part of the appraisal.

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N. Mixing the Methods – Most firms’ tools include combining several methods.

Appraising Performance: Problems and Solutions

A. Potential Rating Scale Appraisal Problems – unclear standards; halo effect; central tendency; leniency or strictness; and bias.

1. Unclear Standards – Ambiguous traits and degrees of merit can result in an unfair appraisal.

2. Halo Effect – the influence of a rater’s general impression on ratings of specific qualities, can be a problem

3. Central Tendency – where supervisors stick to the middle of the rating scales, thus rating everyone average.

4. Leniency or Strictness – supervisors have the tendency to rate everyone either high or low.

5. Bias – the tendency to allow individual differences such as age, race, and sex to affect the appraisal ratings employees receive, is a problem.

B. How to Avoid Appraisal Problems – Appraisal problems can be minimized by learning and understanding the potential problems and solutions, using the right appraisal tool, training supervisors to reduce rating errors; and keeping a diary.

C. Who Should Do the Appraising?

1. The Immediate Supervisor – usually in the best position to observe and evaluate the subordinate’s performance, and is responsible for that person’s performance.

2. Peer Appraisals – becoming more popular with firms using self-managing teams.

3. Rating Committees – consist of multiple raters, typically the employee’s immediate supervisor and three or four other supervisors.

4. Self-Ratings – tend to be higher than supervisor or peer ratings.

5. Appraisal by Subordinates – or upward feedback, is where subordinates anonymously rate their supervisor’s performance.

6. 360-Degree Feedback – where ratings are collected from the employee’s supervisors, subordinates, peers, and internal or external customers.

The Appraisal Interview: is an interview in which the supervisor and subordinate review the appraisal and make plans to remedy deficiencies and reinforce strengths.

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A. Types of Interviews – 1) Satisfactory – Promotable with the objective to make development plans; 2) Satisfactory – Not Promotable with the objective to maintain performance; and 3) Unsatisfactory – Correctable with the objective to plan correction.

B. How to Conduct the Interview – Prepare for the Interview by assembling the data, preparing the employee, and choosing the time and place. Be direct and specific; don’t get personal; encourage the person to talk; and don’t tiptoe around.

1. How to Handle a Defensive Subordinate – Recognize that defensive behavior is normal; never attack a person’s defenses; postpone action; and recognize your own limitations.

2. How to Criticize a Subordinate – When required, criticize in a manner that lets the person maintain his/her dignity and sense of worth, in private, and constructively.

3. How to Ensure the Interview Leads to Improved Performance – Clear-up job-related problems and set improvement goals and a schedule for achieving them.

4. How to Handle a Formal Written Warning – Written warnings should identify the standards by which the employee is judged, make it clear that the employee was aware of the standard, specify any violation of the standard, and show that the employee had an opportunity to correct the behavior.

C. Appraisals in Practice – Research shows that performance appraisals are required for most employees. Various types of appraisal formats are used, but most include reviews and feedback.

Reading: Core text P241-266: Appraising and Managing Performance

EXERCISE:

1. What is the purpose of a performance appraisal?

2. Discuss the pros and cons of at least four performance appraisal tools.

3. Explain how you would use the alternation ranking method, the paired comparison method, and the forced distribution method.

4. Discuss the pros and cons of using different potential raters to appraise a person's performance.

5. Compare and contrast performance management and performance appraisal.

Case: Core text: P271: Application Case: Appraising the Secretaries at Sweetwater U

1. Do you think that the experts' recommendations will be sufficient to get most of the administrators to fill out the rating forms properly? Why? Why not? What additional actions (if any) do you think will be necessary?

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2. Do you think that Vice President Winchester would be better off dropping graphic rating forms, substituting instead one of the other techniques we discussed in this chapter such as a ranking method? Why?

3. What performance appraisal system would you develop for the secretaries if you were Rob Winchester? Defend your answer.

Readings:


2. John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, China Machine Press, 机械工业出版社, 2004. ISBN: 7-111-14274-8: Chapter 9




4. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 12

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TOPIC 5: COMPENSATION

ESTABLISHING STRATEGIC PAY PLANS

It covers the basics of compensation. Included are basic considerations in determining pay rates, establishing pay rates, current trends in compensation, pricing managerial and professional jobs, and current issues in compensation management.

Determining Pay Rates

Employee compensation – refers to all forms of pay or rewards going to employees, which include direct financial payments and indirect payments. Direct financial payments include wages, salaries, incentives, commissions, and bonuses. Indirect payments include financial benefits, like employer-paid insurance and vacations.

Corporate Policies, Competitive Strategy, and Compensation – The basic thrust in pay plans today is to produce an aligned reward strategy to create compensation plans that guide employee behaviors in the desired, strategic direction.

a. Salary Compression – means longer-term employees’ salaries are lower than those of workers entering the firm today. To raise salaries, employers can give raises based on longevity (plus skills), install a more aggressive merit pay program, or authorize supervisors to recommend equity adjustments for selected employees who are both highly valued and victims of pay compression.

b. Geography – Cost of living differences between cities can be considerable. There are several ways that employers handle cost of living differentials.

c. Equity and Its Impact on Pay Rates – External and internal equity are crucial in pay rates. External equity refers to pay comparing favorably with rates in other organizations. Internal equity refers to employees viewing their pay as equitable given other pay rates in the organization. The following five steps should be taken to ensure external and internal equity: 1) conduct a salary survey; 2) conduct a job evaluation; 3) group similar jobs into pay grades; 4) price each pay grade by using wage curves; and 5) fine-tune pay rates.

Establishing Pay Rates

A. Step 1. The Salary Survey: Introduction – Virtually all employers conduct at least an informal telephone, newspaper, or Internet salary survey to price benchmark jobs and benefits.

1. Commercial, Professional, and Government Salary Surveys – Many employers use surveys published by consulting firms, professional associations, or government agencies. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) annually conducts area wage surveys, industry wage surveys, and professional, administrative, technical, and clerical (PATC) surveys in a recently organized National Compensation Survey.

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2. Using the Internet to Do Compensation Surveys – A rapidly expanding array of Internet-based options makes it fairly easy for anyone to access published compensation survey information. Several examples of sources of salary data are provided.

B. Step 2. Job Evaluation: Purpose of Job Evaluation is to determine a job’s relative worth through a formal and systematic comparison of jobs to determine the worth of one job relative to another. The basic principle is that jobs that require greater qualifications, more responsibilities, and more complex job duties should be paid higher than jobs with lesser requirements.

1. Compensable Factors – determine the definition of job content, establish how the jobs compare to each other, and set the compensation paid for each job. Some employers develop their own compensable factors, while most use factors popularized by packaged job evaluation systems or by federal legislation.

2. Preparing for the Job Evaluation – Job evaluation, a mostly judgmental process, demands close cooperation among supervisors, HR specialists, and employees and union representatives. The main steps include identifying the need for the program, getting cooperation, and choosing an evaluation committee to perform the actual job evaluation.

3. Job Evaluation Methods: Ranking – is the simplest method, which ranks each job relative to all other jobs on some overall factor. The steps of the ranking method include: 1) obtaining job information; 2) selecting raters and jobs; 3) selecting compensable factors; 4) ranking jobs; and 5) combining ratings.

4. Job Evaluation Methods: Job Classification (or grading) – is a simple, widely used method in which you categorize jobs into groups. The groups are called classes if they contain similar jobs, or grades if they contain jobs that are similar in difficulty but otherwise different.

5. Job Evaluation Methods: The point method – a more quantitative technique, involves identifying (1) several compensable factors, each having several degrees, as well as (2) the degree to which each of these factors is present in the job.

6. Job Evaluation Methods: Factor Comparison – is a quantitative technique, which is a refinement of the ranking method. It entails deciding which jobs have more of the chosen compensable factors.

7. Computerized Job Evaluations – use structured questionnaires and statistical models. They can simplify job analysis, help keep job descriptions up to date, increase evaluation objectivity, reduce the time spent in committee meetings, and ease the burden of system maintenance.

C. Step 3. Group Similar Jobs into Pay Grades – The committee will probably group similar jobs into grades for pay purposes, instead of having to deal with hundreds of pay rates.

D. Step 4. Price Each Pay Grade—Wage Curves are typically used to help assign pay rates to each pay grade or job. They show the relationship between the value of the job and the average wage paid for this job.

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E. Step 5. Fine Tune Pay Rates – Fine-tuning involves correcting out-of-line rates and usually developing pay ranges.

1. Developing Pay Ranges – Most employers develop vertical pay (rate) ranges for each horizontal pay grade. These pay ranges may appear as vertical boxes within each grade, showing minimum, maximum, and midpoint pay rates for that pay grade.

2. Correcting Out-of-Line Rates – The wage rate for a job may fall well off the wage line or well outside the rate range for its grade, which means that the average pay for the job is currently too high or too low, relative to other jobs in the firm. If the point falls well below the line, a pay raise for the job may be required. If the point falls well above the wage line, a pay cut or a pay freeze may be required.

Pricing Managerial and Professional Jobs

A. Compensating Managers

1. What Really Determines Executive Pay? – Basic compensation elements for top executives include: base pay, short-term incentives, long-term incentives, and executive benefits and perks.

2. Managerial Job Evaluation – The approach used by most large companies is to classify all executive and management positions into a series of grades, with salary ranges attached, to ensure some degree of equity among various divisions and departments.

B. Compensating Professional Employees – Most employers use a market-pricing approach instead job evaluation, since it’s not easy to identify factors and degrees of factors which meaningfully differentiate among the values of professional work.

Competency-Based PayIntroduction – increasingly experts are moving away from basing pay on the value of the job and more towards paying for the competencies the job demands of those who fill it.

A. What is Competency-based Pay? –The company pays for the employee’s range, depth, and types of skills and knowledge, rather than for the job title he or she holds.

B. Why Use Competency-based Pay? – Three reasons are given: 1) in a high performance work system you want employees to be enthusiastic about learning and moving among other jobs; 2) you can enhance your strategic plans by paying for skills that are critical for those plans; and 3) measurable skills, knowledge, and competencies are at the heart of performance management processes.

C. Competency-based Pay in Practice – contain four main components: 1) a system that defines skills and processes for tying those skills to pay; 2) a training system for acquiring skills, 3) competency testing system, and 4) a work design that allows employees to move among jobs.

D. Competency-based Pay: Pros, Cons, and Results – There are a variety of pros and cons which are discussed, as well as implementation pitfalls.

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Other Compensation Trends

A. Broadbanding – means collapsing salary grades and ranges into just a few wide levels or bands.

B. Strategic Compensation – IBM executed an organizational renewal through the implementation of a new compensation plan that contained four major changes:

1. The Marketplace Rules2. Fewer Jobs, Evaluated Differently, In Broadbands3. Managers Manage4. Big Stakes for Stakeholders

C. Comparable Worth – refers to the requirement to pay equal wages for jobs of comparable value to the employer rather than strictly equal value.

Reading: Core text P301-328: Establishing Strategic Pay Plans

PAY FOR PERFORMANCE & FINANCIAL INCENTIVES

It gives an overview of money and motivation, and then outlines different incentive programs that are used for different types of employees. It also discusses organization-wide incentive plans.

Money and Motivation: An Introduction

A. Performance and Pay – Compensation, shareholder value, and turbulence are factors that characterize business today, and they have produced a renaissance for financial incentive/pay-for-performance plans.

B. Individual Differences – the law of individual differences. This means that people differ in personality, abilities, values, and needs.

C. Psychological Needs and Intrinsic versus Extrinsic Motivation

1. Abraham Maslow – argued that people have a hierarchy of five increasingly higher-level needs, which he called physiological, security, social, self-esteem, and self-actualization.

2. Frederick Herzberg - hygiene—motivator theory of motivation similarly divides Maslow’s hierarchy into lower level (physiological, safety, social) and higher-level (achievement, self-actualization) needs.

3. Edward Deci – found that extrinsic rewards could at times actually detract from the person’s intrinsic motivation.

D. Instrumentality and Rewards: Vroom’s Theory – says a person’s motivation to exert some level of effort is a function of three things: the person’s expectancy (in terms of probability) that his or her effort will lead to performance;14 instrumentality, or the perceived connection

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(if any) between successful performance and actually obtaining the rewards; and valence, which represents the perceived value the person attaches to the reward.

E. Types of Incentive Plans include: individual incentive programs; group incentive programs; and profit-sharing plans. Variable pay generally refers to a group incentive plan that ties pay to some measure of the firm’s (or facility’s) overall profitability.

Individual Employee Incentive and Recognition Programs

A. Piecework Plans – Piecework is where you pay the worker a sum (piece rate) for each unit he/she produces. Straight piecework entails a strict proportionality between results and rewards regardless of output. With a standard hour plan, the worker gets a premium equal to the percent by which his/her performance exceeds the standard.

B. Merit Pay As An Incentive – Merit pay or raise is any salary increase the firm awards to an employee based on his/her individual performance. It is different from a bonus in that it usually becomes part of the employee’s base salary, whereas a bonus is a one-time payment.

C. Merit Pay Options – Traditional merit pay plans have two basic characteristics: (1) merit increases are usually granted to employees at a designated time of the year in the form of a higher base salary, and (2) the merit raise is usually based exclusively on individual performance. Two adaptations of merit pay plans are: (1) one awards merit raises in one lump sum once a year and (2) merit awards are tied to both individual and organizational performance.

D. Incentives for Professional Employees – Professional employees are those whose work involves the application of learned knowledge to the solution of the employer’s problems, such as lawyers, doctors, economists, and engineers. Making incentive pay decisions for professional employees can be challenging because they’re usually paid well anyway.

