Managing Human Capital Study Guide
Managing Human Capital
(Western Governors University)
Study Guide
C202 Managing Human Capital
Instructions: Read each chapter for the purpose of understanding key
concepts below. Apply your knowledge by answering the accompanying
questions.
, CHAPTER 1
Question Answer
1. What is human resource management (HRM)? The organizational function responsible for attracting, hiring, developing, rewarding, and retaining
talent. HRM creates the system that acquires, motivates, develops, and retains talent and is a key
source of competitive advantage.
2. List the 6 HRM functional areas, and what each area is Staffing - staffing is the process of planning, acquiring, deploying, and retaining employees that
about in only 1 sentence. enables the organization to meet its talent needs and execute its business strategy.
Health and Safety - Workplace health and safety include topics ranging from wellness, fire and
food safety, ergonomics, injury management, disaster preparedness, industrial hygiene, and even
bullying and workplace violence.
Employee-Management Relations - employee-management relations reflect societal beliefs about
the relationship between employees and the capital owners of the organization. Employee-
management relations ultimately determine the employment rights of both employers and
employees.
Rewards and Benefits - Compensation and benefits perceived as both adequate and equitable that
reward employees for their contributions to organizational goal attainment are important to
employee motivation, performance, and retention.
Training and Development - Training and development is an important HRM function focused on
developing employee capabilities through both formal and informal activities. The training and
development function is also responsible for career planning, organizational development, and
often legal compliance as well.
Performance Management - Performance management involves aligning individual employees'
goals and behaviors with organizational goals and strategies, appraising, and evaluating past and
current behaviors and performance, and providing suggestions for improvement.
The functional areas of HRM are designed to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of an
organization's talent to meet the organizational goals. All functional areas must be consistent in
what they reinforce so they do not undermine each other.
3. In addition to managing risk, what are several other ways Human resource management policies and practices add value to organizations and influence
effective HRM systems influence performance of an entire organizational performance by either improving efficiency or contributing to revenue growth.
organization? Effective HRM systems increase the organization's ability to meet its goals, enhance the
organization's ability to grow and manage change, and increase employee engagement, effort, and
performance.
4. Explain HRM’s role in executing an organization’s Strategic human resource management aligns a company's values and goals with the behaviors,
business strategy. values, and goals of employees and influences the strategies of each of the firm's human resource
functions, including staffing, performance management, training and development, and
compensation. The alignment of these separate functions creates an integrated human resource
management system supporting the execution of the business strategy, guided by the talent
philosophy of the organization.
CHAPTER 2
Question Answer
1. What are 3 specific ways HR can support the organization HRM contributes to this by posting job ads that give a true sense of what the company values and
should it choose to shift its culture? by ensuring that it hires employees with a good person- organization fit. HRM can also reward
behaviors that the company values and punish those that are inconsistent with the culture. Finally,
HRM can train employees on the values of the organization
2. Explain 2 situations/reasons that managers across various HRM supports managers through goals and processes that promote employee participation,
departments might seek out HR’s guidance. commitment, and identification with the organization. HRM can assist managers with hiring the
right talent at the right time and considering whom to let go of during layoffs.
3. How can HR support and reinforce ethical behavior in the HRM can support corporate ethics through the effective hiring of ethical people and the training of
workplace? employees to recognize and handle both ethical and unethical situations.
messages.downloaded_by
, 4. Provide an example of what these ethical standards might A. A company valuing honesty that quickly recalls products that might be defective or dangerous.
look like at your workplace: B. Appropriateness of CEO salaries and bonuses that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of
a. Virtue – the average employee.
b. Fairness – C. Southwest Airlines cuts all employees' pay rather than laying anyone off.
c. Utilitarian – D. Ensuring that suppliers do not employ child labor or provide unsafe working conditions.
d. Common good – E. If a supervisor tells an employee to handle a toxic substance without appropriate protective
gear.
e. Rights –
5. What are a few of the most common change initiatives that Developing practices that support knowledge transfer and rapid learning Developing strategies to
HR manages? retain top talent and release poor performers Monitoring the new culture to identify ways to
strengthen it Planning for continuous adjustment and learning throughout the process
6. In addition to a lack of planning, what other factors can Culture mismatch is often blamed as a cause of the failure. During the due diligence phase, the
hinder the success of a merger or acquisition? cultures of both organizations need to be evaluated to determine their compatibility
7. Explain the connection between performance metrics, Resistance to change is a real problem during change efforts. Therefore, adopting positive
employee behavior, and the organization’s goals. behaviors along with aligning employee goals to the new organizational goals is critical.
Concept Reference Notes
Organizational culture 2.3 & 2.14 is made up of the norms, values, and assumptions of organizational members.
Types of culture 2.3 Entrepreneurial - Emphasizes creativity, innovation, and risk taking. Electronic Arts and IDEO are
examples of companies with entrepreneurial cultures.
Bureaucratic - Emphasizes formal structures and the correct implementation of organizational
procedures, norms, and rules. This type of culture is commonly associated with consistency and
high ethical standards. Pharmacies and drug manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline and Merck
often adopt bureaucratic cultures.
