INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
17TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1-1. Explain what HR management is and how it relates to the management process.
To understand what human resource management is, it’s useful to start with what
managers do. Most writers agree that managing involves performing five basic functions:
planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. These functions in total represent
the management process.
1-2. Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all
managers.
HR management concepts and techniques can help all managers to ensure that they get
results—through others. These concepts and techniques also help managers avoid
common personnel mistakes such as: hiring the wrong person; experiencing high
turnover; finding your people not doing their best; wasting time with useless interviews;
facing lawsuits because of discriminatory actions; receiving citations under federal
occupational safety laws for unsafe practices; having some employees think their salaries
are unfair and inequitable relative to others in the organization; allowing a lack of
training to undermine a department’s effectiveness, and committing any unfair labor
practices.
,1-3. Illustrate the HR management responsibilities of line and staff managers.
Line managers are someone's boss; they direct the work of subordinates in pursuit of
accomplishing the organization's basic goals. Some examples of the HR responsibilities
of line managers are: placing the right person on the job; starting new employees in the
organization (orientation); training employees for jobs that are new to them; improving
the job performance of each person; gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth
working relationships; interpreting the company’s policies and procedures; controlling
labor costs; developing the abilities of each person; creating and maintaining department
morale; and protecting employees’ health and physical conditions. Staff managers assist
and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. They do, however, need to
work in partnership with each other to be successful. Some examples of the HR
responsibilities of staff managers include assistance in hiring, training, evaluating,
rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing of employees, and administering various
benefits programs.
1-4. Compare the authority of line and staff managers. Give examples of each.
Line and Staff Aspects of Human Resource Management—in organizations, line
authority traditionally gives managers the right to issue orders to other managers or
employees. Line authority creates a superior (order giver)—subordinate (order receiver)
relationship. Staff authority gives a manager the right to advise other managers or
employees. It creates an advisory relationship.
Line managers have many human resources duties such as the following:
a. Placing the right person in the right job
b. Starting new employees in the organization (orientation)
c. Training employees for jobs that are new to them
d. Improving the job performance of each person
e. Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships
f. Interpreting the company’s policies and procedures
, g. Controlling labor costs
h. Developing the abilities of each person
i. Creating and maintaining departmental morale
j. Protecting employees’ health and physical conditions
Staff managers assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals.
Individual and Group Activities:
1-5. Working individually or in groups, develop outlines showing how trends like
workforce diversity, technological innovation, globalization, and changes in the
nature of work have affected the college or university you are now attending.
Present in class.
The list might include items such as the growth of adult (non-traditional aged) students,
the use of computer and communications technology, diversity issues, and others.
1-6. Working individually or in groups, contact the HR manager of a local bank. Ask the
HR manager how he or she is working as a strategic partner to manage human
resources, given the bank’s strategic goals and objectives. Back in class, discuss the
responses of the different HR managers.
Students should ask the HR manager to discuss how their role as a strategic partner is
improving the bank’s performance, and if the bank’s culture is more innovative and
flexible as a result of the strategic partnership.
1-7. Working individually or in groups, interview an HR manager. Based on that
interview, write a short presentation regarding HR's role today in building
competitive organizations.
, The responses here will, of course, depend upon the organization and HR manager
interviewed. Hopefully, items such as workforce diversity, technological trends,
globalization, high-performance work systems, HR metrics, or ethics will be mentioned.
1-8. Working individually or in groups, bring several business publications such as
Bloomberg’s Business Week and The Wall Street Journal to class or access them in
class via the Web. Based on their contents, compile a list entitled, “What HR
Managers and Departments Do Today.”
The students should look for articles and advertisements that deal with any of the
following topics: conducting job analyses, planning labor needs, and recruiting job
candidates; selecting job candidates; orienting, training, and developing employees;
managing wages and salaries; providing incentives and benefits; appraising performance;
communicating; training and developing managers; building employee commitment;
equal opportunity; affirmative action; employee health and safety; and labor relations.
1-9. Based on your personal experiences, list 10 examples showing how you used (or
could have used) human resource management techniques at work or school.
Depending on the degree of their work experience, students will cite a wide range of
examples, possibly including some of the following: (1) situations where they have
improved the efficiency of their work through the use of technology made available to
them through human resource systems; (2) employed the services of non-traditional
workers (or been employed as a non-traditional worker); (3) developed metrics to
measure how they have added value in terms of human resource contributions; (4) kept
themselves abreast of employment laws in order to minimize risk to their company; (5)
utilized self-service HR technology; (6) employed high-performance work system
concepts in their job/department.
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
17TH EDITION
CHAPTER NO. 01: INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN RESOURCE
MANAGEMENT
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1-1. Explain what HR management is and how it relates to the management process.
