Preliminary examination commentary 2016: MN3075 Human Resource

Management

This commentary reflects the preliminary examination and assessment arrangements

for this course in the 2015-16 academic year.

Unless otherwise stated, all cross-references will be to the latest version of the subject
guide (2013).

General remarks:

High-performing students answered at least three and more usually four questions,
and were more likely to structure their answers effectively and construct a coherent
and logical argument when this was required. They made effective use of course
readings in addition to the subject guide and cited empirical evidence to support their
arguments. These students provided clear and convincing answers to the questions
posed on the exam.

Lower-performing students were much more likely to attempt only one or two
questions, or only parts of three or four questions, which is a very risky strategy. Poor
answers were sometimes too brief to do anything more than name the constructs
involved (with no description or explanation attached), and sometimes very lengthy
but incorporating material that was irrelevant to answering the exam question. These
students were more likely to write the same amount of text for all parts of a question,
despite the fact that parts (a) are only worth 5 marks and parts (c) are worth 15 marks.
This is not a sensible strategy as clearly, questions worth 5 marks are asking for less
information than questions worth three times as many marks.

Comments on specific questions:

Candidates should answer FOUR of the following EIGHT questions. All questions
carry equal marks.

1. (a) Explain the difference between ‘task performance’ and ‘contextual

performance’. (5 marks)
(b) Describe five different categories of contextual performance, and give an
example of each one. (10 marks)
(c) What are the implications for an organisation and for its employees of
placing an emphasis on contextual as well as task performance? (10
marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 4 of the subject

guide.

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Bateman, T.S. and D.W. Organ ‘Job satisfaction and the good soldier: The
relationship between affect and employee ‘citizenship’’, Academy of
Management Journal 26 1983, pp. 587–95.

Borman, W.C. and S.J. Motowidlo ‘Expanding the criterion domain to include
elements of contextual performance’ in Schmitt, N. and W.C. Borman (eds)
Personnel Selection. (San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 1993) [ISBN
1555424759].

Podsakoff, P.M., S.B. MacKenzie and C. Hui ‘Organisational citizenship behaviours

and managerial evaluations of employee performance: a review and
suggestions for future research’ in G.R. Ferris and K.M. Rowland (eds)
Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management. Vol. 11.
(Greenwich, CT: JAI Press 1993) [ISBN 155938557X] pp.1–40.

Podsakoff, P.M., M. Ahearne and S.B. MacKenzie ‘Organisational citizenship

behaviour and the quantity and quality of workgroup performance’, Journal of
Applied Psychology 82 1997, pp.262–70.

Walz, S.M. and B.P. Niehoff ‘Organisational citizenship behaviours and their effect
on organisational effectiveness in limited menu restaurants’, Academy of
Management Best Paper Proceedings 1996, pp.307–11.

Approaching the question

(a) This part of the question required candidates to define ‘task performance’ and
‘contextual performance’. Task performance consists of activities that directly
transform raw materials into goods and services that the organisation produces (e.g.,
selling merchandise, teaching in a school, performing surgery in a hospital and
selling newspapers). In addition, it includes other activities that service and maintain
the technical core by replenishing the supply of raw materials, supervising,
coordinating activities and any staff functions that enable the technical core to
function effectively and efficiently (for example, nurses who look after patients
before and after surgery, the school principal who coordinates and oversees the
teachers, or editors who approve what journalists write before publication).
Contextual performance behaviours do not support the technical core as much as they
support the broader organisational, social and psychological environment in which the
technical core must function (see page 67 in the subject guide).

(b) Candidates may draw upon the five dimensions identified either by Borman and
Motowidlo, 1993 (“contextual performance”); Bateman and Organ, 1983
(“organizational citizenship behaviour”); or the subject guide authors themselves
(“citizenship behaviour”).

Borman and Motowidlo identified five categories of contextual performance: (1)

volunteering to carry out task activities that are not formally part of the job; (2)
persisting with extra enthusiasm when necessary to complete own-task activities
successfully; (3) helping and cooperating with others; (4) following organisational
rules and procedures even when it is personally inconvenient; and (5) endorsing,
supporting and defending organisational objectives.

