Deck 18: Managing Human Resources in Small and Entrepreneurial Firms

Question 1

How and why is HR in small businesses different than that in large firms?

Answer 1

Human Resources:
These are people who are working in an organization and are treated as one of the factors of production. They can be classified as staff and labor.
There are four main reasons why managing HR in small firms is different. They are as follows:
1. Size:
Small companies where the employee size is less than 100 may not posses dedicated human resource management professionals for engaging in HR tasks in the organization. But it does not mean that small businesses do ot have human resource tasks, for example even a small departmental store must recruit, select, train and compensate employees. In those cases, normally owner with a help of his or her assistant takes care of HR activities.
2. Priorities:
In small organizations, many entrepreneurs give priorities to other issues rather than core HR activities. Small firms do not give importance to HR as an individual and important resource. Small firms tend to give more importance to other resources by virtue of their belief. Even in case of Small and medium enterprises, the manager's main preference is given to the other functional areas than HR because of limited resources in terms of time, money, people and expertise.
3. Informality:
It is identified that many small or SMEs human resources management department is informal. Hence the activities will become informal and less prioritized.
The informality is not just because of lack of just expertise and resources but it is matter of survival. Entrepreneurs must be able to react quickly to changes in competitive conditions.
4. The nature of the entrepreneur:
By virtue of an entrepreneur, he/she always is willing to take challenges for business sustainability and growth. Hence entrepreneurs need to be dedicated and visionary. Researchers believe that small firm's relative informality towards HR activities partly originated from entrepreneurs' unique personalities and perception.
Conclusion:
Though the importance of HRM is more towards enterprise success, small firms are unable to adopt and implement HR systems due to above said reasons.

Question 2

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE at The Hotel Paris
The New HRIS
The Hotel Paris's competitive strategy is "To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability." HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
Challenging economic times in the past few years brought the drawbacks of the Hotel Paris's relatively small size into sharp relief. Large chains like Marriott had vast online reservations capabilities with huge centralized systems that easily and economically handled reservations requests from throughout the world. By comparison, the Hotel Paris still handled reservations much as hotels did 15 years ago, either with separate websites for each of their hotel locations, e-mail, or an 800-number.
Their human resource management information systems were similarly primitive. Lisa had managed to install several separate information systems, such as for performance appraisals. However, as she discussed one day over lunch with the CFO, the HR systems were not integrated. Therefore, if an employee changed his or her name, for instance, through marriage, people in Lisa's office had to execute all those name changes manually on all the various employee rosters and benefits plans.
This lack of integration was bad enough in boom times, but was worse as the economy soured. The CFO pointed out to her that the amount of money they were spending on human resource management administration was about 30% higher than it was at larger chains such as Marriott. He understood that large size brings economies of scale. But he believed there had to be something they could do to reduce the cost of administering human resource management.
Lisa's solution was to get the CFO's approval to have several software consulting firms including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle provide proposals for how to integrate the hotel's HR information systems. After getting the CFO's and CEO's approval, they contracted with one vendor and installed the system.
Throughout this textbook, we've discussed various specific examples of how human resource management departments have been reducing the cost of delivering their services. Keeping in mind the Hotel Paris's service quality orientation, please list and explain with examples how Lisa Cruz could use at least five of these.

