Running head: GROUP 3 FORUM 4 – FINAL
Group 3 Forum 4 – Final
Adam Russell, David McCready, John Raines, and Kevin Leflore
Liberty University BMAL 501-B09
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Abstract
The members of this group have read through, researched, collaborated, and determined the three
most important concepts for the assigned readings of week 4. The assigned readings covered the
wide-ranging topic of human resource management and operations management and business
models. Human resource management is vast topic that covers many aspects of the internal
workings of an organization. Operations management is another significant topic as it covers the
beginning to end of production for a good or service. From the vast topics covered under these
sections three where chosen as the most important. These topics are: performance management,
job analysis, and project management.
Keywords: operations, human resources, management, performance, project, job analysis
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Group 3 Forum 4 – Final
According to Jim Collins (2001), an organization is only as good as the individuals that
make it. Proverbs 27:17 (English Standard Version) states “Iron sharpens iron, and one man
sharpens another.” Quality people yield quality results (Collins, 2001). After completing this
weeks assigned reading and reviewing discussion boards, Group 3 collectively selected job
analysis, performance management, and project management as the three most important
concepts discussed. This research paper will explore the role of performance management, job
analysis and project management in the context of organizational management, strategies for
implementing these concepts into an organization and their relationship to a biblical worldview.
Job Analysis
Job analysis is the “process of pinpointing duties of a position, and explaining the
significance of how those duties relate to a particular job” (Satterlee, 2013). This is importance
as it essentially determines exactly what it is that an employee does and how important various
tasks are to the big picture, i.e. to the job itself. Being able to accurately, and descriptively,
determine what is included in a specific position is important for not only the assurance that
present duties are being completed effectively, but that the hiring of future employees can be as
beneficial to the company as possible. “A job analysis is essential to find and place the right
employees at the right places at the right times. This analysis is used to define the qualifications,
expertise, experience and skills that are required for each occupation” (Raghavendra, 2017).
Through various measures, such as, but not limited to, surveys, questionnaires, and interviews, a
process can be designed to collect data about a given position. This data can then be used to
create detailed reports that specify exactly the work involved, skills required, and capabilities
needed to determine the most suitable candidate for placement.
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Strategies for implementation
The main considerations when performing a job analysis is that analysis is being
performed on the job itself, rather than the individual doing the job. This is an important
distinction to make as it relates to clarity, because management needs to understand what is
required to perform a specific job, not how well the job itself has been performed. Successful
job analysis programs use information from many people, across multiple departments, to
contribute information regarding their understanding of the role, the expectations for contribution
from the position, abilities required characteristics based on the duties involved, and tasks
fulfilled in the process of the work.
Because of the nature of a job analysis, in terms of both time involved to completion and
financial resources required, companies rely heavily on job analysis data to determine what
mental, physical, social, and educational qualities are required for a certain position. Ultimately,
the job analysis results in two findings that provide a conclusive report. These findings include
knowledge statements and task statements. “Knowledge statements define what a person must
know to be a competent practitioner, whereas task statements describe what skills an individual
needs to perform in a role. These knowledge and task statements are then linked together to
provide a comprehensive picture of job requirements” (Waters, Mironova, & Stobinski, 2017).
Biblical Integration
Job analysis as a concept provides some insight on why God created humans in his
image, and gave humans gifts such as, among other things, the ability to be social, to
communicate between one another, to have physical coordination, and mental perseverance.
Despite what modern society tells us about society’s nature of consumption, it is rather
production that drives humans as it relates to work. Man was created to work – to perform
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duties that provide for the enjoyment or benefit of the end user. “By your service, someone
else’s life is made a little better. The restaurant worker helps someone relax and enjoy a meal.
The businessperson provides a product that enhances lives. The sanitation worker removes the
refuse that produces disease and sullies the beautiful” (Duke, 2014). While it is not known what
God has planned for the lives of His people – or rather the qualified candidate for a position
resulting from the findings of a job analysis – we do know that it is work that God has intended
us for. “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and keep it”
(Genesis 2:15, English Standard Version). It is the concept of work and purpose, and actions
associated with this, that is part of God’s will for mankind.