E. Recognition-Based Awards – Studies show that recognition has a positive impact on performance, either alone or in conjunction with financial rewards.

F. Online Award Programs – There are many reasons to use internet sites like these to manage your awards program. The sites can offer a much broader range of products than most employers could catalog and offer themselves. And perhaps most important, the whole process is expedited—it’s much easier to bestow and deliver the awards.

Team or Group Variable Pay Incentive Plans

A. How to Design Team Incentives – There are three approaches:

1. Members are paid based on one of three formulas – all members receive the pay (a) earned by the highest producer, (b) earned by the lowest producer, or (c) equal to the average pay earned by the group.

2. Set a production standard based on the final output of the group as a whole.

3. Tie rewards to goals based on some overall standard of group performance.

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B. Pros and Cons of Team Incentives – A lot of our work today is organized around teams, so team incentives make sense to encourage cooperation and training. But exceptionally hard working employees do not get paid according to their efforts, which may reduce motivation.

Organization-Wide Variable Pay Plans

A. Profit-Sharing Plans involves employees receiving a share of the company’s annual profits. There are several types of profit-sharing plans: cash plans, Lincoln Incentive system, and deferred profit-sharing plans.

B. Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOP) are company-wide plans in which a firm contributes shares of its own stock or cash to purchase the stock to a trust established to purchase shares of the firm’s stock for employees.

C. Scanlon and Other Gainsharing Plans

1. Scanlon Plan – is an incentive plan developed in 1937 by Joseph Scanlon. The basic features of the plan include: philosophy of cooperation, identity, competence, involvement system, and sharing of benefits formula.

2. Gainsharing Plans are incentive plans that engage many or all employees in a common effort to achieve a company’s productivity objectives, with any resulting cost-savings gains shared among employees and the company.

Implementing a Plan – The basic eight steps are: 1) establish general plan objectives; 2) define specific performance measures; 3) decide on a funding formula; 4) decide on a method for dividing and distributing the employees’ share of the gains; 5) make the disbursement significant enough to get participants’ attention and to motivate their behavior; 6) choose the form of payment; 7) decide how often bonuses are to be paid; and 8) develop the involvement system.

D. At-Risk Variable Pay Plans are plans that put some portion of the employee’s weekly pay at risk, subject to the firm meeting its financial goals.

Reading: Core text: P334-359: Pay for Performance and Financial Incentives

EXERCISE:

1. What is the relationship between compensable factors and job specifications?

2. Compare and contrast the following methods of job evaluation: ranking, classification, factor comparison, point method?

3. What are the pros and cons of broadbanding, and would you recommend your current employer (or some other firm you're familiar with) use it? Why or why not?

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4. Describe the nature of some important management incentives.

5. When and why would you pay a salesperson a salary and commission combined?

6. What is a Scanlon plan? Based on what you've read in this book so far, what features of a commitment-building program does the Scanlon plan include?

Case: Core text: P361-362: Application: Inserting the Team Concept into Compensation – Or Not

1. Does the pay-for-performance plan seem like a good idea? Why or why not?

2. What advice would you give Regina and Sandy as they consider their decision?

3. What mistakes did they make in adopting and communicating the new salary plan? How might Sandy have approached this major compensation change a little differently?

4. Assuming the new pay plan was eventually accepted, how would you address the fact that in the new performance evaluation system, employees’ input affects their peers’ pay levels?

Readings:

1. Gary Dessler, Human Resource Management 9th Ed., 人力资源管理（English Version. 第 9 版）, Tsinghua University Press, 清华大学出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-302-11827-2: Chapter 11, &12




经大学出版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1: Chapter 9, 10 & 11

4. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 13, 14, 15 & 16

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TOPIC 6: LABOR MANAGEMENT RELATIONS

It gives a brief history of the labor movement, outlines the basics of labor law, and reviews the procedures of labor elections, collective bargaining, and contract administration. A look into the future of unionism is also attempted.

Union membership has declined in the past few decades. However, unions are targeting professional and other jobs not traditionally unionized. Students need to consider the implications of this shift as well as the dynamics driving the shift.

The Labor Movement

A. A Brief History of the American Union Movement – As early as 1790, skilled craftsmen organized themselves into trade unions, and posted their minimum wage demands to ensure no member accepted a lesser wage. Union membership grew until a major depression around 1837 resulted in a membership decline. Membership increased as the U.S. entered its industrial revolution. In 1869, a group of tailors formed the Knights of Labor. They were interested in political reform and change. After a period of increased membership, they dissolved in 1893 after several unresolved issues. In 1886, Samuel Gompers formed the Labors (AFL), and its aim was to raise its members’ (mostly skilled workers) day-to-day wages and improve their working conditions. The 1920s was a period of stagnation for the U.S. union movement. As a part of his New Deal programs, President Roosevelt passed the national Industrial Recovery Act, which made it easier for labor to organize.

B. Why Do Workers Organize? – The urge to unionize often seems to boil down to the belief on the part of workers that it is only through unity that they can get their fair share of the pie and also protect themselves from management’s whims. Union workers tend to receive significantly more pay, holidays, sick leave, unpaid leave, insurance plan benefits, long-term disability benefits, and various other benefits than do nonunion workers.

C. What Do Unions Want? – Unions have two sets of aims, one for union security and one for improved wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits for their members.

1. Union Security – The five types of union security are: closed shop, union shop, agency shop, open shop, and maintenance of membership arrangement.

2. Improved Wages, Hours, and Benefits for Members – The typical labor agreement also gives the union a role in other HR activities, including recruiting, selecting, compensating, promoting, training, and discharging employees.

D. The AFL-CIO

The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of about 100 national and international labor unions in the United States. The AFL and CIO merged in 1955. The three layers of structure in the AFL-CIO are: 1) the local union (a single chapter in a national union), 2) the national union, and 3) the national federation.

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Unions and the Law There were no special labor laws until about 1930, so employers were virtually unrestrained in their behavior toward unions. Since the Great Depression, in response to changing public attitudes, values, and economic conditions, labor law has gone through three clear changes: from strong encouragement of unions, to modified encouragement coupled with regulation, and finally to detailed regulation of internal union affairs.

A. Period of Strong Encouragement: The Norris-LaGuardia Act (1932) and the National Labor Relations or Wagner Act (1935) – The Norris-LaGuardia Act guaranteed to each employee the right to bargain collectively free from interference, restraint, or coercion; but it did little to restrain employers from fighting labor organizations. The National Labor Relations (Wagner) Act of 1935 (1) banned certain unfair labor practices; (2) provided for secret-ballot elections and majority rule for determining whether a firm’s employees were to unionize; and (3) created the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for enforcing these two provisions.

B. Period of Modified Encouragement Coupled with Regulation: The Taft-Hartley Act (1947) amended the Wagner Act with provisions aimed at limiting unions in four ways: (1) by prohibiting unfair union labor practices, (2) by enumerating the rights of employees as union members, (3) by enumerating the rights of employers, and (4) by allowing the president of the United States to temporarily bar national emergency strikes.

C. Period of Detailed Regulation of Internal Union Affairs: The Landrum-Griffin Act (1959) (officially, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act), an amendment to the Wagner Act, is aimed at protecting union members from possible wrongdoing on the part of their unions. This law: provides a bill of rights for union members; lays out rules regarding union elections; regulates the kind of person who can serve as a union officer; greatly expands the list of unlawful employer actions; and requires reports from unions and employers, covering such practices as the use of labor relations consultants.

The Union Drive and Election

A. Step 1. Initial Contact – The union determines the employees’ interest in organizing, and an organizing committee is established. The initiative for the first contact between the employees and the union may come from the employees, from a union already representing other employees of the firm, or from a union representing workers elsewhere. Once an employer becomes a target, a union official usually assigns a representative to assess employee interest. He/she identifies employees who would make a good organizing committee, and educates them on the benefits of forming a union, the law and procedures involved in forming a local union, and the issues management is likely to raise during a campaign. The union must follow certain rules when it starts contacting employees.

B. Step 2. Obtaining Authorization Cards from interested employees to show that a sizable number of employees may be interested in being organized is necessary for the union to petition the NLRB for the right to hold an election. Thirty percent of the eligible employees in an appropriate bargaining unit must sign before the union can petition the NLRB for an election. During this stage, both union and management typically use various forms of propaganda. However, neither side can threaten, bribe, or coerce employees, and

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an employer may not make promises of benefit to employees or make unilateral changes in terms and conditions of employment that were not planned prior to union organizing activity.

C. Step 3. Hold a Hearing – One of three things can occur once the union collects the authorization cards: 1) no hearing is needed if the employer chooses not to contest union recognition, and a consent election is held immediately; 2) if the employer chooses not to contest the union’s right to an election, and/or scope of the bargaining unit, and/or which employees are eligible to vote in the election, no hearing is needed and the parties can stipulate an election; or 3) if an employer does wish to contest the union’s right, it can insist on a hearing to determine those issues. An employer’s decision about whether to insist on a hearing is a strategic one based on the facts of each case and whether it feels it needs additional time to develop a campaign to try to persuade a majority of its employees not to elect a union to represent them. The hearing addresses several issues. If the results of the hearing are favorable for the union, the NLRB will order holding an election, issue a Notice of Election to that effect, and send NLRB form 707 to the employer to post.

D. Step 4. The Campaign – During this stage, the union and the employer appeal to employees for their votes; but neither side can threaten, bribe, or coerce employees.

E. Step 5. The Election – by secret ballot is held within 30 to 60 days after the NLRB issues its Decision and Direction of Election. The NLRB provides the ballots, voting booth, and ballot box, and counts the votes and certifies the results of the election. The union becomes the employees’ representative if it wins the election by a majority of the votes cast.

F. How to Lose an NLRB Election – The five sure ways to lose an election are:

1. Asleep at the switch2. Appointing a committee3. Concentrating on money and benefits4. Industry blind spots5. Delegating too much to division or branches.

G. The Supervisor's Role –the first line of defense when it comes to the unionizing effort. Supervisors need some special training because they can discover the early signs of union activity or they can inadvertently take actions that hurt their employers’ union-related efforts. Supervisors must be knowledgeable about what they can and can’t do to legally hamper organizing activities.

H. Rules Regarding Literature and Solicitation – Employers can do the following: always bar non-employees from soliciting during their work time (when the employee is on duty and not on a break); usually stop employees from soliciting other employees for any purpose if one or both employees are on paid-duty time and not on a break; bar non-employees from the building’s interiors and work areas as a right of private property owners (excluding retail stores, shopping centers, and certain other employers); sometimes bar non-employees from exterior private areas if there is a business reason and the reason is not just to interfere with union organizers; and deny on-or off-duty employees access to interior or exterior areas only if they can show the rule is required for reasons of production, safety, or discipline. Such restrictions are only valid if the employer doesn’t discriminate against the union.

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I. Decertification Elections: Ousting the Union – The same law that grants employees the right to unionize also gives them a way to legally terminate their union’s right to represent them, which is known as decertification. Decertification campaigns don’t differ much from certification campaigns.

The Collective Bargaining Process

A. What is Collective Bargaining? – according to the National Labor Relations Act, “is the performance of the mutual obligation of the employer and the representatives of the employees to meet at reasonable times and confer in good faith with respect to wages, hours, and terms and conditions of employment, or the negotiation of an agreement, or any question arising hereunder, and the execution of a written contract incorporating any agreement reached if requested by either party, but such obligation does not compel either party to agree to a proposal or require the making of a concession.”

B. What is Good Faith? – in collective bargaining means that both parties communicate and negotiate, that proposals are matched with counterproposals, and that both parties make every reasonable effort to arrive at an agreement.

C. The Negotiating Team – Both union and management send a negotiating team, who has done its homework, to the bargaining table.

D. Bargaining Items – Labor law sets out categories of items that are subject to bargaining: mandatory, voluntary, and illegal items. Mandatory items are items that a party must bargain over if they are introduced by the other party. Voluntary (permissible) items are neither mandatory nor illegal; they become a part of the negotiations only through the joint agreement of both management and union. Illegal items are forbidden by law.

E. Bargaining Stages – 1) each side presents its demands; 2) there is a reduction of demands; 3) the parties form joint subcommittees to try to work out reasonable alternatives; 4) the parties reach an informal settlement, and each group goes back to its sponsor; and 5) once everything is in order, the parties fine-tune and sign a formal agreement.

F. Bargaining Hints – be sure you have set clear objectives for every bargaining item and you understand on what grounds the objectives are established; do not hurry; when in doubt, caucus with your associates; be well prepared with firm data supporting your position; always strive to keep some flexibility in your position; don’t just concern yourself with what the other party says and does – find out why; respect the importance of face saving for the other party; constantly be alert to the real intentions of the other party with respect not only to goals but also priorities; be a good listener; build a reputation for being fair but firm; learn to control your emotions - don’t panic; be sure as you make each bargaining move that you know its relationship to all other moves; measure each move against your objectives; pay close attention to the wording of every clause negotiated; remember that collective bargaining negotiations are, by their nature, part of a compromise process; try to understand people and their personalities; and consider the impact of present negotiations on those in future years.

G. Impasses, Mediation, and Strikes

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1. Third Party Involvement – Three types of third-party interventions are used to overcome an impasse: mediation, fact-finding, and arbitration. With mediation a neutral third party tries to assist the principals in reaching agreement. A fact finder is a neutral party who studies the issues in a dispute and makes a public recommendation of what a reasonable settlement ought to be. Arbitration (binding or unbinding) can guarantee a solution to an impasse because the arbitrator often has the power to determine and dictate the settlement terms.