Answer 2

Human resource management is something that is assumed of very little importance, but it is the key to any of the enterprise. HR personnel possess that inner ability to manage to supervise the people at work. They can handle all the grievances inside outside the office vicinity. They can empathize their colleagues excels when it comes to take decisions based on emotional intelligence. Any road passerby cannot take a charge of supplying workforce to the organization. Any person cannot deliver the administration processes in an enterprise.
The following are the five examples of reducing cost of delivering the services that Lisa Cruz could use:
• It is very often seen that many big wig executives and top management are keen to play solitares and various card games in between their work time. The reason behind this is that they want to challenge themselves and after winning they derive enormous self-belief and reliance. For instance, a hypermarket announces a competition for all the cash counter and billing employees that for speedy billing they will earn more monetary benefits every month. This will create a struggle between them to start with the work and earn as much as they can by billing speedily. Hotel Paris also desired to give its employees some free time.
• It is advisable to have atleast 1-2 day considered as a free and entertainment days in a month where employees are engaged in the activities to break the monotony and rejuvenate them. Many companies nowadays invites their workforce to get into the games, plays and other cultural and sport related activities. This in turn will provide for the enhancement in the productivity of the organization as a whole.
• The biggest award for an employee is the recognition of his job. If this recognition comes along with a reward, adds glitter to the gold. A leader should be very generous when it comes to giving rewards and appreciation towards his employees. The rewards could be anything ranging from monetary benefits to non-monetary rewards. This appreciation in the form of gifts, cash, or kind gives a sense of belonging and security in the minds of the workers which makes them more reliable and loyal towards their workplace.
• Sometimes when an elder could not get a solution, a child should be given a chance to think over it. Similarly, when a boss finds himself incapable of getting a solution to a problem, an employee/ employees should be involved in it. Who knows these fresh young minds might get a solution which is out of box can solve the difficulty easily. Great mind is not the one which constantly triggers and thinks over the matters surrounding them but the mind which keeps a focus on every issue and thinks over it when a right time arrives. A fresh employee in an organization is like a flower which has recently blossomed and is full of fragrances and colors contains harnessing skills to be utilized.
• Google gives its employees immense time to do their work as dedicating one day at work doing their own chores of their choice. It actually increases the productivity in a manifold manner. An employee really gets a feeling of belonging when given a chance to get their jobs to be done at the office hours. You can also give them 3-4 weeks off from the office so that they can rejuvenate by living and enjoying their family life. The employee can use this off day in car, temple or church, shopping malls, shower etc. the biggest benefit you get is that when they return from the holidays they are full of life, vigor and highly vivacious towards the tasks heading them. It ultimately reaches to the growth of the organization.

Question 3

Explain why HRM is important to small businesses.

Answer 3

Overview:
Human resource management is very important to achieve good results than competitors. Human resource management practices make use of other resources effectively and improve the output. It plays a major role in developing competitive advantages. HRM is not only important for big firms but also for small firms.
HRM is important for small firms because of the following reasons:
1) Small business owners, who practice HRM, can face the competition from big firms most efficiently than other small firms where there are no HRM practices. By the application of web based tools available in HRM can reduce costs.
2) If small firms practice HRM, there exist at least one or two persons responsible for smooth flow of work and reduce the complications that arises from occupational safety problems, employment law and many more.
3) Small firms can gain potential and time to deal with work place legal implications.
4) Small business owner will get complete knowledge about compensation laws and regulations. With this, worker will receive a pay at par with the industry. Satisfied workers deliver quality work.
5) Due to proper HR practices there won't be a duplication of work and data entry errors. So timely delivery of work is possible.
6) Basically HRM for small businesses is for attaining competitive strength. Normally the firms that follow HRM practices do better than who don't have.
7) To get and retain the key customers HRM is mandatory.
8) Today most customers check that a company has any international certifications, HR policies, customer satisfaction etc.
9) Small firms can develop competitive advantages.
Conclusion:
HRM is a very important discipline that helps small organizations to sustain and grow. It strengthens small organizations and helps them face competition most efficiently.

Question 4

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE at The Hotel Paris
The New HRIS
The Hotel Paris's competitive strategy is "To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability." HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
Challenging economic times in the past few years brought the drawbacks of the Hotel Paris's relatively small size into sharp relief. Large chains like Marriott had vast online reservations capabilities with huge centralized systems that easily and economically handled reservations requests from throughout the world. By comparison, the Hotel Paris still handled reservations much as hotels did 15 years ago, either with separate websites for each of their hotel locations, e-mail, or an 800-number.
Their human resource management information systems were similarly primitive. Lisa had managed to install several separate information systems, such as for performance appraisals. However, as she discussed one day over lunch with the CFO, the HR systems were not integrated. Therefore, if an employee changed his or her name, for instance, through marriage, people in Lisa's office had to execute all those name changes manually on all the various employee rosters and benefits plans.
This lack of integration was bad enough in boom times, but was worse as the economy soured. The CFO pointed out to her that the amount of money they were spending on human resource management administration was about 30% higher than it was at larger chains such as Marriott. He understood that large size brings economies of scale. But he believed there had to be something they could do to reduce the cost of administering human resource management.
Lisa's solution was to get the CFO's approval to have several software consulting firms including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle provide proposals for how to integrate the hotel's HR information systems. After getting the CFO's and CEO's approval, they contracted with one vendor and installed the system.
Focusing only on human resource information systems for a moment, what sorts of systems would you suggest Lisa consider recommending for the Hotel Paris? Why?

