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how their own culture differs from the
culture of other employees and how
2. Support Groups and Mentoring
• Mentoring programs assign higher-level
managers to help lower-level managers
learn the firm’s values and meet other
senior executives.
3. Career Development and Promotions
• Although retailers provide entry-level
opportunities for women and minority
groups, these employees often encounter a
glass ceiling as they move through the
corporation.
B. Legal and Regulatory Issues in Human
Resource Management
• The major legal and regulatory issues
involving the management of retail
employees are (1) equal employment
opportunity, (2) compensation, (3) labor
relations, (4) employee safety and health,
(5) sexual harassment, and (5) employee
privacy.
See PPT 9-35
Chapter 09 – Human Resource Management
opportunity regulations is to protect
employees from unfair discrimination in
the workplace.
• Illegal discrimination is the actions of a
company or its managers that result in
members of a protected class being treated
unfairly and differently as compared to
others.
effective? What are impacts of these laws on
large retail chains versus small independent
retailers?
2. Compensation
• Laws relating to compensation define the
40-hour workweek, the pay rate for
3. Labor Relations
• Labor relations laws describe the process
by which unions can be formed and the
ways in which companies must deal with
unions.
4. Employee Safety and Health
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5. Sexual Harassment
• Sexual harassment includes unwelcome
sexual advances, requests for sexual favors,
and other verbal and physical conduct.
6. Employee Privacy
• Employees’ privacy protection is very
limited. For example, employers can
monitor e-mail and telephone
7. Developing Policies
• The human resource department is
responsible for developing programs and
policies to make sure that managers and
employees are aware of these restrictions
and know how to deal with potential
violations. These legal and regulatory
requirements are basically designed to treat
people fairly.
C. Use of Technology
• Retail chains are using intranets to
automate and streamline human resource
operations. The use of intranets and
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connections to a centralized base
dramatically reduces the time human
resource administrators spend on
paperwork.
VII. Summary
• Human resource management plays a vital
role in supporting a retail strategy. The
organization structure defines relationships
and responsibilities.
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ANSWERS TO “GET OUT AND DO ITS”
2. INTERNET EXERCISE Go to the Society of Human Resource Management’s home page,
conclusions of articles addressing the challenges that retailers are facing, such as management of
a diverse workforce, international expansion, and the use of technology to increase productivity.
This website has numerous articles on topics ranging from benefits and compensation to strategic
planning. Summarizing all of the articles on this website would be too much. Students should
select certain topics that are of interest to them and relate to retailing and review the articles on
those topics.
3. INTERNET EXERCISE The Fair Measures Law Consulting Group provides training and
Students’ answers will vary depending on what topic they chose to investigate. Students’
answers should include information on suits that were filed and how the courts responded. This
exercise should really help students understand the legal implications of HR violations and HR
practices.
4. INTERNET EXERCISE Go to the National Retail Federation’s Foundation (NRFF)
Retail” to read about the different career paths in Marketing/Advertising, Store Operations, Loss
Prevention, Store Management, Finance, Human Resources, IT and E-Commerce, Sales and
Sales-Related, Distribution/Logistics/Supply Chain Management, Merchandise Buying/Planning,
and Entrepreneurship. Which area(s) appeals to you the most? Explain your preference for this
career direction.
5. LIBRARY EXERCISE Go to one of your college/university’s library business databases and
find a recent newspaper or journal article that discusses human resources management in the
retail industry. Briefly tie the concepts in the article back to the chapter or your Continuing Case
Assignment (Question 1 above).
If time is short, here are a few articles that you could assign versus having students search
for their own articles:
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ANSWERS TO DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND PROBLEMS
1. Why is human resource management more important in retailing than in
manufacturing firms?
Human resource management is particularly important in retailing because employees play
2. How can retailers use hiring, selecting, training and motivating employees in their
human resource management practices to gain competitive advantage?
• Human resource management can be the basis of a sustainable competitive advantage for
three reasons:
3. Describe the similarities and differences between the organization of small and large
retail companies. Why do these similarities and differences exist?
Retail organization structures differ according to the type of retailer and the size of the firm.
For example, a retailer with a single store will have an organization structure quite different
from a national chain.
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4. Some retailers have specific employees (merchandise assistants) assigned to restock the
shelves and maintain the appearance of the store. Other retailers have sales associates
perform these tasks. What are the advantages and disadvantages of each approach?
