1. Discuss the influence of organizational purpose, mission, and the top management team on human resource strategy.
2. Distinguish among corporate, business, and functional strategies. How does each general level of strategy relate to human resource management (HRM)?
3. Specify the circumstances under which, from a strategic perspective, a firm’s human resources might be seen as an organizational strength. Specify the circumstances under which human resources might be seen as a weakness.
4. Discuss how the specific business strategies relate to HRM.
5. What are the advantages and disadvantages for an individual who accepts a job as an HR manager in a firm that is in the midst of a retrenchment corporate strategy and a reactor business strategy?
6. If you were hired as an HR manager in a large firm where the HR function was poorly integrated with other functional areas, what steps would you take to improve this integration?
7. Explain how organization design, culture, and unionization issues are related to HRM.
8. How does the firm’s HR strategy interact with other functional strategies and the strategic leadership of top management to affect organizational effectiveness?
9. What are the two primary reasons many businesses today are interested in evaluating the effectiveness of their HRM function?