Question

Restructure, Outsource or Redesign?

Choosing a strategic direction and evaluating the effectiveness of HR are only the first steps in making an organization competitive in the global environment. The next step is figuring out how to improve human resources based on the strategy and issues that may have been raised during the evaluation process. The effectiveness of HRM can be improved in three main ways. First, a company may decide to restructure the HR function to increase its efficiency. Next, it may outsource certain areas to enhance cost and production effectiveness. Third, a company may reengineer or redesign current HR practices to deliver a higher quality of processes to customers.

In this exercise, please read the mini-case and answer the questions that follow.

Jordan Jacobs sat at his desk, relieved that he had finally completed the evaluation of HRM in his company Scranton, Inc., but concerned about his next moves. He had conducted an analytic approach review and discovered several issues with HRM that suggested there was room for improvement. First, he found that more money than necessary was being used on transactional tasks in the HR department, such as payroll and benefits administration. This was extremely frustrating to him, as he and his staff had already spent considerable time and expense in restructuring the staff and finding what they thought was the optimal approach. The evaluation also indicated that the current hierarchical organization of HR, which included the basic subfunctions of HR led by a director who reported to the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO), was not operating effectively. Under this organization, HR employees either focused too much on a particular functional skill (e.g., recruiting, compensation, training) or too much on a particular business unit (e.g., marketing, accounting, information technology). Lastly, the evaluation revealed that the performance management system currently in place was of very poor quality. The performance evaluations were inconsistent across the company and rarely provided feedback that was of use to the employees.

46.

value:
2.00 points

Based on the information presented in the case, what should Mr. Jacobs do with the transactional tasks such as payroll and benefits administration?

Hire additional staff to take on these activities.

Outsource them since it no longer seems cost-effective to keep in-house

Reengineer the transactional process to make it more effective

Create a service center that focuses on delivering basic services

Outsource them since other companies are better at these tasks

47.

value:
2.00 points

How should Mr.Jacobs develop the HRM function at Scranton, Inc. using the generic structure?

Develop a center for expertise

Create a field staff of HR generalists

Restructure HR to include centers for expertise, field staff, and a service center

Outsource all HR practices to another organization

Reengineer all HR processes completely

48.

value:
2.00 points

Which HRM practice that needs reengineering had Mr. Jacobs already spent considerable time and expense to restructure?

Payroll and benefits

Training and development

Performance management

Communication with organization directors

References

49.

value:
2.00 points

At which stage in the reengineering process would Mr. Jacobs try out the process by testing it in a limited, control setting?

Identifying the process to reengineered

Understanding the process

Redesigning the process

Implementing the new process

References

Multiple ChoiceLearning Objective: 16-04 Describe the new structures for the HRM function.Learning Objective: 16-06 Relate how process reengineering is used to review and redesign HRM practices.

Difficulty: 3 HardLearning Objective: 16-05 Describe how outsourcing HRM activities can improve service delivery efficiency and effectiveness.

50.

value:
2.00 points

Which technique to understanding a process involves real-world issues presented to data end users?

Data-flow diagrams

Cost-benefit analyses

Scenario analyses

Focus groups

Surveys

Answer 1

46

Outsource them because since it no longer cost seems cost effective to keep in house .   Because lots of money spent as compare nessicity which makes frustrated the jacob.so jacob can do it transctional task.

47. Restructure HR to include for expertise, field staff and a service area outside all HR practice to another organization.. because CHRO the expertise not operate properly , employes also have inconsistence performance which have seen in evaluation.

48. Payroll and benefits, where jacob spent considerble time expense to restructure.

49. Indentify the process to reengenered.

50. Focus group ...where all people are gathered to give feedback before launching product . It also helps to understand real world problem throug data end user.