Consensual - Emphasizes loyalty and tradition and encourages employees to stay with the
organization for a long time. Promotion is generally from within. Law firms and the military are
good examples of this type of culture.
Competitive - Emphasizes competitive advantage and market superiority. Brokerage and currency
trading firms are consistent with this type of culture, which often produce a large amount of stress.
Culture & HRM 2.4 & 2.6 Culture and HRM work together to influence employees' performance and behavior
5 types of ethical standards 2.6 utilitarian standard - The ethical action best balances good over harm by doing the most good or
doing the least harm. When Southwest Airlines cuts all employees' pay rather than laying anyone
off, it is following a utilitarian standard.
rights standard - The ethical action is the one that best respects and protects the moral rights of
everyone affected by the action, including the right to privacy, to be told the truth, or to be safe. If
a supervisor tells an employee to handle a toxic substance without appropriate protective gear, the
employee has a right to refuse.
fairness standard – The ethical action treats all people equally, or at least fairly, based on some
defensible standard.
The fairness standard is central in the debate over the appropriateness of CEO salaries and bonuses
that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of the average employee.
common good standard - The ethical action shows respect and compassion for everyone,
especially the most vulnerable. virtue standard - the ethical action is consistent with certain ideal
virtues including civility, compassion, benevolence, etc.
Ethical issues in HRM 2.7 -Hiring/Promotion based on favoritism
-Sexual Harassment
-Discrimination
-Arrangements with Vendors for Personal gain
-Using discipline Inconsistently
-Failure to maintain confidentiality the factor most likely to cause an employee to compromise an
organization's ethical standards is the pressure to meet unrealistic business objectives or deadlines
HRM & organizational change 2.10 Depending on the nature of a strategic change, some employees are likely to lack the willingness
or even the ability to support a new strategy. Targeting HRM efforts to develop, motivate, and
retain the people who are critical to implementing a new strategy may expedite its adoption and
ultimately improve the strategy's effectiveness.
Culture of trust 2.10 One of the most important factors in successfully creating organizational change is the creation of
a culture of trust. Trust keeps employees committed to the organization as changes occur, so they
feel they are part of the change, and the change is not just happening to them
HRM & mergers & acquisitions 2.12 85 percent of mergers fail to accomplish their objectives, and the cost of failure can be enormous.
Culture mismatch is often blamed as a cause of the failure. cultural issues are a frequent reason for
derailed mergers, it is important that HR managers assure that cultural issues are recognized and
addressed before, during, and after the merger
messages.downloaded_by
Managing Human Capital
(Western Governors University)
Study Guide
C202 Managing Human Capital
Instructions: Read each chapter for the purpose of understanding key
concepts below. Apply your knowledge by answering the accompanying
questions.
, CHAPTER 1
Question Answer
1. What is human resource management (HRM)? The organizational function responsible for attracting, hiring, developing, rewarding, and retaining
talent. HRM creates the system that acquires, motivates, develops, and retains talent and is a key
source of competitive advantage.
2. List the 6 HRM functional areas, and what each area is Staffing - staffing is the process of planning, acquiring, deploying, and retaining employees that
about in only 1 sentence. enables the organization to meet its talent needs and execute its business strategy.
Health and Safety - Workplace health and safety include topics ranging from wellness, fire and
food safety, ergonomics, injury management, disaster preparedness, industrial hygiene, and even
bullying and workplace violence.
Employee-Management Relations - employee-management relations reflect societal beliefs about
the relationship between employees and the capital owners of the organization. Employee-
management relations ultimately determine the employment rights of both employers and
employees.
Rewards and Benefits - Compensation and benefits perceived as both adequate and equitable that
reward employees for their contributions to organizational goal attainment are important to
employee motivation, performance, and retention.
Training and Development - Training and development is an important HRM function focused on
developing employee capabilities through both formal and informal activities. The training and
development function is also responsible for career planning, organizational development, and
often legal compliance as well.
Performance Management - Performance management involves aligning individual employees'
goals and behaviors with organizational goals and strategies, appraising, and evaluating past and
current behaviors and performance, and providing suggestions for improvement.
The functional areas of HRM are designed to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of an
organization's talent to meet the organizational goals. All functional areas must be consistent in
what they reinforce so they do not undermine each other.
3. In addition to managing risk, what are several other ways Human resource management policies and practices add value to organizations and influence
effective HRM systems influence performance of an entire organizational performance by either improving efficiency or contributing to revenue growth.
organization? Effective HRM systems increase the organization's ability to meet its goals, enhance the
organization's ability to grow and manage change, and increase employee engagement, effort, and
performance.
4. Explain HRM’s role in executing an organization’s Strategic human resource management aligns a company's values and goals with the behaviors,
business strategy. values, and goals of employees and influences the strategies of each of the firm's human resource
functions, including staffing, performance management, training and development, and
compensation. The alignment of these separate functions creates an integrated human resource
management system supporting the execution of the business strategy, guided by the talent
philosophy of the organization.