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Bateman and Organ identified five dimensions of organizational citizenship
behaviour (OCB): (1) conscientiousness (punctuality in attendance, use of work time
and adherence to rules); (2) altruism (any voluntary action that helps another person
out at work); (3) sportsmanship (putting up with minor inconveniences, or not always
finding fault with the organization); (4) courtesy (consulting people who may be
affected by a decision or at the very least informing other people in advance of such
actions); and (5) civic virtue (keeping up with developments happening in the
organization, being constructively involved in the political process of the
organization).

Coyle-Shapiro, Hoque, Kessler, Pepper, Richardson and Walker (2013) identified five
dimensions of citizenship behaviour: (1) obedience (respect for rules and policies;
conscientiousness at work); (2) loyalty (allegiance to and promotion of the
organization); (3) social participation (interpersonal and social contact; attending
meetings); (4) advocacy participation (innovation and the status quo: e.g., making
suggestions for change and a willingness to be controversial); and (5) functional
participation (individual self-development and work activities that add value to the
organization).

(c) This is an opportunity for candidates to demonstrate their knowledge of the

consequences of contextual performance for both organizations and individuals (pp.
70-71). These include enhancement of co-worker and managerial productivity and of
organizational performance, and the use of contextual performance behaviours in the
performance appraisal process.

2. (a) Explain what is meant by the term ‘high performance work practices’.
(10 marks)

(b) Discuss whether these types of practice are applicable in all types of
organisations. (15 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 13 of the subject

guide.

Baron, J.N and D.N. Kreps Strategic human resources: frameworks for general
managers. (John Wiley & Sons, 1999) [ISBN 9780471072539] Chapter 9
‘High commitment HRM’.

Approaching the question

(a) Candidates may begin with the definition of ‘high performance work system’ on p.
238 of the subject guide: “an organizational construct involving some or all of the
following: self-managed work groups; employee involvement, participation and
empowerment; total quality management; integrated production technology; ‘learning
orientation’ practices.”

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Candidates may also refer to the list of work practices identified by Baron and Kreps
(1999): employment guarantees, egalitarianism in word and deed, an emphasis on
self-managed teams and team production, job enlargement, premium compensation
and efficiency wages, incentive compensation based on teams, productions units or
firmwide performance, extensive socialisation and training of employees, job rotation,
open information, open channels of communication, a strong culture of egalitarian
team work, extensive screening of prospective employees, and a strong emphasis on
ownership both symbolically and in financial terms (e.g., through stock participation
schemes).

A key point is that these are systems: many or all elements must be present and the
various elements are interconnected. Writing generally about ‘commitment’ and
organisational citizenship behaviours, rather than about ‘high commitment work
practices’, will not warrant a satisfactory mark for this question.

(b) There is no one specific answer that the examiner is looking for here. Baron and
Kreps cite potential benefits of high performance practices in terms of having a well-
integrated and highly motivated workforce, leading to superior business performance,
but they also warn that the cost of operating high performance work systems can be
significant and the benefits hard to achieve and sustain. Candidates may therefore
argue that high performance work practices may be more appropriate in high-skill,
high-knowledge environments (e.g., pharmaceuticals, IT, professional services firms,
etc.) than in high volume, low-skill environments (some manufacturing, retail, etc.).
Candidates may also argue that national characteristics may render high performance
work practices more appropriate in some cultures than in others. As long as
arguments are well constructed and supported by some sort of evidence, there is
potential for a range of responses here.

3. (a) What are the main elements of an HR strategy? (10 marks)

(b) Discuss whether an HR strategy can be a source of competitive advantage

for an organisation. (15 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapters 1 and 13 of the subject
guide.

Approaching the question

(a) Candidates may begin by defining an HR strategy: “a set of interdependent HR

policies chosen to display internal fit and generate the appropriate amounts of
‘competence’ and ‘motivation’ amongst the workforce” (p. 237). HR strategy has two
components: analysis (what are the organisation’s mission, goals or objectives, what
stands in the way of achieving these objectives, and what can be done from an HR
perspective to improve the chances of achieving the business strategy) and action
(choice and implementation of policies and practices). Candidates may go on to
discuss the importance of internal coherence: are the individual practices consistent
and interdependent with one another? Do they generate ‘synergy’?

