Human Resource Planning for Competitive Advantage Session 6 IB 665 Oct.15, 2005

1. Human Resource Planning for Competitive Advantage – Session 6 IB 665 Oct.15, 2005 Sources: Render & Heizer (2003 course text); Harvard Business Review articles (bibliography); Stonebreaker, P.W. & Leong, Keong, G (1994) (see bibliography), Hosein, Robert W. Dr. (2001 UWIDEC course manual & article in Ergonomics of Hybrid Automated Systems I , edited by Karwowski, W, Parsaei, H R, and Wilhelm, MR, Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., Amsterdam, 1988; and Stevenson, William J (2002, see bibliography), Juran, J., Handbook of Quality Control

2. Human Resource Planning for Competitive Advantage – Session 6 IB 665 Oct.15, 2005 Key Objectives: To motivate employees to increase productivity and profitability. Henry Ford II’s challenge: To synchronize the match of machines (controllable variability and pacing) to the unknown complex factor of production “Man” (variable pacing and unpredictable). Role of HR is to manage and make more predictable the human factor.

3. Human Resource Planning for Competitive Advantage: Success stories Three excellent cases in which this strategy has worked are: Southwest airlines (R&H 2003); Harley’s Leadership U-Turn( Teerlink, R. HBR July- August, 2000); the Employee-Customer-Profit Chain at Sears (see HBR Jan. 1998). See illustration of the model in the next slide. It should be noted that employee involvement is at the heart of Sear’s overall strategy to regain market share. While employing a different tactic, the same can be said for Harley Davidson’s turn around. In the case of Harley, survival required severe layoffs and the introduction of advanced technology. Management turned to the “behavioural” school. Emphasis was on inclusive leadership, employee involvement in change decisions, and sharing in financial gains.

4. Sears: Employee-Customer-Profit Chain Model