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Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 8e Instructor’s Manual

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Chapter 2

Trends in Human Resource Management

This chapter continues to provide the foundation for the textbook, as it now explores the

environment in which HRM operates. Trends in the labor force are discussed as well as the

internal labor force (an organization’s workers) and the external labor market (individuals who

are actively seeking employment).

Chapter Outline

Change in the Labor Force

• U.S. labor market is aging and becoming more racially and ethnically diverse.

• Organizations must:

• Recruit from a diverse population.

• Establish bias-free HR systems.

• Help employees understand and appreciate cultural differences.

High-Performance Work Systems

• HRM can help organizations find and keep the best possible fit between their social and

technical systems.

• Job design and appropriate systems for assessment and rewards have a central role in

supporting employee empowerment and teamwork.

• Employee empowerment means giving employees responsibility and authority to make

decisions regarding all aspects of product development or customer service.

• HRM must design jobs to give employees latitude for decision-making and

interpersonal skills.

Focus on Strategy

▪ HR professionals should be familiar with the organization’s strategy and may play a

role in developing the strategy.

• Organizations with international operations hire employees in foreign countries where

they operate, so they need knowledge of differences in culture and business practices.

Technological Change in HRM

• Many organizations have a human resource information system (HRIS), a computer

system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information

related to an organization’s human resources.

• Using computers to analyze large amounts of data and offer information to guide

decisions is often called people analytics.

• AI

Change in the Employment Relationship

• Organizations and employees need to be flexible and open to change.

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Learning Objectives

LO 2-1: Describe trends in the labor force composition and how they affect human resource

management.

LO 2-2: Summarize areas in which human resource management can support the goal of

creating a high-performance work system.

LO 2-3: Define employee empowerment, and explain its role in the modern organization.

LO 2-4: Identify ways HR professionals can support organizational strategies for growth,

quality, and efficiency.

LO 2-5: Summarize ways in which human resource management can support organizations

expanding internationally.

LO 2-6: Discuss how technological developments are affecting human resource management.

LO 2-7: Explain how the nature of the employment relationship is changing.

LO 2-8: Discuss how the need for flexibility affects human resource management.

Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency &

Knowledge

This chapter contains content, which may be identified within the following content areas:

• Talent Acquisition & Retention

• Learning & Development

• Total Rewards

• Structure of HR Function

• Business & HR Strategy

• Organizational Effectiveness & Development

• Workforce Management

• Risk Management

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Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body

of Knowledge

This chapter contains content, which may be identified within the following content areas:

• Business Management & Strategy

• Workforce Planning and Employment

• Human Resource Development

• Compensation and Benefits

• Employee and Labor Relations

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Question Guidance to Vignettes and Discussion Questions

Best Practices

Helping Panda Express Workers Communicate

1. What business reasons might support Panda Express’s practice of hiring many workers

whose first language is not English?

2. What advantages do you think Panda Express gains from offering English-language

instruction as an employee benefit?

HRM Social

Glassdoor Reviews Foster Better Communication

1. In what ways is knowledge a source of power for workers in this example? In what ways

does the knowledge shared on Glassdoor empower Purina?

2. Besides opinions about their company, what other kinds of knowledge could employees

constructively share on social media (Glassdoor and other tools)?

HR Oops!

HRM Barely Gets a Passing Grade

1. Imagine that you work for a manufacturing company where the HR department’s

performance on providing the necessary talent is just “adequate.” From a business

standpoint, what might be the consequences of this less-than-excellent performance?

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2. Imagine you run the HR department in that same manufacturing company. What is one

step you could take to improve your department’s performance?

the outlined negatives and turn them into positives.

HR How To

Handling HR Implications of Artificial Intelligence

1. Based on the information given here, suggest a problem that could cause an AI system to

give poor results.

2. What should an HR department consider besides cost savings when evaluating the use of

artificial intelligence?

Did You Know?

Half of U.S. Employees Looking to Change Jobs

1. What challenges and opportunities do employers face in a climate where half of an

organization’s employees feel ready to leave?

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End of Chapter Questions and Cases

Thinking Ethically

How Solid Is Your Digital Footprint?

1. Which of the following would you include in your social-media networks? Current co–co–

workers? Past co-workers? Current supervisor? Competitors?

2. What standards do you apply to your own social-media conduct? Which of these, if any,

would you consider ethical standards?

Review and Discussion Questions

1. How does each of the following labor force trends affect HRM? (LO 2-1)

a. Aging of the labor force.

b. Diversity of the labor force.

c. Skill deficiencies of the labor force.

2. At many organizations, goals include improving people’s performance by relying on

knowledge workers, empowering employees, and assigning work to teams. How can

HRM support these efforts? (LO 2-2)

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performance management, training, work design, and compensation to ensure success of

employee empowerment; and increasing the employees’ responsibilities and control via

work assigned to teams.

