MGT 200 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
FINAL EXAMINATION 2022-23
Date:
Examiner:
Notes for Candidates
THIS IS A CLOSED BOOK EXAMINATION
Answer the multiple-choice test and four (4) essay questions in total.
Your mark on this paper will account for 40% [adjustable depending upon mode of in-course
assessment] of the final course marks.
Part A: Concepts
Complete the fifty (50) question multiple-choice test [SELECT FROM TEST BANK]
Part B: Essay Questions
Attempt any four (4) of the following four questions. Each response has equal weighting.
1. Explain the main differences between the Harvard model of HRM and Storey’s model
of HRM. To what extent, if at all, do models help explain the field of HRM?
2. The ‘best fit’ theory is a more credible approach to understanding strategic HRM’.
Discuss.
3. Discuss how the nature of work has changed since the emergence of ‘knowledge
work’. To what extent does ‘knowledge work’ create challenges for individual
performance pay (IPA) systems?
4. Explain the role of competency frameworks in the context of recruitment and
selection.
5. ‘The shift from training to learning has changed the role of HRD in organizations.’
Discuss.
6. Critically evaluate the key features of the ‘new pay’ paradigm.
7. Collective bargaining is a valuable mechanism to redress the power imbalance in the
employment relationship’. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
8. According to Bratton and Gold (2022), ‘employee voice is central to HRM’. Explain
and give examples to illustrate your answer.
9. Explain the role of the HRM specialist in creating a safe and healthy working
environment. Has the COVID-19 pandemic created additional challenges? Explain.
10. Explain how a bundle of integrated HR practices can develop and sustain an
organization’s low carbon and sustainability strategy.
END
GUIDE TO FINAL EXAMINATION
The written examination will be assessed according to the relevant parts of the Conceptual
Equivalents Scale for Undergraduate Courses (Level 3 Criteria) as outlined in the Student
Handbook and included as an appendix to this document [INSERT CRITERIA FOR YOUR
UNIVERSITY]. The following notes are meant to illustrate the minimum content material to
be covered in a response to each examination question.
1. Explain the main differences between the Harvard model of HRM and Storey’s
model of HRM. To what extent, if at all, do models help explain the field of HRM?
Content material to consider:
Harvard model widely regarded as highly influential model in the
development of HRM theory
Harvard - US model, focuses on nature of HRM, management goals and
specific HR outcomes; six components: situational factors, stakeholder
interests, HRM policy choices, HR outcomes, long-term consequences,
feedback loop; focuses on organizational and societal factors
Storey – contrasts personnel management and HRM, HRM’s strategic focus
and the critical role of line managers. Argues that senior managers should
adopt a distinctive bundle of HR practices that are linked to wide-ranging
cultural, structural and HR strategies. For e.g., pay focuses on employee
performance and training and development to organizational culture and
climate and learning companies.
Both models view employee capability as a key asset for achieving strategic
goals.
2. The ‘best fit’ theory is a more credible approach to understanding strategic HRM’.
Discuss.
Content material to consider:
a. These are two competing theoretical approaches that seek to demonstrate
that a set of HR practices will lead to enhanced organizational performance;
both theoretical approaches have found empirical support and a range of
limitations can be identified.
b. Best practice (universalism) – there is one set of HR practices which is
applicable in a variety of workplace contexts that will lead to superior
performance.
c. Best fit (contingency) – HR practices must be aligned with the internal and
external context of the organization to be effective; internal fit between
practices is also important.
3. Discuss how the nature of work has changed since the emergence of ‘knowledge
work’. To what extent does ‘knowledge work’ create challenges for individual
performance pay (IPA) systems?
Content material to consider:
a. Identify and explain the concept of traditional work being focused on
individuals doing specific tasks and becoming specialists in a narrow field,
area or skill
b. The identification of ‘knowledge’ as a competitive advantage and that greater
attention should be given to the HR practices that recruit, motivate and retain
knowledge workers.
c. IPA highlights the problem of quantifying the value of human resources,
especially when evaluating knowledge-based work
4. Explain the role of competency frameworks in the context of recruitment and
selection.
