Strategic Human Resource Management
Summary of all lectures Strategic Human Resource Management
1
Academic year 2017-2018
Introduction lecture 1
What is Human Resource Management?
Refers to all the activities that are related to management of people and work.
An inevitable process in organizations?!
If you are self-employed, the minute you start thinking about hiring someone, you are actually
engaged in human resource management.
HRM is a fundamental activity in any organization in which human beings are employed
In this course, it is about Strategic Human Resource Management
What is this?
A concern with the ways in which HRM is critical to the firm’s survival and to its relative
success
Two important aspects:
1. The firm’s survival; it doesn’t mean that it always has to be financial success. In some
organizations the focus is more on quality (for example the Dutch inspectorate which visits
schools and universities to control the quality there).
2. Relative success; performance are always compared to a few years ago (for example, in the
real estate a few years ago performance was relatively low).
One of the main underlying assumptions:
Employees are considered the organization’s (most) important key to organizational success,
and therefore HRM is key management task.
HRM/employees the key to organizational success
Ernst & Young: We aspire to have a leading people culture: everywhere in the world. Creating a
culture that attracts and retains outstanding people and helps them thrive leads to better service for
our clients.
NS: This result is something we managed as a team, with all the business units and employees
working together.
Erasmus MC inspires and is challenging:
Together with people, for people: patient-driven care!
Increase in attempts to bring HR data and business together to show the effect of HR on
business outcomes
Basically, it is about the links of HR activities and the performance of organizations
Starting point of this course
Key aspects of HRM can have a significant positive impact on organizational success
Considerable debate about the nature of this relationship
How, when, for whom and who?
1. How?
, Strategic Human Resource Management
What are the mechanisms, what are the underlying processes?
1
Refers to the black-box debate; we don’t know what is between HRM, human
resource practices and performance.
2. When?
When is HRM effective? And is it always effective, or does it depend on the situation
involved? Does it for example differ when you have a small or a big company?
3. For whom?
HR practices might be okay for the financial performance of an organization, but
what about the individual effects on employees? Do they experience more demands
and more stress because of these practices?
4. For whom?
Maybe there are differences within the organizations.
This is what we call workforce differentiation. You need to treat the different
employees in an appropriate way.
5. Who?
What is the HR manager doing? What are the responsibilities?
Is this person really trying to achieve a strategic level? How can the HR manager help
to achieve the goals of the organization? And what about the line manager?
About this course
The learning goals:
1. Students can indicate how (black-box debate) and under which conditions (contingency
perspective) HRM can contribute to organizational performance.
2. Students can interpret the dark-side perspective of HRM and the differentiated workforce
approach.
3. Students can give a reasoned opinion of the role of the line-manager and the HR manager in
the effective implementation of HRM (HR devolution).
4. Students can compare and contrast key theories and research findings on the five challenges
associated with the HRM-performance link (i.e. black-box debate; best practice – best-fit
debate; dark side of HRM; differentiated workforce and HR devolution).
5. Students can combine information obtained in organizations about the HRM-performance
relationship, with academic literature on SHRM, in order to evaluate this link and to make
suggestions for improving it.
5th goal is related to the team assignment.
Structure of the course
5 themes; 1 theme per week
, Strategic Human Resource Management
Introduction to SHRM
1
Lecture 2 - Theme 1: Black-box debate
SHRM scholarship
Key aspects of HRM can have a significant positive impact on organizational success
What is HRM?
What is organizational success?
What is the relationship between HRM and organizational success?
What is HRM?
Generally, all the activities associated with the management of people and work.
There are three policy domains which HRM captures:
1. Skill enhancing practices
2. Motivation enhancing practices
3. Empowerment enhancing practices
Skill enhancing practices
Careful recruitment and selection
Extensive training and development
It’s about getting the right people on the right place in the organization.
Different activities for the selection, but also different activities regarding training and development.
Motivation enhancing practices (instrumental nature)
Extensive performance management
Extensive pay and benefits
Empowerment enhancing practices; offering the opportunity to do their job.
Encouragement of participation
People can for example participate in problem focus groups.
Extensive communication
The goals of the organization must be clear communicated to the employees.
These three domains are highly related to the AMO-framework; ability, motivation, opportunity.
This will be discussed later.
What is organizational success?
For Apple; innovation
VU Medical Centre; quality of care
Lidl supermarket; revenue, cost-effectiveness
This means, organizational success is relative, it is context-dependent.
Some organizations, multiple goals might be important.
For VU Medical Centre; they also need to be cost-effective.
, Strategic Human Resource Management
Early research on the HRM – performance link
1
A relatively young field (30 years old)
Guest et al. (2003); in general there is a positive line in HRM satisfaction and market value per
employee. And next to that; the more HR practices, the better the performance will be.
Evidence for a positive link between HRM and the performance of an organization.
The founding fathers of this field.
Empirical evidence of HRM-performance linkage
In the most recent 20-30 years, a lot of people investigated the link between HRM and performance.
West et al. (2002)
There is a moderately strong positive relationship between HRM and performance
(operational and financial outcomes).
o Operational outcomes: productivity, quality.
o Financial outcomes: financial in terms of profit.