2. Strikes – are a withdrawal of labor. There are four types of strikes: economic strike, unfair labor practice strike, wildcat strike, and sympathy strike. An economic strike results from a failure to agree on the terms of a contract that involve wages, benefits, and conditions of employment. Unfair labor practice strikes are called by unions to protest illegal conduct by the employer. A wildcat strike is an unauthorized strike occurring during the term of a contract. Picketing is one of the first activities occurring during a strike.

Grievances

A. Sources of Grievances – Employees may use just about any factor involving wages, hours, or conditions of employment as the basis of a grievance.

B. The Grievance Procedure is specified in most collective bargaining contracts, which specifies the various steps in the procedure, time limits, and specific rules. Union grievance procedures differ from firm to firm.

C. Guidelines for Handling Grievances

The Union Movement Today and Tomorrow

The 1980s and 1990s were hard times for unions. About 35% of the non-farm U.S. workforce belonged to unions by the 1960s. By 2002, that figure had dropped to about 13.2%.

A. Public Employees and Unions – If there is a notable bright spot for the union movement, it’s their success in organizing federal, state, and municipal workers. With at least 7 million public-sector union members, the public sector represents at least 44% of total U.S. union membership, and perhaps the union movement’s biggest potential growth area.

B. Organizing Professionals and White-Collar Employees – Unions are also making inroads into traditionally hard-to-organize worker segments like professionals and white-collar workers, as even these employees see their job security and perquisites under attack. Today, white-collar workers and professionals now represent close to half of all union members.

C. Employee Participation Programs and Unions – Employee participation programs are now subject to serious legal challenge under the NLRA as unfair labor practices because they may be viewed as sham unions. Whether an employer’s participation program is viewed as an impermissible labor organization revolves around the dominance and the actual role of the participation committee. Instituting “Safe” Participation Programs can be facilitated by taking the following steps: involve employees in the formation of these programs to the greatest extent practical; continually emphasize to employees that the committees exist for the exclusive purpose of addressing issues such as quality and productivity; do not try to

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establish such committees at the same time union organizing activities are beginning in your facility; fill the committees with volunteers rather than elected employee representatives, and rotate membership to ensure broad employee participation; and minimize your participation in the committees’ day-to-day activities, to avoid unlawful interference or, worse, the perception of domination.

Reading: John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed.:478-502

EXERCISE:

1. What is a labor union? Define the term labor relations.

2. Why do employees join unions? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a union member?

3. What is collective bargaining?

4. The union structure in the United States consists of four levels. Identify and describe each.

Case: Reading John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed.: P509:

The Union’s Demand for Recognition and Bargaining Rights

1. Examine the various claims made by the union and counterclaims made by the company regarding the charges of unfair labor practices. Which of the arguments are most persuasive?

2. Was the statement by Nord to Snow on the date of the representational election a threat or a legitimate prediction and personal opinion protected by the free speech provisions of the act?

3. Was the company obligated to accept the union’s majority status claim on the basis of the authorization cards submitted by the union?

4. If the company is found to have violated the act, what would be the appropriate remedy; a bargaining order or a new election?

Readings:




经大学出版社, 2003. ISBN: 7-81084-314-1: Chapter14

3. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 17, 18, & 19.

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TOPIC 7: EMPLOYEE SAFT & HEALTH

This topic outlines occupational safety laws, and then discusses causes of accidents and how to prevent them. There is also a section devoted to employee health.

The role of OSHA is somewhat controversial in today's society. Some feel it is an intrusion by a bungling governmental bureaucracy that doesn't really understand the nature of work and jobs, while others view it as the only check and balance available to help save employees' lives and limbs.

Occupational Safety Law

The Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed in 1970 to preserve the nation’s human resources by assuring as much as possible that every worker has safe and healthy working conditions. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) (within the Department of Labor, which enforces the standards) administers the act, sets and enforces the safety and health standards, and has inspectors working out of branch offices throughout the country to ensure compliance.

A. OSHA Standards and Record Keeping: Under OSHA, employers with 11 or more employees must maintain records of a report occupational injuries and occupational illnesses, which is any abnormal condition or disorder caused by exposure to environmental factors associated with employment.

B. Inspections and Citations are how OSHA enforces its standards.

1. Inspection Priorities – Inspections in order of priority are: 1) imminent danger situations; 2) catastrophes, fatalities, and accidents that have already occurred (employers must report within 48 hours); 3) valid employee complaints of alleged violation of standards; 4) periodic special-emphasis inspections aimed at high-hazard industries, occupations, or substances; and 5) random inspections and re-inspections. OSHA conducts an inspection within 24 hours for immediate danger complaints, and within 3 working days when a serious hazard exists. OSHA responds within 20 working days for a non-serious complaint filed in writing by a worker or union.

2. The Inspection Itself – An authorized employee representative can accompany the officer during the inspection, during which time the inspector can question workers about safety and health conditions. The inspector holds a closing conference with the employer’s representatives to discuss apparent violations for which OSHA may issue or recommend a citation and penalty The area director determines what citations, if any, to issue, which inform the employer and employees of the regulations and standards that the employer violated. The employer must post these citations at or near the place where the violation occurred.

3. Penalties – OSHA can impose penalties ranging from $5,000 up to $70,000 for willful or repeated serious violations, although in practice the penalties can be far higher.

4. Inspection Guidelines – fall into three categories: initial contact, opening conference, and walk-around inspection.

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C. Responsibilities and Rights of Employers and Employees – Employers are responsible for providing a hazard-free workplace, being familiar with mandatory OSHA standards, and examining workplace conditions to make sure they conform to applicable standards. Employers have the right to: seek advice and off-site consultation from OSHA, request and to receive proper identification of the OSHA compliance officer before inspection, and to be advised by the compliance officer of the reason for an inspection. OSHA can’t cite employees for violations of their responsibilities. Employees are responsible for complying with all applicable OSHA standards, for following all employer safety and health rules and regulations, and for reporting hazardous conditions to the supervisor. Employees have a right to demand safety and health on the job without fear of punishment. The act forbids employers from punishing or discriminating against workers who complain to OSHA about job safety and health hazards.

Management Commitment and Safety

Safety commitment begins with top management. Employees need to see convincing evidence of top management’s commitment to safety.

What Causes Accidents?

A. Unsafe Conditions and Other Work-Related Factors – Unsafe conditions are one main cause of accidents. Three Other Work-Related Accident Factors: the job itself, the work schedule, and the psychological climate of the workplace.

B. What Causes Unsafe Acts (A Second Basic Cause of Accidents) – Unfortunately, there are no easy answers to the question of what causes them. The consensus is that accident proneness is situational.

How to Prevent Accidents

A. Reducing Unsafe Conditions – is always an employer’s first line of defense. Safety Engineers should design jobs to remove hazards, additionally, supervisors and managers should help identify and remove potential hazards.

B. Reducing Unsafe Acts by Emphasizing Safety – It’s the supervisor’s responsibility to set the tone so subordinates want to work safely.

C. Reducing Unsafe Acts Through Selection and Placement – Screening is another way to reduce unsafe acts. The basic aim is to isolate the trait that might predict accidents on the job in question, and then screen candidates for this trait. Studies suggest that the Employee Reliability Inventory (ERI), which measures emotional maturity, conscientiousness, safe job performance, and courteous job performance, can help employers reduce unsafe acts at work. The ADA has particular relevance for safety-related screening decisions.

D. Reducing Unsafe Acts Through Training – is especially appropriate for new employees. OSHA has published two booklets: Training Requirements Under OSHA and Teaching Safety and Health in the Workplace.

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E. Reducing Unsafe Acts Through Motivation: Posters, Incentive Programs, and Positive Reinforcement – have been successful at reducing workplace injuries.

i. Positive Reinforcement Programs – The New Safety Program stressed positive reinforcement and training. The firm set and communicated a reasonable goal; trained the employees; then posted a graph with their pre-training safety record plotted and a list of safety rules. Observers walked through collecting safety data to provide workers with feedback on their safety performance as a form of positive reinforcement.

F. Use Behavior-Based Safety – which involves identifying the worker behaviors that contribute to accidents and then training workers to avoid these behaviors.

G. Use Employee Participation – There are at least two reasons to get the employees involved in designing the safety program. First, those actually doing the jobs are often management’s best source of ideas about what the potential problems are and how to solve them. Second, it is generally easier to get employees to accept and enthusiastically follow the safety program when they’ve had a hand in designing it.

H. Conduct Safety and Health Audits and Inspections – on all premises for possible safety and health problems, using checklists as aids. All accidents and near misses should be investigated. A system should be in place for employees to notify management about hazardous conditions.

I. Safety Beyond the Plant Gate – is important too. In 2000 OSHA tentatively tried to extend its health and safety guidelines to the firms’ workers who work at home, but the resulting complaints forced it to rescind its policy.

J. Controlling Worker's Compensation Costs can affect what a firm pays in worker compensation insurance premiums.

Workplace Health Hazards: Problems and Remedies

A. The Basic Industrial Hygiene Program – First, the facility’s health and safety officers must recognize possible exposure hazards. The evaluation phase involves determining how severe the hazard is. Finally, the hazard control phase involves taking steps to eliminate or reduce the hazard so that it no longer ranks as dangerous.

B. Asbestos Exposure at Work – There are four major sources of occupational respiratory diseases: asbestos, silica, lead, and carbon dioxide. Of these, asbestos has become a major concern.

C. Infectious Diseases: The Case of SARS – With many employees traveling to and from international destinations, monitoring and controlling infectious diseases like Ebola and SARS has become an important safety issue. Obviously, employers must make provisions for ensuring that a returning employee does not inadvertently infect one or more colleagues. Employers can take a number of steps to prevent the entry or spread of infectious diseases like SARS into their workplaces.

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D. Alcoholism and Substance Abuse – are serious and widespread problems at work because they usually lead to declines in the quality and quantity of work.

E. Dealing With Substance Abuse – Various techniques can be used to deal with these problems, which start with testing, include: disciplining, discharge, in-house counseling, and referral to an outside agency.

F. Workplace Substance Abuse and the Law – The federal Drug-Free Workplace Act requires employers with federal government contracts or grants to ensure a drug-free workplace by taking and certifying that they have taken a number of steps.

G. Legal Risks – Dealing with alcoholism and drugs at work does entail legal risks because employees have sued for invasion of privacy, wrongful discharge, defamation, and illegal searches.

H. Stress, Burnout, and Depression – can sometimes lead to problems such as alcoholism and drug abuse, which are problematic for the employee and employer. A variety of external environmental factors can lead to job stress. Personal factors also influence stress – no two people react to the same job in the very same way. Human consequences of stress include anxiety, depression, anger, and various physical consequences. Organizational consequences include reductions in the quantity and quality of job performance, increased absenteeism and turnover, increased grievances, and increased health care costs. Stress is not necessarily dysfunctional; it can lead some people to be more productive and/or creative.

a. Reducing Job Stress – can range from getting more sleep and eating better to negotiating with your boss for realistic deadlines on important projects to reducing the amount of trivia to which you give your attention. The three-step stress-reduction technique involves: developing awareness; adjusting attitudes; and taking action.

b. Burnout is the total depletion of physical and mental resources caused by excessive striving to reach an unrealistic work-related goal. Some suggestions for alleviating burnout include: breaking your patterns; getting away from it all periodically; reassessing your goals in terms of their intrinsic worth; and think about your work.

c. Research Insight – One study found that burnout can be reduced by removing the stressors that caused it in the first place, but without other changes, the burnout will quickly return once the vacation is over.

I. Computer-Related Health Problems and How to Avoid Them – Short-term eye problems (like burning, itching, tearing, eyestrain, and eye soreness), backaches, and neck-aches are common complaints among video display operators. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has several recommendations for reducing these problems.

J. AIDS and the Workplace – Many AIDS patients have reportedly seen their symptoms dramatically reduce or eliminated, largely because of improved

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protease inhibitor drugs. Employers cannot subject an employee with AIDS to discriminatory treatment under ADA.

K. Workplace Smoking – The Nature of the Problem is serious for employees and employers. Smokers have significantly greater risk of occupational accidents and higher absenteeism rates than nonsmokers. They increase the cost of health and fire insurance.

Reading : Core text P428-456: Employee Safety & Health

EXERCISE:

1. Discuss the basic facts about OSHA – its purpose, standards, inspection, and rights and responsibilities.

2. Analyze the legal issues concerning AIDS.

3. Explain how you would reduce stress at work.

4. Describe the steps employers can take to reduce workplace violence.

Case: Core text: P430 Application Case: The New Safety and Health Program

1. Based upon your knowledge of health and safety matters and your actual observations of operations that are similar to theirs, make a list of the potential hazardous conditions employees and others face at LearnInMotion.com. What should they do to reduce the potential severity of the top five hazards?

2. Would it be advisable for them to set up a procedure for screening out stress-prone or accident-prone individuals? Why or why not? If so, how should they screen them?

3. Write a short position paper on the subject, “What should we do to get all our employees to behave more safely at work?”

4. Based on what you know and on what other dot-coms are doing, write a short position paper on the subject, “What can we do to reduce the potential problems of stress and burnout in our company?”

Readings:



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8. Lloyd L. Byars et al., Human Resource Management 7th Ed, 人力资源管理 (Bilingual Version, 第七版), People’s Post and Telecom Press, 人民邮电出版社, 2005. ISBN: 7-115-13557-6: Chapter 20

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TOPIC 8: MANAGING GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES

This topic outlines some of the HR problems and issues involved with international businesses. The subjects covered include inter-country differences, using selection to improve international assignments, and training and maintaining international employees.

