Unit 2: Human Resource Management

2.1 Functions and evolution of human resource management

• Human resource planning (workforce planning)

• Labour turnover

• Internal and external factors that influence human resource planning (such as demographic change, change in labour mobility, new communication technologies)

• Common steps in the process of recruitment

• The following types of training: on the job (including induction and mentoring), off the job, cognitive, behavioural

• The following types of appraisal: formative, summative, 360-degree feedback, self-appraisal

• Common steps in the processes of dismissal and redundancy

• How work patterns, practices and preferences change and how they affect the employer and employees (such as teleworking, flexitime, migration for work)

• Outsourcing, offshoring and reshoring as human resource strategies

• How innovation, ethical considerations and cultural differences may influence human resource practices and strategies in an organization

2.2 Organizational structure

• The following terminology to facilitate understanding of different types of organizational structures: delegation, span of control, levels of hierarchy, chain of command, bureaucracy, centralization, decentralization, de-layering

• The following types of organization charts: flat/horizontal, tall/vertical, hierarchical, by product, by function, by region

• Changes in organizational structures (such as project-based organization, Handy’s “Shamrock Organization”)

• How cultural differences and innovation in communication technologies may impact on communication in an organization

2.3 Leadership and management

• The key functions of management

• Management versus leadership

• The following leadership styles: autocratic, paternalistic, democratic, laissez-faire, situational

• How ethical considerations and cultural differences may influence leadership and management styles in an organization

2.4 Motivation

• The following motivation theories: Taylor, Maslow, Herzberg (motivation–hygiene theory), Adams (equity theory), Pink

• The following types of financial rewards: salary, wages (time and piece rates), commission, profit-related pay, performance-related pay (PRP), employee share ownership schemes, fringe payments (perks)

• The following types of non-financial rewards: job enrichment, job rotation, job enlargement, empowerment, purpose/the opportunity to make a difference, teamwork

• How financial and non-financial rewards may affect job satisfaction, motivation and productivity in different cultures

2.5 Organizational (corporate) culture (HL only)

• Organizational culture

• Elements of organizational culture

• Types of organizational culture

• The reasons for, and consequences of, cultural clashes within organizations when they grow, merge and when leadership styles change

• How individuals influence organizational culture and how organizational culture influences individuals

2.6 Industrial/employee relations (HL only)

• The role and responsibility of employee and employer representatives

• The following industrial/employee relations methods used by employees: collective bargaining, slowdowns/goslows, work-to-rule, overtime bans and strike action

• The following industrial/employee relations methods used by employers: collective bargaining, threats of redundancies, changes of contract, closure and lock-outs

• Sources of conflict in the workplace

• The following approaches to conflict resolution: conciliation and arbitration, employee participation and industrial democracy, no-strike agreement, single-union agreement

• Reasons for resistance to change in the workplace (such as self-interest, low tolerance, misinformation and interpretation of circumstances)

• Human resource strategies for reducing the impact of change and resistance to change (such as getting agreement/ownership, planning and timing the change and communicating the change)

• How innovation, ethical considerations and cultural differences may influence employer–employee relations in an organization