Talent Management

Case # 1 GE You are required to submit two case study reports. The two cases are listed as the required materials of this course. The main text of each report should be 6-7 pages in length. Case study report (1) is on Bartlett & McLean’s (2006) case “GE’s Talent Machine: The Making of a CEO. ” The report is due on Week 3, Saturday 11:59pm. No submission is allowed after the deadline. The main text should include two sections, besides introduction and conclusion: o Section One: A brief summary of the case and identification of the problem proposed by the case.

Section Two: Answer the following questions: (1) What can we learn from GE’s talent management system? How did GE’s philosophy, policies, and practices contribute to its success in talent management? (2) Are GE’s management development policies and practices generalizable to different cultures, industries, and companies? Explain. (3) As for Jeff Immelt, how should he deal with proposals to changes of the policies and practices? What are the pros and cons of each proposed change? Provide your suggestion of the decision and explain why.

Case # 2 Novartis Case study report (2) is on Siegel’s (2007) case, “Global Talent Management at Novartis. ” The report is due on Week 10, Saturday 11:59pm. No submission is allowed after the deadline. The main text should include two sections, besides introduction and conclusion: o Section One: A summary of the case and identification of the problem proposed by the case. o Section Two: Answer the following questions: (1) How plausible is it to use one universal method for a multinational company to motivate its talent around the world?

Alternatively, how plausible is it to use one universal method for a multinational company to motivate scientists, sales, and other professionals? (2) How effective is Novartis’ world-wide standardized performance measurement systems? Should Novartis use the normal/bell-shaped grading distribution around the world? How should Novartis manage those who ranked consistently at the bottom of the distribution? (3) Talent management challenges in China. If you were in harge of the China operation, what changes would you make to deal with the turnover problem? You should submit each report with the NSU cover sheet. Submission without the cover sheet will not be graded. Grade will be negatively affected if the paper is too short or too long. The grading sheets for each case study report can be found in the appendix. Case # 3 Talent Management Analysis talent management practice analysis (20 Points) Step One: Study the textbooks, especially Cappelli (2008) and identify important talent management practices. Step Two: Compose an interview questionnaire for an HR professional that asks about the background of the interviewee, the organization’s background, and its talent management practices, especially the details about the strongest practice of the organization (e. g. , recruitment, succession plan, retention strategy, etc. ). Step Three: Identify an organization with well-established talent management practices (excluding GE and Novartis) and contact the HR professional who is familiar with the talent management practices in the organization for the interview.

Step Four: Interview the HR professional on the organization and its talent management practices according to your interview questionnaire. The interview can be either structured (i. e. , you only ask questions listed in your questionnaire) or semi-structured (i. e. , you ask questions beyond the list in your questionnaire, as led by the conversation). Step Five: Start writing. The main text of your report should include the following. A brief introduction A summary of the interview that structurally outlines (1) the background of the interviewee, (2) the background of the organization, and (3) the content of the interview.

Do not provide the transcription of the interview. o Identify one strong practice within the talent management program (e. g. , succession plan, retention strategy, etc. ) and describe the detailsof the practice. o Evaluatethe practice identified in the previous section, using the principles of the“Talent On Demond” (Cappelli, 2008) as criteria, provide your suggestion of how to improve the practice and explain your rationale. Here, view yourself as a consultant of the organization. Try to be innovative in your suggestion. o You should attach your interview uestionnaire to your report as an appendix. The text body of the report (excluding the appendix) should be 8-10 pages in length. Grade will be negatively affected if the paper is too short or too long. You should turn this work in with the NSU cover sheet. Submission without the cover sheet will not be graded. Please also keep a copy of it for your own record. The deadline of submission is Sunday 5:00 pm of Week 9 November 27, 2011. No submissions allowed after the deadline. This is worth 20 points, and will be graded in about one week after the submission deadline.