Comprehensive study notes for the staffing section of Bus2022S.
Summary made from textbook, but also includes my lecture notes. they have been integrated into the summaries
Textbook
Phillips, J.S. & Gully, J.M. (2012). Strategic staffing (2nd international ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pe...
Content Overview: Staffing
Staffing
Chapter 4
Job analysis and future oriented job analysis Chapter 4: Pages 86 -89
o Starts hallway down 98
o Ends ¼ way down 100
o Total pages = 1 ¾
Chapter 5
Forecasting and planning Chapter 5: Pages 117 -136 (general question)
o Whole chapter
o Starts 129
o Ends 149
o Total pages = 21 pages
Chapter 6
Creating a sourcing plan - Chapter 6: Pages 155 – 158
o Start- Middle of 171
o End- ¾ of the way down 174
o Total pages = 3¼
Chapter 10
The firms internal assessment goals Chapter 10 pages 273 -275
o Start 257
o Ends half way down 262
o Total pages = 5 ½
,Ch 1&2: Business
and Staffing
strategies
,A Resource Based View Of The Firm
What is a resource based view
General Idea
Large budget and great facilities doesn’t guarantee success
Org’s resources and competencies produce and sustain a competitive
advantage
o How it is achieved
Creates value for customers by
Lowering costs
o Must lower the costs of the products/services
Providing something unique
o Differentiate from competitors
Combination of the two
o Resources involved
Employee motivation
Employee competencies
Employee skills
Requirements of a Competitive advantage
The resource must be valuable
A resource is valuable if it
o Helps exploit an opportunity
o Neutralizes a threat
o Both
Ways of improving value of staffing investments
o Rigorously evaluating staffing practices
o Targeting staffing activities that
Identify the best types of applicants for the organization
Attract these people to the org
o Providing applicants with realistic job info will help
Reduce turnover
Cut overall labour costs
Improve productivity
o Hiring better performers for the same pay
,The resource must be rare
Value creation not enough to create and sustain competitive advantage
Must also have a set of rare workforce attributes
o Strategic staffing practices allow an org to meet rarity
requirements
o Strategic staffing practices can also contribute to the org’s
Flexibility
Intelligence
Cooperation
Level of performance
The resource mustn’t be easily imitated
Consequence if resource is imitated
o Resulting talent will not be distinct from competitors
o Therefore no competitive advantage
Why it is not always easy to imitate staffing competencies
o Not as simple as how/where they recruit
o Involves other aspects
Deeply ingrained social relationships
Recruiting networks
Relationships with employees, customers, & the
community
Relationships with talent sources
Usually long term relationships
Examples
o Employment agencies
o Universities
o Professional recruiters
The resource mustn’t be easily substituted
Cant be a good substitute for the resource
o If there is competitors could just use this substitute
o Would then be no advantage over them
Technology usually cannot substitute an employee’s talents
o Because machines can’t duplicate human intelligence, judgment
and innovation
Example
o ABSA recruits from UCT through Vula
o FNB doesn’t have this capability
But effectively recruits on campus by handing out
brochures
o Both reach the students effectively
Neither in a better position
Therefore no competitive advantage
,The company must be organized to exploit the resource
The org must be organized to take full advantage of the resource
Example
o Firm can select and recruit top talents
o But can only offer them below-market pay packages
o Won’t be able to hire or retain these top talents
o Therefore can’t make use of its selection and recruiting resources
Sources of a Competitive Advantage
Innovation
Develop new and improve current
o Products
o Services
o Markets
Cost
Provide the product/service at the lowest cost
Service
Provide the best customer support
o Before sale
o During sale
o After sale
Quality
Provide the highest-quality product and/or service
Branding
Develop the most positive image
Distribution
Dominate distribution channels
o To block competition
Speed
Deliver your product service faster than anyone else
Convenience
Ensure it easier for the customer to do business with you
o Rather than any competitor
First to Market
Introduce your product and/or service before the competition
,The Firms Business Strategy
Business Strategies
Definition
Plan of how an org will compete in its marketplace
What it involves
How the business will compete
The strategies of the different functional areas
How changing industry conditions will be addressed
o This is the reactive part of a business strategy
Usually planned but sometimes reactive
o Industry conditions example
Deregulation
Product market maturity
Changing customer demographics
Generally how the org will address
Strategic issues
The choices it faces
Can differ, not necessarily consistent across the org
Differs across different business units in an org
Usually in diversified corporations
Allows org to take different strategic decisions for the different units
o Each unit can differ
o General business strategy therefore not always applicable
What it must do to be successful
Reflect
o Customer’s wants
o Org’s wants
o What the org can cost-effectively deliver
Fit in with the org’s
o HR policies and practices
o Competitive environment
o Immediate business conditions it faces
Org must hire and retain the right people
o Employees execute the strategy
,Types of business strategies
Cost-Leadership strategy
Definition
Be the lowest cost producer
o For a particular level of product quality
Typical strengths of these org’s
Designing easily manufactured products
o Minimum number of parts needing assembly
o Keeps costs and customer prices low
Engineering efficient manufacturing and distribution process
o Keeps costs and customer prices low
Develop a competitive advantage based on Operational Excellence
Operational Excellence definition
o Maximizing efficiency of
Manufacturing
Product development
o To minimize costs
Effect on staffing & employees
What it requires from employees
o Identify and follow efficient practices
o Engage in continuous improvement practices
Lower costs while still offering a competitive product
Improve product without increasing costs
What type of employees are needed
o What it needs from its employees
Trainable & flexible employees
Efficiency orientated
Able to work in team
Willing to follow standardized procedures
Able to
Focus on shorter-term production objectives
Avoid waste
Lower the org’s production costs
o What it doesn’t want
Expensive top talent
Not worth the investment because of
o Tight margins
o Tendency to rely on work teams
o Resulting pay disparity hinders team
performance
, Differentiation strategy
Definition
Developing a product/service with
o A unique characteristic
o That the customers value
Can allow the org to charge a premium price
Ways an org can differentiate
Image of the product
o Rolex watches
Product durability
o Toyota
Quality
o Rolls Royce
Safety
o Volvo
Usability
o Apple Mac
Develop a competitive advantage based on Product Innovation
Product innovation definition
o Developing new products/services
o To create an advantage in the market
Common in technology and pharmaceutical companies
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