This unit will cover strategic human resource management. Students will learn about workflows and job analysis, and how these support organizational structure and strategy. They will examine challenges related to workflows and the importance of job analysis for organizational structure. Key topics include meeting strategic challenges, managing workflows, conducting job analysis, and their role in strategic human resource management. Readings include chapters on strategic challenges and managing workflows and job analysis.

1. DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
1. Appraise workflows and the role of job analysis.
1.1 Examine the organizational, environmental, and individual
challenges with regard to workflow.
1.2 Explain the importance of job analysis with regard to
organizational structure.
1.3 Summarize how work-flow analysis supports strategy and
organizational structure.
Course/Unit
Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
1.1
Unit Lesson
Chapter 1
Unit I Annotated Bibliography
1.2
Chapter 2

2. Unit I Annotated Bibliography
1.3
Chapter 2
Unit I Annotated Bibliography
Reading Assignment
Chapter 1: Meeting Present and Emerging Strategic Human
Resource Challenges
Chapter 2: Managing Work Flows and Conducting Job Analysis
Unit Lesson
This unit of the course will cover strategic human resource
management. In today’s workplace, it is key to
have human resources at the top management table to assist with
long- and short-term goals for the
organization. Human resources is able to partner with top
management at all intersections of an organization
to help develop strategies for human capital in order for the
organization to meet its goals and objectives.
Effective strategic human resource management can help a
company keep its competitive edge and
contribute to a healthy bottom line.
Strategic human resource management keeps
employee policies on target and current with regard
to the latest legal landscape for employees. It also
provides for important items, such as strategic
recruitment and hiring, proper employee training,

3. and development of a robust and diverse
workplace. These elements all contribute to building
and maintaining a healthy and successful
organization.
Strategic human resource management contributes
to dealing with various environmental challenges
that organizations may face today. For instance,
there is a rapid change in today’s world, so
companies must have the ability to be nimble in
response. As the pace of the world, in general,
UNIT I STUDY GUIDE
Strategic Human Resource Management, Managing
Workflows, and Conducting Job Analysis, Part I
Human resource management keeps employee policies on target
(Bialasiewicz, 2017)
DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 2
UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
increases, stress can be a constant issue for employees. Human
resource management can identify areas in

4. an organization where employee stress is an issue, and human
resources can work with local managers to
identify ways to decrease it. Decreasing stress improves the
work atmosphere, motivation, and productivity of
employees.
There are also issues of workplace diversity that strategic
human resource management can address. The
ability to work with management to formulate strategies that
can capitalize on the diversity of the employees
can create a healthy opportunity for growth in the organization.
Globalization is an issue of significant focus for companies.
Strategic human resource management can help
handle issues, such as creating a worldwide company culture,
developing worldwide recruiting, handling
global alliances, creating a virtual workforce, and managing
concerns with regard to wage competition.
Additional challenges that human resource management must
respond to in today’s workplace include a
work-life balance for employees, so family-friendly programs
are now an integral part of successful
organizations. However, a shortage of soft skills for entry-level
employees, including communication,
teamwork, problem-solving, as well as basic math and writing
skills, continues to occur. Strategic human
resource management must deal with these issues with training
options and recruiting strategies.
In addition to the environmental challenges that human resource
management must negotiate, there are
organizational challenges. For many labor-intensive
organizations, the labor costs involved with employees is
usually the most important cost point. Therefore, strategic
human resource management must focus on

5. controlling costs, developing distinctive capabilities, and
improving quality.
Controlling costs can include developing improved reward
strategies to keep labor costs under better control.
Improving employee selection processes can help control costs
by targeting the right new employees and
then having a plan in place to retain these new employees. The
ability to efficientl y manage health and safety
issues in the workplace is another useful focus for an
organization’s cost savings.
Developing distinctive capabilities involves working with
management to target the recruitment process so
that it is fully adept at identifying and hiring the right person
for the right position. Analyzing the long-term
focus for employees in tandem with the organization’s goals can
work to enhance training opportunities for
employees. All of this works to try to create employees who
have distinctive abilities and can carry the
company forward into the future.
Improving quality involves partnering with management to hire
the best employees, providing the needed
training, and having a plan for growth and development for
these employees. Many times human resource
management will work with top management to assist with the
implementation of total quality management,
which is an initiative designed to improve the quality of all
processes across an organization.
There can also be individual challenges that human resource
management must address. It is important for
strategic human resource management to stay on top of
individual issues as these can also affect larger
organizational challenges. Matching the right people with the