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(b) Page 243 in the subject guide contends that solving the HR problems can become
a valuable and durable source of competitive advantage for the firm. The core task
of HR is to raise performance by ensuring employees are fully competent and highly
motivated. Any one HR policy should be harmonious with all the others, and the set
of policies, taken together, should serve whatever wider business strategy the
organization chooses to adopt. Counter arguments stress the importance of the firm’s
external market position with regard to customers, suppliers, competitors, etc.

4. (a) Explain the difference between ‘recruitment’ and ‘selection’. (5 marks)

(b) Describe three different metrics that an organisation might use to

evaluate the success of its recruitment processes, and explain what these
metrics demonstrate. (10 marks)

(c) Is there a ‘first best’ way of managing recruitment and selection? Give
reasons for your answer. (10 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 2 of the subject

guide.

Approaching the question

(a) Recruitment (defined on page 27) is the process of finding and attracting a pool of
suitable candidates for the vacancy (e.g., via advertising, e-recruitment or employee
referral). Selection is the process of shortlisting and finally choosing who to make job
offers to, via selection methods such as interviews, assessment centres, tests, and
work samples.

(b) Companies can take several approaches when evaluating their recruitment process
(collectively known as ‘source analysis’). These are:
• yield analysis (examining the records of previous recruitment campaigns to
identify the recruitment methods that in the past yielded the greatest number
of applicants and highest quality applicants)
• time-lapse analysis (looking at records of previous recruitment campaigns to
evaluate the length of time it took from the commencement of a recruitment
campaign to a job offer being made; the company may find that certain
recruitment techniques take much longer to yield successful applicants than do
others
• cost-per-hire (which recruitment method is most expensive, e.g. executive
search agencies tend to be extremely expensive as the process is very labour
intensive, whereas walk-ins and employee referrals are, by contrast, much
cheaper)

(c) Candidates are expected to argue that recruitment and selection methods are
contingent upon the type of position being recruited to. For example, companies are
unlikely to use assessment centres for lower-level vacancies given the costs involved
in carrying them out. However, irrespective of the level of the vacancy being recruited
to, companies must carry out the processes of recruitment, shortlisting and final
selection in a thorough, systematic manner. Unless the company has compiled a job

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analysis of some form, and has conducted a source analysis to ensure the right
recruitment techniques are adopted, there will be no guarantee that the pool of
candidates generated will possess the qualities and competencies the company is
looking for. Evidence shows that tests are better measures of ability and personality
than interviews, so candidates may argue that tests should be used to assess these
qualities, while interviews should be used only to assess characteristics like
friendliness, speech, poise and appearance. Better candidates may contend that
fairness and legal compliance are also important elements of a ‘one best way
approach’, to avoid discrimination and ensure a diverse workforce.

5. (a) Explain what is meant by the term ‘organisational justice’. In your

answer, distinguish between the different types of justice, and give
examples of each type. (10 marks)

(b) Discuss the importance of organisational justice to work motivation. (15

marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapters 6 and 10 of the subject
guide.

Folger, R. and R. Cropanzano Organizational justice and human resource

management. (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998) [ISBN 0803956878] Chapter
1 ‘Equity and distributive justice as outcome fairness’, Chapter 2 ‘Process as
procedural and interactional justice’.

Approaching the question

(a) Organisational justice is a subjective notion and focuses on people’s perceptions

of what constitutes fairness in the workplace, or more specifically, one’s evaluations
as to the appropriateness of a given outcome or process (see page 181). Different
types of justice comprise:
• Distributive justice - the fairness of the outcomes of allocation decisions, such
as performance appraisal ratings, pay rises, promotions, hiring, layoffs
• Procedural justice - the fairness of the processes by which a decision is made;
procedures are fair if they demonstrate consistency, bias suppression, accuracy
of information, correctability, representativeness, and ethicality
• Interactional justice – the quality of interpersonal treatment/communication
received during the enactment of organizational procedures; fair
communication comprises truthfulness, candidness, respect, and propriety of
questions
o sometimes treated as a separate component, sometimes considered an
element of procedural justice; can be sub-categorised as interpersonal
vs informational

(b) The main approach that candidates are expected to take involves reference to
equity theory as a key theory of motivation, and explanation of how this relates to
distributive justice. Perceived inequity contributes to demotivation and efforts to
restore equity, possibly via means antithetical to organizational interests (e.g.,

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reducing inputs such as OCB, leaving the organization). Better candidates will draw
upon Folger and Cropanzano’s (1998) two-component model to explain how high
levels of perceived procedural justice can help compensate for low levels of
distributive justice and ward off counterproductive employee attitudes and
behaviours, such as retaliation.