Content material to consider:
a. Competency frameworks focus on behavioural and psychological
characteristics that are central to effective job performance - these
characteristics can be used to form a model of the types of employee that an
organization wishes to attract and recruit; competency frameworks can
therefore enhance P-O fit.
b. Competency frameworks can enhance the sophistication of the recruitment
and selection process in numerous ways - they are a means of translating the
key requirements of an organization’s strategy in HR terms; they are argued to
be more objective and may help to overcome stereotyping in recruitment and
selection; competencies can also help to increase the effectiveness of the
selection process by increasing the structure of the interview process; the
use of behavioural interviewing has been found to have high predictive
validity.
c. The limitations of competencies must also be acknowledged - past behaviour
may not necessarily be the best predictor of future behaviour as people can
and do learn new ways of behaving; competency-based questions do not
always acknowledge the contingent nature of behaviour; competency
frameworks may discriminate against younger candidates with limited
experience or those with a poor recall; and candidates may still be able to
mislead interviewers by prepared answers or distorted responses.
5. ‘The shift from training to learning has changed the role of HRD in organizations’ .
Discuss.
Content material to consider:
Training is mainly instructor-led, and involves content-based interventions,
while learning is based on the self-direction of staff and learning from work,
with managers playing a central role in supporting this process.
The traditional HRD role focused on skills, training, competency activities,
where the actual training intervention itself was the focus; transactional/
maintenance role; short-lived, limited partnerships with other functional
areas.
The contemporary HRD role has evolved as businesses and the environment
have changed; HRD professionals must deliver value, facilitate
transformational change, demonstrate impact and enhance their credibility/
status; similarities with the business partner model of HRM can be drawn -
internal consultant, change agent; long-term relationships with internal and
external stakeholders must be cultivated.
6. Critically evaluate the key features of the ‘new pay’ paradigm.
Content material to consider:
a. New pay emphasizes that an effective pay system is one that is closely aligned
to the organization’s business strategy; closer alignment between the two is
argued to lead to a more effective organization; the reward system is used to
communicate desired behaviours and attitudes to employees.
b. The new pay agenda is driven by neo-liberal ideology and the deregulation of
labour markets.
c. It focuses on the employee’s market worth, flexibility and performance
(individual contribution); strong emphasis on variable pay to encourage
labour flexibility; individualization of the employment relationships via the
reward package is also a key feature.
7. ‘Collective bargaining is a valuable mechanism to redress the power imbalance in
the employment relationship’. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
Content material to consider:
The definition of collective bargaining – an institutional system of negotiation
in which the making, interpretation and administration of rules, as well as the
application of statutory controls affecting the employment relationship, are
decided within union-management negotiating committees.
Agree: collective bargaining offers employees a legitimate voice for influence
within the employment relationship; limited sanctions in the form of
industrial action can be exercised collectively to support worker claims;
collective agreements can be seen as a form of compromise; it can also
promote greater fairness, equity, and dignity in the employment relationship.
Disagree: management will always have more power; declining support for/
hostility towards trade unions has led to the diminished power of the
collective bargaining process; evidence shows that union involvement in pay
determination has declined; fails to recognize informal negotiations that
occur in the workplace.
8. According to Bratton and Gold (2022), ‘employee voice central to HRM’. Explain and
give examples to illustrate your answer.
Content material to consider:
a. Employee voice is designed to capture the ideas of employees and secure
their support, engagement, and commitment; it also aims to increase
motivation and job satisfaction.
b. Under employee voice, managers hope for performance improvements
through increased productivity and/or enhanced decision-making; managers
also promote employee voice in order to deal with dysfunctional work
behaviours.
c. Employee voice practices might go hand in hand with changes in an
organization’s culture away from a collective trade union focus and towards
an individual-oriented focus.
d. Employee voice might be crucial in the successful implementation of a low-
carbon strategy.
9. Explain the role of the HRM specialist in creating a safe and healthy working
environment. Has the COVID-19 pandemic created additional challenges? Explain.
Content material to consider:
a. Realize that employers have a legal duty to maintain a healthy and safe
workplace and this duty is directly related to HRM activities.
b. Safe and healthy working practices are there to protect an organization’s most
valuable asset, its people; therefore, if HR is to be strategic in nature it must
help to develop and maintain said practices.
c. Understand how a positive image in terms of health and safety can impact on
HR activities such as recruitment, appraisal, and training.
d. COVID-19 has raised ethical issues e.g., making the wearing of facemasks
or/and vaccination a condition of employment. Employees with health
conditions might feel unsafe returning to the workplace.
10. Explain how a bundle of integrated HR practices can develop and sustain an
organization’s low carbon and sustainability strategy.
Content material to consider:
Note that behavioural interventions should consider the three levels of
behaviour: individual level, social level, and material level.
Discuss how recruitment, selection, performance management, training and
development, rewards and employment relations can promote pro-
environmental behaviours at work and build a more environmentally
sustainable organizational culture.
a. Highlight the importance of aligning the policies, objectives, and procedures
of the Environmental Management System (EMS) with HR practices.