Many companies desire to rotate managers through international assignments, but find that work visa requirements of the host countries (including the U.S.) can sometimes greatly hinder these efforts.

HR and the Internationalization of Business

International Business and Its Impact on Managing – Due to the European Market unification, the introduction of the euro currency, the opening of Eastern Europe, and the rapid development of demand in Asia and other areas of the world, large and small firms are finding their success depends on their ability to market and manage overseas.

A. The HR Challenges of International Business – deployment, knowledge and innovation dissemination, and identifying and developing talent on a global basis. Complicating these decisions are the cultural, political, legal, and economic differences among countries and their peoples.

B. How Inter-country Differences Affect HRM – A company operating multiple units abroad does not have the luxury of dealing with a relatively limited set of economic, cultural, and legal variables.

i. Cultural Factors – Countries differ widely in their cultures, which are the basic values to which their citizens adhere. Cultural differences from country to country necessitate corresponding differences in management practices among a company’s subsidiaries.

ii. Economic Systems – Differences in economic systems translate into differences in HR practices. Differences in labor costs are substantial.

iii. Legal and Industrial Relations Factors – vary dramatically from country to country. In many European countries, work councils replace the informal or union based worker-management mediations typical in U.S. firms. In Germany and several other countries, codetermination is the rule where employees have the legal right to a voice in setting company policies.

iv. The European Community – refers to the unification of separate European countries in the 1990s into a common market for goods, services, capital, and labor.

Global Differences and Similarities in HR Practices

A. Personnel Selection Procedures – Employers around the world tend to use similar criteria and methods for selecting employees. As in the United States, employers around the world usually rank “personal interviews,” “the person’s ability to perform the technical requirements of the job,” and “proven work experiences in a similar job” at or near the top of the criteria or methods they use.

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B. The Purpose of the Performance Appraisal – There tends to be more variation in how employers in different countries use the results of performance appraisals. To recognize subordinate” was a main purpose for appraisals in Japan and Mexico.

C. Training and Development Practices – there are usually more similarities than differences across countries. In particular, employers just about everywhere rank “to improve technical abilities” as the main purpose for providing employees with training. The amount of training firms provide does vary substantially from country to country.

D. The Use of Pay Incentives – there are great variations in the use of incentive pay. Some communist countries actually use more incentive pay than the U.S.

How To Implement a Global HR System

A. Making the Global HR System More Acceptable

1. Remember global systems are more accepted in truly global organizations.2. Investigate pressures to differentiate and determine their legitimacy.3. Try to work within the context of a strong corporate culture.

B. Developing a More Effective Global HR System

1. Form global HR networks.2. Remember that it’s more important to standardize ends and competencies than specific

methods.

C. Implementing the Global HR System

1. Remember, “You can’t communicate enough.”2. Dedicate adequate resources for the global HR effort.

Staffing the Global Organization

A. International Staffing: Home or Local? – Multinational companies (MNCs) employ several types of international managers. Locals are citizens of the countries where they are working. Expatriates (“expats”) are non-citizens of the countries in which they are working. Home-country nationals are citizens of the country in which the multinational company has its headquarters. Third-country nationals are citizens of a country other than the parent or the host country.

B. Offshoring – having local employees abroad do jobs that the firm’s domestic employees previously did in-house—is growing by leaps and bounds. An Offshoring job is very controversial. In the 1980s and 1990s, it was mostly manufacturing jobs that employers shipped overseas.

C. Values and International Staffing Policy – Ethnocentric run firms would staff foreign subsidiaries with parent-country nationals because they believe that home country attitudes, management styles, and knowledge are superior to the host country. Polycentric run firms would staff foreign subsidiaries with host-country nationals

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because they are the only ones that can really understand the culture and the behavior of the host country market. Geocentric run firms would staff foreign subsidiaries with the best people for key jobs regardless of nationality because they believe that the best manager for any specific position anywhere on the globe may be in any of the countries in which the firm operates.

D. Why Expatriate Assignments Fail – International assignments fail for various reasons including: personality, the person’s intentions, and non-work factors.

E. Selecting Expatriate Managers – is similar to selecting domestic managers, but you need to determine if managers for international assignments can cope internationally.

Training and Maintaining Expatriate Employees

A. Orienting and Training Employees for International Assignments – Some claim there is generally little or no systematic selection and training for assignments overseas. A four-step approach is recommended: 1) focus on the impact of cultural differences, and on raising trainees’ awareness of such differences and their impact on business outcomes; 2) get participants to understand how attitudes (positive and negative) are formed and how they influence behavior; 3) provide factual knowledge about the target country; and 4) provide skill building in areas like language, adjustment and adaptation skills.

B. Compensating Expatriates – presents some tricky problems due to the question of whether or not to maintain companywide pay scales and policies

a. The Balance Sheet Approach, the common approach to expatriate pay, refers to equalizing purchasing power across countries.

b. Incentives – Many firms offer overseas managers long-term incentives that are tied more closely to performance at the foreign subsidiary level.

C. Appraising Expatriate Managers – can be improved by: a. Stipulating the assignment’s level;

b. Weighing the evaluation more toward the on-site manager’s appraisal than toward the home-site manager’s distant perceptions of the employee’s performance.

c. Modifying the normal performance criteria used for that particular position to fit the overseas position. These differences can be in many different areas.

D. Terrorism, Safety, and Global HR a. Taking Protective Measures

b. Kidnapping and Ransom (K&R) Insurance – The insurance itself typically covers several costs associated with kidnappings, abductions, or extortion attempts. These costs might include, for instance, hiring a crisis team, the actual cost of the ransom payment to the kidnappers or extortionists, ensuring the ransom money in case it’s lost in transit, legal expenses, and employee death or dismemberment.

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c. Repatriation: Problems and Solutions – Some common repatriation problems are: they often fear that out of sight is out of mind; returning expatriates are assigned to mediocre or makeshift jobs; returnees are taken aback when the trappings of the overseas job are lost upon return; the expatriate’s former colleagues have been promoted while he/she was gone; and the expatriate’s family may go through culture shock. Some possible solutions are: written repatriation agreements; assign a sponsor; provide career counseling; keep communications open; and develop reorientation programs.

E. A Final Word: Auditing the HR Function requires using accounting and statistical techniques to calculate the cost of human resources. The HR Review should be aimed at tapping top managers’ opinions regarding the HR function’s effectiveness by assessing what should be, and what is. “What should be” refers to HR’s broad aim, which involves a broad philosophy and vision statement, and a focused mission statement. “What is” should address the following questions. What are the HR functions? How important are these functions? How well is each of the functions performed? What needs improvement? How effectively does the corporate HR function use resources? How can HR become most effective?

Reading : Core text P465-484: Managing Global Human Resources

EXERCISE:

1. What are some of the specific uniquely international activities an international HR manager typically engages in?

2. What inter-country differences affect HRM? Give several examples of how each may specifically affect HRM.

3. What special training do overseas candidates need? In what ways is such training similar to and different from traditional diversity training?

4. How does appraising an expatriate's performance differ from appraising that of a home-office manager? How would you avoid some of the unique problems of appraising the expatriate's performance?

Case: Core text: P454 Application Case: “Boss, I Think We Have a Problem”

1. Based on the chapter and case incident, compile a list of 10 international HR mistakes Mr. Fisher has made so far.

2. How would you have gone about hiring a European sales manager? Why? 3. What would you do now if you were Mr. Fisher?

Readings:

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EXERCISES & CASES ANSWERS

TOPIC 1:

1. Explain what HR management is and how it relates to the management process. There are five basic functions that all managers perform: planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. HR management involves the policies and practices needed to carry out the staffing (or people) function of management. HR management helps the management process avoid mistakes and to get results.

2. Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all managers. HR management concepts and techniques can help all managers to ensure that they get results--through others. These concepts and techniques also help you to avoid common personnel mistakes such as: hiring the wrong person; experiencing high turnover; finding your people not doing their best; wasting time with useless interviews; having your company taken to court because of discriminatory actions; having your company cited under federal occupational safety laws for unsafe practices; have some employees think their salaries are unfair and inequitable relative to others in the organization; allow a lack of training to undermine your department’s effectiveness, and commit any unfair labor practices.

3. Illustrate the HR responsibilities of line and staff managers. Line managers are someone's boss; they direct the work of subordinates in pursuit of accomplishing the organization's basic goals. Some examples of the HR responsibilities of line managers are: placing the right person on the job; starting new employees in the organization (orientation); training employees for jobs that are new to them; improving the job performance of each person; gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships; interpreting the company’s policies and procedures; controlling labor costs; developing the abilities of each person; creating and maintaining department morale; and protecting employees’ health and physical conditions. Staff managers assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. They do, however, need to work in partnership with each other to be successful. Some examples of the HR responsibilities of staff managers include assistance in hiring, training, evaluating, rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing of employees, and the administering of various benefits programs.

4. Why is it important for a company to make its human resources into a competitive advantage? How can HR contribute to doing so? Building and maintaining a competitive advantage is what allows a company to be successful, and to remain profitable and in business. HR can make a critical contribution to the competitive advantage of a company by building the organizational climate and structure that allows the company to tap its special skills or core competencies and rapidly respond to customers' needs and competitors' moves.

5. Which of the environmental, organizational, and individual challenges identified in this chapter will be most important for human resource management in the twenty-first century, in your opinion? Which will be least important? Use your own experiences in your answer. Answers will vary in response to this question but it is important to note that

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governmental regulation, the changing nature of the workforce (shorter term employment is commonplace) and the globalization of business are all key areas to discuss.

6. Explain the difference between affirmative action and equal employment opportunity? Equal employment opportunity aims to ensure that anyone, regardless of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, or age has an equal chance for a job based on his or her qualifications. Affirmative action requires the employer to make an extra effort to hire and promote those in protected groups and includes specific actions designed to eliminate the present effects of past discrimination.

7. Assume you are the manager in a small restaurant; you are responsible for hiring employees, supervising them, and recommending them for promotion. Working individually or in groups, compiles a list of potentially discriminatory management practices you should avoid.

Acceptable answers include the following:

Ensure that recruitment practices are non-discriminatory, avoiding word-of-mouth dissemination of information about job opportunities when the workforce is substantially white, or all members of some other class. Avoid giving false or misleading information to members of any group or to fail or refuse to advise them of work opportunities. Avoid advertising classifications that specify gender or age unless it is a bona fide occupational qualification for the job.

Avoid asking pre-employment questions about an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

Do not deny a job to a disabled individual if the person is qualified and able to perform the essential functions of the job. Make reasonable accommodations for candidates that are otherwise qualified but unable to perform an essential function unless doing so would result in a hardship.

Apply tests and performance standard uniformly to all employees and job candidates. Avoid tests if they disproportionately screen out minorities or women and are not job related.

Do not give preference to relatives of current employees if your current employees are substantially non-minority.

Do not establish requirements for physical characteristics unless you can show they are job related.

Do not make pre-employment inquiries about a person’s disability, but do ask questions about the person’s ability to perform specific essential job functions.

Review job application forms, interview procedures, and job descriptions for illegal questions and statements. Check for questions about health, disabilities, medical histories, or previous workers’ compensation claims.

Do not ask applicants whether they have ever been arrested or spent time in jail. However, you can ask about conviction records.

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8. Working individually or in groups, discuss how you would set up an affirmative action program. It is important that students reach a decision of whether to use the good faith effort strategy or the quota strategy. Most experts would suggest the good faith effort strategy is the most legally acceptable approach. The following list of six actions should be demonstrated in the student plans: increasing the minority or female applicant flow; demonstrating top management support for the equal opportunity policy; demonstrating the equal opportunity commitment to the local community; keeping employees informed about the specifics of the affirmative action program; broadening the work skills of incumbent employees; and institutionalizing the equal employment policy to encourage supervisors’ support of it.

Case: Core text: P22: Application Case: Jack Nelson's Problem

1. What do you think was causing some of the problems in the bank home office and branches? There is clearly a problem with communication, and the effects are felt in the area of employee commitment. Additional contributing factors include the lack of consistency in the policies and procedures of various locations. There is no cohesiveness to the staffing activities of this organization.

2. Do you think setting up a HR unit in the main office would help? Of course we think it would! Since there are HR-related problems both in the home office and in the branches, it is clear that if a personnel office were set up, it would need to help to coordinate the HR activities in the branches.

3. What specific functions should it carry out? What HR functions would then be carried out by supervisors and other line managers? What role should the Internet play in the new HR organization? There is room for quite a bit of variation in the answers to this question. Our suggested organization would include: HR Unit: job analyses, planning labour needs and recruiting, providing advising and training in the selection process, orientation of new employees, managing wage and salary administration, managing incentives and benefits, providing and managing the performance appraisal process, organization-wide communications, and providing training & developing services. Supervisors and Other Line Managers: interviewing and selection of job candidates, training new employees, appraising performance, departmental & personal communications, and training & development. Internet and HR: shift some activities to specialized online service portals and/or providers.

TOPIC 2:

1. What is the difference between a strategy, a vision, and a mission? Please give one example of each. A strategy identifies a course of action to get the company from where it is today to where it wants to be tomorrow. One example of a company’s strategy given in the text is Dell Computer’s strategy to be a “low cost leader” by using the Internet and phone to sell PCs directly to end users at prices competitors cannot match.

