Introduction This week you examine the different driving forces behind the planning efforts of the Human Resources Department/Division, the importance of maintaining a long-term strategic vision and plan, and challenges created by short-term pressures. In addition, you analyze the role of Human Resources within an organization (Wal-Mart). Objectives • Evaluate importance of driving forces on planning efforts of the Human Resources Department/Division • Analyze conditions when strategic thinking and resolution should be followed in spite of short-term drivers • Analyze organizational responses to strategy-driven planning by the Human Resource Department/Division • Analyze impact of the Human Resource Department’s role on the larger organization • Analyze role of the Human Resources Department/Division in the organization’s success Strategic Decisions in Spite of Short-Term Driving Forces (1-page paper) Background: Imagine your organization (Wal-Mart, Inc.) has a plan in place to expand its services in its home country over the next five years. However, a competitor (Target) has announced intentions to expand into international markets. Things change; new trends emerge that attract our interest, especially when the competition is interested and even moving on the trend. In HR, after our HR Operating Plan written to support the direction of the organization is implemented, trends can arise that look attractive, but when looking at where the organization is headed, warrant no change in our plan. Often, plans do not need to be changed at a high level, i.e., a strategy, but rather, action steps planned to make those strategies happen can easily accommodate many trends and do some seamlessly, but when the CEO wants change, HR needs rationale and process. Think about the many short- and long-term drivers, e.g., new competitors, pending legislation, etc., which might impact an organization’s plan. Trends can easily attract the attention of the C-suite, who then pushes to forget plans and go for it. So, on what basis can HR leadership provide a logical rationale for holding firmly to a plan and ignoring the trendy new thing happening, despite the push from the CEO? Write a 1 page paper on the following: What are 3-5 specific criteria that could be used to assess potential opportunities that warrant change in the HR Operating Plan brought to HR by the CEO and provide rationale for your assessment criteria selection, e.g., alignment with the business direction of the organization, new legislation, etc. Helpful information: Competition does strange things to most people … we tend to want to win! However, jumping on the band wagon, running to get ahead of the competition when we hear what they’re doing, dropping all our solid thinking and planning to follow (assuming we can get in front), all tend to seem too good at the time, but may not be in the best interest of what is really at stake. Have you ever found yourself dropping your plans you made with a good friend in order to go somewhere else, just to be with a certain in-crowd, and then finding that you lost more than you gained by doing this – maybe even a good friend? If not, we’ve certainly seen scenarios like this, and business is no different. It’s so easy to get pulled into going a different direction than all your wisdom told you were right, all because the competition seems so confident, aggressive, and they’re doing it! So, off you go, redirecting all your resources to be a ‘me-too’ organization. These things often backfire – whether on a personal basis or in the business. Resources (Please use 2+ resources for your paper) Garey, R. W. (2011). Business literacy survival guide for HR professionals. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management. o Chapter 1, “Human Resources as Strategic Partner Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2012). Organizational and operating plans. Baltimore, MD: Author. Christensen, R. (2005). Roadmap to Strategic HR: Turning a great idea into a business reality. New York, NY: American Management Association. Roadmap to Strategic HR: Turning a Great Idea into a Business Reality by Ralph Christensen. Copyright 2006 by AMACOM BOOKS. Reprinted by permission of AMACOM BOOKS via the Copyright Clearance Center • Chapter 7, “Create a Human and Organizational Strategy.” o Adams, A. (2011). Mapping a strategic approach to HR leadership. Strategic HR Review, 11(1), 31–36. o Anonymous. (2010). HR wins a strategic role at QBE Insurance: Transformation takes place in partnership with business leaders. Human Resource Management International Digest, 18(5), 19–21. o Beinhocker, E. D., & Kaplan, S. (2003). The real value of strategic planning: The goal of a strategic planning process should not be to make strategy but to build prepared minds that are capable of making sound strategic decisions. MIT Sloan Management Review, 44(2), 71–76. o Ulrich, D. (1986). Human resource planning as a competitive edge. Human Resource Planning, 9(2), 41–50.