INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL
APPLICATIONS IN HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT 7E
1PART 1
Human Resources Management in Perspec!ve:
Environment and Legal Issues
The HRM Funcon/Environment
1. CASE: THE NEW DIRECTOR OF HUMAN RESOURCES
I. OVERVIEW:
This case describes the creation of a human resource department in a young, rapidly growing
company. The human resource director, Joyce Newcombe, faces a number of issues in developing and
implementing human resource policies for the company’s .ve plants. The major issues include: the role
of human resource management in organizations, interface between human resource and line managers,
integration of human resource policies with business goals and strategies, organization structure, and
termination procedures. This case serves as an excellent pre-measure of the level of knowledge that the
student brings to the course or as a post-test of the student’s knowledge at the completion of the
course.
II. OBJECTIVES:
1. To introduce students to the various roles of human resource management in
organizations.
2. To illustrate potential areas of conflict between human resource and line managers.
3. To demonstrate the linkage between human resource policies and programs and
organizational goals and strategies.
III. DISCUSSION:
This case works well as a way of introducing students to the role of human resource
management in organizations. The major issue facing Newcombe is how to assure consistency in the
implementation of the company’s human resource philosophy and policies throughout its plants. The
problem will become compounded in the future as Mount Ridge expands geographically. To effectively
analyze the case, the students should view both the short-term and long-term dimensions of the
problem. In the short-term Newcombe must determine how to respond to the call from Johnson. The
Johnson incident underscores the problem of getting line managers to embrace and implement top
management’s “human resource goals.” It is clear from the president’s statements that the company
views employees as valuable assets critical to company goal a;ainment. Braxton’s actions and handling
of Johnson’s request for pay increases and promotions indicates that perhaps the company’s philosophy
has not been effectively communicated to plant management. While it appears that Johnson is quite
quali.ed and can perform the equipment operator’s job, Braxton’s behavior ultimately results in the
company losing a good worker. Also it is not clear that Braxton made any effort to talk with either
corporate personnel or the manager of plant operations about Johnson’s requests. Since the company
was growing so rapidly, students argue that there may have been opportunities for Johnson at one of the
new plants under construction.
Braxton may have indicated an incorrect reason on the termination report because he did not
want to be blamed for the employee’s resignation.
Newcombe has several alternatives to consider in handling the short-term issue. Some of the
possible alternatives include: disciplining Braxton for “falsifying personnel records” if she can
substantiate Johnson’s allegations; offering Johnson a job as an equipment operator in one of the new
plants under construction; or ask the manager of plant operations to meet with Braxton to reiterate how
the company wants to manage its employees. For the long-term issues, the company must develop ways
to assure that its human resource policies and programs are implemented effectively throughout its
entire operations. In addition to involving line managers in training meetings and stressing the
importance of fair and consistent implementation of the company’s policies, there is also a need to
restructure the company to be;er facilitate the relationship between the plant managers and human
resources. The company should consider the addition of a human resource generalist at corporate
headquarters to handle human resource needs at the current plant operations. This individual would
have to work closely with both the vice president of corporate human resources and the manager of
plant operations to assure that he/she has the requisite authority to be effective. The company’s
alternatives for restructuring are somewhat constrained by the small size of each plant. It may not be
cost effective to have a human resource manager at each plant (each plant has 45 employees). Students
should also discuss the implications of future growth plans on the structure of human resource
operations at Mount Ridge.
IV. ANSWERS TO CASE QUESTIONS:
1. Discuss the relationship between the corporate human resources structure and
operations at the plant level. What impact, if any, did it have on the present
situation?
As presently designed the organization structure of Mount Ridge may have contributed to the
evident lack of communication between corporate human resources and plant management. The plant
managers report directly to the manager of plant operations and even though Newcombe is at the vice
president level, her position is not in the “direct chain of command”. As currently structured it may be
viewed more as a “sta8” function reporting to the executive vice president. In order for the design to
work, there would have to be strong communication 6ow between Newcombe and the manager of plant
operations. Additionally, at the time of the incident, a great deal of Newcombe’s time may have been
2. How should Joyce Newcombe have handled this situation?
Newcombe should have to assure Johnson that she would have his personnel records corrected
and that she would meet with Braxton to review his case. If Johnson had a good record, she could have
3. What, if any, disciplinary action should have been taken against the plant’s
superintendent at the time of the incident?