6. right positions in an organization can be key.
Understanding the organizational culture and who will thrive in
it as an employee goes a long way toward this
goal.
Human resource management has a large responsibility with
regard to ethics in any organization. Employees
must know and trust that their individual concerns regarding
ethics in their organization are taken seriously
and addressed promptly. Ethical issues can affect productivity,
motivation, and quality of work life. Ultimately,
strategic human resource management can provide
empowerment to employees to be creative and to take
calculated risks in order to maintain that competitive edge. All
the while, these employees understand that
their company is behind them with regard to making ethical
choices. Retaining the ethical employees that an
organization has spent money to hire and train, and who add
value to the company, is a key function for
human resource management.
Ultimately, there are several benefits of strategic human
resource management. These include being
proactive in partnering with top management to guide the
organization as a whole, providing clear
communication to move the organization ahead, assisting
managers in more critical thinking with regard to
their current assumptions, encouraging those managers to
participate more fully in the organization’s
DBA 7553, Human Resource Management 3

7. UNIT x STUDY GUIDE
Title
planning, assisting to develop that all-important competitive
edge for the organization, and working closely
with top management in laying out the path forward for the
organization to meet future goals and directions.
Reference
Bialasiewicz, K. (2017). Man trying to convince investors (ID
96088849) [Photograph]. Retrieved from
www.dreamstime.com
Conflict and Peacemaking
"Is conflict good or bad for an organization or group?" can be
an interesting research
question for this lecture. However, you need to define conflict
before analyzing this
question.
The conflict we are talking about here is not inner conflict—the
dilemma of a person trying
to make a decision. We are talking about the difference between
the actions or goals of
two or more individuals—this difference, too, is defined as
conflict. The question that

8. arises then is, "Should conflict between two or more individuals
be considered an
argument, and should conflict between two or more neighboring
countries be considered a
war?" The answer to this question is "not necessarily."
Myers (2008) defines conflict as a "perceived incompatibility of
actions or goals." Conflict
occurs as a consequence of a disagreement when there is a
threat (perceived or real) to
the interests, needs, or wants of the individuals involved (Office
of Quality Improvement &
Office of Human Resource Development, n.d.).
If you composed a working hypothesis stating that “Conflict is
necessary to the success of
an organization,” would this statement sufficiently explain if
conflict is good or bad for an
organization?
Expert’s Opinion
Andrade, Plowman, and Duchon (2008), in an extensive
literature review of past studies
on conflict, concluded that conflict should not be thought of as
bad or a failure of the
organization’s management. They stated that “Rather than
needing reduction or
elimination, conflict is the fuel that drives system growth,
enables learning and adaptive
behaviors, and makes innovation possible” (p. 23).
If managed correctly, conflict in groups and organizations
seems to enhance and
transform organizations into learning environments where new
ideas are developed and

9. implemented. However, if conflict is not managed correctly, it
can result in increased
hostility and poor organizational performance.
Andrade, L., Plowman, A., & Duchon, D. (2008). Getting past
conflict resolution: A
complexity view of conflict. Emergence: Complexity and
Organization, 10(1), 23–38.
Myers, D. (2008). Social psychology (9th ed.). Boston:
McGraw-Hill.
Office of Quality Improvement & Office of Human Resource
Development.(n.d). About
Conflict. Retrieved from
http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/aboutwhatis
it.htm#index
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Aggression – Hurting Others
Aggression in the workplace is an important issue. Some of the
most common acts of

10. aggression include:
• Criminal acts perpetrated against employees.
• Violence between employees in an organization (for example,
aggression between
supervisors and employees).
• Violence between employees and consumers of services (for
example, aggression
between health care professionals and residents of nursing
facilities).
Let's discuss a study to understand the basis of workplace
violence.
Inness, M., Barling, J., & Turner, N. (2005). Understanding
supervisor-targeted aggression: A
within-person, between-jobs design. Journal of Applied
Psychology, 90(4), 731–739.
Rugala, E., & Isaacs, A. (Eds.). (2004). Workplace violence:
Issues in response. Quantico, VA:
Critical Incident Response Group, National Center for Analysis
of Violent Crime, FBI Academy.
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View the PDF transcript for Basis of Workplace Violence
(media/week9/SU_PSY3011_Workplace_Violence.pdf)

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