Are HR professionals prepared to handle the problem of managing people in different cultures and environments

Situational Analysis and Action Plan

This course analyzes select human resource topics, trends, and issues that HR professionals typically encounter in the workplace. The course asks you to align the assigned readings, discussions, and assignments with real-world experiences in an effort to determine the applicability of these HR topics in specific situations in order to help an organization achieve its business, organizational, and cultural goals efficiently and effectively.

For your project, you will prepare a situational analysis and action plan. You will select a topic, trend or issue and an organization you intend to study. You will analyze the implications of your selected topic for your selected organization. You will provide a sequential and thorough analysis of a selected topic, trend, or issue using three perspectives or “lenses-of-analysis”: business, organizational, and cultural. Your situational analysis and action plan will be supported by scholarly and professional resources. You will create an action plan for addressing the findings generated from the three perspectives. Your action plan should allow an HR professional to make informed, data-driven decisions focused on taking strategically aligned and tactically effective action related to organizational success. You will:

•    Analyze a selected topic, trend, or issue from three perspectives: business, organizational, and cultural.
•    Use empirical information and data specific to the organization selected for the project to support your analysis.
•    Create an action plan for addressing the findings generated from the three perspectives.
Your project should include the following sections:
•    Section 1 – Topic Description and Rationale.
•    Section 2 – Business Perspective.
•    Section 3 – Organizational Perspective.
•    Section 4 – Cultural Perspective.
•    Section 5 – Action Plan and Conclusion.

Topic Description and Rationale

In this section, you will describe your choice of topic and the work environment you plan to study. You will explain the topic’s relevance to HRM in a global organization and to your professional development and experience. Be sure to support your rationale with at least 2 peer-reviewed references.

Topic Selection Guidelines

Consider selecting an HRM or organizational topic, trend, or issue from your work environment for the situational analysis and action plan. Doing so may enable you to address and resolve an organizational impediment, as well as provide you with important critical thinking and plan development skills. This avenue may be particularly advantageous if your organization has international operations. Examples of topics you might choose include:

•    Expatriates and disparate HR practices; HR as practice leader.
•    Exclusion or inclusion of HR professionals in organization-wide strategic business planning and decision making.
•    Outsourcing HR to increase HR and business effectiveness: A case of professional preparation, positioning, and execution.
•    HR professional as change agent: A business case for or against.
•    Are HR professional prepared for business or union negotiations?

Business Perspective

The Business Perspective is an overview of the relationships to and influence of your selected HRM topic on achieving the business strategy of your chosen company. For your selected company should include:

•    Organizational profile.
•    Organizational vision.
•    Organizational mission.
•    Human resources profile.
•    Economic context.
•    Political or regulatory contexts.
•    Competitor analysis.
•    Operations infrastructure.

Organizational Perspective

In the organizational perspective section, you will provide a succinct overview of the relationships and influence of your HRM topic on achieving your chosen company’s organizational goals. By definition and design, organizational goals are a product of mission and vision, and are specific, measurable, and time bound.

One orientation to measuring the progress and achievement of organizational goals are through key performance indicators (KPI). Key performance indicators are products of organizational vision and mission, and may include such indicators as annual return on investment, percentage of repeat business with existing clients, and positive customer service ratings. Be sure to make an informed decision concerning the key performance indicators you choose.

In this section you will:

•    Select at least three key performance indicators from the company you have chosen.
•    Analyze how these KPIs relate to the HRM topic you have chosen.
You should create distinct sub-sections that identify and analyze each KPI.

Cultural Perspective

In the cultural perspective section, you will provide a succinct overview of your selected organization’s cultural goals and the influence your chosen HRM topic has on realizing those goals. Like business and organizational perspectives, the cultural perspective is a product of organizational vision and mission. Organization culture reflects organizational thought and behavior and is socially constructed. Organizational culture is identified by categories such as organizational values, orientation to change, and leader’s leadership style. Organizational culture can be challenging to identify and measure.
In this section you will:

•    Select two cultural categories that reflect the organization you chose.
•    Analyze your chosen HRM topic within the context of those categories.