Disciplinary action may have been “counterproductive.” However, Newcombe should have
investigated the allegations made by Johnson. If these allegations were true, then an oral warning might
have been appropriate. In any case, Newcombe should have met with the manager of plant operations
4. If Johnson’s allegations were true, what are the legal rami.cations of Braxton’s
behavior?
The falsi.cation of an employee’s reasons for leaving a job may violate requirements under
federal and state unemployment insurance regulations. Individuals may be disquali.ed from receiving
unemployment insurance bene.ts if he/she leF the last job voluntarily without good cause a;ributable
5. Describe Mount Ridge’s business strategy. What is the relationship between its
business strategy and its human resource practices?
Mount Ridge pursues a cost leadership strategy, meaning it aims to offer the lowest prices on its
product as compared to its competitors. Because it is not charging premium prices to earn high pro.ts, it
6. What strategic human resource issues will Newcombe likely face as the company
expands to the Northeast? How might this expansion affect the structure of the
organization and its human resource department?
Newcombe will face several issues as the company expands. Present human resource policies
and procedures will have to be evaluated to assess their appropriateness for a new region of the country.
For example, different state laws and regulations may affect areas like salary administration and bene.ts
differently. Additionally, the external environment of the northeast may be quite different from that of
2. CASE: THE HUMAN RESOURCE FUNCTION OF HARRISON BROTHERS CORPORATION
I. OVERVIEW:
This case consists of a description of the human resource function of a large department store.
It centers on an interview with the human resource manager at its largest store, Westpark. The manager
describes how the major human resource management functions are designed and implemented in the
store. The case allows students to focus on the interface between business strategies and human
resource strategy. The case is particularly useful in talking about the inherent problems of employee
recruitment and retention in the retail industry. The case also allows students to discuss the changing
role of human resources in organizations. This case provides an excellent format for discussing the
changing role of human resources management in organizations. The case can be used as part of a .nal
examination to test students’ comprehensive knowledge of human resources management.
II. OBJECTIVES:
1. The major objective of this case is to introduce students to the roles and functions of
human resource departments.
III. DISCUSSION:
The major issue in the case revolves around McCain’s view of her role and its appropriateness
given Harrison’s strategic goals. You should point out to students that McCain is only indicative of a
general problem within the company. The company is de.nitely targeting the middle-class, fashion
conscious customer and need sales sta8 to effectively service the type of customer it wants to attract. To
carry out its strategy, Harrison will need selling professionals who can offer personalized customer
service. McCain and other human resource managers are presently operating in a reactive mode
spending most of their time on maintaining day-to-day human resource operations. For example,
McCain has li;le time for innovation or for developing policies to move the human resource operation
forward. She seems to be unaware of the interdependent relationships among the various human
resource functions. Her answer to the recruitment problem seems to be to do more recruiting. She
needs to examine how practices in salary, training, and performance evaluation may contribute to
turnover. While we have no detailed job descriptions for the two human resource assistants, the ratio of
human resource sta8 to number of employees seems to be adequate. What is needed is be;er
delegation on the part of McCain to the sta8 in her department. From her comments in the case, she
seems to be relying on a high-task oriented style. For example, she states, “…I like to observe their
(employees) work habits regularly.” She needs to delegate some of her duties (especially those relating
to recruiting and staKng) to the human resource assistants. McCain is presently spending a good deal of
her workweek on interviewing job applicants. The results of the survey presented in Exhibit 1.5 indicate
signi.cant difference in the perceptions of human resource managers compared to store managers
about the role and responsibilities of human resources in the organization. HR managers are not aware
of her role in meeting the needs of the business and managing change. It suggests they still hold a very
traditional view of the role of human resource professionals in organizations. In addition, to prescribing
changes in the overall role of human resources in the company, students should suggest speci.c changes
needed in each of the major functional areas discussed in the case (see question number 5 below). See
student answer to this case on page vii of this manual.
IV. ANSWERS TO CASE QUESTIONS:
1. How does McCain view her role as human resource manager?
Based on her comments she seems to view her role as basically one of providing service to line
managers. She spends a great deal of her time on recruiting and staKng and is too involved in
administering discipline. Today with the growing awareness of the strategic importance of human
resources to organizational outcomes, more and more human resource professionals realize the
2. What is Harrison’s business strategy?
Harrison seems to have a two-pronged business strategy. Emphasis appears to be on a quality
3. What is the structure and staKng of HR?
Right now the company appears to have a very traditional, functional human resource structure.
