(Human Resource Management, 12e Raymond Noe, John Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, Patrick Wright)
(Instructor Manual)
Chapter 1 – Human Resource Management:
Gaining a Competitive Advantage
This chapter discusses the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in gaining a competitive
advantage. It provides a foundation for the rest of the chapters by describing the role HRM plays
within organizations and the skills HRM practitioners need for any company to be competitive.
Within this chapter are the competitive challenges that U.S. companies currently face, which
influence their ability to meet the needs of shareholders, customers, employees, and other
stakeholders and support as to how these competitive challenges are influencing HRM.
At the end of this chapter, instructors should ensure students understand HRM and its role within
organizations (LO1-1, LO1-7). Further, students should be able to discuss the different HRM
practices (LO1-8), which are outlined towards the end of the chapter. Accomplishing both tasks will
help support students in subsequent chapters; however, it can be a difficult task given the
perceptions of HRM and HR departments, as well as the potential for students who lack exposure to
such ideas and practices.
The instructor may wish to ensure (and continue to revisit throughout the course) the student
continually focuses on how they are the ones making the decisions (i.e. managers). However, their
own experiences such as being interviewed can lend to great course discussion and reflection.
Instructors may also find students, especially those with little interest in HRM or within other
majors, experiencing difficulty in recognizing the importance of this topic and practice. Instructors
may wish to emphasize that although HRM is a separate practice, much of what will be studied
directly applies to the business acumen of managers and leaders in all facets of business
management.
Once the above is considered, instructors may then wish to discuss the remainder of the LOs. If
students have had a previous Introduction to Business/ Management or similar course, then
discussion of these LOs from the perspective of strategic management and internal/external
analysis (i.e. SWOT analysis) may help students connect the concepts. Specifically, if a general
understanding of strategic management exists, then instructors may discuss how HRM practices
can contribute to the strategic advantage of organizations, and how HR departments and
professionals hold a specific role and may contribute to this process. It would be helpful to draw
students’ attention to Table 1.15, which shows the outline of the textbook. These topics can help
further demonstrate the different areas within HRM, and what students may expect from the
remainder of the course.
Learning Objectives
LO 1-1: Discuss the roles and activities of a company’s human resource management function.
LO 1-2: Discuss the implications of the economy, the makeup of the labor force, and ethics for
company sustainability.
LO 1-3: Discuss how human resource management affects a company’s balanced scorecard.
LO 1-4: Discuss what companies should do to compete in the global marketplace.
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, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 12e Instructor’s Manual
LO 1-5: Identify how social networking, artificial intelligence, and robotics is influencing human
resource management.
LO 1-6: Describe how automation using artificial intelligence and robotics has the potential to
change jobs.
LO 1-7: Discuss human resource management practices that support high-performance work
systems.
LO 1-8: Provide a brief description of human resource management practices.
Society for Human Resource Management Body of Competency &
Knowledge
This chapter contains content which may be identified within the following content areas identified
in HR Expertise:
• HR Strategic Planning
• Talent Acquisition
• Employee Engagement & Retention
• Learning & Development
• Total Rewards
• Structure of the HR Function
• Organizational Effectiveness & Development
• Workforce Management
• Employee & Labor Relations
• Technology Management
• HR in the Global Context
• Diversity & Inclusion
• Risk Management
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• U.S. Employment Law & Regulations
Human Resource Certification Institute’s A Guide to the HR Body of
Knowledge
This chapter contains content which may be identified within the following content areas:
• Business Management & Strategy
• Workforce Planning and Employment
• Human Resource Development
• Compensation and Benefits
• Employee and Labor Relations
• Risk Management
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consent of McGraw-Hill Education.
, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 12e Instructor’s Manual
Guidance to Discussion Questions and End of Chapter Sections
Discussion Question 1: Traditionally, human resource management practices were developed and
administered by the company’s human resource department. Some companies are abandoning or
don’t have HR departments. Why is this occurring? Is it a good idea for companies not to have an
HR department or HR professionals? Explain your position.
Discussion will most likely focus on associated costs as companies outsource administrative
functions normally housed within HR departments. Instructors may need to emphasize that as long
as the strategically necessary functions are still emphasized and managed well, then HR
departments may not be necessary. The caveat is that sometimes without the department, they do
not get the necessary emphasis. However, HR professionals may not necessarily reside within HR
departments and can be within other departments (Training and Learning departments separate
from the traditional HR department, for example) that focus on a specific function. It may also be
important to emphasize that HR professionals can practice from multiple areas and backgrounds
(Industrial/Organizational Psychology). Thus, HR practitioners and professionals become an
important part of organizations, with or without departments. Further support may be found in
Tables 1.1 (Responsibilities of HR Departments) and 1.2 (Questions to Ask: Is HRM Playing a
Strategic Role in the Business?).