Question 5

Explain and give at least five examples of ways entrepreneurs can use small size-familiarity, flexibility, and informality-to improve their HR processes.

Question 6

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE at The Hotel Paris
The New HRIS
The Hotel Paris's competitive strategy is "To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability." HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
Challenging economic times in the past few years brought the drawbacks of the Hotel Paris's relatively small size into sharp relief. Large chains like Marriott had vast online reservations capabilities with huge centralized systems that easily and economically handled reservations requests from throughout the world. By comparison, the Hotel Paris still handled reservations much as hotels did 15 years ago, either with separate websites for each of their hotel locations, e-mail, or an 800-number.
Their human resource management information systems were similarly primitive. Lisa had managed to install several separate information systems, such as for performance appraisals. However, as she discussed one day over lunch with the CFO, the HR systems were not integrated. Therefore, if an employee changed his or her name, for instance, through marriage, people in Lisa's office had to execute all those name changes manually on all the various employee rosters and benefits plans.
This lack of integration was bad enough in boom times, but was worse as the economy soured. The CFO pointed out to her that the amount of money they were spending on human resource management administration was about 30% higher than it was at larger chains such as Marriott. He understood that large size brings economies of scale. But he believed there had to be something they could do to reduce the cost of administering human resource management.
Lisa's solution was to get the CFO's approval to have several software consulting firms including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle provide proposals for how to integrate the hotel's HR information systems. After getting the CFO's and CEO's approval, they contracted with one vendor and installed the system.
Explain with detailed examples how Lisa can use free online and governmental sources to accomplish at least part of what you propose in your previous answers.

Question 7

Describe with examples how you would create a startup, paper-based human resource system for a new small business.

Question 8

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE at The Hotel Paris
The New HRIS
The Hotel Paris's competitive strategy is "To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability." HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
Challenging economic times in the past few years brought the drawbacks of the Hotel Paris's relatively small size into sharp relief. Large chains like Marriott had vast online reservations capabilities with huge centralized systems that easily and economically handled reservations requests from throughout the world. By comparison, the Hotel Paris still handled reservations much as hotels did 15 years ago, either with separate websites for each of their hotel locations, e-mail, or an 800-number.
Their human resource management information systems were similarly primitive. Lisa had managed to install several separate information systems, such as for performance appraisals. However, as she discussed one day over lunch with the CFO, the HR systems were not integrated. Therefore, if an employee changed his or her name, for instance, through marriage, people in Lisa's office had to execute all those name changes manually on all the various employee rosters and benefits plans.
This lack of integration was bad enough in boom times, but was worse as the economy soured. The CFO pointed out to her that the amount of money they were spending on human resource management administration was about 30% higher than it was at larger chains such as Marriott. He understood that large size brings economies of scale. But he believed there had to be something they could do to reduce the cost of administering human resource management.
Lisa's solution was to get the CFO's approval to have several software consulting firms including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle provide proposals for how to integrate the hotel's HR information systems. After getting the CFO's and CEO's approval, they contracted with one vendor and installed the system.
Give three examples of fee-based online tools you suggest Lisa use.

Question 9

Form teams of five or six persons, each with at least one person who owns or has worked for a small business. Based on their experiences, make a list of the "inadequate-HR risks" the business endured, in terms of competitive disadvantage, lack of specialized HR expertise, workplace litigation, compensation laws compliance, and paperwork/data-entry errors.

Question 10

Based on what you read in this chapter of Dessler, Human Resource Management , do you suggest Lisa use a PEO? Why?

Question 11

You own a small business, and you are confused about which of your employees is eligible for overtime pay. The employees in question include your secretary, two accounting clerks, one engineer, and two inside salespeople. Individually or in groups of four or five students, use the DOL's Overtime Security Advisor and DOL's Calculator to determine who gets overtime pay.