3. How do HRM practices such as performance management and work design encourage

employee empowerment? (LO 2-3)

4. Merging, downsizing, and reengineering all can radically change the structure of an

organization. Choose one of these changes and describe HRM’s role in making the

change succeed. If possible, apply your discussion to an actual merger, downsizing, or

reengineering effort that has recently occurred. (LO 2-4)

5. When an organization decides to operate facilities in other countries, how can HRM

practices support this change? (LO 2-5)

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6. Why do organizations outsource HRM functions? How does outsourcing affect the role

of human resource professionals? Would you be more attracted to the role of HR

professional in an organization that outsources many HR activities or in the outside firm

that has the contract to provide the HR services? Why? (LO 2-6)

7. What HRM functions could an organization provide through self-service? What are some

of advantages and disadvantages of using self-service for these functions? (LO 2-6)

8. How is the employment relationship typical of modern organizations different from the

relationship of a generation ago? (LO 2-7)

9. Discuss several advantages of flexible work schedules. What are some disadvantages?

(LO 2-8)

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reduce payroll and benefit costs; this flexibility also allows for hiring people with special

skills and abilities as needed.

Disadvantages include not having employees available at all times—especially those with

certain skills, and employees who are not as engaged in the culture and lack loyalty to the

organization.

Taking Responsibility

Paychex Keeps People by Helping Them Retire

1. What business benefits might result from Paychex’s efforts to make its benefits more

valuable by helping employees get the most out of using them?

2. How do the principles of a new psychological contract apply to the situation described in

this case?

Managing Talent

Employee Engagement Helps Bank’s Business

1. Why is employee engagement valuable to PeoplesBank? What trends in human resource

management contribute to the value of employee engagement?

2. Think about what you have learned so far about HR functions. Based on that information,

what are some general efforts the HR department of PeoplesBank could make to promote

employee engagement?

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HR in Small Business

New Belgium Brews Success through Employee Ownership

1. What principles and practices of employee empowerment are illustrated by the way New

Belgium uses an employee stock ownership plan?

2. How do training programs at New Belgium support the company’s strategy?

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Recommended Connect Activities

HRM and Alternative Work Arrangements

Learning Objective: 02-07 Explain how the nature of the employment relationship is changing.

Activity Summary: In this case analysis, students demonstrate their understanding of the

performance appraisal process by aligning examples of each step and placing them in the

appropriate order.

Follow-Up Activity: Additional classroom activities can be done individually, in small groups,

or as a class. Students can document specific people in their networks that have different career

paths and then name advantages/disadvantages of each path. The same process could work for

current career and/or desired career. Emphasis should be placed on aligning course content to the

examples.

People Operations at Google

Learning Objective: 02-02 Summarize areas in which human resource management can support

the goal of creating a high-performance work system.

Activity Summary: The video case encourages students to apply course content to actual high-

performing organizations.

Follow-Up Activity: Have small groups pick an average or poorly performing company and

then make recommendations on how HR could improve the organizational outcomes.

HRM–Strategy Linkage

Learning Objective: 02-04 Identify ways HR professionals can support organizational strategies

for growth, quality, and efficiency.

Activity Summary: The case analysis provides students with the understanding of how strategy

formulation and implementation are critical to achieving organizational success.

Follow-Up Activity: Introduce some case studies that detail a specific link between HRM and

corporate strategy to make this discussion come alive. Another classroom discussion could be

focused on the following article from The Economic Times, The Future is now: The Changing

role of HR. The article discusses factors such as AI, employee engagement, and strategy.

CHRO Conversations: Ellyn Shook, Accenture

Learning Objective: 02-06 Discuss how technological developments are affecting human

resource management.

Activity Summary: The video case improves student understanding of factors that must be

considered when evaluating changes in the workplace.

Follow-Up Activity: Upon completion of the video and multiple-choice questions, have students

take content from the chapter and apply it directly to what they experience in their own work

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environments. Terms such as AI, learning, re-skilling, blockchain, mobile/classroom/training

centers, and the various forms of technology could all be discussed. To further the exercise, have

students make implementation plans based on the terms they previously identified.

Fundamentals of Human Resource Management, 8e Instructor’s Manual

Classroom Exercises

Students may benefit from exercises that illustrate the concepts of the chapter. Use these along

with CONNECT activities.

1. Labor Force Trends

Instructors may engage students in a general discussion meant to support the

understanding of labor force trends. Review and Discussion question #1 may be used to

begin the conversation. Instructors may then follow up by asking students to identify

methods that organizations may use to handle these trends.

2. Outsourcing Functions

Students may be asked to discuss outsourcing by first posing Review and Discussion

question #6. Instructors may then ask students to respond to Review and Discussion

question #7. Students may then be asked to discuss the Best Practices vignette.

3. Employee Expectations

Instructors may facilitate a discussion on employee expectations by asking students to

discuss the Did You Know? vignette. Instructors may also ask students if they relate or

agree with the results. Then, instructors may have students discuss Review and

Discussion questions #8 and #9. To close the discussion, instructors may have students

discuss the Taking Responsibility vignette.

4. HRM Career Considerations

Instructors may wish to have students identify components in Chapter 2 within both the

Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency & Knowledge and the

Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body of Knowledge.

Discussion could be focused on how these chapter concepts are important to the

development of their careers and potential certification.

5. Vignette Discussions

Any of the vignettes (see above) may be employed for classroom discussion. Students

could be asked to respond as individuals or placed into groups for discussion. Individuals

and/or groups may then be asked to defend their responses and rationale when comparing

and contrasting other responses.