Performance Management
According to Satterlee (2013) “Performance Management is the process of identifying,
measuring, and managing employee’s performance” (p. 200). During the Performance
Management process, specific goals should be clearly identified so that both the organization and
the employee understand the desired outcome (Satterlee, 2013, p. 201). Employee performance
should be evaluated based upon the agreed upon goals and detailed feedback should be given to
the employee that highlights both their proficiencies and deficiencies (Satterlee, 2013, p. 201).
According to Kalgin, Podolskiy & Parfenteva (2018), performance management of the individual
is a crucial step in managing the organizations performance (p. 4).
Performance management can affect employee job satisfaction and the ability of an
organization to attract and retain high quality employees (Kalgin et al., 2018, p. 4). In addition
to this, performance management benefits the organization because it offers an opportunity to
evaluate the employee and, in turn, offers the employee an opportunity to grow (Kalgin,
Podolskiy & Parfenteva, 2018, p. 3). Similarly, Satterlee (2013) suggests that evaluating
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employees allows leaders to identify who needs training and who is ready for more
responsibility; whereas employees are given a clear picture of their strengths and weaknesses
(Satterlee, 2013, p. 201).
Strategic implementation
Performance must be measured before it can be managed. To measure performance,
organizations can initiate a performance appraisal process. Performance appraisals evaluate and
measure an employee’s effectiveness at their jobs (Satterlee, 2013, p. 201). Proper appraisals can
provide leaders with critical information they need in order to make decisions regarding pay
raises, bonuses, and promotions (Satterlee, 2013, p. 200). The appraisal process should begin
with an assessment of the employee with a focus on facts and observed behavior (Satterlee,
2013, p. 201). Once the assessment is complete, organizational leaders should turn their
attention to performance gaps, which Satterlee (2013) defines as “the difference of expected
performance and actual performance” (p. 201). Finally, both positive and/or negative feedback
should be given to the employee with clearly outlines goals for improvement (Satterlee, 2013, p.
201).
Another strategy for performance management addresses job design. According to
Kalgin et al. (2018), job design can affect job satisfaction, which in turn can positively or
negatively affects performance (p. 4). Kinicki & Fugate (2018) define job design as “any set of
activities that alter jobs to improve the quality of employee experience and level of productivity”
(p. 185). Job design can me be initiated by organizational leaders in what is known as “top
down”, or by employees in what is known as “bottom up”, or jointly in what is known as
“idiosyncratic deals” to design the job in a manner that increases job satisfaction and
performance (Kinicki et al., 2018, p. 186).
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Biblical application
The idea of performance management and growth is central throughout the bible.
Proverbs 27:17 (English Standard Version) states “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens
another.” Christian leaders should constantly seek to mentor their subordinates. Though the
process of growth is not always pleasant, the result is growth for both the organization and the
employee. 1 Timothy 4:15 (English Standard Version) states “Practice these things, immerse
yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.” Christian leaders should challenge
themselves and those around them to constantly seek improvement. The bible tells us in 1
Thessalonians 5:21 (English Standard Version) “But test everything; hold fast what is good.”
Through testing everything, we can cling to what is good and replace the bad with more good.
According to 1 Corinthians 10:31 (English Standard Version), “So, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Lastly, Christian leaders should approach
performance management as if God were reviewing their work.
Project Management
Project management is a subset of operations management. Projects typically have a
defined beginning and end and it is up to management to ensure that projects are completed
within that time and within budget. Although these managers work within constraints of a set
beginning and end, there are many factors and responsibilities that these managers deal with in
between. Desmond (2015) states that these managers or offices deal with “time to market,
project launch to completion, efficiency of work and optimization of staff utilization, on-time
completion, within budget completion, even satisfaction of customers and of team members” (p.
