Strategy and Culture

Write 3-5 pages on strategy and culture as it relates to your topic of research, organization, and problem
or opportunity in your capstone project, an effectiveness improvement plan.
The next component of your capstone project will focus on evaluating the strategy of your plan.
Examine your approach in terms of strategic HRM for organizational success and competitive advantage.
Consider whether your plan is aligned to the business strategy. Evaluate the connection between HRM
strategy and organizational strategy in the global environment if applicable. Make certain to assess the
importance of HRM strategy to organizational sustainability and specific firm initiatives.
HRM strategies form the nucleus of a successful organization. They bring together the elements of
culture, organization, and HR systems for synergy and effectiveness. Without these strategies, and
without leadership that is not only willing but serious about implementing, monitoring, and refining
them, the organization will lose valuable ground. HRM strategies can be used to support the employee
experience and make the organization successful and competitive. Reflect on your program learning to
inform your progress.
Introduction
For this assessment, your focus is on HR’s strategic role and building organizational culture. Note: This is
the fourth component of your capstone project. Each assessment should be completed in order so that
you can use the feedback received to improve your work and build upon to complete your project.
Instructions
Research current articles that explore strategy and culture to complete the following:
• Analyze HRM’s role in building organizational culture.
• Develop a strategy for working within the organizational culture, as you develop leadership and
consultation approaches for implementing your plan to improve organizational effectiveness.
• Assess the cultural factors that will likely affect the development and implementation of your
plan.
o Consider the employee life cycle and employee experience within your selected
organization.
• Analyze both the ethical and the legal responsibilities related to culture, both in the organization
and in society as a whole.
Additional Requirements
The deliverable for this assessment applies professional skills in HRM to workplace situations that you
will likely encounter in your day-to-day work in human resources. As part of your learning, focus on the
development of effective professional communication skills for the workplace. Your assessment should
meet the following additional requirements:
• Length: 3–5 typed, double-spaced pages, plus the cover and resources pages.

o The first page should be a cover sheet with your name, the course number, assessment
title, and date. No other information is required on this page.
o The last page should be the reference list.
• Organization: Make sure that your assessment writing is well organized, using headings and
subheadings to organize content for the reader.
• Font and font size: Times New Roman, 12 point.
• Resources: Use at least 3–5 references and include both trade publications and peer-reviewed
articles.
• Evidence: Support your assertions with data and/or in-text citations.
• APA formatting: Resources and in-text citations are formatted according to current APA style
and formatting.
• Written communication:
o Support main points, assertions, and conclusions, or recommendations with relevant
and credible evidence.
o Use spell-check and other tools to ensure correct spelling and grammar.
Review the Strategy and Culture scoring guide and the HRM Effectiveness Improvement Plan course
project description prior to submitting to ensure that you have met the expectations of this assessment.
Note: Faculty may use the Writing Feedback Tool when grading this assessment. The Writing Feedback
Tool is designed to provide you with guidance and resources to develop your writing based on five core
skills. You will find writing feedback in the Scoring Guide for the assessment, once your work has been
evaluated.
Portfolio Prompt: You should consider adding this assessment to your personal ePortfolio. This
assessment demonstrates your ability to research and write about strategy and culture as it relates to
your organization, and problem or opportunity. This skill is necessary in a professional setting when you
are trying to make recommendations. You will want to organize your assessments to easily support
future reflection and to showcase your knowledge with employers after graduation. For more
information on ePortfolio, visit the Campus ePortfolio page.
Competencies Measured
By successfully completing this assessment, you will demonstrate your proficiency in the following
course competencies:
• Competency 1: Apply a strategic perspective to Human Resource Management that guides and
influences organizational effectiveness.
o Assess the cultural factors that will likely impact development and implementation.
• Competency 2: Develop skills to lead, build relationships, partner, influence others, and navigate
the organization.

Leadership Styles

Introduction
There are many different ways of categorizing leadership styles.
Leadership always functions in relation to specific contexts. Agencies and communities vary in scale,
complexity, and composition, all of which are relevant to how the leadership model is enacted. We offer
some general criteria that would permit you to categorize actual agencies and communities. The
information below should help you to envision how these leadership models interact with agencies and
communities.

Note that in reality, all such phenomena are intermixed and that the following are offered only as
conceptual tools rather than as descriptions of actual individuals, institutions, or places.

Leadership Models
Power Model:
Seeks to gain compliance by requiring others to achieve the goals defined by the leader.
Behaviors:
• Strives to achieve goals quickly.
• Identifies and resolves obstacles to goals.
• Produces effects.
• Confronts resistance.
• Decisive and directive.
• Challenges conventional practices.
• Attempts to control issues and actions.
• Seeks to use and expand authority.
Administrative Model:
Works diligently within existing frameworks to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of organizational
process.
Behaviors:
• Acts to systematically boost productivity.
• Ensures that all components operate toward objectives.
• Tactful and subtle in achieving purposes.
• Concerned with maintenance of quality.
• Complies with procedural requirements.
• Uses expertise of specialists.
• Rational basis for decision-making.
• Strives to defuse conflict.
Transformative Model:
Works cooperatively with others toward achieving goals that alter circumstances.
Behaviors:

• Strives to develop shared visions.
• Inspires others toward change.
• Partners with others to obtain commitment.
• Supportive of human needs.
• Builds team structure.
• Coordinates institutional and individual aims.
• Promotes clarity of shifting role responsibilities.
• Links creativity to enhanced productivity.

Agency Types
Smaller Agency:
Small workforce that may serve a large geographic area with a dispersed population.
• 80 or fewer employees serving a population under 50,000.
• Limited organizational complexity.
• Much role-sharing and role-alternating.
• Veteran workforce with little turnover.
• Highly personal and informal.
• Limited advanced technology.
Midsized Agency:
Most frequently occurring agency scale serving a rural or suburban area with a substantial population of
mixed characteristics.
• Workforce of between 80-1000 employees serving populations from 50,000-250,000.
• Complex organization.
• Clearly delineated roles and rules.
• Variable length of service workforce with substantial turnover.
• Official administration with formal procedures.
• Advanced and possibly innovative technology.
Large-sized Agency:
Limited number of agencies nationally but serving a substantial portion of the entire population.

• Workforce of 1000 or more employees serving populations of more than 250,000.
• Broad jurisdictional areas with emphasis on accountability.
• Elaborate codification of rules, roles and procedures.
• Diversified workforce with varied membership groups.
• High level staff and support functions.
• Enhanced technology with readily accessible national interface.

Community Types
Homogenous Community:
Area in which the great majority of residents are of substantially similar backgrounds and possess
relatively comparable characteristics.
• Residents are most commonly familiar with others.
• Stable residential, economic and social patterns.
• Racial/ethnic/religious diversities are outweighed by commonalities.
Heterogeneous Community:
Diversified groups co-exist in defined and de-limited areas.
• Distinctive neighborhoods are clearly known and maintained.
• High rates of individual and family social and geographic mobility.
• Multiple intersecting groups using distinguishing communicative forms.
Metropolitan Community:
Complex urbanized structure with highly fragmented populations living in close proximity.
• Fluid geographic, residential and economic patterns.
• Pluralistic social and political organization.
• High dependence on mass media communication.

Questions
Power Model
Agency Type
• How would a leader using a power model operate within a smaller agency?