People & Strategy

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

As the customer's world turns.(Editorial)
How being a customer has changed! My wife is the photographer in the family; my job is to keep her in cameras. I remember when I purchased her first digital camera years ago. I dutifully did lots of . . .

The organization-customer interface.
HR's traditional focus is on the organization-employee relationship. In this issue we expand our view and explore HR's role in enhancing the most basic relationship in business: the organization and . . .

The HR business-partner model: past learnings and future challenges.(human resource)
The informal business-partner model has existed for well more than 100 years, when effective support functions, including HR, have contributed to business results. Formalizing how HR professionals c . . .

Perspectives--point/counterpoint.(Brief article)
We dedicate this selection of point and counterpoints to the crucial, continuing and changing topic of the relationship among businesses and their human resources partners. In the Point article. Dav . . .

The good and the great: definable differences.
As Ulrich and Brockbank persuasively argue, the HR business-partner model is not only alive and well, but also thriving. Based on Egon Zehnder International's experience of executing more than 30,00 . . .

Change the terminology!
I cringe whenever a candidate declares, "I'm a strategic business partner." It drives me crazy. Why not just say I am a business leader? I have never liked the word partner as it relates to the HR f . . .

Critical roles with new emphasis.
There is no question that during the past 10 to 15 years companies have been looking to their human resources leaders and professionals to adopt a more strategic, results-oriented approach to HR, wh . . .

Additional hurdles.
I congratulate Ulrich and Brockbank on an excellent summary of the evolution of the human resources business-partner role, challenges pertaining to the role and future trends as the role continues t . . .

Understanding the Elephant.
One challenge for HR professionals today is to deliver efficient and reliable HR operations and support. As such, HR professionals also act as business partners and strategic advisers to the senior . . .

Essential competencies.
In business-partnering models, as explained by Ulrich and Brockbank, HR professionals support organizational strategy by leading with their knowledge of the business, linked to their knowledge of hu . . .

Lasting competitive success.
Though it is interesting to review the historical perspective of the business-partner model, I think current and future business challenges create opportunities for even greater differentiation of t . . .

An open, collaborative approach to attracting and retaining clients.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Previous client attraction and retention strategies have attempted to lock-in clients through preferred-supplier agreements in the hope that the organization could reap 100 . . .

Driving customer satisfaction and financial success through employee engagement.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Companies must engage their employees if they are to compete on customer satisfaction and differentiate themselves in financial and market performance. Here we depict what e . . .

Taking HR beyond your company: when external partners are willing to pay for you services.(human resource)(Viewpoint essay)
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Not long after I became head of Human Resources for American Express Company, I presented my 10 ideas for what makes a great HR organization. In addition to the more obvious . . .

The account manager role: key to a successful customer interface.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Satisfied customers are ultimately the only true and meaningful measure of success in any business. However, the development of organizational structures that support this b . . .

Building a Web 2.0-friendly culture: success on the Web is about people, not technology.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Two years ago, if anyone had asked you if corporations like IBM would be holding customer conferences on the virtual reality Web site SecondLife, or if Ernst & Young would b . . .

Expanding opportunity at the base of the pyramid.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In the last decade, C.K. Prahalad and others have argued that the 4 billion people living on less than $2 a day--a group in society that wields trillions of dollars in econo . . .

The Dynamic Path.(Book review)
The Dynamic Path ** Author: James M. Citrin Publisher: Rodale Books [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Using inspiration from the classic 1980's business studies, Mentally Tough by Dr. James Loehr and P . . .

Work Wanted: Protect Your Retirement Plan in Uncertain Times.(Book review)
Work Wanted: Protect Your Retirement Plan in Uncertain Times **** Author: James W. Walker & Linda H. Lewis Publisher: Wharton School Publishing/Pearson Education, 2009 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] . . .

Global shift: the 32nd Annual HRPS Global Conference.(HRPS news)
An extremely enthusiastic group of HR and business leaders came together in late April during the 32nd Annual HRPS Global Conference in beautiful Tucson, Ariz., to discuss the fast-changing global e . . .

Strategic survival.(from the executive editor)
I always look forward to the first issue of the year. It coincides with the annual HRPS Global Conference--2009 is our 32nd gathering and occurs in Tucson from April 26-29. It also means that spring . . .

Perspectives--point/counterpoint.(perspectives--point)
Note: It has been a little more than a year now since we first published the Point/Counterpoint format in our Perspectives section. We were excited then about beginning each journal with a conversat . . .

Neither hierarchy nor network: an argument for heterarchy.(perspectives--point)
Long ago, when the world was local, trust enabled our primordial ancestors to cooperate and overcome overwhelming odds. As our world became more globally interconnected, technology trumped trust. Bu . . .

Concrete examples needed.(perspectives--point)
Karen Stephenson's argument for heterarchy is valid in principle, but it is lacking in the details of how one would create effective heterarchies. As she correctly points out, trust between members . . .

Early stages of a journey.(perspectives--point)
Karen Stephenson's "argument for heterarchy" is a provocative idea, yet an incomplete one. Before elaborating on why I think it is incomplete, let me elaborate a bit on three reasons why I like it. . . .