Action Plan and Conclusion

In the action plan and conclusion section, you will summarize your analysis and plan in a conclusion that presents a compelling reason for the reader to implement the action plan.

Action Plan

In the final section, you will create an action plan for addressing the findings you generated about your selected topic from the three perspectives (business, organizational, cultural). Action plans are created using a myriad of different formats. In order to articulate the goals, actions and metrics of your organizational initiative, vary the format as needed to best present your work. You action plan should include:

•    Achievement criteria: What criteria are used to measure progress and goal achievement?
•    Action steps: Who performs specific actions to achieve objectives within a specific time frame?
•    Resource requirement: What resources are necessary to enable the action plan objectives to be achieved?
•    Achievement dates: What are the objective achievement date or dates aligned with step 3, “action steps”?
•    Review criteria: When will action plan results be reviewed, by whom, and using what achievement criteria?

Your situational analysis and action plan should include empirical information and data specific to the organization you have selected for the project. To this end, for your situational analysis and action plan to be viable and convincing, eliminate or keep to a minimum any personal or unsupported assertions, industry attitudes, or opinions.

You should support your project with at least 10–15 resources comprised of the following:

•    5 scholarly works.
•    Interviews with knowledge practitioners or posts from knowledge practitioner blogs.
•    Conference proceedings and organization-specific business data. The business data should include empirical information and data specific to the organization you have selected.

This project requires you to demonstrate critical thinking skills, strategic acumen, tactical capability, sound judgment, common sense and logic, and attention to detail in development of your action plan.
Depending on the courses you have already taken, integrate relevant knowledge, competencies, and skills learned in those courses in conducting your situational analysis and constructing the action plan. Remember, throughout the course, you have scheduled deliverables and deliverable dates. Be sure you manage these submissions in order to deliver the situational analysis and action plan at the end of Unit 6.

To successfully complete this project, you will be expected to:

1.    Identify HRM trends and issues in global organizations.
2.    Demonstrate understanding of key HRM principles.
3.    Analyze HRM initiatives in the context of business, organizational, and culture goals.
4.    Evaluate related literature in support of HR initiatives.

To achieve a successful project experience and outcome, you are expected to meet the following requirements.
•    Written communication: Written communication is free of errors that detract from the overall message.
•    APA formatting: Resources and citations are formatted according to APA Style and Formatting.
•    Parts of paper:
•    Section 1 – Topic Description and Rationale.
•    Section 2 – Business Perspective.
•    Section 3 – Organizational Perspective.
•    Section 4 – Cultural Perspective.
•    Section 5 – Action Plan and Conclusion.
•    Length of paper: 15pages, excluding title page, table of contents, and references list.
•    Number of resources: 10–15 references comprised of 5 scholarly works and remaining  10 resources comprised of interviews with or blog entries from knowledge practitioners, conference proceedings, and organization-specific business data.
•    Font, font size, and page layout: Times New Roman, 12 point, double-spaced, and one-inch margins.

For this assignment you will submit your complete Situational Analysis and Action Plan project. Be certain to incorporate the feedback you received from your instructor on your previously submitted assignments.
Your situational analysis and action plan should include empirical information and data specific to the organization you have selected for the project. To this end, for your situational analysis and action plan to be viable and convincing, eliminate or keep to a minimum any personal or unsupported assertions, industry attitudes, or opinions.
Part of the final section of the project is an action plan for addressing the findings you generated about your selected topic from the three perspectives (business, organizational, cultural). Action plans are created using a myriad of different formats. In order to articulate the goals, actions and metrics of your organizational initiative, vary the format as needed to best present your work. The action plan should Include:

•    Achievement criteria: What criteria are used to measure progress and goal achievement?
•    Action steps: Who performs specific actions to achieve objectives within a specific time frame?
•    Resource requirement: What resources are necessary to enable the action plan objectives to be achieved?
•    Achievement dates: What are the objective achievement date or dates aligned with step 3, “action steps?”
•    Review criteria: When will action plan results be reviewed, by whom, and using what achievement criteria?

The action plan and conclusion section of the project should be 4–5 pages in length. The complete project should be, however, no less than 15 pages long (excluding title page and references) and in APA format.