M.B.A. (General) DEGREE EXAMINATION,
NOVEMBER 2017
Third Semester
STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
(CBCS 2016 onwards)
Time 3 Hours Maximum 75 Marks
Part A x 3 15)
Answer all questions.
1. Write the objectives of Strategic Human Resource
Management.
2. What is Strategic Workforce Planning?
3. What are the different components of Strategic
Compensation?
4. What is the purpose of Performance Management
System?
5. What is downsizing in an organization?
Part B x 10 50)
Answer all questions choosing either or
6. Describe the role of human resource management in
an organization's strategic plan.
Or
Discuss the role of HR in strategic planning.
Sub. Code
641342
RW-796
2
wk12
7. Discuss the challenges of Strategic Human
Resource System in India.
Or
Discuss about recruitment and selection methods,
advantages and disadvantages.
8. Describe various types of compensation strategies in
detail.
Or
Briefly analyse the relationship between Employee
Development and Organizational Development.
9. Describe the importance of performance
management in HRM.
Or
Briefly explain about high performance HR
practices with example.
10. Explain the importance of human resource
information system in an organization.
Or
Describe the strategies for successful organizational
downsizing.
Part C 10 10)
Compulsory
11. The Downsizing Phenomenon Worldwide
In the 1980s, downsizing was mostly resorted to by weak
companies facing high demand erosion for their products
or facing severe competition from other companies. Due
to these factors, these companies found it unviable to
RW-796
3
wk12
maintain a huge workforce and hence downsized a large
number of employees. Soon, downsizing came to be seen
as a tool adopted by weak companies, and investors
began selling stocks of such companies in anticipation of
their decreased future profitability. However, by the
1990s, as even financially sound companies began
downsizing, investors began considering the practice as a
means to reduce costs, improve productivity and increase
profitability. This new development went against
conventional microeconomic thorny, according to which a
weak firm laid off workers in anticipation of a slump in
demand, and a strong firm hired more workers to
increase production anticipating an increase in demand.
In the 1990s, most firms were downsizing in spite of an
economic boom; labor costs were not rising in relation to
productivity and the companies anticipated greater
demand for their products. However, this phenomenon is
not very difficult to understand.
During the early 1990s, organizations resorted to
downsizing on account of various reasons: to eliminate
duplication of work after mergers and acquisitions
to optimize resources and cut costs, and to
increase productivity and efficiency by eliminating
unnecessary intermediary channels.
Companies expected the productivity of employees
remaining after downsizing to increase as they thought it
would be easier to train and manage a smaller workforce.
However, according to Hickok, an industry analyst,
downsizing resulted in vast cultural changes (mostly
negative) in the organization instead of an increase in
cost savings or productivity. Hickok observed the
following changes in organizational culture after
downsizing: power shift from middle management to top
management/owners; shift in focus from the welfare if the
individual employee to the welfare of the organization as
RW-796
4
wk12
a whole; change in working relationships (from being
familial to competitive); and change in employeremployee
relationship (from being long-term and stable to
being short-term and contingent).
Questions
What are the major techniques used for downsizing?
State your suggestion on downsizing.
———————