Human Resource Management Applications 7th Edition by Stella Nkomo, Myron Fottler, Bruce McAfee,Julie Riley

Exercise 1

Identify the major problem or problems at St. Mary's Hospital and the causes.
2. What are some alternatives for dealing with these problems? For example, is it possible to avoid employee layoffs through the use of attrition?
3. Develop a plan for implementing employee layoffs over the next year that will generate $3 million in savings. Give specific details concerning departments affected, the use of seniority versus merit, the amount of notice, and out-placement activities. What additional information (if any) will you need? Provide a rationale for each recommendation, together with reasons why other alternatives were not chosen.
4. What might be the effects of a layoff plan on ''survivors'' in terms of morale, job security, organizational commitment, productivity, and career planning? How could you avoid or minimize any potential problems in these areas?
5. What long-term solutions do you see for St. Mary's Hospital once it gets its cash flow problems under control and eliminates its deficit? What can it do to increase revenue so that future layoffs will not be necessary?
6. What difficulties exist in using performance as a criterion for layoffs? How can such difficulties be overcome?