個案資料

The partners at ZGM Modern Marketing were pleased with their growth and progress of working within the highly competitive marketing industry and had confidence in their team of skilled employees supporting the company’s success. But they also knew a good thing never lasts forever and had to continually strategize to stay ahead of the competition. While the partners were used to being very hands-on with the day-to-day management of people, ZGM had grown to a point where it was becoming difficult to juggle all aspects of the business without adding specialized resources. Bringing on non-billable people such as the new HR Director puts a strain on the profitability of a company. The challenge was how to maximize the value of these new resources.

This case is intended for students in the mid- to senior levels of undergraduate study. The purpose is to identify issues on the horizon, particularly regarding human resources and organizational design. While many cases identify problems to be solved, this case allows students to assess and fix something that, on the surface, does not appear to be broken. This enables students to consider how to future-proof a successful organization. The opportunity is for students to plan for ZGM’s strategic, sustained competitive advantage using human resource levers such as talent development, retention, pay for performance, and boosted discretionary effort through employee engagement. After working through the case and assignment questions, students will be able to do the following:<ul><li>Identify the need and means to assess the value of human resources.</li><li>Appreciate the current success of an organization while strategizing for the future.</li><li>Apply the VRIO framework to assess a firm's competitive advantage (concerning their human resources).</li><li>Understand the unique ways in which service and goods-based organizations create value.</li></ul>

• human resources, strategy