Human resource management: notes
1. Chapter 1: the balancing act of managing human resources
1.1. HR roles and competencies
What are the duties of an HR manager?
o Recruitment (attracting applicants) and selection (pick the right applicant)
o Alignments
Many of the tasks we think HRM does is done by line management, while HR managers
design them.
2. Chapter 2: strategy-driven HRM
2.1. Characteristics of strategic HRM
2.2. Competitive advantage
A. When are humans a source of sustained competitive advantage?
o We look inside the company for strength
o What are human resources?
Knowledge
Skills
Motivation
…
B. Are human resources valuable?
o Similar/identical jobs: there is no value in doing the job
o Only when there are differences between people and jobs, we add value
o So yes, people are valuable
o Mark A. Huselid looked at HR practices
He investigated relationships
He was the first one to ask: is there a relationship between these two things?
o Are human resources valuable,
o A positive correlation exists between the quality of HR practices and the financial
outcomes of a firm.
o Can be possible, but not sure:
Implementing superior HR practices enhances overall company financial
performance.
Having substantial financial resources motivates companies to implement high-
quality HR practices.
Effective management results in both excellent HR practices and superior
financial outcomes.
C. Are human resources rare?
o They are not always rare: loose labour market, unemployment
o Sometimes you don’t need special skills for a job, so human resources are not rare
(everyone can do it)
o Human skills are normally distributed
D. Are human resources inimitable?
o It is difficult to imitate, but not impossible.
o History of decision that eventually leads to performance, that history is unique to the
company
As a competitor, it’s not possible to copy that entire history
o It is not always easy to know why a team is more successful than another.
o It is not always easy even for the team to know why
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, o You can’t imitate the connection between employees: trust and knowledge between
employees
o Yes it is possible to imitate, but doesn’t guarantee the same success
E. Are human resources non-sustainable
o We are not sure: there are definitely some jobs that will get taken over by AI but not
all
o It’s still humans that make AI
o So it mostly depends on the job whether it is substitutable or not
F. When are humans a source of sustained competitive advantage
o Yes in some situations humans matter
2.3. Alignment
A. Different types of alignment
o HR practices need to support the business strategy
B. Vertical alignment
C. Different types of alignment
o There is more than business strategy, there is also organization structure
o Organization culture: values and norms that are implicit, you don’t always realise they
are there
D. Horizontal alignment
o Is about HR practices that nicely go to getter or are really contradicting to each other
E. Organisational alignment
o Functional structure: everything neatly divided into departments
o Each department responsible for own business structures
o Cost effective structure = cost-leadership strategy (economics of scale, verry cost
efficient)
o Promotes innovation
o Good structure for patient care (hospital)
o How people divide tasks
o The structure follows the task
o Innovation needs rapid communication, even between different groups and different
departments
o Innovation good with cost leadership
F. Environmental alignment
o Mimetic: copying what other organizations do
2.4. The AMO model
What is in the black box? – still a question today
A. Ability
B. Motivation
C. Opportunity
If you combine ability, motivation and opportunity:
A. More interactive
There is a difference between what you do and how it is interpreted: if someone tells you
what to do, you are less likely to actually do it
2.5. HR Metrics
In order to be strategic, you need to be able to talk the business language
A. HRM increasingly relies on hard data and metrics to show added value, why?
A. Often there is no specific research done before, so you get evidence from your own
experience or your colleague's experience
B. It is better to take decisions based on little information than on no information
B. How to evaluate evidence?
Pagina 2 van 14
1. Chapter 1: the balancing act of managing human resources
1.1. HR roles and competencies
What are the duties of an HR manager?
o Recruitment (attracting applicants) and selection (pick the right applicant)
o Alignments
Many of the tasks we think HRM does is done by line management, while HR managers
design them.
2. Chapter 2: strategy-driven HRM
2.1. Characteristics of strategic HRM
2.2. Competitive advantage
A. When are humans a source of sustained competitive advantage?
o We look inside the company for strength
o What are human resources?
Knowledge
Skills
Motivation
…
B. Are human resources valuable?
o Similar/identical jobs: there is no value in doing the job
o Only when there are differences between people and jobs, we add value
o So yes, people are valuable
o Mark A. Huselid looked at HR practices
He investigated relationships
He was the first one to ask: is there a relationship between these two things?
o Are human resources valuable,
o A positive correlation exists between the quality of HR practices and the financial
outcomes of a firm.
o Can be possible, but not sure:
Implementing superior HR practices enhances overall company financial
performance.
Having substantial financial resources motivates companies to implement high-
quality HR practices.
Effective management results in both excellent HR practices and superior
financial outcomes.
C. Are human resources rare?
o They are not always rare: loose labour market, unemployment
o Sometimes you don’t need special skills for a job, so human resources are not rare
(everyone can do it)
o Human skills are normally distributed
D. Are human resources inimitable?
o It is difficult to imitate, but not impossible.
o History of decision that eventually leads to performance, that history is unique to the
company
As a competitor, it’s not possible to copy that entire history
o It is not always easy to know why a team is more successful than another.
o It is not always easy even for the team to know why
Pagina 1 van 14
, o You can’t imitate the connection between employees: trust and knowledge between
employees
o Yes it is possible to imitate, but doesn’t guarantee the same success
E. Are human resources non-sustainable
o We are not sure: there are definitely some jobs that will get taken over by AI but not
all
o It’s still humans that make AI
o So it mostly depends on the job whether it is substitutable or not
F. When are humans a source of sustained competitive advantage
o Yes in some situations humans matter
2.3. Alignment
A. Different types of alignment
o HR practices need to support the business strategy
B. Vertical alignment
C. Different types of alignment
o There is more than business strategy, there is also organization structure
o Organization culture: values and norms that are implicit, you don’t always realise they
are there
D. Horizontal alignment
o Is about HR practices that nicely go to getter or are really contradicting to each other
E. Organisational alignment
o Functional structure: everything neatly divided into departments
o Each department responsible for own business structures
o Cost effective structure = cost-leadership strategy (economics of scale, verry cost
efficient)
o Promotes innovation
o Good structure for patient care (hospital)
o How people divide tasks
o The structure follows the task
o Innovation needs rapid communication, even between different groups and different
departments
o Innovation good with cost leadership
F. Environmental alignment
o Mimetic: copying what other organizations do
2.4. The AMO model
What is in the black box? – still a question today
A. Ability
B. Motivation
C. Opportunity
If you combine ability, motivation and opportunity:
A. More interactive
There is a difference between what you do and how it is interpreted: if someone tells you
what to do, you are less likely to actually do it
2.5. HR Metrics
In order to be strategic, you need to be able to talk the business language
A. HRM increasingly relies on hard data and metrics to show added value, why?
A. Often there is no specific research done before, so you get evidence from your own
experience or your colleague's experience
B. It is better to take decisions based on little information than on no information
B. How to evaluate evidence?
Pagina 2 van 14