Link between HRM and contextualized performance
Hospital setting
Shiphon et al. (2006)
25 % more staff working in teams 275 fewer deaths per 100.00
Summary of all lectures Strategic Human Resource Management
1
Academic year 2017-2018
Introduction lecture 1
What is Human Resource Management?
Refers to all the activities that are related to management of people and work.
An inevitable process in organizations?!
If you are self-employed, the minute you start thinking about hiring someone, you are actually
engaged in human resource management.
HRM is a fundamental activity in any organization in which human beings are employed
In this course, it is about Strategic Human Resource Management
What is this?
A concern with the ways in which HRM is critical to the firm’s survival and to its relative
success
Two important aspects:
1. The firm’s survival; it doesn’t mean that it always has to be financial success. In some
organizations the focus is more on quality (for example the Dutch inspectorate which visits
schools and universities to control the quality there).
2. Relative success; performance are always compared to a few years ago (for example, in the
real estate a few years ago performance was relatively low).
One of the main underlying assumptions:
Employees are considered the organization’s (most) important key to organizational success,
and therefore HRM is key management task.
HRM/employees the key to organizational success
Ernst & Young: We aspire to have a leading people culture: everywhere in the world. Creating a
culture that attracts and retains outstanding people and helps them thrive leads to better service for
our clients.
NS: This result is something we managed as a team, with all the business units and employees
working together.
Erasmus MC inspires and is challenging:
Together with people, for people: patient-driven care!
Increase in attempts to bring HR data and business together to show the effect of HR on
business outcomes
Basically, it is about the links of HR activities and the performance of organizations
Starting point of this course
Key aspects of HRM can have a significant positive impact on organizational success
Considerable debate about the nature of this relationship
How, when, for whom and who?
1. How?
, Strategic Human Resource Management
What are the mechanisms, what are the underlying processes?
1
Refers to the black-box debate; we don’t know what is between HRM, human
resource practices and performance.
2. When?
When is HRM effective? And is it always effective, or does it depend on the situation
involved? Does it for example differ when you have a small or a big company?
3. For whom?
HR practices might be okay for the financial performance of an organization, but
what about the individual effects on employees? Do they experience more demands
and more stress because of these practices?
4. For whom?
Maybe there are differences within the organizations.
This is what we call workforce differentiation. You need to treat the different
employees in an appropriate way.
5. Who?
What is the HR manager doing? What are the responsibilities?
Is this person really trying to achieve a strategic level? How can the HR manager help
to achieve the goals of the organization? And what about the line manager?
About this course
The learning goals:
1. Students can indicate how (black-box debate) and under which conditions (contingency
perspective) HRM can contribute to organizational performance.
2. Students can interpret the dark-side perspective of HRM and the differentiated workforce
approach.
3. Students can give a reasoned opinion of the role of the line-manager and the HR manager in
the effective implementation of HRM (HR devolution).
4. Students can compare and contrast key theories and research findings on the five challenges
associated with the HRM-performance link (i.e. black-box debate; best practice – best-fit
debate; dark side of HRM; differentiated workforce and HR devolution).
5. Students can combine information obtained in organizations about the HRM-performance
relationship, with academic literature on SHRM, in order to evaluate this link and to make
suggestions for improving it.
5th goal is related to the team assignment.
Structure of the course
5 themes; 1 theme per week
, Strategic Human Resource Management
Introduction to SHRM
1
Lecture 2 - Theme 1: Black-box debate
SHRM scholarship
Key aspects of HRM can have a significant positive impact on organizational success
What is HRM?
What is organizational success?
What is the relationship between HRM and organizational success?
What is HRM?
Generally, all the activities associated with the management of people and work.
There are three policy domains which HRM captures:
1. Skill enhancing practices
2. Motivation enhancing practices
3. Empowerment enhancing practices
Skill enhancing practices
Careful recruitment and selection
Extensive training and development
It’s about getting the right people on the right place in the organization.
Different activities for the selection, but also different activities regarding training and development.
Motivation enhancing practices (instrumental nature)
Extensive performance management
Extensive pay and benefits
Empowerment enhancing practices; offering the opportunity to do their job.
Encouragement of participation
People can for example participate in problem focus groups.
Extensive communication
The goals of the organization must be clear communicated to the employees.
These three domains are highly related to the AMO-framework; ability, motivation, opportunity.
This will be discussed later.
What is organizational success?
For Apple; innovation
VU Medical Centre; quality of care
Lidl supermarket; revenue, cost-effectiveness
This means, organizational success is relative, it is context-dependent.
Some organizations, multiple goals might be important.
For VU Medical Centre; they also need to be cost-effective.
, Strategic Human Resource Management
Early research on the HRM – performance link
1
A relatively young field (30 years old)
Guest et al. (2003); in general there is a positive line in HRM satisfaction and market value per
employee. And next to that; the more HR practices, the better the performance will be.
Evidence for a positive link between HRM and the performance of an organization.
The founding fathers of this field.
Empirical evidence of HRM-performance linkage
In the most recent 20-30 years, a lot of people investigated the link between HRM and performance.
West et al. (2002)
There is a moderately strong positive relationship between HRM and performance
(operational and financial outcomes).
o Operational outcomes: productivity, quality.
o Financial outcomes: financial in terms of profit.
Link between HRM and contextualized performance
Hospital setting
Shiphon et al. (2006)
25 % more staff working in teams 275 fewer deaths per 100.00
