Analysis of Different Strategies

Cost leadership
A firm that chooses this strategy sets out to be the lowest-cost producer of goods and
services in a given industry. A firm can gain a cost advantage through the use of various
sources. They include use of technology to reduce costs, having efficient logistics, pursuing
of economies of scale, and securing of preferential access to raw materials used in the
production of the firm’s products (Islami, Mustafa & Latkoviki, 1). A firm that can achieve
and sustain cost leadership is likely to enjoy performance that is above average.
Differentiation
Differentiation is another strategy that a firm can use to improve their performance.
Under this strategy, the firm intentionally sets out to be unique along dimensions that
consumers in the industry value (Islam et al., 1). It may choose one or more attributes that
consumers consider essential and then positions itself to be the firm that best fulfils a given
attribute. Admirable characteristics include high quality and beautiful design of products.
Some of the ways through which firms achieve differentiation are through investment in
research and development which may yield innovative ideas and products (Islam et al., 1).
Once a firm positions itself as the one that possesses a unique attribute, consumers will
reward it by paying a premium price for its services and products.
Focus
Under this strategy, a firm concentrates on a given niche in the market. It invests in
understanding the unique needs of the consumers in the selected niche market (Islami et al.,
1). It also develops a deeper understanding of the dynamics of the niche market. Having

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understood what customers need in the selected market, the firm can then adopt either
differentiation or cost leadership to meet the identified needs of the niche market.
The most appropriate strategy for an “efficiency-minded” retail organization
For a retail organization that is “efficiency-minded”, the most appropriate strategy is
cost leadership. An efficiency-minded organization seeks to achieve its goals while using the
least amount of resources. A cost-leadership approach will help such an organization to
achieve its goals of improving its performance without using up a lot of money.
How the selected strategy will affect how HR does its job
A cost-leadership strategy has an impact on the way HR does its job. First, such an
approach will require HR to go for low-cost staff. Thus, it may be necessary to let go of
highly paid employees whose job can be competently performed by an employee that s paid
less. During recruitment and selection, the primary consideration of HR may be the
remuneration that the candidates may be willing to take.
The strategy will also force HR to conduct less training of employees n order to cut
costs. Since high employee turnover increases labour costs, the HR department will also
strive to prevent employees from leaving the firm. Also, they may opt for low-cost
technologies as part of money-saving measures.

Four approaches to job design

Job rotation
Job rotation involves moving employees from one job to another one that generally
has the same skills requirement (Oldham & Fried, 2). The goal is to reduce boredom and add
variety to their skills set. Job rotation ensures that employees do not become disinterested in
their work because of having to perform the same tasks over and over again. An advantage of

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this job design is that it leads to the development of employees that have a range of broad
skills. Such employees give management a lot of flexibility when filling vacancies and
scheduling work. Its drawback is that it may lead to work disruption as employees who have
been rotated take time to adjust to their new work settings (Oldham & Fried, 2). Also, it
increases the cost of training employees as rotated employees have to be trained before they
start performing their new roles. An example of job rotation is an interior designer who is
also made to perform project management roles.
Job simplification
In this job design, a given job is broken into its constituent parts. Each employee is
then assigned to specific parts of the job (Oldham & Fried, 2). The employee will then be
required to perform the role of that part over and over again. The goal of this type of design
is, therefore, to simplify tasks and make their execution easy and fast. Job simplification
increases workplace efficiency, reduces labor costs, and reduces the need for supervision. An
example of job simplification is a clerk who is required to do typing alone instead of typing
and filing documents that they previously did.
Job enrichment
Job enrichment involves adding an employee additional tasks to motivate them.
Unlike job simplification, which only focuses on task efficiency, job enrichment seeks to
improve both task efficiency and employee satisfaction (Oldham & Fried, 2). Through job
enrichment, employees get more responsibilities, control, and meaning in their work. An
example of job enrichment is when a company welder is assigned additional tasks that are
related to welding, such as gas cutting and fitting.
Job enlargement

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Like job enrichment, job enlargement involves increasing the variety of tasks that an
employee performs. The additional functions, however, need to be similar to the ones that the
employee performs typically (Oldham & Fried, 2). Usually, the assigned tasks are those that
are performed by people at a higher level than the employee. The main difference between
job enlargement and job enrichment is that while the former involves horizontal loading, the
latter involves vertical loading. An example of job enlargement is
Importance of effective job design applications

