Summary: Differentiated Workforce

Read the summary and the most important questions on Differentiated workforce

• 1 Lecture

• What is workforce differentiation?

  Differentiating HR practices between employees based on occupation and past or expected performance. So workforce differentiation helps organisations make their HR investments more effective

• Then within this topic the employees can be differentiated based on the HR architecture model. Which 2 dimensions is this based on?

  1.  Added value of human capital (employees are more valuable when they enact strategies and contribute to the competitive advantage
  2. Uniqueness of human capital (the specificity of the employees skills)

• The HR architecture model has four distinct employee groups and appropriate HR systems, which ones are these?

  1. Internal development (+ valuable, + unique)
     
  2. Acquisition (+ valuable, - unique)
  3. Contracting (performance rewards) (- valuable, - unique)
  4. Alliance (teambuilding activities & extensive communication) (- valuable, + unique)

• 2 The human resource architecture: toward a theory of human capital allocation and development -- Lepak & Snell 1999

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• What is the research aim / question? (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  They are using the HR architecture model to derive research questions for studying the relationships among employee modes, employee relationships, HR configurations and criteria for competitive advantage

• What is meant with the make-or-buy decisions? Focusing on the make section.. (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  Make: internalise employment and build the employee skill base through training and development initiatives

• What is meant with the make-or-buy decisions? Focusing on the buy section.. (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  Buy: externalise employment by outsourcing certain functions to market-based agents

• To develop theoretical foundations, within this study they draw primarily from three theories, namely, transaction cost economics, human capital theory and resource-based view. What is meant with the transaction cost economics? (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  Internalisation of employment is appropriate when it allows organisations to more effectively monitor employee performance and ensure that their skills are deployed correctly and efficiently

• To develop theoretical foundations, within this study they draw primarily from three theories, namely, transaction cost economics, human capital theory and resource-based view. What is meant with the human capital theory? (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  The decision to internalise or externalise employment lies on a comparison of the expected returns of employee productivity (key constructs: generic vs specialised skills / transferability of skills

• To develop theoretical foundations, within this study they draw primarily from three theories, namely, transaction cost economics, human capital theory and resource-based view. What is meant with the resource-based view? (Lepak & Snell, 1999)

  Should base employment sourcing decisions on the degree to which skills contribute to the core capabilities of the firm. Core employee skills should be developed and maintained internally, whereas those of limited value are candidates for outsourcing

• What is mentioned in quadrant 2 of the HR architecture model? (Lepak & Snell, 1999) (Acquiring human capital -- valuable // unique)

  Internalized
  Employment mode: acquisition
  Employment relationship: symbiotic
  HR configuration: market-based HR system