BUS 310 Human Resource Management – Strayer

Week 1 Discussion 1 

“Evolution and Goals” Please respond to the following: 

• Based on the evolution of the human resource function in organizations, predict what it will look like 40 years from now. Give specific examples if you can.
• Determine which of the HRM functions has evolved the most and its impact on the stakeholders of the function. Provide a rationale with your response

Week 1 Discussion 2

“Possibilities” Please respond to the following: 

• Describe a company or organization that could thrive without a human resource function. Please be as creative as you like. Determine at what point in the company’s future it would need one, if ever.
• Imagine you are the Director or Vice President of HR for your current or a former employer. Determine two possible goals that do not already exist in the department that you would want to implement. Provide details of why these goals would be important or beneficial to the organization. 

Week 2 Discussion 1

“The Legal Environment” Please respond to the following: 

• Of the HR regulations introduced in Chapter 2, decide which is the most challenging for the average HR department to reach compliance. Provide a rationale with your response.
• Take a position on the following statement: Affirmative action hurts an organization’s ability to hire the best candidate for a position. Support your position with evidence or examples

Week 2 Discussion 2

“The Global Environment” Please respond to the following: 

• Many organizations are increasingly becoming global through the assistance of the Internet and virtual work arrangements. Determine if this scenario makes it easier or more difficult to manage the HR function.
• Imagine you are part of an HR team discussing the building of the organization’s first expatriate program. A small team of employees is being sent to an international assignment, for at least two years, due to a recent merger with an international company. Outline the considerations and protocols the team would be discussing to determine if this is the direction the organization should venture into.  

Week 3 Discussion 1

“Best Practices and Strategies” Please respond to the following: 

• From the video, determine the Fruit Guys business strategy. Identify three other businesses that could use the five questions the Fruit Guys used to determine effectiveness and identify three businesses in which the business strategy would not work well. Provide a rationale for your answer.
• From the e-Activity, assess how the competitive environment for the company you researched affects the HR function for the organization. Determine which strategy would be best suited to address the effects discussed.

Week 3 Discussion  2

“Improvement and Evaluation” Please respond to the following: 

• Assign a grade to your current or former employer’s HR function. Provide a justification for the grade. Then, analyze two improvements that could be implemented quickly (within 3 months’ time) that would raise the grade you assigned.
• Assess the challenges of effectively evaluating the human resources function and steps you could take to address those challenges. 

Week 4 Discussion 1

“Sources of Information” Please respond to the following: 

• From the video, analyze why it is important to look at both the manager and the employee point of view when engaging in human resource planning and how this information can be used as a source of strategy.
• Conduct a cost-benefit analysis for a small up-start company, employing 25 people, to undergo the job-analysis process for all positions. Are the costs worth the benefits? 

Week 4 Discussion 2

“Human Resources Decision Making” Please respond to the following: 

• Analyze the various strategies involved with “rightsizing” and determine possible ethical issues resulting from those strategies. Please give specific examples.
• Determine how much voluntary turnover is reasonable for a company or industry of your choice. Explain your rationale. 

Week 5 Discussion 1

“Recruitment” Please respond to the following: 

• From the video, isolate one of the many aspects of the Scripps recruitment and interview process that could be most attributable to Scripps’ ample supply of registered nurses when there is a nursing shortage across the country. State how you could apply this aspect at your current (or former) place of work.
• From the e-Activity, analyze the trends you researched. Determine whether each trend warrants implementation. Support your response with evidence or examples.

Week 5 Discussion 2

“Selection” Please respond to the following: 

• Assess how the selection process can be shortened for the majority of large organizations (500 plus employees). Support your assessment with two recommendations for large organizations to adopt.
• Determine the importance of reliability and validity in the context of a selection instrument. Analyze each term individually and explain your rationale.  

Week 6 Discussion 1

“Diversity” Please respond to the following: 

• Take a position whether a company should hire for diversity or the best qualified individual. Explain your rationale.
• Determine how your current (or future) place of work could benefit from the same type of diverse workforce.

