Fundamentals of Human

Resource Management
Eighth Edition

De Cenzo and Robbins

Chapter 1
Strategic Implications

of a Dynamic
HRM Environment

Introduction
HRM must understand the implications of:
Globalization
Technology changes
Workforce diversity
Changing skill requirements
Continuous improvement initiatives
The contingent workforce
Decentralized work sites
Employee involvement

Understanding Cultural Environments

Globalization - This term refers to the fact that businesses
currently operate around the world.

Understanding Cultural Environments

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins

Understanding Cultural Environments

HRM must ensure that employees have appropriate
skills to handle global assignments.
Ensure that workers can operate in cultures that differ
on variables.
HRM also must help multicultural groups work
together.

Understanding Cultural Environments

The GLOBE Framework:
GLOBE Dimensions:

Assertiveness
Future Orientation
Gender Differentiation
Uncertainty Avoidance
Power Distance
Individualism/Collectivism
In-group Collectivism
Performance orientation
Humane orientation

Understanding Cultural Environments

Cultural Implications for HRM
Not all HRM theories and practices are universally
applicable.
HR manager must understand varying cultural values.

The Changing World of Technology

Advancement in technology has altered the way people
work.
Modern civilization has evolved over three waves.
Agriculture
Industrialization (Blue-collar workers)
Information (Knowledge workers)

The Changing World of Technology

Why the emphasis on technology?
Makes organizations more productive.
Helps them create and maintain a competitive advantage.
Provides better, more useful information.

Fundamentals of Human Resource

Management 8e, DeCenzo and Robbins

The Changing World of Technology

How Technology Affects HRM Practices

Recruiting
Employee Selection
Training and Development
Ethics and Employee Rights
Motivating Knowledge Workers
Paying Employees Market Value
Communication
Decentralized Work Sites
Skill Levels
Legal Concerns

Workforce Diversity
The varied personal characteristics that make the
workforce heterogeneous.

Workforce Diversity
The Workforce Today
Minorities and women have become the fastest
growing segments.
The numbers of immigrant workers and older workers
are increasing.

Workforce Diversity
How Diversity Affects HRM
Employers need to:
Attract and maintain a diversified work force.
Foster increased sensitivity to group differences.
Deal with the different:

Values
Needs
Interests
Expectations of employees

Workforce Diversity
What Is a Work/Life Balance?
A balance between personal life and work.
Causes of the blur between work and life:
The creation of global organizations means the
world never sleeps.
Communication technologies allow employees to
work at home.
Organizations are asking employees to put in
longer hours.
Fewer families have a single breadwinner.

Labor Supply
Why Do Organizations Lay Off During Shortages?
Downsizing is part of a larger goal of an organization
to balance staff to meet changing needs.
Organizations want more flexibility to better respond
to change.
This is often referred to as rightsizing, linking staff
levels to organizational goals.

Labor Supply
How Do Organizations Balance Labor Supply?
Organizations are increasingly using contingent
workers to respond to fluctuating needs for employees.
Contingent workers include:
Part-time workers
Temporary workers
Contract workers

Labor Supply
Issues Contingent Workers Create for HRM
How to attract quality temporaries.
How to motivate employees who are receiving less
pay and benefits.
How to have them available when needed.
How to quickly adapt them to the organization.
How to deal with potential conflicts between core and
contingent workers.

Continuous Improvement Programs

Continuous improvement: Making constant efforts to
provide better products and service to customers
External
Internal

Quality management concepts have existed for over 50

years and include the pioneering work of W. Edwards
Deming.

Continuous Improvement Programs

Key components of continuous improvement are:
Focus on the customer.
Concern for continuous improvement.
Improvement in the quality of everything the
organization does.
Accurate measurement.
Empowerment of employees.

Continuous Improvement Programs

Work Process Engineering involves radical, quantum
changes to entire work processes.
How HRM Assists in Work Process Engineering
Helps employees deal with the emotional aspects of
conflict and change.
Provides skills training.
Adapts HR systems, such as compensation, benefits,
and performance standards.

Employee Involvement
Delegation
Work teams
HRM must provide training to help empower employees
in their new roles.
Involvement programs can achieve:
greater productivity.
increased employee loyalty and commitment.

A Look at Ethics
Three views of ethics:
Utilitarian View Decisions are made on the basis of
their outcomes or consequences.
Rights View Decisions are made with concern for
respecting and protecting individual liberties and
privileges.
Theory of Justice View Decisions are make by
enforcing rules fairly and impartially.
Code of ethics - A formal document that states an
organizations primary values and the ethical rules it
expects organizational members to follow.