Question 12

Explain and give at least four examples of how entrepreneurs can use Internet and government tools to support the HR effort.

Question 13

You have about 32 employees working in your factory. Working individually or in teams of four or five students, find and create a list of five online sources you could use to provide training to them, at no cost to you or to them.

Question 14

This chapter explained that to compete with larger employers, the small business owner should capitalize on familiarity, flexibility, and informality. What does this mean and how as a small business owner would you do that?

Question 15

Appendices A and B at the end of this book (pages 612-629) list the knowledge someone studying for the HRCI (Appendix A) or SHRM (Appendix B) certification exam needs to have in each area of human resource management (such as in Strategic Management, and Workforce Planning). In groups of several students, do four things:
(1) review Appendix A and/or B;
(2) identify the material in this chapter that relates to the Appendix A and/or B required knowledge lists;
(3) write four multiple-choice exam questions on this material that you believe would be suitable for inclusion in the HRCI exam and/or the SHRM exam; and,
(4) if time permits, have someone from your team post your team's questions in front of the class, so that students in all teams can answer the exam questions created by the other teams.

Question 16

MyManagementLab only-comprehensive writing assignment for this chapter.

Question 17

Netflix Breaks the Rules
Why did Netflix survive as a start-up when the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s? Probably because, from the day he started Netflix, founder Reed Hastings believed in breaking the rules. His direct-to-consumer mail and video streaming business model certainly helped Netflix to survive. But the firm's unorthodox human resource management practices helped the company to attract and keep the high producers who design the products that are the firm's lifeblood. Hastings knew that top Silicon Valley workers could choose where they worked, and high pay is pretty much standard throughout the Valley's industries. How to set oneself apart? Hastings and his start-up colleagues believed that a culture that balanced a flexible work environment with few constraints and high responsibility was the answer. They called the policy "Freedom and Responsibility."
Just how unorthodox are the Netflix HR practices? Consider this: As a Netflix professional you get unlimited vacations. One engineer takes 5-week vacations to Europe, because he likes (as he says) to take his time off in big chunks. (An HR officer must approve time off in excess of 30 days annually.) As a Netflix employee, your pay isn't tied to performance appraisals, or even to a compensation plan. Frequent market salary surveys and pay hikes keep everyone's pay aligned with Silicon Valley competitors'. Each employee decides whether to take his or her pay in cash or in Netflix stock. Options vest immediately. Netflix doesn't recruit much at college job fairs, instead hiring mostly highly experienced professionals. There's no training, professional development, or career planning at Netflix (except for legally required training, such as diversity training). You're in charge of your own career.
But with freedom like that comes responsibilities. The company expects its salaried employees to work hard-to "do the jobs of three or four people" as one report put it. And Netflix doesn't have the "frat party" free-wheeling atmosphere that many dot-coms do. It's an adult environment. Netflix does not coddle underperformers. Yearly 360-degree performance reviews provide "direct and honest feedback." Those that aren't cutting it are quickly let go, but (whenever possible) amicably. Rather than the sorts of litigiousness that often characterizes dismissals in other firms (having to prove the person was incompetent, for instance), Netflix writes a check. The company believes that a handsome severance payment helps maintain the person's dignity, makes it easier for supervisors to make tough calls with underperformers, and, of course, minimizes blowback from those it dismisses. It's more like a "no-fault divorce," as one observer put it.
Questions
In many respects, the Netflix HR strategy seems like a dream come true for small businesses. You don't need a pay plan; instead, you just update each person's pay every few months based on market surveys. You offer no training and development. And you don't track vacation time, more or less. If someone's not doing well, you just pay him or her to leave, with no hassles. Netflix seems to have hit upon its own version of "Netflix High-Performance Work Practices." Given that, answer the following questions (please be specific).
What (if anything) is it about Netflix that makes its HR practices work for it?

