HRCI PHR – Business Management and Strategy – The HR Function and Business Environment Part 2

13. Key Strategic Business Concepts (5)

Now let’s stop you for a moment and review this topic. Match each business concept to its description. Not all descriptions will have a match. Here we have the options business case development, competitive advantage, corporate social responsibility and here you have the targets identifies resources and sets management expectations. Produce products at a lower cost how the company will be just and fair from a corporate citizens perspective a plan to promote top performers, a policy to match employee donations to charity and this is the answer for you to compare. Developing a business case before a project or decision is undertaken can help to identify needed resources, avoid time wasting details and provide management with an accurate picture of the scope of the project. Organizations gain competitive advantage and create superior value from their customers by producing at lower cost or by delivering superior benefits.

Corporate social responsibility is about how corporate citizens manage their business and their interrelationships with all of their stakeholders in order to produce an over positive impact on society. This description doesn’t represent any of the business concepts listed. Promoting top performers within an organization is an excellent business decision, but it doesn’t form the basis of an organization’s strategy. This description doesn’t represent any of the business concepts listed. Again, over an organization might want to help the community by donating to specifically employees believe in this in itself doesn’t form the basis of its strategic direction.

14. Analyzing the Business Environment (1)

Analyzing the business environment, the organization must know where it is before it can provide strategies on where to go. So in topic three, analyzing the business environment, I will highlight the importance of an organization understanding where it is today. Two are the tools used for this type of analysis. These are sword analyses and slabs analysis. Together, these tools enable you, as an HR professional, to contribute important information to the organization’s strategic plan. As HR professionals, we are faced with information and data from both internal and external business environments on a daily basis. And in order to act as a strategic partner to the business, it is vital that we can identify and interpret the useful data. What makes our task even more difficult is the ever increasing complexity and ever changing nature of the business environments that we deal with. But by using the appropriate environmental analysis tools, we could provide valuable and timely information to be used in the corporate strategic planning process. Since the organization must know what it is before it can provide strategies on where to go, the next phase in the strategic planning process focuses on gaining a clear view of the current state of the organization.

Here, we will use a sweat analysis, which is a simple and effective process for collecting information on the organization’s current state. The sweat analyzes process involves answering four very basic questions. First, what are the organization’s internal strengths? Next, what are the organization’s internal weaknesses? Third, what external opportunities might move the organization forward? And fourth, what external threats may hold the organization back? An analysis of this type characterizes the internal and external forces that affect the organization’s future performance.

15. Analyzing the Business Environment (2)

What analyzes. You know how it is. Inside the rectangular box is a circle with a text organization in it representing the internal environment. You can imagine this inside the circle, the text strengths and weaknesses is placed. Inside the rectangle, the text opportunities and threads is placed. An arrow point went out of the rectangle to show that it is external environment. You know how SWOT works? I will not go into details. To achieve a clear picture of its current state, the organization should look at itself through others eyes, both internal and external stakeholders ‘perceptions of the organization, which will provide valuable information regarding the current state of the organization taking external threats and weaknesses.

Further, we will look at a slapped analysis. This model characterizes external business forces as social, legal, economic, political and technological. This model helps organizations to gain information, scan the external environment and improve organizational knowledge of the potential impact these external factors could have on the business. A key point to remember here is that the strategic plan will focus on external threats as they are very likely to have a major impact on the business. Threats which are less likely, but could have a major impact nonetheless are addressed through risk management, not the strategic plan. So the Slap model business environment is placed at the center, pointing outwards from the circular social environment, economic environment, technological environment, political environment and legal environment.

This environment surrounds the business environment. Companies are increasingly impacted by a number of factors from the external environment, including demographic and social factors. Today’s, employees are constantly changing in terms of expectations and in the workforce. Composition, age, gender, generational differences, ethnicity and skills availability all play a big part in how a company does business. To make this point, let’s look at the age of the current workforce. Today, approximately 39% of the workforce is between the ages of 45 and 65. About 44% is between 25 and 44, and only about 10% is 20 to 24. That means we will need to find new recruiting and retention strategies for older workers who are educated, trained, loyal, dependable and flexible.