15).
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Projects make up many aspects of an organization. Projects can be events, the production
of products or services, along with many other forms. Anything that has or needs a plan will
most likely need a project manager to ensure that the plan has a beginning and an end and that
everything in between is done to organizational standards and within budget.
Strategic implementation
Organizations need a project manager to ensure projects, such as the production of new
products or services, are carried out and completed on time and within budget. Without a
dedicated project manager, a project will most likely fail or fail to fall within organizational
constraints. A project manager must understand the stages of project management. Regardless of
the project, Satterlee (2013) states that the project will go through: proposal, initial investigation,
detailed investigation, development and testing, trial, operation and closure, and evaluation (p.
234).
To assist project managers with these stages and the entire process project managers can
implement the Project Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) along with a Gantt Chart. The
PERT is used to “determine if resources, such as time and/or budget, can be reduced without
sacrificing project outcome of quality” (Satterlee, 2013, p. 235). Once this information is
obtained it can be then used to create a Gantt Chart. A Gantt Chart is a chart that visually shows
all the work for the specified project along with the time each task should approximately take.
These tools allow project managers to ensure efficiency and track every aspect of a project to
ensure that the project falls within the constraints set by the organization.
Biblical application
Throughout the bible, God instructs us to prepare and plan for the many things we may
face. In addition, God prepares and plans for individuals within the Bible to carry out assigned
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duties and tasks that He sets forth. God is the ultimate project manager as he sets a project into
motion and sees it through until its end. The book on Nehemiah is the book of project
management within the Bible. Nehemiah, a cupbearer to King Artaxerxes, learned of the Jews
distress in Judah and that the walls of Jerusalem had been broken down. After much prayer and
fasting and a request to the king, Nehemiah could go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem within
52 days. There is much more to this story as Nehemiah goes through hardship to accomplish
such a task in such a short amount of time. There are many things project managers can learn
from the story of Nehemiah and the process he goes through. With God, however, anything is
possible and this shows that God truly is the ultimate project manager.
Conclusion
The concepts discussed above have characteristics that pertain to a generalized idea of
working and jobs. With the generalized position of work as the theme, the main ideas behind a
few examples of what that entails were discussed with additional description through the
concepts of Job Analysis, Performance Management, and Project Management. The concepts
were strategically placed throughout the paper to move from origination and requirements of a
specific job position to the measures and analytics behind the determination of whether an
individual in that position is performing satisfactorily, and finally the processes behind specific
projects that individuals in various positions must take on as a means for achieving goals
associated with the larger vision of the organization. From this information, one gains a further
perspective on the encompassing characteristics of work, and more specifically, of an individual
job’s place in the broader spectrum.
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References
Collins, J. (2001). Good to Great [Audiobook]. New York, NY: Harper Business.
doi:10.1080/03643100802293907
Desmond, C. (2015). Project Management Office. IEE Engineering Management Review, 43(1),
15-16.
Duke, B. (2014). Why God created you for work. Retrieved from https://erlc.com/resource-
library/articles/why-god-created-you-for-work
Kalgin, A., Podolskiy, D., Parfenteva, D., & Campbell, J. W. (2018). Performance management
and job-goal alignment. International Journal of Public Sector Management,31(1), 65-80.
doi:10.1108/ijpsm-04-2016-0069
Kinicki, A., & Fugate, M. (2018). Organizational behavior: a practical, problem-solving
approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.
Raghavendra, P. (2017). The importance of job analysis. Retrieved from
https://bizfluent.com/info-7736246-importance-job-analysis.html
Satterlee, A. (2013). Organizational management & leadership: A Christian perspective 2nd ed.
Releigh, NC: Synergistics International.
Waters, L. D., Mironova, O., & Stobinski, J. X. (2017). The many potential uses for a job
analysis. Journal of the Association for Vascular Access, 22(3), 124-128.
http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1016/j.java.2017.06.007
