March 31, 2010 Reflection

Today in class we watched a Johnson & Johnson video about how they create such a great company to work for. J & J does a great job in making their employees really feel valued and as if they are an asset to the company. After watching the video and discussing it, we talked about the common ethical perspectives. These include: 1. Utilitarianism 2. Deonotology 3. Virtue ethics. It was interesting listening to the differences between these three and going more in detail about them.

March 29, 2010 Reflection...

Today in class we continued to discuss the factors affecting HRM in international markets. Then we covered Hofstede's five dimensions of culture. 1. Individualism/collectivism 2. Power distance 3. Uncertainty avoidance 4. Masculinity/femininity 5. Lon-term/short-term. Then we talked about foreign assignments and the emotional cycle that accompanies it. The emotional cycle is: 1. Honeymoon stage 2. Culture shock 3. Learning 4. Adjustment. We were able to cover a lot of important topics today in class.

Chapter 16...

- -Concept and Brief Description: Creating and Maintaining High-Performance Organizations
Chapter 16 is all about creating a high-performance work system, which is: The right combination of people, technology, and organizational structure that makes full use of the organization's resources and opportunities in achieving its goals. By creating a high-performance work system companies are stronger, run smoother and have higher success. Conditions that contribute to high performance include: Ethical behavior, employee participation, variety of skills, etc.
- - Emotional Hook:
My emotional hook to this chapter was reading about teamwork and empowerment. As I read this it reminded me of my own job and it was amazing the difference you could feel when we all worked together compared to us all doing our own thing. It completely changes the whole feel of the company.
- -Key points to elicit in discussion:
1. Losing retirees' knowledge 2. Job satisfaction 3. HRM importance
- -Facilitative Questions:
What is the best way to create a high performance team? How long do the people need to work together before they feel a sense of security and belonging in order to help the team?

March 22, 2010

Today in class we discussed how to avoid union problems in the workplace. We discussed the best way to do this is keep a good communication between management and employees. By recognizing and appreciating employees it makes a much happier workplace. Management also needs to keep policies constant between employees with a little flexibility between specific cases. We then talked about our research papers and went over some specifics as well as dates. And last we discussed global HRM. We decided companies need to find what things work best in each specific country. The four main topics that need to be considered include; culture, education, economic systems and political legal.

March 15, 2010

Today in class we discussed optional benefit programs. We discussed all the different plans that companies can choose to include in their benefits. We then discussed unions, what they are about and how they work. Then we did an activity where half of the class was management and the other half were union workers. It ended up that management tried to cheat out the union workers and they would have ended up going on strike had it been the real world. It was a good activity to show us how unions really work.

March 10, 2010 Reflection...

Today in class we did our group presentations. We learned all about different benefits and incentives that are presented at different companies. After that we discussed the different processes that make incentives work. The two main things that help incentives the most are participation in decisions and communication in the company. These two actions offer employee empowerment and make a stronger company as a whole. Then we discussed the government required benefits. I did not realize how many different benefits there are. It is important to find a company to work for that offer the benefits that you value most.

Chapter 15...

- -Concept and Brief Description: Managing Human Resources Globally
Chapter 15 is all about how to best manage companies that have headquarters outside of the United States. It went into detail about the four main factors affecting HRM in international markets. These four factors include; culture, education, economic systems, and political-legal systems. These factors can have such a huge impact on companies, not only does management need to be aware of them but all the employees.
- -Emotional Hook:
My emotional hook to this chapter was realizing the huge culture differences through out the world. Since most of us are going into business it is important we are aware of these differences. I took an International Business class and it is amazing the things that can offend people without us even knowing.
- -Points to elicit in discussion:
1. Know the culture, what kind of culture is it? Collectivism/individualism, power distant concerns, masculinity/femininity, etc. 2. Pay structure in different countries. There are huge fluctuations in industries depending on the country. 3. Expatriates, Know how to work with them so it is a safe, good experience for everyone.
- -Facilitative Questions:
How do you choose the right person for overseas jobs? How do you build trusting relationships with people in other countries in order to start a successful business there?

