Human Resources Management

I. Current Situation

- A. Current Performance

- How did the corporation perform the past year overall in terms of return on investment, market share, and profitability?

- B. Strategic Posture

- What are the corporation's current mission, objectives, strategies, and policies?

- Are they clearly stated or are they merely implied from performance?

- Mission: What businesses) is the corporation in? Why?

- Objectives: What are the corporate, business, and functional objectives? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission, and with the internal and external environments?

- Strategies: What strategy or mix of strategies is the corporation following? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission and objectives, and with the internal and external environments?

- Policies: What are they? Are they consistent with each other, with the mission and objectives, with the strategies, and with the internal and external environments?

- Do the current mission, objectives, strategies, and policies reflect the corporation's international operations -- whether global or multi-domestic?

II. Corporate Governance

- A. Board of Directors

- Who are they? Are they internal or external?

- Do they own significant shares of stock?

- Is the stock privately held or publicly traded? Are there different classes of stock with different voting rights?

- What do they contribute to the corporation in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and connections? If the corporation has international operations, do board members have international experience?

- How long have they served on the board?

- What is their level of involvement in strategic management? Do they merely rubber-stamp top management's proposals or do they actively participate and suggest future directions?

- B. Top Management

- What person or group constitutes top management?

- What are top management's chief characteristics in terms of knowledge, skills, background, and style? If the corporation has international operations, does top management have international experience? Are executives from acquired companies considered part of the top management team?

- Has top management been responsible for the corporation's performance over the past few years? How many managers have been in their current position for less than 3 years? Were they internal promotions or external hires?

- Has it established a systematic approach to strategic management?

- What is its level of involvement in the strategic management process?

- How well does top management interact with lower level managers and with the board of directors?

- Are strategic decisions made ethically in a responsible manner?

- Is top management sufficiently skilled to cope with likely future challenges?

III. External Environment: Opportunities and Threats (SWOT)

- A. Societal Environment

- What general environmental forces are currently affecting both the corporation and the industries in which it competes? Which present current or future threats? Opportunities? See Table 3.1 on page 55.

- a) Economic

- b) Technological

- c) Political-legal

- d) Sociocultural

Are these forces different in other regions of the world?

- B. Task Environment

- What forces drive industry competition? Are these forces the same globally or do they vary from country to country?

- a) Threat of new entrants

- b) Bargaining power of buyers

- c) Threat of substitute products or services

- d) Bargaining power of suppliers

- e) Rivalry among competing firms

- f) Relative power of unions, governments, special interest groups, etc.

- What key factors in the immediate environment (that is, customers, competitors, suppliers, creditors, labor unions, governments, trade associations, interest groups, local communities, and shareholders) are currently affecting the corporation? Which are current or future threats? Opportunities?

- C. Summary of External Factors

- Which of these forces and factors are the most important to the corporation and to the industries in which it competes at the present time? Which will be important in the future?

- IV. Internal Environment: Strengths and Weaknesses (SWOT)

- A. Corporate Structure

- How is the corporation structured at present?

- a) Is the decision-making authority centralized around one group or decentralized to many units?

- b) Is it organized on the basis of functions, projects, geography, or some combination of these?

- Is the structure clearly understood by everyone in the corporation?

- Is the present structure consistent with corporate objectives, strategies, policies, and programs as well as with the firm's international operations?

- In what ways does it compare with similar corporations?

- B. Corporate Culture

- Is there a well-defined or emerging culture composed of shared beliefs, expectations, and values?

- Is the culture consistent with the current objectives, strategies, policies, and programs?

- What is the culture's position on important issues facing the corporation (that is, on productivity, quality of performance, adaptability to changing conditions, and internationalization)?

- Is the culture compatible

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