At the same time, we need to engage and reward younger workers so they don’t feel frustrated and held back by the older workers. Many younger employees are changing careers, jobs and positions at a much faster rate than in previous generations. Many older workers want or need to work longer and are looking for transition to part time employment rather than retire immediately. And with knowledge like this, we can help the organization rethink its strategies for career development, advancement and flexible work schedules.

16. Analyzing the Business Environment (3)

Political, legal, and regulatory environments. New legislation and regulatory guidelines are continually being enacted at the federal, state, and local levels, and this happens in almost all the countries in the world. Many areas receiving political attention now directly affect HR professionals. Some include health benefits, healthcare delivery and health care continuation family, medical, military and other employee leaves, retirement funds, employment benefits, union organizing, immigration, executive compensation, corporate governance and environmental issues and the list goes on. Assessing trends in government is no easy task since the federal, the state, and local jurisdictions may move in conflicting directions, and again, this may happen in any other country.

However, HR professionals need to monitor the political environment and stay on top of current legislation and regulations. We’ve got to know the laws and regulations and how they apply to our organization. We need to devise company policies and employment practices so that they are in compliance with applicable laws and regulations. We need to calculate the potential cost to the organization of maintaining compliance and trained supervisors on legal and regulatory responsibilities. And we have to make employees aware of their rights under the laws and regulations. A variety of economic factors can influence the work of HR professionals, including risk, healthcare cost that will affect the organization’s and employees budgets, a general feeling of job insecurity, the shift to a knowledge based economy that may create temporary misalignments between skills needed and available emerging global economies that may expand an organization’s geographic boundaries, more accountability and corporate governance, and continued demand for increasing productivity. An important part of environmental scanning is observing economic conditions as an indication of where the economy is and where it’s headed.

And it’s beneficial to monitor interest rates, gross domestic product or GDP, the Consumer Price Index, or CPI disposable income and inflation. Another area that HR should examine in an environment scan is technology. Changes occur constantly, and the rate of changes increase dramatically in the computer age. Consider advances in technology, technology skills, the digital divide, and process changes when monitoring the technological front. Changes in technology can alter both the structure of jobs and the structure of the organization, and technology may provide employees with the tools to do a job more efficiently and accurately. Technology has even affected the way in which organizations solve problems.

The opportunity for enhanced communication with employees and customers, however, comes increased concern about data privacy, legal concerns about violating employees rights under the National Labor Relations Act Identities Act, and the vulnerability of critical technological infrastructures. HR must monitor the impact of technology on employees so that the line between being productive and being overworked is not crossed. Improved access to laptops and smartphones can now mean that employees are never really off the clock or truly on vacation.

17. Analyzing the Business Environment (4)

So here’s the next set of review questions. Spot analysis is a strategic planning tool that helps you to analyze an organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Match each spot factor with its corresponding example. Each what factor matches to to more than one example. Here they have the options internal, external and here they have the target high quality processes, poor customer satisfaction, favorable economic upswing and new competition. And this is the answer for you to compare. Having a high quality process is an example of a company’s strengths or its internal resources and capabilities. It is an internal factor that is possibly under the company’s control.

Poor customer satisfaction is an example of a weakness, of an internal obstacle to the organization being competitive or achieving goals. It is an example of an internal factor which is to some extent under a company’s control. An upswing in the economy is an example of an opportunity outside the organization that holds the potential for profit and future growth. This is an example of an external factor that is not under a company’s control. Competition new to the marketplace can present a threat to an organization that must be overcome for the company to be successful. This is an example of an external factor that is not under a company’s control. The Slap model categorizes forces in the external business environment into social, legal, economic, political and technological factors that may affect an organization’s approach to strategy.

Match the corresponding example for each external force. Here we have the options social and demographic, legal and regulatory, economic, political and or technological. And these are the targets. Only 65% of the customer base places orders online. Noise control legislation will take effect next year. Forecasters predict a low unemployment rate. A government gives subsidies for new It companies and lastly, robotics equipment for packaging is very affordable.

And this is the answer for you to compare. Changes in taste and lifestyle are social factors in the external business environment that are reflected in, for example, consumer buying behavior. Environmental laws and regulations are examples of legal and regulatory external business factors that affect how a company operates. Employment levels are an example of an economic external business factor that can affect an organization’s ability to hire skilled labor. A government subsidy is an example of how the political environment can affect the success of a company advancements. And subsequently the affordability of technology is an external factor that can create new business opportunities, improve current business processes and reduce costs for companies.