Much of the emphasis is on what could be labeled as transactional human resource activities. Very li;le
4. Analyze the data in Exhibit 1.4. What are its implications?
The data reveal a gap in the perceptions of the role of human resources at Harrison Brothers.
Store managers expect human resources to have knowledge of the business and to be an active player in
managing change. The human resource managers gave th9s very low importance in how they viewed
5. Given the organization’s size and strategic goals, evaluate the development of the
human resource function at Harrison Brothers. What problems do you see? How
could its major functions be improved?
Basically, all of the functions described seem to be carried out in a reactive fashion. It does not
Recruiting and StaKng: The human resource department is currently relying on newspaper ads
and word-of-mouth as their major recruiting sources. Given the high turnover at Harrison and the
perception of retail as an unattractive job site, effort should be made to explore creative ways to attract
Training: The length of the training program is not clear from the description provided.
However, one gets the impression that the training focuses on the technical aspects of being a
salesperson (e. g. handling the cash register) with minimal attention on sales techniques and customer
interaction. The training function focuses primarily on getting the employee ready to perform the
present job. Harrison’s needs to extend its view of training to include employee development. Training
and development should be a proactive on-going e8ort to increase employee productivity and to
Compensation: The current incentive system being used for the sales sta8 seems to be
counterproductive. The break-even point rises as the person meets his/her goal. The reward factor may
appear to be a moving target to the typical sales person. Additionally, McCain notes that she is not “sure
that the system helps us to retain employees.” Again no effort have been made to evaluate the
effectiveness of the incentive system. This would simply involve tracking sales performance over time
Performance evaluation: While the company has instituted some new ideas here, no effort
have been made to follow through on the implementation of the new procedures. Additionally, line
As a general comment, McCain and all of the human resource managers at Harrison need to be
aware of the interdependency among the human resource functions. Decisions and programs
3. EXERCISE: DEVELOPING ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY HR POLICIES AT CITY UNIVERSITY
I. OBJECTIVES:
1 To understand the critical role HR can play in an organization’s green initiatives to
ensure and support sustainability goals.
2 To identify environmentally friendly HR policies and initiatives within the key HR
functions.
II. OUT-OF-CLASS PREPARATION TIME: 1 hour
III. IN-CLASS TIME SUGGESTED: 45 minutes
IV. INSTRUCTIONS:
Read the entire exercise before class. Students may want to conduct some research before class
on environmental responsibility and sustainability. They can also visit the following Web sites:
www.carbonfootprint.com
www.greenatwork.com
The class should be divided into groups of four. The groups should be given 20 minutes to
brainstorm ideas for green initiatives that fall within HR’s responsibility. Each group should complete
Form 1.1.
The instructor should then ask each group to present their list to the rest of the class. AFer the
.rst group shares its list, the rest of the groups should only add things that are new or different.
If time permits, the entire class should discuss the following questions: 1) What is HR’s role in
building a greener organization? 2) What are the potential bene.ts in terms of attracting and retaining
talent? 3) How should Alice proceed in order to develop an overall strategy for “greening” the HR
functions at the university?
V. POSSIBLE SOLUTION/DISCUSSION
First, Alice needs to develop an overall plan for how she is going to approach this draF proposal.
A good departure point will be to conduct a thorough audit of all the main HR activities/functions in
order to determine which of these activities have the greatest environmental impact. This way Alice will
be able to focus and prioritize the HR initiatives. Alice would also have to include all the relevant HR sta8
when developing the green initiatives as the people who do the tasks daily will have more knowledge
regarding the impact and what can be done.
Then Alice and the sta8 can brainstorm to come up with speci.c HR Green Initiatives for each of
the main HR functional areas. Including all the employees in the planning process will also lead to them
being more willing to take ownership of the plan.
Possible HR Green Initiatives in six different HR functional areas are shown on Form 1.1.