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A vision is a general statement of the company’s intended direction that evokes emotional feelings in employees. It is a “mental image” of a possible and desirable future state for the organization, and articulates a view of a realistic, credible, attractive future of the organization that is better than what now exists. For example, the vision for the California Energy Commission is “for Californians to have energy choices that are affordable, reliable, diverse, safe, and environmentally acceptable”.

The mission is a more specific and shorter term statement which lays out what is supposed to be now, communicating “who we are, what we do, and where we’re headed”. Following the vision for the California Energy Commission, their mission is to “assess and act through public/private partnerships to improve energy systems that promote a strong economy and a healthy environment”.

2. What is job analysis? How can you make use of the information it provides? Job analysis is the procedure through which you determine the duties and nature of the jobs and the kinds of people who should be hired for them. You can utilize the information it provides to write job descriptions and job specifications, which are utilized in recruitment and selection, compensation, performance appraisal, and training.

3. We discussed several methods for collecting job analysis data—questionnaires, the position analysis questionnaire, and so on. Compare and contrast these methods, explaining what each is useful for and listing the pros and cons of each. Interviews are probably the most widely used method of collecting information for job analysis. The interview allows the incumbent to report activities that might not otherwise come to light (mental activities and activities that occur only occasionally). Observation is useful for jobs that consist mainly of physical activity that is clearly observable. Questionnaires are a quick and efficient way of obtaining information from a large number of employees; however, development cost can be high. Participant diary logs can provide a comprehensive picture of a job, especially when supplemented with interviews, however, many employees do not respond well to the request to record all their daily activities. Quantitative job analysis techniques, such as PAQ, DOL, and Functional Job Analysis are more appropriate when the aim is to assign a quantitative value to each job so that jobs can be compared for pay purposes.

4. Explain how you would conduct a job analysis. There are six major steps in a well-conducted job analysis: 1) Determine how the job analysis information will be used and how to collect the necessary information; 2) Collect background information such as organization charts, process charts, and job descriptions; 3) Select representative positions to be analyzed; 4) Collect job analysis information; 5) Review the information with the participants; 6) Develop job descriptions and job specifications.

5. What are the pros and con of five sources of job candidates? The text lists several sources of job candidates, both internal and external. The student should clearly identify the differences as well as comparative strengths and weaknesses of each. There are at least the following sources to choose from: advertising, employment agencies, executive recruiters, state job services, college recruiting, referrals, employee database, internal, and talent searches.

6. What is the difference between reliability and validity? In what respects are they similar? Reliability is the consistency of scores obtained by the same persons when retested

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with identical tests or with an equivalent form of a test. It is a measure of internal consistency of the instrument. Validity is the degree to which a test measures what it is purported to measure. It is a measure of external consistency. They are similar in that both are concerned with aspects of consistency of the instrument, and that reliability is a necessary condition for validity.

7. Give some examples of how interest inventories could be used to improve employee selection. In doing so, suggest several examples of occupational interests that you believe might predict success in various occupations including college professor, accountant, and computer programmer. Interest inventories can improve employee selection by identifying individuals with similar interests to those reported by a substantial percentage of successful incumbents in an occupation. This should clearly increase the likelihood that the applicants will be successful in their new jobs. Interests that one might expect: accountant: math, reading, music; college professor: public speaking, teaching, counseling; computer programmer: math, music, computers.

8. Explain and illustrate the basic ways in which you can classify selection interviews. Interviews can be classified according to: (1) degree of structure. This is the extent to which interviews are, or are not, structure with previously designed questions so that each candidate must answer the same things. (2) Purpose. Interviews may be designed to accomplish several purposes, including selection, performance appraisal feedback, etc. (3) content. The content of the questions may be situational, job-related, or psychological. (4) the way the interview is administered. Interviews might be conducted by a panel of interviewers, sequentially or all at once, computerized, or personally. Students should also provide some illustrations of each.

9. Why do you think " situational interviews yield a higher mean validity than do job related or behavioral interviews, which in turn yield a higher mean validity than do psychological interviews?" The situational interview allows the candidate to answer situational questions based on past experiences in which he or she might have made mistakes, but learned from them. The job-related (or behavioral) interview focuses primarily on past situations, but does not allow for changes in the candidate due to the lessons that he or she might have learned from those experiences. The psychological interview tends to be more speculative regarding traits that are difficult to really measure.

Case 1: Core Text P124: Application Case: Finding People Who Are Passionate About What They Do:

1. Identify some of the established selection techniques that underlie Trilogy’s unconventional approach to attracting talent? Trilogy actively recruits potential employees early in the hiring cycle. Their techniques include reviewing resumes (over 15,000 in one year), attending job and career fairs, conducting on campus interviews (over 4,000), flying in prospects for interviews, and having more personalized procedures for handling top recruits.

2. What particular elements of Trilogy’s culture most likely appeal to the kind of employees it seeks? How does it convey those elements to job prospects? A number of company characteristics many appeal to programmers, including: no dress code, no regular

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work schedule, self-directed scheduling, workers with similar interests and technically challenging work.

3. Would Trilogy be an appealing employer for you? Why or why not? If not, what would it take for you to accept a job offer from Trilogy? Students may answer this either way. Students who require more structure may want to know about career paths, mentoring and measures of success. They may want the company to make some sort of symbolic comment to them.

4. What suggestions would you make to Trilogy for improving their recruiting processes? The student should refer to the section on outside sources of candidates and put themselves in the shoes of a prospect to make their suggestions

Case 2: Core text: P182: Application Case: The Out-of-Control Interview

1. How would you explain the nature of the panel interview Maria had to endure? Specifically, do you think it reflected a well-thought-out interviewing strategy on the part of the firm, or carelessness on the part of the firm's management? If it was carelessness, what would you do to improve the interview process at Apex Environmental? It is fairly clear that the panel interview was a stress interview designed to see how well she could handle difficult situations. In this respect, it seems to have been a well-thought-out interviewing strategy, but there was a very clear element of carelessness on the part of the firm's management. The panel was obviously not well-trained and was careless in the choice of questions that they used. Many of the questions were clearly discriminatory and could be used against them in a gender-based discrimination suit.

2. Would you take the job offer if you were Maria? If you're not sure, is there any additional information that would help you make your decision, and if so, what is it? Maria needs additional information. What she does know is the nature of the job and the clear fit with her training and skills. The additional information that she should seek involves the number of women who work at Apex, the levels of management which they have attained, and the satisfaction of those women with their treatment by the Apex management. The fact that the entire interview panel was composed of men and their choice of questions leaves us with reservations about how she would be treated once hired.

3. The job of applications engineer for which Maria was applying requires: (1) excellent technical skills with respect to mechanical engineering; (2) a commitment to working in the area of pollution control; (3) the ability to deal well and confidently with customers who have engineering problems; (4) a willingness to travel worldwide; and (5) a very intelligent and well-balanced personality. What questions would you ask when interviewing applicants for the job? There are a wide variety of specific questions that could be posed to address these issues. Questions need to be job-related, specifically to the requirements listed above. They also need to clearly avoid any discriminatory areas.

TOPIC 3:

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1. What are some typical on-the-job training techniques? What do you think are some of the main drawbacks of relying on informal on-the-job training for breaking new employees into their jobs? The most common is the understudy or coaching technique. Others include apprenticeship training and job rotation. There are several possible drawbacks to OJT: (1) not every employee will get the same basic information, in fact, some may not get basic, fundamental information; (2) the quality of the training is highly dependent on the training skills of the employee who supervises the OJT...and that person's skills and training are usually not in the area of training; (3) the new employee may get false information or detrimental enculturation depending on the employees that conduct their OJT.

2. Describe the pros and cons of five management development methods. Job rotation: broadens experience and helps the candidate find what he or she prefers. Coaching/Understudy: works directly with the person he or she will replace, helps assure trained managers are ready to assume key positions. Action Learning: allows special projects to be handled. Case Study Method: classroom oriented, gives real-life situations, allows analysis and reflection. Management Games: learn by getting involved, competition, emphasizes the need for planning, problem-solving skills, teamwork. Outside Seminars: CEUs, developed by experts, time away from pressures of work. University-Related Programs: certifications and degrees, theoretical knowledge, sharing with students from other industries. Role Playing: opportunity to work through probable situations, negative views of role-playing. Behavior Modeling: effective, learning and skill development, reinforces decisions immediately. In-House Development Centers: tailored to the needs of the company, expensive. Students should be able to come up with additional pros and cons for each method.

3. Do you think job rotation is a good method to use for developing management trainees? Why or why not? Most students will probably support job rotation for management trainees. It gives the trainee the opportunity to experience several areas and to develop cross-departmental skills and cooperation. It also gives the trainee the chance to experience different areas to see what he or she likes.

4. John Santos is an undergraduate business student majoring in accounting. He has just failed the first accounting course, and is understandably upset. Explain how you would use performance analysis to identify what, if any, are John's training needs. The first thing that needs to be determined is if this is a "can't do" or a "won't do" situation. It is possible that as a first-year student, John has spent more time socializing and not enough time studying. This would indicate a need for training on studying skills and prioritization. It is also possible that John really does not have the necessary basic skills that he needs in order to be successful in this course. This could be determined through some testing to see if he has the prerequisite knowledge and skills. If it is a problem, remedial training or courses would be appropriate. A third possibility is that John simply does not really have the interest or natural inclinations that would make him successful in the accounting area. This could be determined through some testing and career interest surveys. If this is the case, training is not appropriate, but rather John should be counseled to change majors.

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Case: Core text: P214: Application Case: Reinventing the Wheel at Apex Door Company

1. What do you think of Apex’s training process? Could it help to explain why employees “do things their way” and if so, how? There is a weak accountability system. The person assigned to perform training is likely to have very low motivation (a departing employee). With no formal descriptions the trainer will teach “their way” of accomplishing tasks. There is no training documentation. One receives training in “how to train.” There are no outcome measures to determine if the training was successful.

2. What role do job descriptions play in training? Job descriptions set the boundaries of jobs in terms of required knowledge and skills. By understanding the job description, a trainer can define the learning requirements for a new or transitioning employee.

3. Explain in detail what you would do to improve the training process at Apex. Make sure to provide specific suggestions, please. Every position would have a formal (written) description. Training procedures would be documented for each position. Supervisors would be formally accountable for training.

TOPIC 4:

1. What is the purpose of a performance appraisal? The purpose of a performance appraisal is to provide employees with feedback on how they are doing, as well as give them an opportunity to give feedback.

2. Discuss the pros and cons of at least four performance appraisal tools. The text lists eight different performance appraisal tools. Students might discuss the pros and cons of any four of these eight. An example of some of the pros and cons is: Graphic Rating Scale method is easy to use, simple, and does not take much time to administer. However, different supervisors may interpret a numerical rating differently and the traits rated may or may not relate to performance.

3. Explain how you would use the alternation ranking method, the paired comparison method, and the forced distribution method. The alternation method would be used by listing all employees to be rated, deciding who is the best in a trait to be rated, and which is the worst. Then decide who is the second best, and the second worst ... the third best and the third worst ... and so on until all the employees have been ranked for that trait. Then do the same with the next trait to be rated. With the paired comparison, for each trait to be rated, the supervisor would have a sheet with employee names in pairs ... every employee name is paired with every other name. For each pair, the supervisor would circle the one of the two that is better in that trait. Forced Distribution gives the supervisor a set rating scale (such as 1 through 5). The supervisor is limited to giving a pre-determined percentage of his or her employees' rating. For example: 15% can get a 1; 20% can get a 2; 30 % can get a 3 ... and so forth.

4. Discuss the pros and cons of using different potential raters to appraise a person's performance. The advantage of using several raters (either a rating committee, or a

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combination of peer, supervisor, and subordinate ratings) is that the ratings tend to be more valid than those of one individual rater. The negatives might include the time and cost involved as well as problems with the amount of daily contact that some raters may not have with the employee being rated.

5. Compare and contrast performance management and performance appraisal. Performance appraisal means evaluating an employee's current and/or past performance relative to his or her performance standards. Performance management is the process that consolidates goal setting, performance appraisal, and development into a single, common system, the aim of which is to ensure that the employee's performance is supporting the company's strategic aims. Performance management includes practices through which the manager defines the employee's capabilities, and evaluates and rewards the person's effort.

Case: Core text: P271: Application Case: Appraising the Secretaries at Sweetwater U

1. Do you think that the experts' recommendations will be sufficient to get most of the administrators to fill out the rating forms properly? Why? Why not? What additional actions (if any) do you think will be necessary? While controversial, the recommendations would, in fact, encourage administrators to fill the forms out correctly. Using the more detailed form and not tying the performance ratings to salary increases would allow the managers to feel more free about rating the secretaries accurately. There would, however, need to be some strong training sessions (both for administrators and secretaries) to help them understand the new system. Since all secretaries have traditionally received the same salary increases, and have been pleased with that, it would be advisable to consider lowering the maximum increase to an amount that could be given to all secretaries while staying within budget. Then all secretaries with a satisfactory rating or better would receive that increase.

2. Do you think that Vice President Winchester would be better off dropping graphic rating forms, substituting instead one of the other techniques we discussed in this chapter such as a ranking method? Why? Certainly other methods could be used. He has already had a taste of what would result if he went to a forced distribution or other ranking method. A BARS system might be best, but it could be costly to develop if the clerical staff has positions that are significantly different.

3. What performance appraisal system would you develop for the secretaries if you were Rob Winchester? Defend your answer. If the development costs are not too great, the BARS system would give the strongest solution to the current situation. The behavioral anchors would make it more difficult to just rate everyone at the top. It would also help to eliminate the different interpretations of what the rating scales mean.

