The Executive MBA Program with a specialization in Strategy and Leadership is specifically designed for executives and top managers of various companies. It covers all major topics relevant to the successful leadership and management of the organizations. The aim of the Program is to equip professionals with relevant business knowledge and tools in order to improve their own and company’s performance, identify weaknesses and increase efficiency.

1. Organizational Behavior and Human
Resource strategy
Final Examination
Humaid’s Dilemma
EMBA Strategy and Leadership Program
Instructor: Dr. Francois Bester
Student: Mohammed Nasser

2. Mohammed Nasser Final Examination
The effectiveness of the OB/HRM principle
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Case Study
In this company and according to scenario, I see the manager level, supervisors don’t follow any kind of Human
Resource Management approach that will increase employee’s motivation, performance, training, employee relation,
etc…, that responsible for create some critical problems in this organization related to HRM and total business
organizations as following:
 The work is not being on time[1]
 The mistakes are far above 2 percent target [2]
 His biggest worry at that point was that everything was so efficiently designed that he, as manager, would not have
anything to do with his time.[3]
 Salesmen often were unable to get through quickly to information clerks. Because she left holding the telephone
up to ten or fifteen minutes waiting for a clerk - while both the salesman and the customer became increasingly
impatient.[4]
 Customer complains about the materials had not been delivered or that the price was different from that quoted or
(all too often) both.[5]
 The clerks were often abrupt and unfriendly to the salesmen when they called. According to more than one
salesman.[6]
 Absenteeism and turnover were extremely high.[7]
 A lot of errors in order, even experienced clerks had a high error rate.[8]
 Clerks makes computer give busy indicator when they boring or need additional break.[9]
 Margie has become increasingly frustrated and unhappy in her work. [10]
 Nobody had been promoted to management or to a better job from the ranks of the console operators, at least not
in the last couple of years.[11]
All the previous issues are happening because the organization haven’t a good HRM strategies as well as a good learning
and development system, and the solutions will be present in this tow sections:
The HRM Approach in Organization
This organization tend to use traditionally and very old HR strategies without any policies and procedures, so to solve a
huge part of the pervious problems the manger need to implement a new HR strategy:
The purpose of HR strategies is to articulate what an organization intends to do about its human resource management
policies and practices now and in the longer term, bearing in mind the dictum of Fombrun (1984) that business and
managers should perform well in the present to succeed in the future. HR strategies aim to meet both business and
human needs in the organization. HR strategy may set out intentions and provide a sense of purpose and direction, but
they are not just long-term plans. HR strategy can be identified; these are: 1) general strategies such as high-
performance working, and 2) specific strategies relating to the different aspects of human resource management such as
learning and development and reward etc….
HR strategies set out what the organization intends to do in areas such as:
• Human capital management – obtaining, analyzing and reporting on data that inform the direction of value-adding
people management, strategic, investment and operational decisions.
• Organization development – the planning and implementation of programs designed to enhance the effectiveness
with which an organization functions and responds to change.
• Engagement – the development and implementation of policies designed to increase the level of employees’
engagement with their work and the organization.
• Knowledge management – creating, acquiring, capturing, sharing and using knowledge to enhance learning and
performance.

3. Mohammed Nasser Final Examination
The effectiveness of the OB/HRM principle
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• Resourcing – attracting and retaining high quality people.
• Reward – defining what the organization wants to do in the longer term to develop and implement reward policies,
practices and processes that will further the achievement of its business goals and meet the needs of its stakeholders.
• Employee relations – defining the intentions of the organization about what needs to be done and what needs to be
changed in the ways in which the organization manages its relationships with employees and their trade unions.
HR strategies describe the overall system or bundle of complementary HR practices that the organization proposes to
adopt or puts into effect in order to improve organizational performance. The three main approaches are summarized
below.
1. High-performance management
High-performance management or high-performance working aims to make an impact on the performance of the
organization in such areas as productivity, quality, and levels of customer service, growth and profits. High-performance
management practices include rigorous recruitment and selection procedures, extensive and relevant training and
management development activities, incentive pay systems and performance management processes. These practices
are often called ‘high-performance work systems’ (HPWS) which, as defined by Appelbaum (2000), comprise practices
that can facilitate employee involvement, skill enhancement and motivation. Thompson and Heron (2005) refer to them
as ‘high-performance work organization practices’ which, they say, ‘consist of work practices that invest in the skills and
abilities of employees, design work in ways that enable employee collaboration in problem solving and provide
incentives to motivate workers to use their discretionary effort’. This term is more frequently used than either high-
commitment management or high-involvement management, although there is a degree of overlap between these
approaches and an HPWS and the terms ‘high performance’ and ‘high commitment’ are sometimes used
interchangeably.
2. High-commitment management
One of the defining characteristics of HRM is its emphasis on the importance of enhancing mutual commitment (Walton,
1985b). High-commitment management has been described by Wood (1996) as: ‘A form of management which is aimed
at eliciting a commitment so that behavior is primarily self-regulated rather than controlled by sanctions and pressures
external to the individual, and relations within the organization are based on high levels of trust.’ The following
descriptions expand these statements.
3. High-involvement management
As defined by Benson et al (2006): ‘High-involvement work practices are a specific set of human resource practices that
focus on employee decision making, power, access to information, training and incentives.’ The term ‘high involvement’
was used by Lawler (1986) to describe management systems based on commitment and involvement, as opposed to the
old bureaucratic model based on control. The underlying hypothesis is that employees will increase their involvement
with the company if they are given the opportunity to control and understand their work. He claimed that high-
involvement practices worked well because they acted as a synergy and had a multiplicative effect. This approach
involves treating employees as partners in the enterprise whose interests are respected and who have a voice on
matters that concern them. It is concerned with communication and involvement. The aim is to create a climate in which
a continuing dialogue between managers and the members of their teams takes place in order to define expectations
and share information on the organization’s mission, values and objectives. This establishes mutual understanding of
what is to be achieved and a framework for managing and developing people to ensure that it will be achieved. The
practices included in a high-involvement system have sometimes expanded beyond this original concept and included
high-performance practices. For example, as noted above, high performance practices usually include relevant training
and incentive pay systems. Sung and Ashton (2005) include high-involvement practices as one of the three broad areas
of a high performance work system (the other two being human resource practices and reward and commitment
practices).