Discussion Question 2: Staffing, training, compensation, and performance management are
important HRM functions. How can each of these functions help companies succeed in meeting the
environmental, social, and governance challenge, the global challenge, and the technology
challenge?
• Staffing: Ensuring organizations predict the appropriate number of employees and
competencies necessary to meet strategic objectives, domestically and globally, and then
acquire them within the necessary timeframe. Example would be leadership identification and
selection with global understanding and the ability to foresee issues within organizational
operations/logistics to ensure sustainability.
• Training: Ensuring employees of organizations have the support to obtain and improve upon
the competencies as necessary to meet the strategy. This would also include leadership
development. Example could be sales training, development of customer service competencies,
and a fluency to use corporate technology and its continual adoption of new technology to
service customers.
• Compensation: Identifying appropriate compensation and benefits strategies that align behind
organizational strategy while meeting identified imperatives such as attraction and retention of
key talent. Global challenge of compensation that meets regulation and demographic needs in
multiple cultural and geographically dispersed areas. Technological challenge of risk and
security management of employee data from theft, as well as meeting regulatory needs of
multiple countries and economic zones.
• Performance Management: Ensuring employee performance is measured for improvement and
other used for organizational decisions. Global challenge of developing leaders with global
business acumen may also be discussed.
Discussion Question 3: What are intangible assets? How are they influenced by HRM practices?
See Table 1.6. Here, intangible assets would be employees and the skills/competencies/knowledge
they bring to the organization. HRM practices impact the attitudes, behaviors, and performance of
employees within the organization (recalling the definition presented within textbook).
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, Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 12e Instructor’s Manual
Discussion Question 4: What is evidence-based HR? Why might an HR department resist
becoming evidence based?
Evidence-based HR is defined as “demonstrating that HR practices have a positive influence on the
company’s bottom line or key stakeholders.” HR may resist due to a) lack of understanding,
knowledge skill sets necessary, b) a feeling of de-personalization of the HR function (i.e. data and
cold decisions versus people and warm decisions) c) fear of data-driven decisions resulting in
downsizing of workforce and HR, especially connected to previous mentioned reasons.
Discussion Question 5: What types of big data would you collect and analyze to understand why
an employer was experiencing a high turnover rate?
Big data is defined as “Information merged from a variety of sources, including HR databases,
corporate financial statements, and employee surveys.” Further responses may include competitor
compensation surveys, performance evaluation results (maybe mention 360 degree assessments
and potential perceptions of management), length of tenure at specific positions, number of
promotions by position/demographic, etc.
Discussion Question 6: Which HR practices can benefit by the use of social collaboration tools like
Twitter and Facebook? Identify the HR practices and explain the benefits gained.
In general, social networking facilitates communication, decentralized decision making, and
collaboration. Social networking can be useful for connecting to customers. It is also valuable for
busy employees to share knowledge and ideas and receive feedback, recognition, mentoring, and
coaching from their peers and managers with whom they may not have much time to interact face-
to-face on a daily basis. Companies can also use social networking for identifying and connecting
with potential job candidates.
Discussion Question 7: Do you agree with the statement “Employee engagement is something
companies should be concerned about only if they are making money”? Explain.
No; as employee engagement can save costs and thus help take company from the red and into the
black.
Discussion Question 8: How does employee engagement relate to the employee experience?
Employee engagement refers to the degree to which employees are fully involved in their work and
the strength of their commitment to their job and the company. Many companies are moving
beyond a narrow focus on employee engagement to focus instead on creating a positive employee
experience. Employee experience refers to everything that influences employees' daily life, both
inside and outside of the workplace. The employee experience is influenced by the company
culture, emotional experience, opportunities for personal growth, and the physical workspace.
Discussion Question 9: This book covers four HRM practice areas: managing the human resource
environment, acquiring and preparing human resources, assessment and development of human
resources, and compensating human resources. Which area do you believe contributes most to
helping a company gain a competitive advantage? Which area do you believe contributes the least?
Why?
This question is meant to have each student explore the different areas of HRM and help ensure
they understand the practice. Students should be guided towards the agreement that each area is
important, but may become more of a strategic imperative depending on an organization’s internal
and/or external environment and subsequent strategy at a point in time.
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