Question 18

Netflix Breaks the Rules
Why did Netflix survive as a start-up when the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s? Probably because, from the day he started Netflix, founder Reed Hastings believed in breaking the rules. His direct-to-consumer mail and video streaming business model certainly helped Netflix to survive. But the firm's unorthodox human resource management practices helped the company to attract and keep the high producers who design the products that are the firm's lifeblood. Hastings knew that top Silicon Valley workers could choose where they worked, and high pay is pretty much standard throughout the Valley's industries. How to set oneself apart? Hastings and his start-up colleagues believed that a culture that balanced a flexible work environment with few constraints and high responsibility was the answer. They called the policy "Freedom and Responsibility."
Just how unorthodox are the Netflix HR practices? Consider this: As a Netflix professional you get unlimited vacations. One engineer takes 5-week vacations to Europe, because he likes (as he says) to take his time off in big chunks. (An HR officer must approve time off in excess of 30 days annually.) As a Netflix employee, your pay isn't tied to performance appraisals, or even to a compensation plan. Frequent market salary surveys and pay hikes keep everyone's pay aligned with Silicon Valley competitors'. Each employee decides whether to take his or her pay in cash or in Netflix stock. Options vest immediately. Netflix doesn't recruit much at college job fairs, instead hiring mostly highly experienced professionals. There's no training, professional development, or career planning at Netflix (except for legally required training, such as diversity training). You're in charge of your own career.
But with freedom like that comes responsibilities. The company expects its salaried employees to work hard-to "do the jobs of three or four people" as one report put it. And Netflix doesn't have the "frat party" free-wheeling atmosphere that many dot-coms do. It's an adult environment. Netflix does not coddle underperformers. Yearly 360-degree performance reviews provide "direct and honest feedback." Those that aren't cutting it are quickly let go, but (whenever possible) amicably. Rather than the sorts of litigiousness that often characterizes dismissals in other firms (having to prove the person was incompetent, for instance), Netflix writes a check. The company believes that a handsome severance payment helps maintain the person's dignity, makes it easier for supervisors to make tough calls with underperformers, and, of course, minimizes blowback from those it dismisses. It's more like a "no-fault divorce," as one observer put it.
Questions
In many respects, the Netflix HR strategy seems like a dream come true for small businesses. You don't need a pay plan; instead, you just update each person's pay every few months based on market surveys. You offer no training and development. And you don't track vacation time, more or less. If someone's not doing well, you just pay him or her to leave, with no hassles. Netflix seems to have hit upon its own version of "Netflix High-Performance Work Practices." Given that, answer the following questions (please be specific).
Would you suggest using similar practices in other businesses, such as, say, a new restaurant? Why?

Question 19

Netflix Breaks the Rules
Why did Netflix survive as a start-up when the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s? Probably because, from the day he started Netflix, founder Reed Hastings believed in breaking the rules. His direct-to-consumer mail and video streaming business model certainly helped Netflix to survive. But the firm's unorthodox human resource management practices helped the company to attract and keep the high producers who design the products that are the firm's lifeblood. Hastings knew that top Silicon Valley workers could choose where they worked, and high pay is pretty much standard throughout the Valley's industries. How to set oneself apart? Hastings and his start-up colleagues believed that a culture that balanced a flexible work environment with few constraints and high responsibility was the answer. They called the policy "Freedom and Responsibility."
Just how unorthodox are the Netflix HR practices? Consider this: As a Netflix professional you get unlimited vacations. One engineer takes 5-week vacations to Europe, because he likes (as he says) to take his time off in big chunks. (An HR officer must approve time off in excess of 30 days annually.) As a Netflix employee, your pay isn't tied to performance appraisals, or even to a compensation plan. Frequent market salary surveys and pay hikes keep everyone's pay aligned with Silicon Valley competitors'. Each employee decides whether to take his or her pay in cash or in Netflix stock. Options vest immediately. Netflix doesn't recruit much at college job fairs, instead hiring mostly highly experienced professionals. There's no training, professional development, or career planning at Netflix (except for legally required training, such as diversity training). You're in charge of your own career.
But with freedom like that comes responsibilities. The company expects its salaried employees to work hard-to "do the jobs of three or four people" as one report put it. And Netflix doesn't have the "frat party" free-wheeling atmosphere that many dot-coms do. It's an adult environment. Netflix does not coddle underperformers. Yearly 360-degree performance reviews provide "direct and honest feedback." Those that aren't cutting it are quickly let go, but (whenever possible) amicably. Rather than the sorts of litigiousness that often characterizes dismissals in other firms (having to prove the person was incompetent, for instance), Netflix writes a check. The company believes that a handsome severance payment helps maintain the person's dignity, makes it easier for supervisors to make tough calls with underperformers, and, of course, minimizes blowback from those it dismisses. It's more like a "no-fault divorce," as one observer put it.
Questions
In many respects, the Netflix HR strategy seems like a dream come true for small businesses. You don't need a pay plan; instead, you just update each person's pay every few months based on market surveys. You offer no training and development. And you don't track vacation time, more or less. If someone's not doing well, you just pay him or her to leave, with no hassles. Netflix seems to have hit upon its own version of "Netflix High-Performance Work Practices." Given that, answer the following questions (please be specific).
List the criteria you would use for deciding whether another company is right for Netflix-type HR practices.