FORM 1.1
HR Green Initiatives
HR Func!onal Area Possible Green Ini!a!ves and Policies Poten!al Bene)t(s)
1. Recruitment and StaKng. Include the environmental stance of the
university as part of the sales pitch to
potential employees. This will help to
attract eco-friendly employees that are
motivated to make a contribution, and it
will also help to build a culture that cares
More employees who are
eco-friendly and willing to make
a contribution towards
environmental sustainability
and a culture that values the
environment. Decreased paper
HR Func!onal Area Possible Green Ini!a!ves and Policies Poten!al Bene)t(s)
about the environment. Make use of
recruitment methods that are
environmentally friendly, for example
making use of online job applications
instead of hard copy application forms.
The internet and teleconferencing can
also be used to cut down on business
travel.
footprint and traveling
expenses.
2. Orientation. Include training and information with
regard to the environmental policies and
green initiatives of the university in the
orientation process. Make all the
information available on the intranet of
the university.
New employees will be aware of
how high the organization
values the environment.
Employees will have access to
all the important information
without the need for printed
booklets.
3. Compensation and Bene.ts. The green initiatives of individuals should
be linked to their compensation and
bene.t packages.
Employees will be rewarded for
showing the desired e8ort to
sustain the environment, which
will help to motivate them and
enforce the desired behavior.
4. Work Practices and Policies. Develop and implement environmental
policies and practices. These policies and
the importance and bene.ts thereof
should also be effectively communicated
to the employees. Sustainability should
become a rule not an exception. For
example a recycling program can be
implemented to decrease the paper
usage in the department or switching o8
the lights of oKces and lecture halls
when leaving the venue. Sustainability
should become one of the core values of
the organization.
Employees will be more aware
of the impact they have on the
environment and will limit the
waste of electricity and paper.
Making the green effort
mandatory will also ensure
compliance.
5. Performance Management. The green initiatives of employees should
be linked to their performance
management. Green performance
standards and indicators should be
included in the Performance
Management Appraisals. Managers and
employees should set green targets, goals
and responsibilities during the
performance interviews and penalties
should be charged for non-compliance
with the targets.
People who are making a
contribution will receive be;er
performance appraisals and feel
more appreciated and rewarded
for their contribution.
Employees not achieving targets
will receive penalties to
motivate them to achieve their
targets.
HR Func!onal Area Possible Green Ini!a!ves and Policies Poten!al Bene)t(s)
6. Reward Systems. Link the green initiatives as identi.ed
during performance management to the
reward system. The people who are
making a contribution need to be
rewarded in order to promote green
initiatives.
Tailor packages can be developed to
reward green skills acquisition for
example monetary-based rewards
(bonuses, pay for outcomes achieved),
non-monetary based rewards
(recognition, giFs, and leave), negative
reinforcement (criticism, warnings), green
tax breaks, departmental competitions,
etc.
Employees will be more
motivated to make a
contribution and meet their
green targets because they get
rewarded for it.
7. Employee Cafeteria.
Recycling all disposable cups, plates and
napkins. Choosing the least amount of
packaging in the cafeteria. Replace plastic
and paper containers with real plates and
cups. HR department can speci.cally start
to bring their own co8ee cups to work.
Limited use of disposable cups
and packaging that lead to
pollution.
8. Employee Communications. Select green ambassadors to spread the
news about turning of lights, shu9ng
down all electronic equipment not in use,
reducing paper footprint (printing more
selectively, recycling paper, reducing the
page count of printed documents, making
double sided prints). Put up signs to
remind co-workers about their green
choices. Communicate green progress in
weekly meetings and reports.
Having ambassadors will help to
let employees have a be;er
understanding of how their
actions effect the environment
and that they will make more of
an e8ort to do their share.
Indicate Higher Priority Concerns: 1. 2. 3. etc.
For more information please visit the following websites:
h;p://www.scribd.com/doc/12703119/The-Greening-of-HR-Survey [Viewed: 13-08-2010].
h;p://www.dmst.aueb.gr/nikolaou/Blogs/GreenHR.pdf [Downloaded 13-09-2010].
h;p://.ndarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_6_53/ai_n27889475/ [Downloaded: 13-09-2010].
h;p://www.slideshare.net/beeshields/creating-a-sustainable-hr-function-for-the-future-1364822
[Downloaded: 13-08-2010].
h;p://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09585190802479389 [Downloaded: 13-08-2010].
h;p://.ndarticles.com/p/articles-/mi_m3495/is_6_53/ai_n27889475/ [Downloaded: 13-08-2010].