TOPIC 5:

1. What is the relationship between compensable factors and job specifications? Compensable factors include skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions, problem solving, know-how, accountability, and the like. Many of these factors are obtainable from job specifications that are part of the job analysis.

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2. Compare and contrast the following methods of job evaluation: ranking, classification, factor comparison, point method? The ranking method is the simplest, easiest to explain, and the quickest to implement. The drawbacks to the ranking method are a tendency to rely too heavily on guesstimates and it does not provide a yardstick for measuring the relative values of jobs. The classification (or grading) method is simple, and widely used. Most employers usually end up classifying jobs anyway, so this method often makes sense. The disadvantages are that it is difficult to write the class or grade descriptions and considerable judgment is required to apply them. The factor comparison method is considered a refinement of the ranking system, thus it may be considered to be more accurate than others. The disadvantages are the considerable time and effort involved to implement the system and to evaluate jobs. The point method, like the factor comparison method, is a quantitative analysis that is considered accurate. This system is easy to implement, but developing a point manual can be an expensive.

3. What are the pros and cons of broadbanding, and would you recommend your current employer (or some other firm you're familiar with) use it? Why or why not? The advantages are that it injects greater flexibility into employee compensation and it is especially sensible where firms have flattened their organizations. It allows training and rotation of employees with fewer compensation problems. It also facilitates the boundaryless jobs and organizations being embraced by many firms. The negatives are that it may be more difficult to administer and keep track of individuals and to keep pay comparable.

4. Describe the nature of some important management incentives. Two widely used management incentive plans are merit pay and profit sharing plans. Merit pay is any salary increase that is awarded to an employee on his or her individual performance. Advocates argue that only pay tied directly to performance can motivate improved performance. Profit sharing plans distribute a portion of the company's profits to employees in the form of a bonus. Research shows that benefits are more subtle than increased productivity—benefits are possibly in the form of better worker commitment. There might also include long-term incentives.

5. When and why would you pay a salesperson a salary and commission combined? Salary plans work well when your objective is prospecting work or where the salesperson is primarily involved in account servicing. They are often found in industries that sell technical products. A commission plan is appropriate when sales costs are proportional to sales. This can reduce the selling investment for fixed costs. The straight commission also provides salespeople with the greatest possible incentive and there is a tendency to attract high-performing people. Combination plans are used when the firm wants to direct its salespeople's activities by detailing what services the salary component is being paid for while the commission component provides a built-in incentive.

6. What is a Scanlon plan? Based on what you've read in this book so far, what features of a commitment-building program does the Scanlon plan include? This is an incentive plan that was developed in 1937 by Joseph Scanlon. It includes features such as a philosophy of cooperation, identity, competence, involvement, and sharing of benefits. All these are features of a commitment-building program. The Scanlon plan is actually an early version of what today is known as a gain sharing plan.

Case: Core text: P361-362: Application: Inserting the Team Concept into Compensation – Or Not

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Sandy Caldwell, the new Human Resources Manager for Hathaway manufacturing, wanted to improve teamwork at every level of the organization. As part of the process of implementing cultural change, Sandy introduced a new pay for performance system. The reaction to the change was immediate and “100 % negative”.

1. Does the pay-for-performance plan seem like a good idea? Why or why not? Management wants to provide incentive for team performance. Their motives are fine. Properly crafted (and with employee involvement) a pay for performance system may add value at Hathaway.

2. What advice would you give Regina and Sandy as they consider their decision? Most scholars suggest that pay for performance works best (in the US), when it has both an individual and a team component. Further, Regina and Sandy need to consider ways of engaging the workforce in the design/decision process. This involvement will likely provide better ideas, identify potential problem areas with proposed systems before they are implemented and aid in the implementation process.

3. What mistakes did they make in adopting and communicating the new salary plan? How might Sandy have approached this major compensation change a little differently? Sandy failed to involve significant stakeholders in the process. Their input would likely have identified potential weaknesses in her system. Further, by not involving others, the change in pay came largely as a surprise. Employees take their pay seriously; surprises are not welcome. Sandy already had agreement on some issues like the mission and the vision. She could have used that agreement to begin a dialog on linking compensation more directly to effectively accomplishing the mission.

4. Assuming the new pay plan was eventually accepted, how would you address the fact that in the new performance evaluation system, employees’ input affects their peers’ pay levels? Typically, plans have two levels – a team component and an individual component. It is important for the team to realize that the company does best when the whole team succeeds, and that team success also requires individual performance.

TOPIC 6:

1. What is a labor union? Define the term labor relations. A labor union is an organization of employees that uses collective action to advance its members’ interests in regard to wages and working conditions. Industrial union members are all employees in a company or industry, regardless of occupation. Craft union members belong to one craft or to a closely related group of occupations. Labor relations is the continuous relationship between a defined group of employees (represented by a union or association) and management (one or more employers). The relationship includes the negotiation of a written contract concerning pay, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment as well as the interpretation and administration of this contract over its period of coverage. The key question is who will have power in the workplace-the employees or management.

2. Why do employees join unions? What are the advantages and disadvantages of being a union member? Workers join unions because they tend to believe that it is only through unity that they can get their fair share of the pie and also protect themselves from management’s whims. Some of the advantages of being a union member are that they tend

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to receive significantly more pay, holidays, sick leave, unpaid leave, insurance plan benefits, long-term disability benefits, and various other benefits than do nonunion members. One disadvantage of being a union member is that management may decide to terminate union jobs if management and the union can’t come to an agreement.

3. What is collective bargaining? What purpose does it serve in organizations? Collective bargaining is a process by which the representatives of the organization meet and attempt to work out a contract with the employees’ representative—the union. The average collective bargaining agreement is designed to last for two or three years. The purpose of the contract is to spell out the authority and responsibilities of both union and management. The major areas the contract covers are wages, hours, fringe benefits, and overtime.

4. The union structure in the United States consists of four levels. Identify and describe each.

1) The Federation of Unions. Most national and international labor unions belong to AFL-CIO. There are 33 vice presidents of this large union that meet three times a year to set policy. National headquarters provides services such as training, organizing help, strike funds, and data to be used in negotiating contracts. Specialists available for consultation include lawyers, public relations specialists, and research personnel.

2) The Intermediate Union Bodies. They interface with the AFL-CIO and include regional or district offices, trade conferences, conference boards, and joint councils. They usually service a specific geographic area with the purpose of helping to coordinate union membership, organize discussions of issues pertaining to the relationships between labor and management, and join together local unions with similar goals.

3) The National Union. National unions exercise control over the local unions, usually dealing with collecting dues admitting new members to the local, and using union funds. They also provide the local unions with support for organizing campaigns and administering contracts. There are approximately 100 national unions ranging in size from 1 million members (Teamsters) to just 18 members.

4) The Local Union. The grassroots of labor organizations in the U.S. is the local craft and industrial union. There are about 60,000 local unions, and they have direct influence over the membership. Through the local, members exercise their complaints and pay the dues that support the national union.

Case: Reading John M. Ivancevich, Human Resource Management 9th Ed.: P509:

The Union’s Demand for Recognition and Bargaining Rights1. Examine the various claims made by the union and counterclaims made by the

company regarding the charges of unfair labor practices. Which of the arguments are most persuasive?

Student answers will vary. However, the arguments of the union appear to best the most persuasive, especially those relating to the deprivation of benefits if the union was elected, repeatedly interrogating employees about their union activities, and threatening an employee for refusing to name the employees who attended a union meeting.

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2. Was the statement by Nord to Snow on the date of the representational election a threat or a legitimate prediction and personal opinion protected by the free speech provisions of the act?

In my opinion, it was a threat because he told Cecil Snow that if the union won, the company would take away the rent-free apartments. He did not say “might” or “My guess is that…” or any other similar remark that indicated that the statement was an opinion rather than a fact.

3. Was the company obligated to accept the union’s majority status claim on the basis of the authorization cards submitted by the union?

The company could have voluntarily accepted the union’s majority status claim. Because an election was held instead and the union lost, the company is not obligated to recognize the union claim. However, if the union can prove that the company engaged in serious unfair labor practices during the union organizing campaign, the NLRB can force the company to recognize the union, regardless of the voting results.

4. If the company is found to have violated the act, what would be the appropriate remedy; a bargaining order or a new election?

If the additional benefits had not been offered, the most appropriate remedy would be a bargaining order. But because the additional benefits, along with the firing of the previous manager, may have swayed the opinions of the employees, the most appropriate remedy would seem to be holding a new election.

TOPIC 7:

1. Discuss the basic facts about OSHA – its purpose, standards, inspection, and rights and responsibilities. The purpose of OSHA is "to assure so far as possible every working man and woman in the nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources." The basic purpose of OSHA is to set safety and health standards and to ensure compliance through inspections and reporting. The standards are contained in five volumes covering general industry standards, maritime standards, construction standards, other regulations and procedures, and a field operations manual. The standards are very complete and seem to cover just about any hazard one could think of. Standards are enforced through a series of inspections and, if necessary, citations. OSHA may not conduct warrantless inspections without an employer's consent. It may inspect after acquiring a search warrant. An authorized employee representative must be given the opportunity to accompany the officer during the inspection. Employees are protected under the act from discrimination for exercising their disclosure rights. Employers are responsible for being familiar with OSHA standards and for bringing conditions into compliance.

2. Analyze the legal issues concerning AIDS. Case law is only now developing, but several tentative conclusions are warranted: 1) you cannot single out any employee for AIDS testing; 2) You can require a physical exam that includes AIDS testing as a condition of employment, but you may not be able to refuse to hire someone whose test is positive; 3) Mandatory leave of someone with AIDS cannot be required unless their work performance has deteriorated.

3. Explain how you would reduce stress at work. Both environmental and personal factors can lead to job stress. If individuals are feeling dysfunctional levels of stress, the work

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schedule, pace of work, job security, and number or nature of clients, modifications in these factors should be made. Because personal factors influence stress, health and exercise programs can be promoted. Sometimes counseling should be offered, especially through an EAP, or a job more suitable to the individual should be found. Supervisors should monitor performance to identify symptoms of stress, and inform the employee of organizational remedies that may be available, such as job transfers or counseling.

4. Describe the steps employers can take to reduce workplace violence. Some of the steps employers can take to reduce workplace violence include: heighten security measures, improve employee screening, provide training on workplace violence, enhance attention given to employee retention and dismissal of violent employees, institute proactive measures for dealing with angry employees, and be aware of the legal constraints associated with workplace violence.

Case: Core text: P430 Application Case: The New Safety and Health Program

1. Based upon your knowledge of health and safety matters and your actual observations of operations that are similar to theirs, make a list of the potential hazardous conditions employees and others face at LearnInMotion.com. What should they do to reduce the potential severity of the top five hazards? Tripping, ergonomic, and electrical hazards top the list (with several specific items in each). There are many techniques and products available to help reduce all these hazards. Safety procedures are also needed (not working on any electrical item such as computers while they are plugged in).

2. Would it be advisable for them to set up a procedure for screening out stress-prone or accident-prone individuals? Why or why not? If so, how should they screen them? There are a number of issues here. One likely question from students is whether accident-prone behavior can change with training or incentives. In most cases, training and incentives can resolve the problem. Some students may argue that screening-out employees who are accident-prone raises ethical issues.

3. Write a short position paper on the subject, “What should we do to get all our employees to behave more safely at work?” The paper should include insights gained from this paper and/or work experiences they have. Look for reasonableness and the likelihood of adoption in real life.

4. Based on what you know and on what other dot-coms are doing, write a short position paper on the subject, “What can we do to reduce the potential problems of stress and burnout in our company?” The long hours and high pressure need to be reduced, or at least offset in some ways. Look for creative ways to accomplish this.

TOPIC 8:

1. What are some of the specific uniquely international activities an international HR manager typically engages in? 1) Formulating and implementing HR policies and activities in the home-office of a multinational company. This HRM manager would engage

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in selecting, training, and transferring parent-company personnel abroad and formulating HR policies for the firm as a whole and for its foreign operations. 2) Conducting HR activities in the foreign subsidiary of an MNC is another form. Again, local HR practices are often based on the parent firm's HR policies, fine-tuned for local country practices.

2. What inter-country differences affect HRM? Give several examples of how each may specifically affect HRM. 1) Cultural Factors - U.S. managers may be most concerned with getting the job done. Chinese managers may be most concerned with maintaining a harmonious environment. And Hispanic managers may be more concerned with establishing trusting, friendship relationships. 2) Economic Factors - U.S. economic systems tend to favor policies that value productivity while more socialistic countries like Sweden would favor policies that prevent unemployment. 3) Labor Cost Factors - Mexican labor costs (low) can allow inefficiencies of labor, while German labor costs (high) might require a focus on efficiency. 4) Industrial Relations Factors - German law requires that workers have a vote in setting policies while in Japan the employees do not have a say, but the government may have a say in establishing policies. 5) The European Community - The EC will gradually reduce the differences between member countries.

3. What special training do overseas candidates need? In what ways is such training similar to and different from traditional diversity training? It is suggested that a four-step training approach be taken: 1) training focused on the impact of cultural differences and their impact on business outcomes; 2) training focused on attitudes that are aims at getting participants to understand how attitudes (both positive and negative) are formed and how the influence behavior; 3) training focused on factual knowledge about the target country; and 4) skill building in areas like language and adjustment and adaptation skills. This training is different from traditional diversity training in the last two steps, which are not normally part of diversity training. In addition, traditional training and development is needed as with any other manager.