Question 20

Netflix Breaks the Rules
Why did Netflix survive as a start-up when the dot-com bubble burst in the late 1990s? Probably because, from the day he started Netflix, founder Reed Hastings believed in breaking the rules. His direct-to-consumer mail and video streaming business model certainly helped Netflix to survive. But the firm's unorthodox human resource management practices helped the company to attract and keep the high producers who design the products that are the firm's lifeblood. Hastings knew that top Silicon Valley workers could choose where they worked, and high pay is pretty much standard throughout the Valley's industries. How to set oneself apart? Hastings and his start-up colleagues believed that a culture that balanced a flexible work environment with few constraints and high responsibility was the answer. They called the policy "Freedom and Responsibility."
Just how unorthodox are the Netflix HR practices? Consider this: As a Netflix professional you get unlimited vacations. One engineer takes 5-week vacations to Europe, because he likes (as he says) to take his time off in big chunks. (An HR officer must approve time off in excess of 30 days annually.) As a Netflix employee, your pay isn't tied to performance appraisals, or even to a compensation plan. Frequent market salary surveys and pay hikes keep everyone's pay aligned with Silicon Valley competitors'. Each employee decides whether to take his or her pay in cash or in Netflix stock. Options vest immediately. Netflix doesn't recruit much at college job fairs, instead hiring mostly highly experienced professionals. There's no training, professional development, or career planning at Netflix (except for legally required training, such as diversity training). You're in charge of your own career.
But with freedom like that comes responsibilities. The company expects its salaried employees to work hard-to "do the jobs of three or four people" as one report put it. And Netflix doesn't have the "frat party" free-wheeling atmosphere that many dot-coms do. It's an adult environment. Netflix does not coddle underperformers. Yearly 360-degree performance reviews provide "direct and honest feedback." Those that aren't cutting it are quickly let go, but (whenever possible) amicably. Rather than the sorts of litigiousness that often characterizes dismissals in other firms (having to prove the person was incompetent, for instance), Netflix writes a check. The company believes that a handsome severance payment helps maintain the person's dignity, makes it easier for supervisors to make tough calls with underperformers, and, of course, minimizes blowback from those it dismisses. It's more like a "no-fault divorce," as one observer put it.
Questions
In many respects, the Netflix HR strategy seems like a dream come true for small businesses. You don't need a pay plan; instead, you just update each person's pay every few months based on market surveys. You offer no training and development. And you don't track vacation time, more or less. If someone's not doing well, you just pay him or her to leave, with no hassles. Netflix seems to have hit upon its own version of "Netflix High-Performance Work Practices." Given that, answer the following questions (please be specific).
What argument would you make in response to the following: "Netflix just lucked out; they'd have done even better with conventional HR practices."

Question 21

Carter Cleaning Company
Cleaning in Challenging Times
As the economic downturn worsened a few years ago, revenues at the Carter stores fell steeply. Many of their customers were simply out of work and didn't need (or couldn't afford) dry cleaning. The Carters actually found themselves giving away some free cleaning services. They started a new program wherein existing customers could get one suit or dress cleaned free each month if they needed it for a job interview.
In the midst of this downturn, the Carters knew they had to get their employment costs under control. The problem was that, realistically, there wasn't much room for cutting staffing in a store. Of course, if a store got very slow, they could double up by having a cleaner/ spotter spend some time pressing, or having the manager displace the counter person. But if sales only fell 15% to 20% per store, there really wasn't much room for reducing employee head count because each store never employed many people in the first place.
The question therefore naturally arose as to whether the Carters could cut their employment expenses without dismissing too many people. Jennifer Carter has several questions for you.
Assume that we don't want to terminate any of our employees. What work-scheduling-related changes could we make that would reduce our payrolls by, say, 20% per week but still keep all our employees on board?