6. (a) Explain the ‘business argument’ for equal treatment of men and women
in the workplace. (10 marks)

(b) Discuss three key limitations to the business argument that may result in
women continuing to be disadvantaged in the workplace. (15 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 11 of the subject

guide.

Davies, A. and R. Thomas ‘Gender and human resource management: a critical

review’, International Journal of Human Resource Management 11(6) 2000,
pp.1125–36.

Liff, S. and L. Dickens ‘Ethics and equality: reconciling false dilemmas’ in D.

Winstanley and J. Woodall (eds) Ethical issues in contemporary human
resource management. (London: Macmillan, 2000) [ISBN 0333739663].

Approaching the question

(a) Candidates can draw from pages 208-210 to answer this part of the question and
discuss the following:
• Labour market issues – by discriminating against women, companies are
reducing the talent pool of candidates in their search for suitable recruits
• Retention issues – if women perceive that they are being discriminated
against, they are more likely to leave the organization to seek employment
elsewhere, and firms’ investment re: recruitment, training and development
costs will be lost
• Company image – being seen to be an equal opportunities employer enhances
an organization’s reputation among potential job candidates, investors, and
customers
• Product development – male-dominated organizations are likely to produce
male-oriented products or services, missing out on women’s significant
purchasing power as consumers
• Changing management styles – more typically ‘feminine’ management styles
that emphasize teamwork, delegation, and empathy are increasingly sought
after by progressive organizations

(b) Candidates can draw from pages 211-212 to discuss three of the following four
limitations:
• Contingency of the business argument – organizations might focus on better
treatment of women in a tight labour market, or in order to develop more
‘female-oriented’ products, but may not bother with equal treatment if it will

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 not make them more money; this leaves women vulnerable to discrimination
in good economic times
• Difficulty of the business argument in the case of unskilled or semi-skilled jobs
– when there is nothing special about the contribution made by women vs
men, this leaves women vulnerable to being discriminated against
• Riskiness of emphasizing differences between male and female management
styles – by reinforcing stereotypes about men’s and women’s different styles,
it becomes possible to argue that in certain more masculine environments,
women’s styles will be unsuitable or inferior and thus discrimination is
warranted
• Change of culture required to accept a stronger role for women – the adoption
of a business argument approach implies a change of culture with regard to
valuing women and eliminating biases concerning women’s abilities and
preferences; this can be very difficult and time-consuming

7. (a) Explain the term ‘internal labour market’. (5 marks)

(b) Discuss the advantages for organisations of an internal labour market.

(10 marks)

(c) Discuss the disadvantages for organisations of an internal labour market.

(10 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 12 of the subject

guide.

Approaching the question

(a) Candidates can draw from the definitions provided on pages 227-228. Firms
operating an internal labour market (ILM) have a clear policy of filling most of their
vacancies by internal promotion, rather than by direct hiring from the external labour
market. A firm that hires externally only at the lowest level (i.e., has only a single
‘port of entry’) and then offers a series of job ‘ladders’ to its employees, is operating a
strict ILM. Other firms may have a partial ILM policy, perhaps giving some
preference to internal candidates but hiring some people externally.

(b) Candidates can draw upon the material from page 229 to discuss the following
advantages:
• An ILM improves the promotion chances of insiders. This may well motivate
employees to put in greater effort and stay longer with the firm. It might also
make them more committed to the firm, which again can lead to better
retention and return on investment (in terms of training, development, etc.).
• If employees do stay longer, a whole series of HR investments in people (e.g.,
training, careful selection, etc.) will generally be more profitable and might
raise quality levels. This might be an especially powerful argument for firms
that emphasise product quality.
• Internally promoted employees have better knowledge of how the organisation
works, so they are likely to be fully effective in their new, more senior, posts

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 sooner than someone brought in from outside.
• The firm is very likely to know more about the promoted person than about
someone from outside, so there is less risk in selection.