Job design plays an essential role in organizations. Depending on the type of design
that an organization chooses, it achieves various objectives. They include increasing
motivation of employees, increasing workplace efficiency, improving employee skills, and
increasing productivity (Oldham & Fried, 2). It also helps organizations to determine the
training needs of their workforce. Job design also enhances the well-being of employees,
increases workplace flexibility, and improves customer satisfaction levels. All these factors
make it possible for the organization to achieve its overall strategic goals.
Challenges and constraints associated with recruiting workers
There are various challenges that human resource management face when recruiting
workers. One of these challenges is attracting the right candidate and selecting the right
candidate for a given role in the firm (Tarannum, 3). When a firm advertises a given position
to be fulfiled, it often gets numerous applications from interested individuals. Some are
qualified, while some are not. Determining the candidate that is most qualified for a given
position is not easy. The best way to address this problem is to be very specific about the
requirements of a given job position. When the conditions are precise, it is easy to get the
right candidate for the job. All that the HR staff will have to do is check out for candidates
that meet the specified requirements.

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Another challenge is hiring the right candidates fast. When an employee leaves a firm,
it is vital to replace them as soon as possible. Depending on the position that has fallen
vacant, the longer that it stays without being filled, the more the firm loses money and its
ability to fulfil customer expectations reduce (Tarannum, 3). It is, therefore, important that
human resource personnel fill the vacant position as soon as possible. By their nature,
however, hiring processes usually take a lot of time. Some of the steps that occur when a
position falls vacant include advertisement of the vacant position, application for the position
by candidates, selection and interview of qualified candidates, and training of recruited
candidates to familiarize them with their new roles in the firm.
The HR personnel should consider contacting candidates who were unsuccessful in
their previous attempts to be employed by the firm to make hiring fast. Since HR already has
a lot of information about such candidates, the selection process will take a relatively shorter
time. Another strategy is to reduce the time that certain stages take. For instance, instead of
giving candidates a month or two to apply for a given position, they should be given two
weeks. Similarly, HR personnel should find ways of speeding up recruitment processes. For
instance, they should consider using technology to weed out unqualified applicants. Lastly,
HR can consider doing away with some of the stages that are not relevant to the selection of a
candidate to fill a given vacant position.

Selections process ideas

Employee selection is one of the most important roles of human resource management
in an organization. It is difficult for a firm to achieve its goals without having the right people
for each position in the firm. It is, therefore, necessary for a firm to have an efficient and
effective selection process. Here are some ideas to improve the selection process of a firm.
Training of human resource staff

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The incompetence of human resource staff can result in a firm missing out on highly
qualified candidates (Tafero, 4). When HR staff ask questions that are not related to the
position that needs to be filled or who are rude to the candidates may draw away the best
candidates. It is, therefore, essential to train HR staff so that they competently carry our
selection processes that bring forth qualified candidates.
Develop a deep understanding of the job
It is essential to understand what a given position entails and the traits that make an
employee successful when performing the duties of the post. It is these traits that the
interviewers should look for in a candidate. One way of understanding the requirements of a
given job and the qualities required to perform its roles successfully is through carrying out
an internal job analysis (Tafero, 4). Alternatively, the HR department can partner with experts
to help them to determine the roles and traits of a given job.
Develop an effective selection process
After identifying critical traits for a given position, it is crucial to develop a process
that best measures those traits (Tafero, 4). The process should not only be efficient but fair as
well. For instance, it should not make some candidates feel that the process worked against
them on account of their gender, race, or nationality (Tafero, 4). The process should also not
be one that can easily be circumvented by candidates.
Problems that HR and management teams should avoid during the selection process
During the selection process, there several problems that HR teams should avoid. One
of them is asking interviewees questions that have little or no relationship to the position that
they applied for (Tafero, 4). Such questions waste time and prevent the HR team from getting
an accurate assessment of the candidate. Another problem has a job description that is poorly
written. Extensive generalizations characterize such job descriptions. A job description that

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does not reflect the updated roles of the person holding that position is also a poorly written
one (Tarannum, 3). Lastly, HR should avoid any form of discrimination against candidates.
Not only is discrimination unethical and illegal, but it also prevents the organization from
getting the most qualified candidate for a given position.

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Sources

1. Xhavit Islami, Naim Mustafa, and Marija Topuzovska Latkovikj. 2020. Linking
   Porter’s generic strategies to firm performance. Future Business Journal 6 (1). p. 3
2. Greg Oldham & Yitzhak Fried. 2016. Job design research and theory: Past, present
   and future.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 136. P. 20-35.
3. Noshone Tarannum. 2018. Human resource planning and recruitment. Brac
   University
   http://dspace.bracu.ac.bd/xmlui/bitstream/handle/10361/10343/16164047_BBS.pdf?se
   quence=1&isAllowed=y
4. Tracey Tafero. 2012. 5 Tips for Designing an Effective Employee Selection System.
   https://blog.psionline.com/talent/bid/147051/5-Tips-for-Designing-an-Effective-
   Employee-Selection-System