Assignment 1: Strategy, Planning, and Selection 
Due Week 3 and worth 170 points 

Assume for this assignment that you are being highly considered for a director-level HR management position for a best-in-class national retailer. You are in the final phase of the interview process and must respond to the interview panel regarding specific questions and scenarios that will help them determine if you are a good fit for the new role. The company’s culture is centered on the effective development of strategy, plans, and selection criteria aimed at building and sustaining a competitive and profitable organization. It will be extremely important that you respond with a strategic mindset in order to convince the organization you are able to help them ensure the execution of the business strategy. 

Write a six to seven (6-7) page paper in which you: 

• Analyze different types of strategies (cost leadership, differentiation, and focus/niche) and select which one you would deem more appropriate for an “efficiency-minded” retail organization and explain your rationale. How would the selected strategy ultimately affect how HR does its job? 
• Examine the four (4) approaches to job design/redesign and provide an example (not a definition) of each. Then, make a case to the interviewing panel on the importance of effective job design applications in supporting the overall strategic goals of the organization. 
• Consider challenges and constraints associated with recruiting workers and identify and discuss at least two (2) issues. What advice would you give to ease your selected issues? Be specific. 
• List and describe 2–3 candidate selection process ideas that might add value and overall effectiveness to the process. HINT: http://www.selectinternational.com/blog/bid/147051/5-Tips-for-Designing-an-Effective-Employee-Selection-System. Also, what problems should HR and management teams avoid during the selection process? 
• Format your assignment according to these formatting requirements: 

  Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions. 
  Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment (with running head), the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length. 
  Include a reference page. Citations and references must follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length. Use the Strayer University Library at https://research.strayer.edu to locate additional sources to support your work. 

The specific course outcomes associated with this assignment are:  

• Assess the strategic role of human resource management and the components that provide a competitive advantage to the organization. 
• Examine the human resource management functions of recruiting and selecting, and their importance to business strategy.

Hello Strayer Team HRM 522

As you prepare for our 1st course assignment, I want you to be aware of a checklist I will be using as I
am reviewing your paper. It is safe to say if you cover all the steps, you will do quite well on the
assignment. You must get away from rules you followed in other courses and follow your current
course’s rules.

Here’s what you’ll be specifically graded on:

1. The running heads are set up properly on cover page and information is centered on the
page (not too far up or too far down).

2. Every page has a page number and it is placed inside the running head.
3. Introduction and Conclusion sections are required and worth 5 points each. Please do not miss

these!
4. All headings are restructured versions of the paper’s requirements statements and not copied

and pasted versions.
5. Reference and introduction headings are not to be bold text; all other headings are bold text
6. All citations have 3 parts: author, year, and page or paragraph numbers and this even includes

for paraphrased words. Mandatory!
7. All paragraphs are properly indented throughout the paper.
8. Introduction section has the title of the paper as its heading…NOT the word Introduction.
9. Paper has good mixture of research and student’s own thoughts and the information is specific

and relevant. Multiple long quotes (more than 40 words) are not permitted.
10. Conclusion section is effective and does not repeat what the introduction says. Should be based

on important highlights and making recommendations.
11. Any journal article used as a reference must be listed with a “retrieved from” web address that

takes the reader directly to the source, NOT to the host page (Ex; Ebsco; Strayer library)

Note: There are tools and documents in the student center or course information section of the course
to help with the above points. There are also links to APA.

When you receive feedback on your papers, the above points will be copied and pasted as the
comments. Any point that is bold text means an error or errors were found for that point. Check your
paper to see why points were bold text as I will not provide any additional comments. However, if you
absolutely do not know why the points were bold text, you may email me, and I will provide further
feedback.

NOTE: Your textbook will be the absolute BEST source to use for the assignment. Consider it first and
then search for other sources.

If there are any quests AT ALL please contact me sooner, rather than later.

Dr. Wash