Review Questions and Case Study
Review Questions
The first chapter has 6 review questions. They are not reproduced here - you need the book. The following notes are
intended to help students get started on the questions:
1. This question is intended to create a conceptual bridge between your
understanding of issues commonly dealt with in a prior 'Organizational Behaviour' course
and the present 'Human Resource Management' module. Start by jotting down the similarities and the differences
between the concepts represented by the two keywords in the question.
2. This is an alternative question to that given in activity 1:5. At
face value, the answer is straightforward - HRM is strategic, involving top management,
etc. - but only if we accept the rhetoric of HRM without debate. The question of whether
or not there is a real difference between 'personnel management' and HRM is dealt with in
more depth in the next chapter. What is your understanding (so far) of the main differences?
3. There are close parallels between HRM and some aspects of traditional Japanese
management practice. But what cultural tradition has HRM come from and how has it been modified in different countries?
4. Compare the tasks listed in Table 1.1 (page 19) and the core roles of HRM
shown in Table 1.2 (page 27).
5. Think about scientific management versus human factors/relations and the
theories listed on pages 17-18 plus any others that you consider to have major significance.
Were they 'dead ends' or major contributors to modern ideas.
6. Management theory has become something of a fashion industry, driven by
people with agendas - if only to sell books or promote their 'motivational' and other
services. What are the real merits of tese ideas?
Case Study - George Cadbury
The George Cadbury case (largely a Victorian eulogy) is intended to illustrate the commonality of people management problems throughout the ages - and the value of good corporate PR. The case can be viewed at a number of levels, therefore, and may serve to illustrate a variety of points. One point is that some (many?) management theories can be considered to be little more than commonsense dressed up with fancy terminology. That terminology may have been absent in days when people management problems were being tackled from 'first principles'. But remember that problems have always been dealt with in the context of their time, and the solutions came about within the prevailing social and ethical framework?
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