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The effectiveness of the OB/HRM principle
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Learning and Development
The other art of problem faced in this organization can be solve by contribute the learning and development system
according to organizational performance
Learning and development defined
Learning and development is the process of acquiring and developing knowledge, skills, capabilities, behaviors and
attitudes through learning or developmental experiences. It is concerned with ensuring that the organization has the
knowledgeable, skilled, engaged and committed workforce it needs.
1. Learning
Learning is the means by which a person acquires and develops new knowledge, skills, capabilities, behaviors and
attitudes. As explained by Honey and Mumford (1996): ‘Learning has happened when people can demonstrate that they
know something that they did not know before (insights, realizations as well as facts) and when they can do something
they could not do before (skills).’ Learning is a continuous process that not only enhances existing capabilities but also
leads to the development of the skills, knowledge and attitudes that prepare people for enlarged or higher-level
responsibilities in the future. And we have three type of learning can be applied in this organization as following:
 Informal learning
Informal learning is experiential learning. It takes place while people are learning on-the-job as they go along. Most
learning does not take place in formal training programs. People can learn 70 per cent of what they know about their job
informally. A study by Eraut et al (1998) established that in organizations adopting a learner-centered perspective,
formal education and training provided only a small part of what was learnt at work. Most of the learning described to
the researchers was non-formal.
 Workplace learning
Informal learning occurs in the workplace but there are a number of specific ways in which learning can be enhanced.
The most important of these are coaching and mentoring, but other methods are job rotation, job shadowing, and bite-
sized learning through e-learning, cross-functional or cross-site project work.
 Formal learning
Formal learning is planned and systematic. It makes use of structured training programs consisting of instruction and
practice that may be conducted on- or off-the-job. Experience may be planned to provide opportunities for continuous
learning and development. Formal learning and developmental activities may be used such as action learning, coaching,
mentoring and outdoor learning.
2. Development
Development is concerned with ensuring that a person’s ability and potential are grown and realized through the
provision of learning experiences or through self-directed (self-managed) learning. It is an unfolding process that enables
people to progress from a present state of understanding and capability to a future state in which higher-level skills,
knowledge and competencies are required. As well as development takes the form of learning activities that prepare
people to exercise wider or increased responsibilities. In development programs there is an emphasis on self-directed
learning as described above.
 Personal development planning
Personal development planning is carried out by individuals with guidance, encouragement and help from their
managers as required. A personal development plan sets out the actions people propose to take to learn and to develop
themselves. They take responsibility for formulating and implementing the plan but they receive support from the
organization and their managers in doing so
Features of a learning and development strategy
A learning and development strategy should be business-led in the sense that it is designed to support the achievement
of business goals by promoting human capital advantage. But it should also be people-led, which means taking into
account the needs and aspiration of people to grow and develop. Achieving the latter aim, of course, supports the
achievement of the former. Learning and development strategy is underpinned by a philosophy and its purpose is to
operationalize that philosophy. It is fundamentally concerned with creating a learning culture that will encourage
learning and will provide the basis for planning and implementing learning activities and programs. This concept of a
learning culture is associated with that of the learning organization.

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The effectiveness of the OB/HRM principle
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References:
[1] Case study page 1 line 10
[2] Case study page 1 line 11
[3] Case study page 2 line 2, 3
[4] Case study page 2 line 15, 16, 17, 18, 19
[5] Case study page 2 line 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
[6] Case study page 2 line 26, 27, 28, 29, 30
[7] Case study page 2 line 33, 34
[8] Case study page 2 line 47
[9] Case study page 3 line 6, 7, 8, 9
[10] Case study page 7 line 4
[11] Case study page 8 line 3, 4, 5
Armstrong’s Handbook 11th, Part I Human Resource Management
Armstrong’s Handbook 11th, Part VIII Learning and Development
OB/HRM handbook