18. Legislative and Regulatory Process (1)

Legislative and regulatory process. HR professionals should strongly consider participating in both the legislative and rulemaking processes. I cannot stress this enough. In topic four, Legislative and Regulatory Process, we’ll discuss the steps necessary for Congress in this case. To pass a bill into law and subsequent rulemaking process for other countries, you’ll have to research by yourself what is the regulatory process. The value of including the impact of proposed and enacted laws and regulations in our analyzes should become apparent. Just because of the significant impact, HR professionals should strongly consider participating in the said legislative and rulemaking process. In the next few videos we are going to be talking about what makes government work and the legislative process. Laws are actions which are passed by Congress and other legislative bodies.

Regulations reflect how laws will be implemented and often have the force of a law. They are proposed, adopted and enforced by specific regulatory agencies which have been delegated rulemaking authority by Congress. And from time to time these regulatory agencies issue guidelines that interpret how their regulations will be enforced. It is important for HR to pay attention to the process as well as the results. Laws are created by a legislative body while regulations comes from and draw their powers from the laws. This is the situation in most of the countries. Laws are intentionally broad and more general in scope, while regulations are very specific and focused on the details of how the laws will be enforced. Bills can only be introduced or sponsored into the legislative process by a member of Congress and as you see, rules can only be drafted, adopted and enforced by the designated agency.

19. Legislative and Regulatory Process (2)

Legislation and regulation make the difference. Legislation is a bill proposal in a legislative body for consideration to be enacted into a law. While a regulation is a rule or order issued by a government agency. We’ll now look at the steps involved in turning a bill into to a law. Step one is referral to a committee. The official legislative process begins when a bill is numbered and the number begin with HR which signifies a House bill or S which signifies a Senate bill and it is referred to a committee. With few exceptions bills are referred to standing committees in the House or Senate according to carefully delineating rules of procedure. Step two is committee action. When a bill reaches a committee it can be referred to a subcommittee or placed on the committee’s calendar to be considered by the committee as a whole which would then bypass steps three and four.

In either case it is at this point that the bill is examined carefully and its chances for passage are determined. If the committee does not act on a bill then the bill is likely to die there. Step Three subcommittee Review often bills are referred to a subcommittee for study and hearings. Hearings provide the opportunity to put on record the views of the executive branch experts, other public officials and supporters and opponents of the legislation. Testimony can be given in person or submitted in a written statement. Step four is called markup. When the hearings are completed the subcommittee may meet to mark up the bill, that is, make changes and amendments prior to recommending the bill to the full committee. If a subcommittee votes not to report it to the full committee, then the bill also dies.

20. Legislative and Regulatory Process (3)

So the federal legislative process in the US. According to the federal legislative process in the US. Only a member of Congress can introduce a bill or resolution continuing with the legislative process. We look at step five. This is committee action to report a bill after receiving. When subcommittees report on a bill, the full committee can conduct further studies and hearings, or it can vote on the subcommittee’s recommendations and any proposed amendments. The full committee then votes on its recommendation to the House or Senate. This procedure is called ordering a bill reported. Step six is called publication of a written report. After a committee votes to have a bill reported, the committee chairman instructs staff to prepare a written report on the bill. This report describes the intent and scope of the legislation, the impact on existing laws and programs, the position of the executive branch, and the views of dissenting members of the committee. Step seven is scheduling of floor action. After a bill is reported back to the chamber where it originated, it is placed in chronological order on the calendar. In the House, there are several different legislative calendars, and the speaker and the majority of leaders largely determine if, when, and in what order bills come up. In the Senate, there is only one legislative calendar. Step eight is debate. When a bill reaches the floor of the Senate or the House, there are rules or procedures governing how it is debating. These rules determine the conditions and amount of time allocated for general debate.

