Human Resource Management 

Submitted by: Professor Hayagreeva Rao, Stanford University Graduate School of Business

Suggested text:  

• Baron, J.N. & Kreps, D.M. 2000. Strategic Human Resources: Frameworks for General Managers. New York: Wiley & Sons.  This text is referred to as BK in the syllabus.
• • Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert Sutton “Hard Facts : Dangerous Half-Truths and Total Nonsense: Profiting From Evidence Based Management”, HBS Press. 2006.  This text is referred to as PS in the syllabus.

 

Session 1 :  Aligning HRM with your Marketing Strategy:  

 

Case   

Customer Focus at Neiman Marcus:   We Report to the Customer”, Kellogg School of Management, 5-405-750. 

Reading   

Peter Capelli and Anne Crocker-Hefter. 1996. “Distinctive human resources are firms’ core competencies,” Organizational Dynamics, 24(3):7-22.  

Discussion Questions    

1. What is Neiman’s brand experience? 
2. What are the key HR practices to implement the brand experience? 

Recommended Reading 

• BK, ``Introduction,'' Chapter 1 
• BK, "The Five Factors” and “Employment as a Social Relation.” Chapters 2 & 5.   
• James Guthrie et al. “Peeling Back the Onion: Competitive Advantage Through People; A Test of a Causal Model”, Working paper, 04-09. CAHRS, Cornell University 

 

Session 2 : Selection and Recruiting   

 

Case   

S.G. Cowen: New Recruits (HBS #9-402-028)   

Reading     

A Note on the Hiring and Selection Process, HBS # 9-393-093  

Discussion Questions   

1. What skills should Cowen look for? What is the role of culture and strategy in determining the firm's optimal skill mix?
2. What is the value of "informational interviews" given that they are costly and not used to screen people?   
3. Which of the four candidates do you think has the "highest upside"? Which has the "lowest downside"? How should this affect the firm's hiring decision?
4. Cowen has chosen not to recruit at the very best schools because of competition for students. Is this a good idea? Why or why not?   
5. Which two of the four candidates would you make offers to? Why?   

Recommended Reading   

• BK, " “Staffing and Recruitment.” Chapters 3 & 14.   
• PS “Do the best Organizations have the Best People”, Chapter 4 
• Michael Spence, "Job Market Signaling," Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1971.  

  (This is the paper that won our former dean the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2001. The first 5 pages or so -- through Section 3 -- are not at all technical and lay out his idea very clearly.)   

• Kurt Roon “Rethinking Talent Acquisition”, Business Week, March 5, 2007 

Related Web Site   

 

Session 3: Talent Acquisition, Retention, Development and Strategy. Can People Be a Source of Sustained Advantage?   

 

Case   

 Infosys: Building a Talent Engine to Sustain Growth. (Stanford Case #HR-30)    

Discussion Questions    

1. What is Infosys’s source of competitive advantage?  
2. What are the key HR practices to implement their strategy?  
3. Is Infosys is investing in general human capital – are the skills employees are trained in can be used by other firms that poach talent away from Infosys. According to human capital theory, firms generally should invest in only firm-specific human capital. Why do you think this investment has paid off for Infosys? 
4. What do you think of the proposal before Mr. Pai? How would you structure such a market? 
5. What other challenges confront Infosys? What would you recommend that Nilekani do? 

Recommended Reading   

• BK, "Training” and “Promotion and Career Concerns.” Chapters 15 & 16.   
• Lee, T. W, Mitchell, T. R, Sablynski, C. J, Burton, J. P, Holtom, B. C. 2004. The Effects of Job Embeddedness on Organizational Citizenship, Job Performance, Volitional Absences, and Voluntary Turnover. Academy of Management Journal, 47: 711-722.  
• Sol E. Solomon “The Battle for Asia’s Tech Talent”, Business Week, February 12, 2008. 
• Pete Engardio “India’s Talent Gets Loads of TLC”, Business Week, august 9, 2007    

 

Session 4 -- Designing jobs and work 

 

Case  

Building to a Crescnedo. HBS (9-804-009) 

Discussion Questions  

1. What are the elements of the ‘radical’ structure used at Crescendo? Under what conditions can it outperform the traditional VC early stage model? 
2. Would you invest in Crescendo’s fund? Would you work for them as an MBA? As a GP? 
3. Should Spreng change the organization of work? If so, how? 

Recommended Reading  

• BK, "High-Commitment HRM” and “Job Design.” Chapters 9 & 13.  
• “For Cognizant Two’s Company”, Business Week, January 17, 2008 
• “ I Can’t Believe They Took the Whole Team”, Business Week, December 16, 2006. 
• Peter Leeson. "An-arrgh-chy: The Law and Economics of Pirate Organization." Journal of Political Economy 115(6) 2007: 1049-1094 
• Campion, M. A., & Thayer, P. W. (1987). Job design: Approaches, outcomes, and trade-offs.Organizational Dynamics, 15(3), 66–79 
• Ruth Wageman, “Critical Success Factors for Creating Superb Self-Managing Teams,” Organizational Dynamics (Summer, 1997), pp 49-61. 

