Human Resources Planning

S2 2022 Case Study

SHRM 3430 Online Strategic Human Resources Planning

Instructor

Question 1 (25 points)

  1. What is Tim Hortons’ value proposition? Defining what a value proposition is and explain how your description of Tim Hortons’ value proposition fits this definition. What is Tim Hortons’ product/market focus?

 

  1. Make a statement about the level of threat that each component of the 5-forces model holds for Tim Hortons. For example, is the threat of buyers high, medium, or low, and why? Provide an example to justify your response to each of the components of the 5-forces model. Overall, is Tim Hortons’ value proposition in a strong position to provide a sustainable source of competitive advantage for the company? Why/why not?

 

  1. Provide an example of what you think would be a core activity at Tim Hortons and explain why you think it is a core activity. Finally, describe the human capital that is required to carry out this core activity.

 

Question 2 (25 points)

A struggling organization in the hotel services industry is looking to hire a new director of HR. The Rosebudd chain of 5 hotels offers services that are intended to make customers feel like they are staying in a family-run hotel. The employees know one another’s names, and they offer customers small perks such as a bottle of water when checking in, and various levels of room turndown services. Customers fill out what turndown services would like done in their room (ranging from nothing to fresh towels, new bedding, replenish toiletries, etc.) on the room card and hang the card on their door in the morning.

During your interview for the job of director, HR, the operations director and the managing director both agreed that they want the HR function to be more strategic, but they expressed different ideas for how they think the HR function can become strategic. The operations director wants the HR function to adopt a best practices approach to implementing HR policies. She believes that Rosebudd Hotels should hire consulting agencies with expertise in implementing best practices in recruitment and selection, employee development, training, and compensation, and follow their advice. The managing director believes that Rosebudd Hotels should look at what the other hotels chains are doing with their HR and emulate those practices. What is your advice; do you go with what the operations manager wants to do, what the managing director suggests, or do you have another idea? Provide a rationale for your decision around how to make the HR function more strategic at Rosebudd Hotels, and base that rationale in the course materials.

 

Question 4 (15 points)

The restaurant industry has obviously been through some very difficult market conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. Coffee shops like Tim Hortons and Starbucks have suffered in particular, as people are not going out for coffee as much and are not at work as much to pick up a quick lunch or midday coffee. Tim Hortons reported that business was down by more than 11% in 2020 year compared to previous year, and Starbucks was in a similar position. If you worked in corporate HR for Starbucks Canada, and were put in charge of estimating the demand for baristas over the next 2 years, how would you estimate the demand? Formulate a response using the methods laid out in the course for estimating demand and choose one or more methods to use. Justify your choice of method by explaining why the method(s) that you have chosen are more suitable than the others that are discussed in the course. You do not need to develop an actual estimate.