Some retailers have specific employees assigned to restocking the shelves and maintaining
the appearance of the store. When merchandise assistants perform these tasks, there is more
control by upper management because there are fewer people involved. Retailers can also
5. How can national retailers like Best Buy and Victoria’s Secret, which both use a
centralized buying system, make sure that their buyers are aware of the local
differences in consumer needs?
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Retailers with a centralized buying system can implement an extensive management
information system that can track sales, and thus local customer preferences, by various
6. Reread Retail View 9.4 on REI’s internal use of social media. What are the positive and
negative aspects of this internal use of social media in general, and more specifically,
REI’s use of an internal intranet rather than a platform like Facebook.
REI uses the “campfire” to share ideas with employees and get their comments and
7. To motivate employees, several major department stores are experimenting with
incentive compensation plans, although compensation plans with a lot of incentives
often don’t promote good customer service. How can retailers motivate employees to
sell merchandise energetically and at the same time not jeopardize customer service?
Retailers need to emphasize to their employees that there is a danger in focusing every effort
on simply selling as fast as one can. It is important that employees realize that customers
8. Assume that you’re starting a new restaurant that caters to college students and plan to
use college students as servers. What human resource management problems would you
expect to have? How would you build a strong organization culture in your restaurant
to provide outstanding customer service?
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A fundamental task of human resource management is to motivate and coordinate employees
to work toward achieving the firm’s goals and implementing its strategy. Most human
resource management problems in any organization stem from an employer’s difficulty in so
9. Three approaches for motivating and coordinating employee activities are policies and
supervision, incentives, and organization culture. What are the advantages and
disadvantages of each?
Retailers generally use three methods to motivate and coordinate their employees’ activities:
(1) Written Policies and Supervision:
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10. What HR trends are helping meet employees’ needs, increase job satisfaction, and
lower turnover?
Several HR trends are taking place in the retail industry to address employees’ needs, job
satisfaction, and turnover. Two of these activities that retailers undertake to develop
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ANCILLARY LECTURES
LECTURE # 9-1: LEGAL ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCES
Instructor’s Note: This lecture consists of a potpourri of legal issues dealing with human resource
management. It can be used in its entirety, or the instructor can pick and choose items of
interest. The lecture can be used in either Chapter 9 or 17.
Introduction
• Within the realm of human resource management in retailing there are a number of legal
issues that are of significant importance.
1. Equal opportunity & anti-discrimination laws,
Equal opportunity & anti-discrimination laws
• The following laws in some way pertain to the legal rights as a present or future
employees under the general guidelines of an equal opportunity:
1. Equal Pay Act of 1963
2. Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 — Amended in 1972 & 1978
Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Deals only with wages—no other aspect of employment process
• Men & women are to receive same pay for jobs requiring same skills, effort,
responsibility, and working conditions
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Title VII of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (As Amended)
• Forbids discrimination based on:
1. Race
2. Color
• “Disparate Treatment”—to what extent can you treat people differently under the law?
1. Cannot treat people different due to these aforementioned characteristics.
2. Cannot exclude people from employment solely on basis of these characteristics.
3. Example: One cannot ask women their marital status.
• “Disparate Impact”—to what extent does discriminatory actions impact different groups
of people?
1. Otherwise harmless criteria may exclude protected groups.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
• No Discrimination Against Persons Over the Age of 40
Rehabilitation Act of 1972
• Applies specifically to federal contractors and federal aid recipients
• Prohibits discrimination based on physical handicap
Immigration Reform & Control Act of 1986
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Polygraph Protection Act of 1988
• Prohibits use of lie detector tests by most employers
• Exemptions from law:
1. National security
Discriminatory questions and what can or can’t be asked?
• Federal laws don’t specifically prohibit types of question
Drug testing – before and after an employee is hired
• Depends upon nature of company or industry
1. 1986 – 25% of Fortune 500 companies did drug testing
2. 1990’s – 47-54% of companies now doing testing
Sexual Harassment
• What is it?
Chapter 09 – Human Resource Management
• Remarks & Innuendo – Subtle remarks concerning one’s clothing, body, or sexual
activity.
• 46 states now have separate sexual harassment laws.
• What should be done if one believes they have been sexually harassed?
• Take at least the following steps:
1. Inform violator that the incident constitutes “sexual harassment”,