Chapter 16: Lecture Summary

The most important concept I gained from this lecture (and perhaps the entire semester) is "measuring success by dollar value." I remember Ryan Browne, guest speaker from Ancestry.com, making the same statement. I have assisted in many company-sponsored pilot programs and, looking back, can now see that we failed miserably in drawing a connection between the training and/or pilot program and its ROI (Return on Investment). I will never again make this mistake. Additionally, if a program cannot be measured in dollar value, we need to ask ourselves, "Did the program achieve it's objective."

Chapter 16: Creating and Maintaining High-Performance Organizations

Concept and Brief Description: The right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization’s resources and opportunities in achieving its goals.

Emotional Hook: Does Human Resource Management really help an organization meet its business goals?

Key Points:

Conditions that Contribute to High-Performance Work Teams:

1. Self-directed work teams

2. Employees participate in employee selection process

3. Employees actively involved in performance improvement process

4. Ongoing Training

5. Work design allows employees to use a variety of skills

6. Employees understand how their jobs contribute to finished product or service.

Chapter 15: Lecture Summary

Emotional Cycle w/ foreign Assignment:

1. Honeymoon
2. Culture Shock
3. Learning
4. Adjustment

Selection of Employees for Foreign Assignment:

1. Competency in area of expertise

2. Ability to communicate in foreign language

3. Flexibility to cultural differences

4. Motivation to succeed and enjoy challenges

5. Willingness to learn languages, culture, and customs

6. Support from family members

Chapter 15: Managing Human Resources Globally

Concept and Brief Description: As economic and technological change creates a global environment, human resource planning is involved in decisions about participating as an exporter or as an international, multination, or global company. Even purely domestic companies may draw talent from the international labor market.

Emotional Hook: If you were placed in charge of sending a manager to work in a foreign organization, what cultural factors do you need to know in order to be successful? How will you know how to integrate yourself effectively in order to manage, lead, and be successful in the assignment?

Key Points:

Hofstede’s 5 Dimensions of Culture:

1. Individualism/Collectivism: relationship between individual & society

2. Power Distance: unequal distance of power. Is society ok or not ok with amount of distance.

3. Uncertainty Avoidance: how culture handles predictability or not

4. Masculitity/Feminism: male or female dominant

5. Long-term/Short-term Orientation: Focuses on values of future goals