I felt like Chapter 16 was a review of everything that we have read and talked about this whole semester, for the most part at least. It discussed the elements of a high performance work system, what this is, and things that can be done to try to achieve it, such as compensation, training and development, performance management, etc. The whole semester as we have discussed the different methods that a company can take to improve their work system, I have wondered why it is that more companies don't invest a little more time and/or money into trying to make things work a little smoother. I have also wondered why it is that some of the companies that I have worked for have struggled so much as they try to do so.

How can an employee help his or her employer improve this when there isn't an HR department? Or even when there is?

Chapter 15 goes over international markets and how HRM applies. When a company goes international, they have to understand the culture, and the way business is done in the other countries where they are expanding. If this is not done, there is limited success in the foreign countries. The simplest way of having employees that understand the other culture is to hire from within that company, but sometimes this can be a very complicated process, at least for hiring managers and executives.

What else do companies do to ensure they have a good knowledge of the other culture?

Chapter 12 goes over benefits that are provided by employers such as insurance benefits, paid time off, and retirement programs. The more I learn about some companies and the amounts of benefits they give to their employees, I wonder how some of them turn a profit. The only way that I can see that they will keep a profit is that when they offer these benefits, turnover plummets, and the morale of their employees is very high. With high morale the employees will be much more efficient and the low turnover rate keeps training costs low.

What do companies do to provide employees with good benefits at low cost? How can a company use benefits to keep turnover rates low?