CHAPTER 2
Question Answer
1. What are 3 specific ways HR can support the organization HRM contributes to this by posting job ads that give a true sense of what the company values and
should it choose to shift its culture? by ensuring that it hires employees with a good person- organization fit. HRM can also reward
behaviors that the company values and punish those that are inconsistent with the culture. Finally,
HRM can train employees on the values of the organization
2. Explain 2 situations/reasons that managers across various HRM supports managers through goals and processes that promote employee participation,
departments might seek out HR’s guidance. commitment, and identification with the organization. HRM can assist managers with hiring the
right talent at the right time and considering whom to let go of during layoffs.
3. How can HR support and reinforce ethical behavior in the HRM can support corporate ethics through the effective hiring of ethical people and the training of
workplace? employees to recognize and handle both ethical and unethical situations.
messages.downloaded_by
, 4. Provide an example of what these ethical standards might A. A company valuing honesty that quickly recalls products that might be defective or dangerous.
look like at your workplace: B. Appropriateness of CEO salaries and bonuses that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of
a. Virtue – the average employee.
b. Fairness – C. Southwest Airlines cuts all employees' pay rather than laying anyone off.
c. Utilitarian – D. Ensuring that suppliers do not employ child labor or provide unsafe working conditions.
d. Common good – E. If a supervisor tells an employee to handle a toxic substance without appropriate protective
gear.
e. Rights –
5. What are a few of the most common change initiatives that Developing practices that support knowledge transfer and rapid learning Developing strategies to
HR manages? retain top talent and release poor performers Monitoring the new culture to identify ways to
strengthen it Planning for continuous adjustment and learning throughout the process
6. In addition to a lack of planning, what other factors can Culture mismatch is often blamed as a cause of the failure. During the due diligence phase, the
hinder the success of a merger or acquisition? cultures of both organizations need to be evaluated to determine their compatibility
7. Explain the connection between performance metrics, Resistance to change is a real problem during change efforts. Therefore, adopting positive
employee behavior, and the organization’s goals. behaviors along with aligning employee goals to the new organizational goals is critical.
Concept Reference Notes
Organizational culture 2.3 & 2.14 is made up of the norms, values, and assumptions of organizational members.
Types of culture 2.3 Entrepreneurial - Emphasizes creativity, innovation, and risk taking. Electronic Arts and IDEO are
examples of companies with entrepreneurial cultures.
Bureaucratic - Emphasizes formal structures and the correct implementation of organizational
procedures, norms, and rules. This type of culture is commonly associated with consistency and
high ethical standards. Pharmacies and drug manufacturers such as GlaxoSmithKline and Merck
often adopt bureaucratic cultures.
Consensual - Emphasizes loyalty and tradition and encourages employees to stay with the
organization for a long time. Promotion is generally from within. Law firms and the military are
good examples of this type of culture.
Competitive - Emphasizes competitive advantage and market superiority. Brokerage and currency
trading firms are consistent with this type of culture, which often produce a large amount of stress.
Culture & HRM 2.4 & 2.6 Culture and HRM work together to influence employees' performance and behavior
5 types of ethical standards 2.6 utilitarian standard - The ethical action best balances good over harm by doing the most good or
doing the least harm. When Southwest Airlines cuts all employees' pay rather than laying anyone
off, it is following a utilitarian standard.
rights standard - The ethical action is the one that best respects and protects the moral rights of
everyone affected by the action, including the right to privacy, to be told the truth, or to be safe. If
a supervisor tells an employee to handle a toxic substance without appropriate protective gear, the
employee has a right to refuse.
fairness standard – The ethical action treats all people equally, or at least fairly, based on some
defensible standard.
The fairness standard is central in the debate over the appropriateness of CEO salaries and bonuses
that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of the average employee.
common good standard - The ethical action shows respect and compassion for everyone,
especially the most vulnerable. virtue standard - the ethical action is consistent with certain ideal
virtues including civility, compassion, benevolence, etc.
Ethical issues in HRM 2.7 -Hiring/Promotion based on favoritism
-Sexual Harassment
-Discrimination
-Arrangements with Vendors for Personal gain
-Using discipline Inconsistently
-Failure to maintain confidentiality the factor most likely to cause an employee to compromise an
organization's ethical standards is the pressure to meet unrealistic business objectives or deadlines
HRM & organizational change 2.10 Depending on the nature of a strategic change, some employees are likely to lack the willingness
or even the ability to support a new strategy. Targeting HRM efforts to develop, motivate, and
retain the people who are critical to implementing a new strategy may expedite its adoption and
ultimately improve the strategy's effectiveness.
Culture of trust 2.10 One of the most important factors in successfully creating organizational change is the creation of
a culture of trust. Trust keeps employees committed to the organization as changes occur, so they
feel they are part of the change, and the change is not just happening to them
HRM & mergers & acquisitions 2.12 85 percent of mergers fail to accomplish their objectives, and the cost of failure can be enormous.
Culture mismatch is often blamed as a cause of the failure. cultural issues are a frequent reason for
derailed mergers, it is important that HR managers assure that cultural issues are recognized and
addressed before, during, and after the merger
messages.downloaded_by