Chapter 14...

- -Concept and Brief Description: Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
This chapter is all about unions. What they are, how they work, laws, definitions, and the impact they have on society. It was interesting to read about, we've all heard of unions but I don't think many people actually know much about them. I know I certainly did not know all the laws and things associated with them. This chapter also discussed strikes and the effect they have on companies.
- -Emotional Hook:
I know my emotional hook often times has to deal with women in the work place. This is something that really interests me though because someday that will be me and I will be facing these situations. Today's hook was the fact that more men are in unions than women. I found that interesting and would like to know why that is.
- -Key Points:
1. Impact of unions on Company performance. Do company's perform better with or without unions. 2. National Labor Relations Act. Laws that support collective bargaining and sets out the rights of employees to form unions.
- -Facilitative Questions:
Why do more men than women join unions? Is it better to join a union? Which industries benefit from unions?

March 8, 2010 Reflection...

Today in class we finished up chapter 11 discussing incentives. The class got into a good discussion about incentives and we heard a lot of different point of views. After we got in our groups and discussed chapter 12. Then we discussed effective incentive plans. In order for an incentive plan to be successful it needs to follow the rules below:
1. performance measures linked to organization's goals
2. Employees believe they can meet standards
3. Organization gives employees resources needed to meet goals
4. Employees value rewards
5. Employees believe reward system is fair
6. Pay plan takes into account that employees may ignore any goals that are not rewarded
After that we got into groups and discussed different incentive plans and wrote down pros and cons that we will share next time in class.

Chapter 13...

- - Concept and Brief Discussion: Providing employee benefits
This chapter is all about different benefits that are available to companies. It discusses benefits by law, paid leave, retirement plans, insurance plans, and other employee wants. It showed the average number of available paid leave days in the U.S. and how many people actually take off. It also explained how to encourage different behavior in the company through incentives like health care plans and promoting healthy employees.
- - Emotional Hook:
My emotional connection to this chapter was when it discussed the number of paid days vacation offered compared to how many people actually take. I thought this was interesting because I know so many people in the U.S. today are work-aholics and even though they could take those days off they choose not to because they do not want to miss work. It is kind of sad to think of the time they are giving up for work instead of spending time with their families.
- - Key points to elicit in discussion:
1. HR needs to know laws regarding employee benefits 2. See which incentives work best for employees are your particular company 3. Make sure incentives are actually promoting successful work habits
- - Facilitative Questions:
How do you know if you have the right incentives to promote the attitude and actions you want? What if you have been offering an incentive but find it is not promoting the right attitude, how do you go about getting rid of the incentive without upsetting people?

Chapter 12...

- - Concept and Brief Description: Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay
Chapter 12 is all about different incentives and pay plans to keep employees satisfied with the company and want to stay and help the business succeed. It explains all the different pay plans in detail, like incentive pay, piecework rate, differential piece rates, merit pay, etc. This chapter also discusses the processes that make incentives work.
- - Emotional Hook:
My emotional hook with this chapter was reading about the incentives that really work. I enjoyed reading about this because at my last job I know it made a huge difference when I was able to make help decisions. It made me want to work harder because I was involved in the decision and wanted it to succeed.
- - Key Points to elicit in discussion:
It is important that there is communication within the company if pay incentives are to work. People need to feel as though they have say in the incentive programs and feel like the pay is fair.
- -Facilitative Questions:
How do companies find a way to make incentive programs successful and fair?

March 1, 2010 Reflection

Today in class we discussed chapter 11 which was all about pay in companies. We discussed how pay has a powerful influence over people and also how it helps reach company goals. It also has a large impact on employee morale and retainment. With about a half hour left in class we had a guest speaker, Jeff Weber from ancestry.com come speak to us. He gave us donuts and was a really entertaining speaker. He told us we need to make sure we know the legal requirements when it comes to pay on the job. He also explained different compensation components that company's do to keep employees happy. His last main point he brought up was that we should allow employees and companies to have flexibility to keep companies successful and happy.