Question 22

Carter Cleaning Company
Cleaning in Challenging Times
As the economic downturn worsened a few years ago, revenues at the Carter stores fell steeply. Many of their customers were simply out of work and didn't need (or couldn't afford) dry cleaning. The Carters actually found themselves giving away some free cleaning services. They started a new program wherein existing customers could get one suit or dress cleaned free each month if they needed it for a job interview.
In the midst of this downturn, the Carters knew they had to get their employment costs under control. The problem was that, realistically, there wasn't much room for cutting staffing in a store. Of course, if a store got very slow, they could double up by having a cleaner/ spotter spend some time pressing, or having the manager displace the counter person. But if sales only fell 15% to 20% per store, there really wasn't much room for reducing employee head count because each store never employed many people in the first place.
The question therefore naturally arose as to whether the Carters could cut their employment expenses without dismissing too many people. Jennifer Carter has several questions for you.
We are currently handling most of our personnel-related activities, such as sign-ons, benefits administration, and appraisals, manually. What specific suggestions would you have for us in terms of using software systems to automate our HR processes?

Question 23

Carter Cleaning Company
Cleaning in Challenging Times
As the economic downturn worsened a few years ago, revenues at the Carter stores fell steeply. Many of their customers were simply out of work and didn't need (or couldn't afford) dry cleaning. The Carters actually found themselves giving away some free cleaning services. They started a new program wherein existing customers could get one suit or dress cleaned free each month if they needed it for a job interview.
In the midst of this downturn, the Carters knew they had to get their employment costs under control. The problem was that, realistically, there wasn't much room for cutting staffing in a store. Of course, if a store got very slow, they could double up by having a cleaner/ spotter spend some time pressing, or having the manager displace the counter person. But if sales only fell 15% to 20% per store, there really wasn't much room for reducing employee head count because each store never employed many people in the first place.
The question therefore naturally arose as to whether the Carters could cut their employment expenses without dismissing too many people. Jennifer Carter has several questions for you.
Suggest at least five free Internet-based sources we could turn to for helping us to lower our total employment costs.

Question 24

IMPROVING PERFORMANCE at The Hotel Paris
The New HRIS
The Hotel Paris's competitive strategy is "To use superior guest service to differentiate the Hotel Paris properties, and to thereby increase the length of stay and return rate of guests, and thus boost revenues and profitability." HR manager Lisa Cruz must now formulate functional policies and activities that support this competitive strategy and boost performance by eliciting the required employee behaviors and competencies.
Challenging economic times in the past few years brought the drawbacks of the Hotel Paris's relatively small size into sharp relief. Large chains like Marriott had vast online reservations capabilities with huge centralized systems that easily and economically handled reservations requests from throughout the world. By comparison, the Hotel Paris still handled reservations much as hotels did 15 years ago, either with separate websites for each of their hotel locations, e-mail, or an 800-number.
Their human resource management information systems were similarly primitive. Lisa had managed to install several separate information systems, such as for performance appraisals. However, as she discussed one day over lunch with the CFO, the HR systems were not integrated. Therefore, if an employee changed his or her name, for instance, through marriage, people in Lisa's office had to execute all those name changes manually on all the various employee rosters and benefits plans.
This lack of integration was bad enough in boom times, but was worse as the economy soured. The CFO pointed out to her that the amount of money they were spending on human resource management administration was about 30% higher than it was at larger chains such as Marriott. He understood that large size brings economies of scale. But he believed there had to be something they could do to reduce the cost of administering human resource management.
Lisa's solution was to get the CFO's approval to have several software consulting firms including IBM, Accenture, and Oracle provide proposals for how to integrate the hotel's HR information systems. After getting the CFO's and CEO's approval, they contracted with one vendor and installed the system.
Using any benchmark data that you can find, including information from this textbook, what are some benchmark metrics that Lisa could be using to assess the efficiency of her human resource management operations? To what extent does the Hotel Paris's quality service orientation enter into how Lisa's metrics should compare?