21. Legislative and Regulatory Process (4)

To finish the steps in the legislative process. We have step nine which is voting. After the debate and the approval of any amendments, the bill is passed or defeated by members voting. Step Ten is referral to the other chamber. If a bill is passed by the House or the Senate, it is then referred to the other chamber where it will usually follow the same route through the committee and floor actions. This chamber may approve the bill as received, reject it, ignore it or change it. These changes are what accounts for numerous versions of some bills that may circulate before a final bill is passed. Step Eleven Conference Committee Action if only minor changes are made to a bill by the other chamber, it is common for legislation to go back to the first chamber for what’s called concurrence. However, when the actions of the other chamber significantly alter, a billed a conference committee is formed to reconcile the difference between the House and Senate versions. This is not necessarily a procedure used in other countries. If the conferences are unable to reach agreement, the legislation dies. If agreement is reached, a conference report is prepared describing the committee members recommendations for changes. Both the House and the Senate must approve the conference report. Step Twelve final Actions after both the House and the Senate have approved a bill which has to be in identical form, it is sent to the President. If the President approves the legislation, then it’s signed and becomes alone. Now the next few steps are important for you to remember because they can be a little confusing. If the Congress is in session and the President takes no action for ten days, the bill will automatically become loan. If the President opposes the bill, he or she can bit of it. If Congress adjourns before the end of that 10th day period, allows for presidential action and the President takes no action, the bill has received what’s called a pocket veto and the legislation dies. Step 13 is when a veto is overridden. If the President vetoes the bill, Congress may attempt to override the veto. This requires a two thirds roll call vote of the members who are present. Insufficient numbers for a quorum.

22. Legislative and Regulatory Process (5)

As we discussed and as you know, laws are passed by Congress and signed by the President. Administrative laws, regulations and rules are made and enforced by administrative and regulatory agencies through delegated authority. There are three types of administrative laws agency rules and regulations, agency orders and decisions, and executive orders. As we discussed, agency rules and regulations are created by federal administrative and regulatory agencies. They are published in the Federal Register and have the force of law, if not withdrawn or overridden by Congress. For example, the National Labor Relations Board, created by the National Labor Relations Act from time to time engages in rulemaking and also enforces the act and the related rules and regulations. Agency decisions or orders are issued by a board, commission or administrative law judge and require compliance with federal laws and an administrative law proceeding. And finally, executive orders which come from the President. These are published in the Federal Register and

become low after 30 days, so regulatory laws are also referred to as administrative laws. In this final part of the video, you see a number of steps in the rulemaking process. Once a bill becomes a law, however, there are three primary steps in the administrative or agency rulemaking process. First, the rule is drafted and proposed by the agency involved, often with the subject matter experts providing input. Next, a period of time is set when public comments are invited. Depending on the potential impact of the rule, public hearings may be held by the agency. However, most comments are provided in writing or by email. And then finally, after the comment period closes and the comments are reviewed by the agency, the final rule is issued. It is also also important to remember that from time to time, rules are challenged in the court or Congress decides to review a questionable rule and may overturn that rule through a specific process.

23. Legislative and Regulatory Process (6)

There are a number of steps involved in the passage of a bill into law by the Congress. Only a member of Congress, House or Senate can initiate the process. For a bill to be considered by the US federal legislative, there are certain steps involved in the process. Here are the the first six steps. Place them in the correct sequence. Here are the options bill officially introduced. A committee examines the bill and its chances for passage. Bill is referred to a subcommittee for further study and hearings. Subcommittee makes amendments prior to sending the bill to the full committee. Bill is ordered and reported and a written report on the bill is prepared and this is the answer for you to compare. The first step is the process begins with a member of Congress introducing a bill for consideration, after which the bill is signed or assigned a number and referred to as standing committees in the House or Senate. In the second step in the process, a committee examines the bill carefully and determines the likelihood that it will be passed. A bill might be sent to a subcommittee for further study and hearings.

In the third step of the process, the bill is changed according to recommendations from experts and officials. In the fourth step of the process, after the hearings are completed, the subcommittee meets to mark up the bill, that is, make changes and amendments. Prior to recommending the bill to the full committee, the bill returns to the full committee for its final review. The committee votes on its final recommendations to the House or Senate. In the fifth step of the process, this procedure is called ordering a bill reported or simply reported. In the 6th step of the process, the committee voting to have a bill reported prepares a written report on the bill. The report includes the intent and scope of the bill, its impact on existing laws, budgetary considerations, and any dissenting views of members who voted against the bill. Now, after a bill has been scheduled on the legislative calendar and debated at the floor of the House or Senate and amended accordingly, in what order do the next four steps take place? Sequence them in order from nine to twelve.

