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Teachable Moments in Human Resource Management: National Culture, Organizational Culture, and Intersectionality

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Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management

Part of the book series: Management and Industrial Engineering ((MINEN))

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Abstract

The most important outcome of any academic course is to increase understanding for both learners and their instructors. However, in many business courses this is made problematic because of the ways in which business schools have constructed the bodies of knowledge that they consider relevant. This chapter considered the ways in which the Human Resource Management (HRM) course has evolved and argues that in its trajectory it has become artificially separated from many other critical understandings and bodies of knowledge, particularly those of national and organizational cultures. However, within the teaching and learning of HRM there are many opportunities for considering overarching perspectives, integrating what have become separated aspects, and providing the richer and more expansive understanding of subject matter that is increasingly demanded from business graduates in the complex and globalized world of work. The chapter explores the nature, significance, and potential of these opportunities—opportunities that are generally understood as teachable moments .

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. SUNY Empire State College, International Programs, Prague, Czech Republic

    David Starr-Glass

Authors
  1. David Starr-Glass
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Starr-Glass .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal

    Carolina Machado

  2. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    J. Paulo Davim

Testing Your Knowledge

Testing Your Knowledge

1.1 Answer the Following Questions as True (T) or False (F)

The following questions might be helpful for both HRM instructors and students in reviewing this chapter. To provide optimal benefit, the reader might like to briefly re-read the section that seems to be connected with the question. Each statement requires a true or false answer. Answers, together with explanations, are provided in the section that follows these questions. 

  1. 1.

    There is a growing consensus that the most significant problem with business schools is that they do not produce graduates who have a rigorous understanding of the theory of their discipline.

  2. 2.

    All disciplinary knowledge, including HRM, needs to be broken down into a logical sequence so that it can be taught effectively and understood by students.

  3. 3.

    The focus of most business courses is on analysis—that is, on reducing a complex situation into simpler and discrete issues that can be better understood, taught, and subsequently recognized in management situations.

  4. 4.

    Teachable moments only appear naturally and spontaneously during the teaching-learning encounter and cannot be anticipated, predicted, or forced.

  5. 5.

    Teachable moments, especially when structured by the instructor, provide a very good way of expanding the HRM course and of bringing it in line with other courses such as Comparative HRM and International HRM.

  6. 6.

    HRM is best described as a socially constructed disciple.

  7. 7.

    Organizational cultures always mirror the national culture of the country within which the organization is situate.

  8. 8.

    Intersectionality means the overlapping of two separately defined categories in ways that question the initial categorizations by producing unanticipated, additional and compounded outcomes.

  9. 9.

    Teachable moments might work in the HRM course because of its history and development, but they would not be useful in other business courses.

  10. 10.

    The desired outcome of any academic course—for instructors and students alike—is that the students involved should know the details of the subject matter and be able to apply and manipulate those details effectively.

1.2 Answers to Review Questions

  1. 1.

    False. Business school graduates usually have a good understanding of disciplinary theory. However, often they have not been taught to critically assess theory, explore the extent to which that theory applies in complex real-world situations, and develop global perspectives or understandings.

  2. 2.

    True. It is inevitable that knowledge should be broken into units in order to teach it. However, this raises a problem because knowledge—including that associated with HRM—is by nature interrelated and interconnected. Trying to present knowledge as a linear sequence or progression (linearization) inevitably breaks its continuity, fractures real and potential connections with other bodies of knowledge, and creates a logically defensible but artificial and unauthentic representation of real-world experience.

  3. 3.

    True. The dominant logic in devising the curriculum and in teaching subjects in the business school is analytical. Analysis is a crucial part of approaching many managerial contexts but, as indicated in this chapter, a preoccupation with analysis inhibits the more important functions of synthesis and of developing creative perspectives and solutions.

  4. 4.

    False. It is true that many teachable moments (when learner-generated) arise naturally and spontaneously in teaching . If they do, then they should certainly be utilized effectively. However, students can be encouraged/prompted to think in ways that make them question what is being taught and to recognize that there may be other possibilities, alternatives , and presently unconnected knowledge that could enrich their learning experience.

  5. 5.

    False. Teachable moments provide the opportunity to bring new knowledge into the HRM course, but that knowledge should advance the knowledge content of the course by providing new perspectives, critical re-assessments, and novel ways of connecting with other disciplinary knowledge (such as culture).

  6. 6.

    True. Unlike physics, HRM does not deal with realities that can be universally experienced, objectively measured, and independently validated. Instead, it deals with issues such as aptitude, talent, productivity, motivation , commitment, etc., the existence and nature of which are all socially determined.

  7. 7.

    False. It is certainly true that many aspects of national culture are reflected in organization. However, national culture is broad, statistically-based, and recognizes that not every individual in a ‘nation’ will possess the same values. That variation is reflected organizational founders and the cultures they create in their firms. Organizational cultures usually reflect the values of their founders.

  8. 8.

    True. Intersectionality suggests that the experiences of individuals represent a combination of social classifications (gender, race, social class, etc.). The experience of ‘Black women’ is qualitatively different from those of ‘all women’ or of ‘all Black people’. It is suggested that the experiences of those with two cultural identities (national and organizational) will be impacted differently by the same HRM practices.

  9. 9.

    False. Teachable moments are valuable in all business courses. Contemporary business courses recognize the need to make connections with other bodies of knowledge and often include them (globalization, ethical consideration, corporate social responsibility, etc.). However, where there is no structural provision for introducing these issues, teachable moments can be valuable.

  10. 10.

    False. Knowledge of details and an ability to manipulate that knowledge is a beginning, but the desired outcome of the teaching-learning experience is increased understanding. Understanding is grounded in recognitions, appreciations, and connections that go beyond the prescribed or curricular limits of the subject matter being taught or learned.

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Starr-Glass, D. (2018). Teachable Moments in Human Resource Management: National Culture, Organizational Culture, and Intersectionality. In: Machado, C., Davim, J. (eds) Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management. Management and Industrial Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-66864-2_2

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