Of hidden connectors and a violin quartet.(perspectives--counterpoints)
Karen Stephenson has highlighted an increasingly important challenge to our organizations. She has focused on the need for institutions of all types to work collaboratively, but through a virtual ne . . .

Neither hierarchy nor heterarchy: an argument for network?
As I read Karen Stephenson's article, I first appreciated her title selection to include the word"argument. "This invites debate--and that is exactly what continues to advance the field and study of . . .

What happens next?
Karen Stephenson articulates the need for organizations to think across boundaries and suggests a new meta-organizational form, the heterarchy. Her article provides a good set of descriptors for wha . . .

Valuing heterarchy in the public sector.
I think Karen Stephenson's observation that the social networks that glue people together have been underestimated and undermanaged is particularly insightful. I agree with her notion that gluing th . . .

Heterarchies: human nature transformed?
Karen Stephenson's article provides a great start for understanding the dynamics of an increasingly non-hierarchical world: a world where there are fewer bosses and more colleagues, in which more pe . . .

Heterarchy: technology, trust and culture.
Karen Stephenson is absolutely right to emphasize the rapid rise in interconnection that individuals, organizations and societies are currently experiencing, and the resulting interdependence that s . . .

What makes HR a strategic partner?
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Strategic Partner Role The HR function has at least three identifiable roles that it can play. Its longest-running role is the delivery of clerical and administrative . . .

The role of strategy architect in the strategic HR organization.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A New Role for HR In years past when strategic discussions were on mergers, globalization, innovation, customer service, or financial performance, HR tended to join the co . . .

Conflict management as a core competency for HR professionals.
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Human history is rife with conflict. From the biblical story of Cain and Abel to the Hundred Years' War to the front pages of today's newspaper, divergent opinions, cultures . . .

Fixing the leaky pipeline: five ways to retain female talent: the glass ceiling is not what prevents most women from rising beyo
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Professional women are entering the workforce at the same rates as men, yet something happens along the way resulting in disproportionate losses of women in managerial posit . . .

Developing talent through community involvement: a winning formula for capital one. a growing number of potential employees now
Capital One uses innovative strategies to engage employees with community-based organizations (CBOs). This involvement extends beyond the traditional donation of money: Instead, it focuses on sharin . . .

Hot, Flat, and Crowded.
**** Hot, Flat, and Crowded Author: Thomas L. Friedman Publisher: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Even people who follow the global warming and environmental preservation . . .

Outliers.
Outliers Author: Malcolm Gladwell Publisher: Little, Brown and Company, 2008 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] What do Bill Gates, The Beatles and the 2007 Czechoslovakian National Junior Soccer League . . .

The Perils of Accentuating the Positive.
** The Perils of Accentuating the Positive Edited by: Robert B. Kaiser Publisher: Hogan Press [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The anthology The Perils of Accentuating the Positive has an ambitious . . .

How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything ... in Business (and in Life).
**** How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything ... in Business (and in Life) Author: Dov Seidman Publisher: Wiley [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Starting outside the box, but inside the stadium . . .

2008 Walker Award winners.
HRPS annually recognizes an outstanding journal contribution. The Walker Award, named for HRPS founder James Walker, is given to the paper, article or commentary that best advances state-of-the-art . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
Please note these upcoming HRPS events. For more information visit www.hrps.org. May 8 and May 15, 2009 Web Workshop Executive Assessment: The State of the Art in Selecting Leaders Who Fit J . . .

Correction.(Correction notice)
The article, "Building and Sustaining A Culture that Supports Innovation," that appeared in Human Resource Planning (People & Strategy's predecessor), volume 29, issue 3, 2006, by Jay Jamrog, Mark V . . .

Welcoming change.(from the executive editor)(employee training, health insurance and wellness programs)(Editorial)
"Change has come to America," declared President-elect Barack Obama, making history on the night of November 4, 2008. Much of our country, including supporters of Senator McCain, and the world smile . . .

Redesigning your organization for the future of work.(perspectives--point/counterpoint)
The work world of the next several decades will be significantly different from the work world of the last two decades in at least three key ways: * There will be a dramatic and rapid shift in the . . .

The systems we build ... the conversations we hold.(counterpoints)
Has the time finally come? In the early 1980s I published the results of my doctoral dissertation in a book that I called Up Is Not the Only Way. I talked about the need to develop career developmen . . .

The future of work: it's already here, just not evenly distributed.(perspectives--point/counterpoint)
Tammy Erickson has painted a provocative, if incomplete, picture of the future of work. In many ways it is a compelling image, for both organizations and individuals. It is a world of much greater f . . .

Moving from despair to directed.(perspectives--point/counterpoint)
I agree with Tamara Erickson that changing the place of work and how work gets done is clearly in front of us if we want to hold on to the best and brightest and prepare for talent shortages. Tamara . . .

Wanted: fully engaged, learning-agile people.(perspectives--point/counterpoint)
In the article "Redesigning Your Organization for the Future of Work," Tamara Erickson makes some very provocative suggestions: * Are position titles necessary? And, if so, for what purpose? * C . . .

Hr's next evolutions.(perspectives--point/counterpoint)
Tamara Erickson's article is organized in two sections: "Redesigning Your Organization for the Future of Work" which comprises by far the majority of the writing, and the much shorter section at the . . .