Exam (elaborations)
HRM3704 Q&A
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
EXAM QUESSTIONS AND ANSWERS
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1Name and discuss the four distinct periods of change as identified by McKee
Mechanistic period
1940-50, manufacturing drive force in industry
Birth of personnel/industrial relations profession
Main focus of HR administrative
Emergence of benefit programmes as are of interest
Legalistic period
1960-70, legislation in social and employment areas
Legislation had major impact on workplace and roles/responsibilities assumed by personnel officers
Regulation of workforce beyond union contract and company rules
Training/development separate are of HRM
First HR information systems application
Organistic period
1980
Globalization, mergers, acquisitions, re-engineering, downsizing
Radical changes in workplace, HRM function faced numerous challenges
Movement toward cost and profit centres important issue for HRM
More command-and-control policies and procedures
Height of HRM specialization
Strategic period
1990
Strategic thinking and planning prominent activity to deal with continual change in corporate organizations
Structures ranging from webs to networks and matrices
HRM function had to assist in struggle to remain successful and competitive
HRM became strategic partner, reporting to CEO and interact with Board of Directors
HR professionals played active role in determining future direction of organization
Which issues will play a major role in the catalytic period, i.e. beyond 2000?
Increase in cross-border employment
Workforce that will be comfortable in and with other cultures
Fewer organizations as result of continued mergers and acquisitions
Use of just-in-time professional workers
Increase in outsourcing of administrative functions
Innovative compensation practices
More selective approach by employees regarding careers
Telecommuting and other forms of flexible work being widely introduced
Teams playing major role
Describe what the HR professional has to do in order to be successful in the changed role of HRM
Become involved with line mangers in strategy formulation/implementation resulting in design of HR strategies
that will support overall company strategy
Become expert in way work is organized and executed
Become involved in reducing cost through administrative efficiency, while maintaining high quality
Become reliable representative for employees when putting concerns to management
Become involved in efforts to increase employees contribution to organization
Become agent for continuous transformation, shaping processes and culture to help organization improve their
capacity for change
, 2
Explain the multiple role model for HRM as proposed by Dave Ulrich
Future/strategic focus(short-long term)
Processes Cell1 Cell 3 People
Management of strategic human Management of transformation and change
resources
Deliverable/outcome
Deliverable/outcome Creating a renewed organization
Executing strategy
Activity
Activity Managing transformation and change: “Ensuring
Aligning HR and business strategy: capacity for change”
“Organisational diagnoses”
Role
Role Change agent
Strategic partner
Cell2 Cell 4
Management of firm infrastructure Management of employee contribution
Deliverable/outcome Deliverable/outcome
Building an efficient infrastructure Increasing employee commitment and capability
Activity Activity
Reengineering organization processes: Listening and responding to employees:
“Shared services” “Providing resources to employees”
Role Role
Administrative expert Employee champion
Day-to-day/operational focus
How would you describe the employee-employer relationship in the changed work environment?
Psychological contract – what employees and employers want and expect from each other – will change
Psychological contact accomplishes two tasks:
o Defines employment relationship
o Manages mutual expectations
Lack of job security offered to employees
Significant shift in employees attitudes and values regarding career management, leadership style, motivation
and working conditions
Workers want more opportunities for development, autonomy, flexibility, meaningful experience
Psychological contract more situational, short term, assumes each party much less dependent on the other for
survival and growth
When psychological contracts go unfulfilled or perceived to have been violated aggressive types of behaviour
can impact negatively on organization
Two types of psychological violation:
o Reneging, when either party to contract knowingly breaks a promise to the other
o Incongruence, when parties have different understanding of obligations in terms of the contract
What are the questions that summarise the challenges of HRM?
How can we attract/retain people who can live with and often thrive upon uncertainty?
How can we get/maintain loyalty/commitment of employees when job security, promotion opportunities, career
entitlements are declining?
How can we meet career expectations of employees who expect rapid promotions in organizations becoming
flatter and leaner and are not expanding enough?
How can we encourage (older) employees to take more responsibility for own personal/professional
development?
, 3
How can we develop procedures/processes that help managers/specialists understand/commit to working
together?
How can we build organization culture/structure in which employees feel satisfied, challenged, empowered?
Describe what is meant with “self-managed work teams” and how they could be applied in the HR environment
Method of improving employee commitment, general well-being of organization
Teams in work environment responsible for determining what they want to do, how they want to do it, when
they want to do it
Teams empowered to use initiative in solving problems and managing themselves
Teams can respond quickly to needs of a particular situation
Team members participate in decisions
HR professional becomes coach/counsellor/advisor to team
Selection and training of team members done interactively between HR and team
Innovative compensation systems
Procedures to determine critical factors of performance for teams must be implemented
Development of team-based work system has potential to create more productive, creative, individual-fulfilling
working environment, playing critical role in new challenges facing HRM
Define the term “alternative workplace” and describe the different options as identified by Apgar
Moving work to the worker instead of the worker to the work
Placing workers on different shifts or travel schedules
o Enable workers to share same desk and office space
Replace traditional office with open-plan space
Implementing concept of “hotelling”
o Work space furnished , equipped and supported, can be reserved by the hour/day/week
o Concierge provide employees with travel/logistic support
Creating satellite offices
o Breaking large centralized facilities into network of smaller workplaces located close to customer or
employees home
Introducing telecommuting or virtual offices
o Performing work electronically wherever worker chooses, supplements traditional workplace rather than
replacing it
What is E-HRM?
Make company’s HT policies/procedures available through intranet
Managing development/deployment of company’s most strategic skills
Distinguish between the five stages of Web-deployment within an organization
Information publishing
o HR policies/procedures published for general scrutiny
o Cost-effective way of making up-to-date company information available to employees
Database inquiry
o User given opportunity to gain some personal information from system
o Reduces phone calls/emails to HR department
Simple HR transactions
o Paperwork replaced with transactions using electronic input
o Employees update personal information on HR database
Complex HR transactions
o Complexity of interaction between user and HR transactions being processed increase
o Calculations or other internal processing of data take place
HR workflow over the Web
o HR executives give employees/managers way to administer own HR data/processes without paperwork or
administrative support
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