Week 6 Discussion 2

“Compensation and Benefits” Please respond to the following: 

• During the economic downturn that started in 2008, many companies cut employee benefits and compensation as a measure in preventing layoffs. As companies regain their financial stamina, assess which benefits and compensation should be the first to be returned to employees, and how they should be reinstated. Support your response with evidence or examples.
• From the e-Activity, assess how a company can create a benefits package that appeals to a diverse workforce. Make at least two recommendations for benefits that appeal to all three generations of workers ─ Generation X, Generation Y, and Millennials.  

Week 7 Discussion 1

“Performance Appraisal and Career Management” Please respond to the following: 

• Take a position on the following: A lousy performance appraisal system or process is better than not giving employees any type of performance appraisal. Support your position with evidence or examples.
• From the video, determine the most important consideration in designing an effective performance appraisal system for a specific type of organization. Support your determination

Week 7 Discussion 2

“Labor Relations” Please respond to the following: 

• Analyze the collective bargaining process, negotiating labor agreements and resolving impasses, and determine how these activities will “evolve” in the foreseeable future.
• From the e-Activity, analyze the effects that revoking state employees’ collective bargaining rights may have on all union employees across all industries in the U.S. Support your analysis with evidence or examples.  

Week 8 Discussion 1

“Employee Well-Being” Please respond to the following: 

• The economic downturn has caused several companies to lay off workers, leaving those workers who remain to do the work of their former coworkers. From the e-Activity, assess how the HR department can help employees deal with the stress of doing more work. Determine how important it is for HR departments to address employee stress.
• Assess the initiatives, methods, and ways the HR department can address employee well-being to determine at least three basic “must do” things every HR department must do and three things that would be “nice to do.” Provide a rationale with your choices

Week 8 Discussion 2

“Best Practices and Government Regulation” Please respond to the following: 

• With the increasing use of technology in the workplace, determine if workplace security is getting easier or more difficult for organizations to manage. Support your response with evidence or examples.
• Take a position on which employee regulation covered in the textbook seems outdated and needs to be updated. Indicate how you would update it.  

Week 9 Discussion 1

“Motivation at Work” Please respond to the following: 

• Determine whether ability or motivation is more important in selecting the right person for the right job. Explain your rationale.
• From the e-Activity, compare and contrast what motivates Millennials from Baby Boomers, Generation X, and Generation Y. Assess whether motivating these groups differently from other employees is necessary. 

Week 9 Discussion 2

“Different Types of Motivation” Please respond to the following: 

• Determine which is better for an organization – to foster extrinsic motivation in its employees or intrinsic motivation in its employees. Explain your reasoning.
• Analyze the challenges an organization faces to motivate employees in today’s economic and competitive environments. Recommend at least two ways an organization can address one or more of the challenges you discussed.  

Week 10 Discussion 1

“Enhancing Performance” Please respond to the following: 

• Determine which is more effective at improving employee performance: training and development or job redesign. Explain your reasoning.
• Referring back to the Bright Horizon—Total Reward video, determine three different ways to manage and enhance employee performance and how those ways could be leveraged at your current (or future) place of employment.

Week 10 Discussion 2

“Performance Management” Please respond to the following: 

• Assess the challenges of managers providing accurate, timely, and effective feedback to employees. Recommend how managers can overcome any two of the challenges you identified.
• Of the concepts covered in the textbook chapter, determine which, if implemented well, would have the greatest impact on an organization. Provide a rationale with your response.

Week 11 Discussion 1

“Summary” Please respond to the following: 

• Imagine you are at a party where you have to describe what human resource management is all about. Provide a brief summary to your fellow partygoers.
• Persuade a fellow business major why taking this course is in his/her best interest. What would you say to be persuasive?

Week 11 Discussion 2

“Course Wrap-Up” Please respond to the following: 

• Describe what elements are most valuable to your learning in this course, such as reading the textbook, listening to lectures, discussions, writing papers, etc.
• Describe what you remember most about this course.