4. How does appraising an expatriate's performance differ from appraising that of a home-office manager? How would you avoid some of the unique problems of appraising the expatriate's performance? A major difficulty is: Who actually appraises the performance? (Cultural differences could affect it) There are five suggestions: 1) Stipulate the assignment's difficulty level; 2) Weight the evaluation towards the on-site manager's appraisal; 3) Have a former expatriate advise the home-site manager in his or her evaluation; 4) Modify the normal performance criteria to fit the position and characteristics of the locale; 5) Attempt to give credit for insights, not just measurable criteria.

Case: Core text: P454 Application Case: “Boss, I Think We Have a Problem”

1. Based on the chapter and case incident, compile a list of 10 international HR mistakes Mr. Fisher has made so far. Among his mistakes: Fisher has not properly identified candidates; cultural sensitivity, interpersonal skills and flexibility have not been included as required job skills; there is no system in place to assess candidates for proper skills; the company does not have realistic cost projects for cross-border operations; the company has not determined whether it would be cost effect to have an expatriate manager; there are no assignment letters documenting the scope of the job; there is no international compensation system in place; the company has not taken into account differences in foreign expenses; the company has not taken into account foreign taxes; there is no formal relocation assistance

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program in place; the company has not considered the importance of family support; there is no cultural orientation program in place for expatriate mangers or their family members; among others.

2. How would you have gone about hiring a European sales manager? Why? I would have investigated the market to determine the appropriate level of compensation and benefits. Expatriate compensation packages should consider tax equalization clauses or other measures for dealing with differing costs of living. The company should also have retained consul on European labor laws/ practices. The location of the office should be carefully selected for favorable labor and tax laws. Like Fisher, I would have wanted a large pool of potential applicants, but given Fisher’s inexperience, he may have benefited from the use of an outside agency (search firm). Finally, Fisher’s stereotypes of European managers may have clouded his judgment with his existing pool of applicants.

3. What would you do now if you were Mr. Fisher? Fisher needs to seek legal consul in

regard to his labor situation. He is likely in the wrong. In which case, he will need to reinstate the employees and apologize. He will in all likelihood need to start over and find an appropriate sales manager with knowledge of the local culture and business practices.

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STUDENT STUDY SKILLS GUIDE

HOW TO WRITE AN ACADEMIC ESSAY

Background: Academic Writing

• Academic writing is a special writing style

• This is what you will do in ALL non-English courses in University

• It is also what you will probably do in your professional life (i.e., after you leave this University)

Academic Writing: some rules

• Never use “I”, “me”, “my”

• Imagine that your essay is going to be put into an envelope, mailed to a random person somewhere in the world and read.

– WOULD IT MAKE SENSE?

– If you use “I”, “me”… or anything personal, the words will be wasted because they don’t know you

Academic Writing: more rules

• Academic writing must stand on its own INDEPENDENT of you.

• It doesn’t matter if you are smart, handsome, pretty, rich,… it won’t change what your writing says.

• THE WRITING MUST MAKE SENSE

• THE WRITING MUST BE RELATIVELY COMPLETE

Academic Writing: the Structure

• A possible “Structure” of an essay:

– Cover page

– Table of contents

– Executive Summary

– Introduction

– BODY & CONCLUSION

– References

• This is not the only structure: listen to your lecturer for more options & learn when different structures should be used

• INTRODUCTION:

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– Introduces the topic/problem you are going to talk about and your “terms of reference”

• BODY & CONCLUSIONS

– Each paragraph should make one point.

• When you write it, you should know what point you are trying to make: make statements of fact.

• Delete useless words & sentences.

• Make a natural continuation from the previous paragraph

• Whenever you make a statement of fact, you should provide a reference for your reader to check the fact.

Academic Writing: Body etc.

• Each paragraph should following naturally from the one before

– “naturally” means “logically”

– If you’re not sure your writing is logical, ask a student in another program to read it and see if they can make sense of what you said.

• IF THEYCAN’T UNDERSTAND IT → FIX IT.

Academic Writing: To Start, Make a PLAN

• Always plan your essay

• Write down Introduction Plan:

– What you want to write about

• “What is the problem”

• E.g., “Create a summary of Harvard System”

– How you will write about it

• E.g., “will reference 2-3 web pages”

• “will write 1-2 pages of A4 paper (roughly 500 words)”

• “will create a document which can be read by a high school student so that they will understand at a high level what the system is, where it is used, and why it is used”.

Academic Writing: Now Make a BETTER PLAN

• The above forms your introduction

• For the body & conclusions:

– Determine the total number of words

• 500-800 (e.g.)

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– Estimate the number of paragraphs

• 500-800 / (10 words per sentence * 5 sentences/paragraph) = 10-15 paragraphs

– So, you should figure that you need to make 10-15 separate points.

– THIS IS AN ESTIMATE ONLY FOR THE SAKE OF PLANNING. If your sentences or paragraphs are of different size then this estimate might change.

Academic Writing: Some Advice on Style

• THIS IS NOT ENGLISH LITERATURE!!!

• Use short and simple sentences

• Use simple words whenever possible

• NEVER use a word you don’t know: you will sound like an idiot (trust me)

• E.g., BAD: “The Harvard Reference system is a pragmatic and useful addendum to the tools of the student and academic researcher and a guard against plagiarism.”

• E.g., BETTER: “The Harvard Reference system is used by students and academics. It helps to prevent plagiarism.”

Academic Writing: More Advice on Style

• Use tables when you can

• Use bullet point lists when you can

• E.g., BAD:

– “The top 5 GDP provinces in China [REF] are Shanghai, Guandong, Shandong, Jiangsu, and Henan…”

• GOOD:

– “The top 5 GDP provinces in China [REF] are:

• Shanghai

• Guandong

• ….”

– The top 5 GDP provinces in China [REF] are:

Shanghai 5,372 [REF]

Guandong 9,448 [REF]

What is Plagiarism & Why is it BAD?

• Plagiarism is the act of using someone else’s words in your writing, and not telling anyone where you got them from.

• Why BAD?

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– Reason #1: if you plagiarise you may be required to leave the University with no degree. Bye bye!

• It is VERY easy to detect plagiarism

• Please don’t do it.

Plagiarism: the real reason it is BAD

• Why BAD? Reason #2:

– If you copy someone’s work then you are MISSING THE BENEFIT of your University Education.

• You must PRACTISE YOUR WRITING SKILLS

• You must PRACTISE MAKING A LOGICAL ARGUMENT

• GUIDELINE: write ALL the words YOURSELF

– Exception: up to 5% of the words can be quotations

– BUT, you should seriously consider NEVER using a quotation in your work unless absolutely necessary --- and it is very rarely necessary

How to Do It

• Write the Introduction Plan (see above)

• Find references:

– On the internet, in the library

– Can also look in your textbooks for examples of the use of referencing

• Make references of the sources you use (use the Harvard System for all of these)

• Make NOTES from the references

– Each point: a few words to express an idea

– NOT complete sentences

– Can write these in Chinese if you wish.

• Make a PLAN for the BODY of your essay

• Based on the PLAN, WRITE IT, based only on your NOTES

• Easy! Finished! You PASS! Good Job!

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HARVARD REFERENCING SYSTEM GUIDE

Motivation For This Document

In academic work, you are expected to follow certain rules of conduct in your study. Specifically, whenever you create an assignment, essay, presentation, group project, or other work which will be submitted for discussion or for evaluation, then your work needs to be of academic standard. Not doing so may cause your grade to be reduced significantly, perhaps even to the point of failure.

“Academic standard” is quite a vague term and can be different things to different people. However, for business students you can imagine that your work should try to emulate the work of other people in the field of business. In particular, this includes work which you see in professional journals, the work of your professors and the writers of your textbooks.

Of course, you are not expected to be able to produce leading edge content in your work, but the format of your work should follow the same academic standard as professional writers in your field at least in terms of structure, referencing, and layout.

This document only discusses the elements of referencing which are required for “Academic standard” work. Other elements of your work such as its structure and layout are also important, but these are not discussed here.

Referencing can be done in many ways. For your programme, the standard method of referencing is the “Harvard System of References”. This system is very common world-wide, and is nearly universally understood. However in your professional career or in other academic programmes, you may be required to use other systems of referencing. You alone are responsible for being aware of the local standards required in any work which you are required to produce.

In most reference systems, the idea is to leave the main text of your work uncluttered, but to still provide clear hints to the reader about where they can look for further information. Thus, the Harvard System (and other referencing systems too) is actually implemented in two parts: a citation, and a bibliographic entry.

A citation is just a shorthand marker that you insert into the body of your work to allow the reader to find a resource such as a book or an article or a television programme or whatever. The format for this is specified by the system of referencing you are using. In the case of the Harvard System, a citation might look like “Smith (2002)”.

A bibliographic entry provides a complete description of the actual resource in a standard form. It contains just enough information for readers to find the resource for themselves. Again, the Harvard System of referencing has its own unique way of expressing this information.

What This Document Is

This work is taken largely from an online guide to the Harvard System at the University of the West of England website (UWE, 2005).

This is a guide to the Harvard System of References and is based on British Standards 1629:1989 and 5605:1990. As these standards do not yet include references to electronic resources we include our own recommendations for these below. These recommendations follow current common practice.

This document provides a series of guidelines for citations (also known as attributions) and their

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accompanying bibliographic entries. These guidelines however are not completely rigid: you have some flexibility in how you do both citations and bibliographic entries. But it is important that you decide, within the flexibility allowed by the guidelines, your specific way of making them. Whatever that way is, you should be absolutely consistent within your work (i.e., within your assignment/report/presentation). Inconsistency is sloppy and viewed as unprofessional. Of course, if your professor or supervisor imposes other constraints on you, then you should follow those as well.

General Comments About Electronic Resources

The general recommendation for electronic resources is that you need to include all the usual information for print resources. In addition, you need to indicate that the resource is online, where it was found online, and when it was found online. Details of this are provided below.

Furthermore, for any electronic resource which has a printed counterpart (e.g., an electronic book, or electronic newspaper, etc.), you should present the information in a similar way in both cases. For example, if your bibliographic entries to printed books includes the title of the book quoted and in italics (“like this”) then your bibliographic entry to electronic books should also present the title in the same way.

Citation in the text of your work.

Introduction

A citation is simply a reference to a resource. The resource could be a page in a book, a magazine article, a television programme, or even a telephone call. In the Harvard System, a citation is simply the author's name, plus the date of publication (though in the case of an authour who publishes more than one resource in a given year, you need to add an optional letter “a”, “b”, etc., to distinguish between these resources). This simple method lets you look up the bibliographic entry easily, and also lets you see directly who is being quoted or referenced. The full details of the resource (the title of the book and the publisher, for example) are provided in the bibliography section.

Here is an example of a citation:

...the work of Jones (1991a) shows that lipids are...

When you write a report or give a presentation you include citations for a number of reasons:

• As a shorthand method of allowing your readers to understand any background material which may be important in understanding your work.

• As a way of giving credit to other people for their ideas, techniques, opinions, or theories

• As a way of proving that statements you make have a foundation in reality (e.g., that your quotations were really made by some other persons, that the theories or results that you mention are really published somewhere, that the data you quote is real, etc.)

• As a way of giving specific references to other data, ideas, techniques, opinions and theories which you are using in your work, so that other people can evaluate your work and/or compare it to the work of others.

When do you create citations in your work? Here are some situations where you should create

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citations:

Whenever you mention a theory or a definition of a concept, you should provide a reference to the reader so that they can look up exactly what you mean. Ideally the reference you choose would be one which provides further information on your theory/concept, but perhaps also a general discussion of the area with other competing theories or alternative definitions.

Whenever you quote data that you did not gather yourself through primary research, then you need to say where you got it from, and you do this by citing the source of the data which you mention.

Whenever you mention an opinion or quotation of somebody else, you should provide a reference to the reader so they can look it up.

Where do you create citations in your work? The citations you provide in your work are put into the text just after the place where the theory/concept/data/quotation/opinion (or whatever it is that needs explanation)

It is important to note that every citation in your work should be linked to a corresponding bibliographic entry at the end of your work. In general, if you wish to cite a particular book at several places in your work (e.g, you reference a theory on p.17 of the book, a quotation from p.39 of the book, and some data from p.82 of the book), then you should:

make individual citations at each place in your work, and noting the page number in the book. e.g.,

...according to the theory of Smith (Smith, 1996, p.17)...

...and Smith (1996, p.39) stated: “economics is a pure science”, by which...

...but other data indicates that only 0.9% (Smith, 1996, p.82) of...

Make a single bibliographic entry describing the book. e.g.,

Smith, J. 1996. “Economics”. Toronto. University of Toronto Press.

In general, don't duplicate your references.

Primary Resources

Almost all of the time you will reference primary resources. “Primary resources” are simply resources which you have actually seen/heard/read. In the text of your work you make a reference to a primary resource simply by using the author's surname and year of publication. There are a number of equivalent ways to do this, depending on the style you wish to employ.

If the author's name occurs naturally in a sentence, then just give the year in brackets:

...as defined by Mintzberg (1983)

If not, then both name and year are shown in brackets:

In a recent study (Handy, 1987) management is described as..

If the same author has published more than one cited document in the same year these are distinguished by lower case letters attached to the year of publication:

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Drucker (1989a)

If there are two authors both names should be given before the date:

Gremlin and Jenking (1981)...

If there are three or more authors only the surname of the first author should be given, followed by 'et al.' (which is the short form of a phrase meaning, “and others”):

Kotler et al. (1987)

If the author is unknown, use ‘Anon.’ to indicate “anonymous author”:

Anon. (1967)

Secondary Resources

In some cases you may wish to quote some resource that has been referred to in something you have read. This generally happens when the original resource is not available to you. Such resources are called “secondary resources”. Secondary resources should be avoided if at all possible.

