Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach - Softcover

Don Harvey; Robert Bruce Bowin

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0134465768 ISBN 13: 9780134465760

Publisher: Prentice Hall, 1995

Synopsis

This text offers a practical approach to Human Resource Management, conveying concepts through a combination of theory, cases, examples and skill-building exercises. The authors' System Model describes each separate function of HRM in relation to the overall HRM programme. Focusing on the development of the interpersonal skills essential for potential managers, students will actively participate in individual and team exercises which apply the chapter issues to real world situations. The book offers coverage of topics including managing diversity and empowerment, integrates materials from a diverse set of perspectives to provide a view of the field, and emphasizes the global context of HRM with examples from Sweden, South Africa and Japan.

About this title

From the Publisher

This one-color, inexpensive paperback HRM text is half text, half exercies, cases and skills material.

From the Inside Flap

PREFACE

In the past, managers aimed for success in a relatively stable and predictable world. Today, however, in the hyperturbulent environment of the twenty-first century, managers confront accelerating change. They are facing constant innovation in computer and information technology and a chaotic world of changing markets and consumer lifestyles. Today's organization must be able to transform and renew to meet these changing forces.

This is a book about human resource management (also known as HRM). HRM is a management discipline aimed at improving organizational effectiveness by utilizing a firm's human resources. It is also about managing in a changing world. We have tried to make this the most "user-friendly" text available. Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach offers a practical and realistic approach to the study of human resource management. Through the applications of a new procedure—the Success System Model—each of the functions is described from the standpoint of its relationship to the overall program of human resource management. This book is written primarily for students who are learning about human resource management for the first time. The text relates the student to the real world through the use of numerous illustrations and company examples, showing how human resource management is being applied in today's organizations.

HRM is an emerging behavioral science discipline that provides a set of methodologies for systematically bringing about high-performing organizations. The goals of HRM are to make an organization more effective and to enhance the opportunity for the individual to develop their potential. It is our view that these HRM goals can be accomplished best by using the experiential approach to learning.

This text differs from most HRM texts by providing both conceptual and experiential approaches to the study of HRM. A revolution is underway in how individuals use education to improve their performance. Our approach is to focus on the development of interpersonal skills. Students are provided with a conceptual framework necessary to understand the relevant issues in HRM. In addition, individuals will be actively participating in individual and team exercises that require the application of chapter content to specific organizational situations. This approach is aimed at developing those critical interpersonal skills needed to manage in a changing world.

This text is the first to directly relate student learning experiences in HRM with those skills judged by experts to be essential for potential HR managers. As noted in chapter 1, recent studies have been critical of recent business graduates for deficiencies in a number of areas, including communication skills, problem solving, decision-making ability, and leadership potential. This is the first approach to provide coverage of HRM topics while also developing student skills in a "learn-by-doing" context. OBJECTIVES

The basic objective is to provide the student and practicing manager with an integrated and comprehensive view of the field of HRM. We hope to present, in a clear and organized manner, the newest approaches, concepts, and techniques of this discipline. We have attempted to include most of the current state-of-the-art HRM techniques of this discipline. The stages of the Success System Model are presented so as to provide a step-by-step description of the various techniques and problems involved in organization HRM efforts.

Our second objective is to present HRM from an experiential learning approach; that is, the student not only reads the concepts but also practices and experiments by doing and using these techniques in a simulated organizational situation.

There is much evidence to support the success of this approach. Our own experience and student evaluations support this. Students report an enhanced level of learning, greater course satisfaction, and rate the overall course learning higher than in more traditional courses.

The HRM concepts, techniques, and skills that make up this book were selected because of their usefulness to practitioners. To achieve this goal, we have integrated materials from a diverse set of approaches. Our strategy has been to try and integrate these various approaches to provide a comprehensive view of HRM.

Every successful HRM program is the result of a concerted group effort, and each failure is a failure for all organization members. Therefore, people—as agents of change, not forces or structures—determine whether the HR manager will manage change effectively. Because the HR practitioners' effectiveness results not only from the concepts learned but also from their managerial style and the way they influence others, our emphasis in this book is on the experiential approach to learning.

As students progress in the book, the simulations will allow them to continually utilize growing knowledge and experience, thereby building a foundation of management skills to carry forward into their managerial career. By analyzing successes and failures, students begin to develop the ability to learn from experience and to develop insights into organizational functioning that would normally take years to acquire. METHODOLOGIES

This HRM text is designed to present the complex and fascinating world of managing people in a easy-to-grasp, user-friendly way. In addition to its comprehensive, innovative coverage, the text provides an HR practitioner a managerial approach to the field. It provides a rich depth of practical examples and applications, showing the major problems that managers face in their efforts to change organizations to meet a changing environment.

Each chapter presents an HRM skill application, a major example describing actual company situations, practical examples, a case, and a behavioral problem-solving simulation. Finally, this HRM text makes learning this discipline easy and enjoyable. Its writing style and level are well suited to the beginning HRM student.

The text sets forth incidents that reveal the drama of today's HR manager, such as how Apple Computer's culture focuses not just on products, but also on the hopes and dreams of its members; Walt Disney's legendary emphasis on making the customer happy; and Johnson & Johnson's attempt to change to an entrepreneurial culture.

The manager of the future will probably be acting as a people manager and will be involved in initiating, designing, or implementing organization-change programs: The material in the text will provide the manager with new methodologies and techniques for implementing FIRM programs, as well as an opportunity for personal growth and development. The book is designed so that each one may assess their own behavior and begin setting some personal development goals. Also, opportunities are created for feedback on the effectiveness of one's behavioral style, which encourages greater effectiveness.

The text is designed so that the instructor may incorporate new methodologies into the learning situation, including simulations and cases. All of the experiential skill exercises in this text were designed to focus on critical personal skills in the HRM field.

The text is organized to present an overview of HRM concepts and theories and provides behavioral skill simulations for each major stage of an HRM program. This book may be used as an independent study guide for those wanting to learn more about organization change or as a comprehensive set of materials on how to initiate HR programs for the practicing HRM or operating manager. FEATURES

This HRM text gives the student a comprehensive, innovative, and practical introduction to the field. Its style and extensive use of applications and exercises make the book straightforward, easy to read, and enjoyable.

The text contains 19 chapters to fit a one semester course and has been thoroughly edited to improve readability. Illustrations and figures add to the book's visual appeal. All tables, facts, figures, references, and dozens of current examples are provided within the text materials. Chapter objectives and a list of key terms are supplied for each chapter to enhance learning.

Human Resource Management: An Experiential Approach, Second Edition offers coverage on several important topics: organization renewal, changing the corporate culture, self-managed work teams, organization compensation, managing diversity, total quality management, and empowerment.

The text has many significant features that we have included to promote the readability and understanding of important human resource management concepts.

The Success System Model presents a visual, graphic display of the major stages relating all human resource management topics. We believe that the model (in each section) will serve as an excellent teaching device. The approach is dynamic rather than static. Time is considered as a significant variable in changing organizations. Case studies involving human resource management are provided at the end of each chapter to provide for disc

Edition details

• Publisher: Prentice Hall
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0134465768
• ISBN 13: 9780134465760
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 437