Here have the options bill is voted on by House or Senate. A bill passed by one chamber is referred to the other chamber. A conference committee reconciles the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill and or a bill passed by both chambers is sent for President’s approval. This is the answer for you to compare. One debate has ended in a chamber of the Congress, House or Senate and any amendments to the bill have been approved. The full body votes on the bill in the 9th step of the process. In the step ten of the process, a bill passed by one chamber of Congress, House or Senate goes to the other chamber where the same process through committee and floor action is repeated, the other chamber may pass the bill as received or may decide to amend, reject or ignore it. In step nine of the process, if the bill is passed by the second chamber with minor changes, it usually goes back to the first chamber for concurrence. However, if it’s passed by the second chamber with significant changes, a conference committee is formed to reconcile the differences between the two versions. In the step twelve of the process, a bill passed by both the chambers is sent to the President, who has three choices. Upon receiving it, the President may sign the bill into law, veto the bill, or fail to sign the bill.

A bill that remains unsigned for ten days while Congress eating session becomes law without the President’s signature. But if Congress adorns before the bill is unsigned for ten days, the bill dies. This is known as a pocket veto. After Congress passes a law, rules must be put into place to guide the regulatory process associated with the new law. There are a number of steps involved in the process of making administrative laws or rules. Which options are steps in the federal rulemaking process? Here we have the options an agency develops a draft of the proposed rules, which is approved at the highest level of the agency.

The notice of proposed rule is published and public reviews are conducted. The final draft of the proposed rule is developed and sent to the Office of Management and Budget for review. The House Committee passes the rule with two thirds majority in favor, and the President guides the rulemaking process. This is the answer for you to compare. Option One this option is correct. After the Congress passes a law or bill, the next step is to develop draft of the proposed rules. For it, the Office of Management and Budget and Office of Information Regulatory Affairs then review significant rules in the draft of the proposed rule. Option Two this option is correct. After OMB and Oila review the draft, the proposed rule is published and opened for public review, in which the public can make comments and have their recommendations responded to.

Option Three the option is correct. The OMB and the Ora conduct final reviews of the draft to ensure all requirements of these two offices are met. The published rule is then sent for congressional and legal review and approval, after which the rule takes effect. Option Four this option is incorrect. Once the bill is passed by Congress, specific agencies are in charge of making rules related to the bill. And option Five this option is incorrect. Congress and the President developed the policy and requirements to guide the rulemaking process, but this is not one of the steps in that process.

24. Business Management and Strategy – The HR Function and Business Environment

Congratulations. You finished the business management and strategy. The HR function and business environment. This course examined many of the elements of an organization’s corporate strategy, key strategic business concepts, analyzes of the business environment and we had our first look at the further legislative and regulatory process. As you completed the course, you kept in mind that in today’s business environment, HR professionals cannot afford to be myopic. We need to look at the big picture and then determine the best ways for HR to engage in the company’s overall strategy.

This is how HR becomes and remains a key strategic partner. In topic one elements of an organizational strategy, we focused on interpreting and applying information from various internal sources like accounting, marketing and operations to the development of the strategic plan. We deepened our knowledge of the organization’s vision, mission values, business goals and objectives, and we gained a better understanding of corporate governance and regulatory compliance. A strong competitive advantage often translates to customer loyalty, increased profits, and greater value for the organization and its stakeholders. In topic two key strategic business concepts, the expectation that HRB a strategic partner in the organization was explored. To meet that expectation, you as an HR professional must show that you have the knowledge, the skills, and the abilities to fill such an important role. The organization must know where it is before it can provide strategies on where to go. This is why in topic three, analyzing the business environment, we highlighted the importance of organization understanding where it is today.

Two tools used for this type of analysis are the Sweat Analyzes and the Slapped Analysis. Together, these tools enable you as an HR professional to contribute important information to the organization’s strategy plan. HR professionals should strongly consider participating in the both the legislative and rulemaking process. We repeated this several times in the before legislative and regulatory process, we discussed the steps necessary for Congress to pass a bill into law and the subsequent rulemaking process. The value of including the impact of proposed and enacted laws and regulations in our analysis is now apparent. Because of the significant impact, HR professionals should consider participating in both the legislative and rulemaking process. That’s it. Thank you for watching and see you in the next course.

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