 

Session 4 --  Subjective and Objective Measures of Performance 

 

Case   

Bezner, Bonder Lambert and Murphy. Ivey School of Business. 9B02D013 

Reading   

Delving into the Dark Side: The Politics of Executive Appraisal, Gioia, Dennis and Clinton Longenecker, Organizational Dynamics, Winter 94, 22, Issue 3: 47-49.  

Discussion Questions   

1. Did Bezner make the right decision to institute the merit system? 
2. What should be the subjective and objective criteria of performance? Is the mix right? How should they be weighted? 
3. What is your position of the sample of six individuals? What will you recommend? 

Recommended Reading   

• BK, "Performance Evaluation.” Chapter 10.   
• PS “Do Financial Incentives Drive Company performance”, Chapter 5 
• A.S.DeNisi , & Pritchard, R.D. (2006). Improving individual performance: A  motivational framework. Management and Organization Review, 2, 253- 277. 
• “Reshaping Microsoft’s HR Agenda”, Business Week, September 10, 2007 
• “The Struggle to Measure Performance”, Business Week, January 9, 2006 

 

Session 5 -- Reward Systems   

 

Case   

Lincoln Electric in China   (INSEAD Case, European Case Clearing House Case #499-021-1)   

Discussion Questions   

1. What were the key factors in Lincoln's historical success?   
2. Why might there be cultural barriers to exporting Lincoln's business model?   
3. Will Lincoln continue to be successful (generally, not just in China)? If not, what has changed? If so, do they have to do any further adapting?   
4. How should Lincoln adapt its US policies to operate in China?   

Recommended Reading   

• BK, "Pay For Performance” and “Compensation Systems: Forms, Bases, and Distribution of Rewards.” Chapters 11 & 12.   
• Steven Greenhouse, (NYTimes.com)

  "Altering of Worker Time Cards Spurs Growing Number of Suits," April 4, 2004.     

  "Lincoln Electric Experiences Season of Worker Discontent,'' Cleveland Plain Dealer, December 10, 1995.    

  "A Model Incentive Plan Gets Caught in a Vise,'' January 22, 1996.     

Related Web Sites   

Learn more about Lincoln Electric...    

... and then buy yourself some great Lincoln Electric paraphernalia   

 

Session 6 --  Rewards: The Psychology of Employee Recognition  

 

Case   

Employee Recognition at Intuit (Stanford Case #HR-31)   

Reading   

• Pfeffer, Jeffrey. 1998. “Six Dangerous Myths About Pay.” Harvard Business Review, May-June:109-119. 
• Merit pay, performance appraisal, and individual motivation: An analysis and alternative  Human Resource Management; New York; Donald Campbell and others, 37, 2:141-146. 
• Jennifer Sarinow, ``Anybody Want to Take a Nap?,'' January 24, 2005.     

Discussion Questions  

1. What are the strengths and weaknesses of the employee recognition program at Intuit? 
2. Is it better for rewards to be scarce and selective, or frequent? What is the right frequency? How do you ensure it?
3. What is the role of surprise in rewards? Are unexpected rewards better? How would you structure a program for them?  

Recommended Reading   

• PS: Is Work Fundamentally Different from the Rest of Life, and Should it be”? Chapter 3 
• Matt Richtel, "Fringes vs. Basics in Silicon Valley," March 9, 2005. 

 

Session 7 --  Information Sharing and Empowerment: Markets for Ideas 

 

Case  

Rite Solutions: Mavericks Unleashing the Quiet Genius of Employees. Stanford CaseHR27  

Reading   

The Road to Empowerment: Seven Questions Every Leader Should Ask, Robert Quinn, Gretchen Spreitzer, Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, 1997, Vol 26. 37-50.  

Discussion Questions  

1. What is the Mutual Fun? An electronic suggestion box? Or is it more than that? 
2. What makes it work?  
3. Where can it be generalized?  

Recommended Reading   

• PS: Change or Die, Chapter 7 
• Tom Davenport “Some Predictions about Prediction Markets”, Business Week, January 14, 2008 
• Rachel King “Hollywood Games People Play”, Business Week, August 7, 2006 
• Noam Cohen. “Google’s Lunchtime Betting Game”, New York Times, January 7, 2008 

 

Session 8  -- HRM and Unions 

 

Cases 

Does this Company need a Union, HBR, 1998 

Discussion Questions  

1. How should Wellington Associates respond?  

Reading   

Jeffrey Pfeffer, In Praise of Organized Labor: What Unions Really Do?, HBS Press. 2007 

 

Session 9 -- Summary: Putting it all Together  

 

Case  

Kenexa. (Ivey School of Business. 9BO7C004) 

Discussion Questions  

1. As Wiley and Brooks, how would you use the survey data given to you to inform NCB managers of the drivers of service quality in branches. 
2. What recommendations would you offer to improve the performance of NCB? 
3. How would you organize the presentation to NCB top management? 
4. Reflecting on the companies we have studied in this course, as well as your own work experience, what lessons do you draw about the respective roles that general managers and the HR function in organizations should play in the management of human resources. 

Recommended Reading 

•  PS: Why Every Company needs Evidence Based Management? Chapter 1 
• PS: How to Practice Evidence Based Management, Chapter 2.