The general principle to follow in this case is that you must create a bibliographic entry to describe the primary resource (i.e., to the book which you have read). This bibliographic entry is done in the normal way. However, the citation in the body of your work will be a little different: you must cite both the secondary resource and the primary resource you have read.

Here are some examples which will make this clearer:

Examples:

Rowley (1991) cites the work of Melack and Thompson (1971) who developed the McGill Archaeology questionnaire.

Melack and Thompson (1971, cited by Rowley 1991) developed the McGill Archaeology questionnaire.

Rowley (1991, citing Melack and Thompson 1971) refers to the McGill Archaeology questionnaire.

In each of these cases, in your list of references the work by Rowley would be the only one included.

Bibliographic References at the End of Your WorkEvery citation in your work will link to exactly one bibliographic entry. However, one bibliographic entry might be linked to many citations.

Where do you put your bibliographic entries? Normally, they are all placed in one section of your work, usually titled something like “Bibliography” or “References”. The Bibliography section follows the main body of your work. If you are writing a large document, an alternative

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is to place the bibliographic entries at the end of each chapter of your work.

Format of the Bibliography Section

The format of the bibliography section is quite simple. It begins with something which announces that this is the bibliography section. For example, a title at the top of the first page, “Bibliography” which is in larger type and centred on the page. Or, a separate page with the title “References” in large type and centred on the page. In either case, following this section heading are the bibliographic entries.

In the Harvard System, the bibliographic entries are listed in sorted order. The sorting is done based on the following elements, in order of importance:

the first author's surname.

The date of publication.

An optional letter (a,b,c,d,...) distinguishing different publications by the same surname (but not necessarily the same person) in the same year.

You will note that these elements are the same ones which make up the citation which you will use in the body of your work. This makes a clear link between any citation in the body of your work, and the bibliographic entries. Some examples will make this clear:

Anderson, B. 2005. “...”

Jones, Q. 1996. “...”

Jones, Q., 1999. “...”

Jones, Q., 1999a. “...”

Jones, Q., 1999b. “...”

Jones, H., 2004a. “...”

Jones, Q., 2004b. “...”

Smith, A. 1762. “...”

Between each bibliographic entry you should normally insert a little space to allow the reader to see where one entry ends and another one begins. For example, a blank line or blank half line between entries would make your bibliography easier to read. All modern word processing software can do this for you.

When you are doing research, you should collect references to each kind of material in a consistent way. If there is a resource to which you wish to make a reference, but is of a kind which is not mentioned here, then you should consult a more detailed source. There are many such sources available on the internet.

Individual Bibliographic Entries

The most important principle in making references is that the reader should be able to locate the resource solely from the bibliographic information that you have provided.

The rest of this section describes what information needs to be provided when creating bibliographic references for different kinds of resources.

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Note that electronic versions of resources (e.g., electronic books or articles) which can be also found in other media (e.g., printed) are referenced through bibliographic entries which are identical to their non-electronic counterparts, but with a somewhat standard additional part. Thus, an online book would be referenced as for a printed book, but would have in addition to the information needed for a printed book the following:

After Title:“[online]”

After Remainder of Bibliographic Entry: “Available from:” URLAccessed date.

Reference to a book or a report.

You need to provide the following information, in order:

List of Author(s)for each author: Author's surname, followed by Author's initials.

Year of publication.Title. (in italics and/or quoted and/or underlined).Edition. (if not the first).Publisher.Place of publication.

Plus for electronic resources the following phrases and data:

After Title:“[online]”

After Place of Publication: “Available from:” URLAccessed date.

Example:

HEMINGWAY, E., 2003. Better reading French: a reader and guide to improving your understanding of written French. : McGraw-Hill.

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 2002. National service framework for diabetes: delivery strategy. : Department of Health.

Online Examples:

HEMINGWAY, E., 2003. Better reading French: a reader and guide to improving your understanding of written French [online]. : McGraw-Hill. Available from: http://www.netlibrary.com [Accessed 25 August 2004].

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH. 2002. National service framework for diabetes: delivery strategy [online]. : Department of Health. Available from: http://www.dh.gov.uk/assetRoot/04/03/28/23/04032823.pdf [Accessed 5 May 2004].

For books without individual authors use ANON.

Example:

ANON. 1991. Turbo assembler: users' guide version 2.0. , CA: Borland.

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Reference to a contribution in a book.

The reader needs to know:


Year of publication.Title of Contribution. “eds.” List of Editor(s)

for each editor: Editor's surname, followed by Editor's initials“in” Title of Book (in italics and/or quoted and/or underlined).Edition. (if not the first).Publisher.Place of publication.Page numbers of contribution.

Plus for electronic resources:

After Title:

“[online]”

After Page Numbers: “Available from:” URLAccessed date.

Example:

SMITH, C.,1980. Problems of information studies in history. In: S. STONE, ed. Humanities information research. : CRUS, 1980, pp 27-30.

WESTMORLAND, L., 2000. Taking the flak: operational policing, fear and violence. In: G. LEE-TREWEEK, ed. Danger in the field: risk and ethics in social research [online]. : Routledge, pp 26-42. Available from: http://www.netlibrary.com/ [Accessed 25 May 2004].

NOTE: When referring to specific pages in a book 'pp' is used. Use 'p' if referring to a single page.

Reference to a journal article.

Some journal articles are published in print only, some in print and online (of which some are exact copies and some will appear in a different format), and some online only. In all cases, the version you cite should be the version that you have seen.



Year of publication.Title of Article. Title of Journal.(in italics and/or quoted and/or underlined).Volume Number

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Part Number. (in brackets).Page numbers. (optional)


After Title:

“[online]”


Example:

NICOLLE, L.,1990. Data protection: laying down the law. Management Computing, 13(12), pp 48-49, 52.

CHRISTENSEN, P., 2004. The health-promoting family: a conceptual framework for future research. “Social Science and Medicine” [online], 59(2), pp 223-243. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/02779536 [Accessed 5 May 2004].

SANDLER, M.P., 2003. The art of publishing methods. “Journal of Nuclear Medicine” [online], 44, pp 661-662. Available from: http://jnm.snmjournals.org/content/vol44/issue5/index.shtml [Accessed 5 May 2004].

C.M., KROESEN, K., et al., 2004. Complementary and alternative medicine: a concept map. “BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine” [online] 4:2 (13 February 2004). Available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1472-6882-4-2.pdf [Accessed 5 May 2004].

Reference to a newspaper article.



Year of publication.Title of Article. Title of Newspaper.(in italics and/or quoted and/or underlined).Date Published.Page numbers. (optional)


After Title:

“[online]”


Example:

BOOTH, J., 2004. Blair plans annual UK-China summit. Guardian [online] 11 May, p 6. Available from:

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http://digital.guardian.co.uk/guardian/2004/05/11/pdfs/gdn_040511_brd_6_2263446.pdf [Accessed 25 May 2004].

HASSELL, N., 2004. Gilts investors take profits. Times [online] 10 August. Available from: http://web.lexis-nexis.com/xchange-international [Accessed 8 August 2004].

Reference to a conference paper.



Year of contribution“in” (in italics)List of Editor(s) of the Conference Proceedings

for each editor: Editor's surname, followed by Editor's initials.Title of Conference Proceedings.(in italics and/or quoted and/or underlined).Date of Conference.Place of Conference.Publisher (if known)Page numbers.


After Title:

“[online]”


Example:

SILVER, K.,1989. Electronic mail the new way to communicate. In: D.I. RAITT, ed. 9th International Information Meeting, 3-5 December 1988. : Learned Information, pp 323-330.

Reference to an Act of Government.

Reader needs to know:

Name of Issuing BodyYear of PublicationName of Act (in italics and/or underline and/or quoted)Other Identifier Numbers/Codes/Chapter NumbersPlace of PublicationPublisher.

Example:

Parliament. 2002. Football (disorder) (Amendment) Act 2002. Chapter 12. : The Stationery Office.

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Reference to a Command paper.

Reader needs to know:

Name of Committee/Department/Working Group/CommissionYear of PublicationTitle (in italics and/or underlined and/or in quotes)Place of PublicationPublisher.Other Identifying Codes, if any, in brackets.

Example:

Department of Trade and Industry. 2001. Productivity and enterprise: a world class competition regime. : The Stationery Office. (Cm 5233).

Reference to a thesis.

Use similar method to a book.

Example:

LEVINE, D.,1993. A parallel genetic algorithm for the set partitioning problem. Ph.D. thesis, Illinois Institute of Technology.

Reference to a film, video and television broadcast.

The reference for films and videos should include: title, year, material designation, subsidiary originator (director is preferred), production details - place: organisation.

Example:

Chicken Run. 2000. Animated film. Directed by Peter Lord and Nick Park. : Aardman.

Blade Runner: from a story by Philip K. Dick. 1982. Film. Directed by Ridley Scott. : Warner Brothers.

The reference for television programmes and series should include: number and title of episode, as well as the series title, transmitting organisation and channel, and full date and time of transmission.

Example:

Yes, Prime Minister: Episode 1, The Ministerial Broadcast. 1986. TV, BBC2, January 1986. 20.30 hrs.

News at Ten. 1996. TV, ITV. January 27, 1996. 22.00 hrs.

The reference for contributors or individual items within a programme should include the contributor as author.

Example:

BLAIR, T., 1997. Interview. Six O'Clock News. TV, BBC1. February 29, 1997. 1823 hrs.

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Reference to an illustration or work of art.

This should include: Creator Name, year of creation, title, material type and location.

Example:

GOSSE, S.,1912. The garden, Rowlandson House. Etching and aquatint, At: : , Department of Prints and Drawings. Register number 1915-27-41.

Reference to published music.

This should include: Originator, title, subsidiary originator, publisher and year.

Example:

BRITTAIN, B.,1980. Eight folk songs arrangements for high voice and harp. Osain Ellis, ed. : Faber Music.

Reference to patents.

References have to show: Inventor/s, year (in brackets), assignee, title, patent number.

Example:

GRAHAM, C.P., FONTI, L. and , A.M. 1972. American Sugar Co. Tableting sugar compositions containing it. Pat. 3,642,535.

Reference to an e-mail discussion list.

These discussion lists generate e-mail messages which are sent directly to the subscriber. References to these should be treated in a similar way to electronic journal references, but the day and month should be included in the date.

Example:

BRITTAIN, B.V., 5 March 2003. Electronic journals in academic institutions. Lis-e-Journals [online]. Available from: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/lis-e-journals.html [Accessed 20 October 2003].

Reference to personal communication, including e-mail.

If there is a need to cite unpublished information gained from a private letter, conversation or interview. Seek permission before using as a reference.

Example:

ROSS, D.E.,1991. Personal communication.

OTHER, A., ([email protected]), 15 June 2004. Procite bibliographic software. E-mail to J. Bloggs ([email protected])

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Reference to a website.

Example – citation in the text:

"The University of the West of England is located in the lively West Country town of Bristol. Further information about the University can be obtained from its website (University of the West of England 2004a). The library has a large print collection as well as a wide range of electronic databases which can be accessed via the library web pages (University of the West of England 2004b)"

Example – bibliographic entries in the reference list:

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, 2004a. University of the West of England [online]. Available from: http://www.uwe.uk [Accessed 5 May 2004].

UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND, 2004b. Library services electronic resources [online]. Available from: http://www.uwe.ac.uk/library/resources/general/databases [Accessed 5 May 2004].

Reference to a CD-ROM.

Example:

RESEARCH, 2000. A breath of fresh air: an interactive guide to managing breathlessness in patients with lung cancer [CD Rom]. Sutton: Research.

Reference to a foreign language publication.

You may choose to reference the original title of a foreign language publication in the usual way. However, you may want to translate the title of the book or article or include the original foreign language title for a translation. If so, use square brackets for the added title.

Any elements not in the Roman alphabet should be transliterated or romanised if necessary:

Example:

GORKI, M., 1955. The artamonous [Delo artamonovykh]. Translated from the Russian by Alex Brown. : Folio Society.

MOMMENS, V., Louis, R., D'Orio, V., 2004. Prise en charge des exacerbations d'asthame [French] [Treatment of exacerbated asthma]. Revue Medicale de Liege, 59(4), pp 209-14.

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PLAGIARISM

It is unfair to honest students that other students cheat or plagiarise. University takes a serious view of plagiarism and cheating in any form of assessment, and will take appropriate steps to detect plagiarism including using electronic plagiarism detectors.

Plagiarism consists of a person using the words or ideas of another as if they were his or her own. That is, using, or attempting to use, another person’s work without acknowledgement. The phrase “using another person’s work” includes, but is not limited to:

o paraphrasing the work of another person;o directly copying any part of another person’s work;o summarising the work of another person;o using or developing an idea or theme derived from another person’s work;o using experimental results obtained from another person’s work; ando in the collaborative projects, falsely representing the individual contributions of

the collaborating students where individual contributions are to be identified.

Other forms of cheating will also be treated with the utmost seriousness.The university reserves the right to electronically scan student assignments for the purposes of verifying originality.

Penalties for plagiarism include: a caution or reprimand; awarding of zero marks in the assignment, essay, project, test, examination or other work in respect of which academic misconduct has occurred; a fail in the subject; a fine; suspended enrolment; or exclusion from the University.

To assist students to understand how to reference and avoid unintentional plagiarism the Library has provided a guide to referencing assignments, essays, theses and dissertations.

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internal subject outline pu王璞，human resource management – consultation and practice,...

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