(c) Candidates should use the material on page 229 related to advantages of outside
hiring to deduce potential disadvantages of internal labour markets. These include:
• Outside hiring means that the firm has a bigger and better field of recruits, so
it can hire new blood, and attract new perspectives and new ideas. ILMs have
smaller talent pools and fewer fresh, new perspectives on offer.
• ILMs may not be in touch with external market developments that enable
them to keep their internal wage structures flexible; they are more likely to
have rigid internal wage structures.
• The rule of internal promotion might become promotion by seniority rather
than merit; if this happens, the motivational potential of internal labour
markets is lost (and demotivation could set in) and the firm might be obliged
to promote unsuitable candidates.
• With internal promotion, employees may no longer have the opportunity to
use the task-specific knowledge they have built up; their new post may not
require it, so some specialised knowledge may be unused.

8. (a) Describe the five core dimensions in Hackman and Oldham’s Job
Characteristics Model. (10 marks)

(b) How is the Job Characteristics Model a helpful way of thinking about job
design, and what are some of its limitations? (15 marks)

Reading for this question

Material relating to this question can be found in Chapter 8 of the subject

guide.

Approaching the question

(a) Candidates can draw from page 145 to describe the five core job characteristics.
These are:
1. skill variety – the worker has the opportunity to use a variety of skills in their
job;
2. task identity – the worker completes a whole piece of work or an identifiable
part of the production process;
3. task significance – the worker can see the way in which their efforts contribute
to the product as a whole, and the way in which their efforts will impact on the
end user of the product;
4. autonomy – in terms of influencing personal responsibility, it is necessary to
allow workers a degree of control over the planning and execution of the
work; if an individual is free to use their discretion in terms of the way in
which they perform a particular task, they will feel a greater sense of
responsibility if problems emerge, but will feel a greater sense of achievement
if the job is successfully completed;

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 5. feedback mechanisms – in terms of influencing knowledge of results, it is
essential that the company has effective feedback systems in place, such that
workers have access to relevant performance data.

(b) Students should draw upon the material on pages 146-148 to answer this part of
the question. The job characteristics model made several important contributions to
the job redesign debate. First, by incorporating moderators, the model recognised the
psychology of individual differences – the fact that different people in different
situations may respond differently to attempts to redesign jobs. For example, some
people have a high-growth-need strength; they are likely to respond more positively
to attempts to give them higher levels of autonomy than are workers with a low-
growth-need strength. This was the first time that individual differences such as these
had been taken into consideration. As such, the theory represents a considerable step
forward from the universalistic theory presented by Herzberg, which assumed that job
redesign would impact on everyone in the same way. Second, the theory provided
valuable guidance for managers in terms of the specific characteristics of jobs that
need to be taken into account when job redesign issues are being considered. In
particular, the theory suggested to managers the need for jobs to be diagnosed in
terms of the extent to which they provided opportunities for task variety, task identity,
task significance, autonomy and feedback.

In terms of its limitations, the Job Characteristics Model has faced some criticisms:
• Research evidence suggests that in many instances, job redesign initiatives have
not been effective in increasing motivation (Kelly, 1992). It seems, therefore, that
improvements in the five job characteristics are sufficient to result in job
satisfaction, but not necessarily to motivate workers to work harder. What satisfies
employees will not necessarily motivate them.
• Where job redesign has resulted in performance increases even without improved
motivation, this appears to be due to increased pay, and/or improved workflow or
work layout that generates less downtime. These pathways between job design
and improved performance are not accounted for by the Job Characteristics
Model.
• It may be the case that there is more to jobs than the five core job characteristics
listed in the model. For example, the model makes no reference to issues such as
physical load, memory load and time pressure. These factors are likely to have a
considerable influence on workers’ attitudes and behaviour, and hence on the
likelihood that a job redesign initiative will raise levels of motivation and
performance.
• There is nothing within the Job Characteristics Model that refers to the process by
which jobs are redesigned. For example, it may be the case that where jobs are
redesigned in a participative manner, with workers themselves having an input in
terms of the way in which jobs will be redesigned, they are likely to respond more
favourably to the redesign initiative.
• The Job Characteristics Model does not take into account the fact that job
redesign initiatives may prove more effective in certain organizational contexts,
such as high-skill environments, as opposed to low-skill or bureaucratic
environments.
• The model focuses on a narrow range of outcomes. The only outcomes considered
are performance, motivation and satisfaction. It may be the case that job redesign

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initiatives have an impact on a much wider range of work-related outcomes, such
as mental health, stress, accidents and grievances.

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