To understand what human resource management is, it’s useful to start with what
managers do. Most writers agree that managing involves performing five basic functions:
planning, organizing, staffing, leading, and controlling. These functions in total represent
the management process.
1-2. Give examples of how HR management concepts and techniques can be of use to all
managers.
HR management concepts and techniques can help all managers to ensure that they get
results—through others. These concepts and techniques also help managers avoid
common personnel mistakes such as: hiring the wrong person; experiencing high
turnover; finding your people not doing their best; wasting time with useless interviews;
facing lawsuits because of discriminatory actions; receiving citations under federal
occupational safety laws for unsafe practices; having some employees think their salaries
are unfair and inequitable relative to others in the organization; allowing a lack of
training to undermine a department’s effectiveness, and committing any unfair labor
practices.
,1-3. Illustrate the HR management responsibilities of line and staff managers.
Line managers are someone's boss; they direct the work of subordinates in pursuit of
accomplishing the organization's basic goals. Some examples of the HR responsibilities
of line managers are: placing the right person on the job; starting new employees in the
organization (orientation); training employees for jobs that are new to them; improving
the job performance of each person; gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth
working relationships; interpreting the company’s policies and procedures; controlling
labor costs; developing the abilities of each person; creating and maintaining department
morale; and protecting employees’ health and physical conditions. Staff managers assist
and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals. They do, however, need to
work in partnership with each other to be successful. Some examples of the HR
responsibilities of staff managers include assistance in hiring, training, evaluating,
rewarding, counseling, promoting, and firing of employees, and administering various
benefits programs.
1-4. Compare the authority of line and staff managers. Give examples of each.
Line and Staff Aspects of Human Resource Management—in organizations, line
authority traditionally gives managers the right to issue orders to other managers or
employees. Line authority creates a superior (order giver)—subordinate (order receiver)
relationship. Staff authority gives a manager the right to advise other managers or
employees. It creates an advisory relationship.
Line managers have many human resources duties such as the following:
a. Placing the right person in the right job
b. Starting new employees in the organization (orientation)
c. Training employees for jobs that are new to them
d. Improving the job performance of each person
e. Gaining creative cooperation and developing smooth working relationships
f. Interpreting the company’s policies and procedures
, g. Controlling labor costs
h. Developing the abilities of each person
i. Creating and maintaining departmental morale
j. Protecting employees’ health and physical conditions
Staff managers assist and advise line managers in accomplishing these basic goals.
Individual and Group Activities:
1-5. Working individually or in groups, develop outlines showing how trends like
workforce diversity, technological innovation, globalization, and changes in the
nature of work have affected the college or university you are now attending.
Present in class.
The list might include items such as the growth of adult (non-traditional aged) students,
the use of computer and communications technology, diversity issues, and others.
1-6. Working individually or in groups, contact the HR manager of a local bank. Ask the
HR manager how he or she is working as a strategic partner to manage human
resources, given the bank’s strategic goals and objectives. Back in class, discuss the
responses of the different HR managers.
Students should ask the HR manager to discuss how their role as a strategic partner is
improving the bank’s performance, and if the bank’s culture is more innovative and
flexible as a result of the strategic partnership.
1-7. Working individually or in groups, interview an HR manager. Based on that
interview, write a short presentation regarding HR's role today in building
competitive organizations.
, The responses here will, of course, depend upon the organization and HR manager
interviewed. Hopefully, items such as workforce diversity, technological trends,
globalization, high-performance work systems, HR metrics, or ethics will be mentioned.
1-8. Working individually or in groups, bring several business publications such as
Bloomberg’s Business Week and The Wall Street Journal to class or access them in
class via the Web. Based on their contents, compile a list entitled, “What HR
Managers and Departments Do Today.”
The students should look for articles and advertisements that deal with any of the
following topics: conducting job analyses, planning labor needs, and recruiting job
candidates; selecting job candidates; orienting, training, and developing employees;
managing wages and salaries; providing incentives and benefits; appraising performance;
communicating; training and developing managers; building employee commitment;
equal opportunity; affirmative action; employee health and safety; and labor relations.
1-9. Based on your personal experiences, list 10 examples showing how you used (or
could have used) human resource management techniques at work or school.
Depending on the degree of their work experience, students will cite a wide range of
examples, possibly including some of the following: (1) situations where they have
improved the efficiency of their work through the use of technology made available to
them through human resource systems; (2) employed the services of non-traditional
workers (or been employed as a non-traditional worker); (3) developed metrics to
measure how they have added value in terms of human resource contributions; (4) kept
themselves abreast of employment laws in order to minimize risk to their company; (5)
utilized self-service HR technology; (6) employed high-performance work system
concepts in their job/department.
