Assignment: Using Human Resource Management Practices to Support Organizational Culture

Organizational cultures are intentionally created and carefully maintained by companies. They shape the "feel" and visual artifacts of the organization as well as support the organization's business strategy. A business strategy can allow a company to leverage the organization's set of core competencies to create a competitive advantage. Two examples of a business strategy or core competency are superior customer service and innovation. In addition to employing methods that support the overall business strategy of the organization, each internal business unit also creates its own practices that support the strategy. The human resources (HR) management business unit, for example, formulates the HR practices to ensure that the company's human capital efforts support a culture of innovation.

As an example, an organization whose business strategy or core competency is innovation might foster the overall culture of innovation by instituting a work-when-you-want policy and creating nontraditional workspaces. In addition, the HR business unit might design practices to enhance the culture of innovation, such as hiring only from universities known for encouraging innovation, implementing a bonus program for employees who acquire a patent, or using an employee selection test to screen for the most innovative among the group. However, if the strategy or core competency of the organization were superior customer service, the overall policies and business unit practices would differ greatly. A distinctly different culture would be created, one that supports the customer service business strategy.

For this assignment, select an organization you know well or research an organization that interests you. Respond to the following:

Describe the business strategy of the organization (be sure to include sufficient detail to provide the reader with a clear understanding of the strategy).

Analyze three unique, noteworthy aspects of the organization's culture and explain how they support the overall organizational business strategy or core competencies:

If the culture does not currently support the strategy, offer suggestions for changes.

Identify and analyze three distinct HR practices that support the organization's business strategy or core competencies:

If the HR practices do not currently support the strategy, offer suggestions for changes.

Support your statements with scholarly references. Be sure to include a separate title page as well as a reference page.

Your final product should be a 3- to 4-page Microsoft Word document, using a minimum of 3 sources from professional literature. Professional literature may include online library resources, relevant textbooks, peer-reviewed journal articles, and websites created by professional organizations, agencies, or institutions (.edu, .org, and .gov). Be sure you write in a clear, concise, and organized manner; demonstrate ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and display accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.