FINAL EXAMINATION

PROGRAMME Master of Business Administration (General)

Postgraduate Diploma in Business Management

MODULE Human Resource Development

YEAR One (1)

INTAKE July 2017

DATE 06 November 2017

TIME 14h00 – 17h00

DURATION 3 hours

TOTAL MARKS 100

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE CANDIDATE

1. Questions must be attempted in the answer book provided.

2. All queries should be directed to the invigilator; do not communicate or attempt to communicate with any
other candidate.
3. You have THREE HOURS to complete this paper. You are not allowed to leave the examination room within
the first hour and in the last 15 minutes of this examination.
4. This is a CLOSED BOOK examination.
5. Read ALL instructions carefully.

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SECTION A [60 MARKS]
Read the case study below and answer ALL the questions that follow.

Transforming a 95-Year-Old Organization Through E-Learning

Overhead Door modernized its e-learning while saving time and money

With more than 90 years of history, Overhead Door is a recognized and respected brand in the garage door industry.
C.G. Johnson invented the upward-lifting garage door in 1921 and the electric garage door opener in 1926. From
commercial and industrial overhead doors and access systems to residential garage doors and openers, Overhead
Door combines quality, dependable products with reliable service to home and business owners.

The company has 4,000 employees at hundreds of locations across the United States, so it's a challenge to ensure all
of them are receiving the training they need today and the development they want for their future. Because more than
2,500 staff are manufacturing employees who don't sit at a desk or in front of a computer every day, it's critical to
customize learning delivery for them as well as for the other employees who can access training more easily.

Time for change

As the learning and development manager at Overhead Door, I sought to tackle this challenge, together with my
manager, Jody Kelly, the director of talent development. We were not having much success engaging employees with
the training content we had because it was too long, wasn't meeting the needs of employees, and was not modern
enough for today's learners.

Because we recently implemented a new learning management system, I attended a user conference in 2016 to learn
more about how Overhead Door could maximize its investment. Like most attendees at user conferences, I attended
sessions presented by peers from other companies who were sharing their best practices and experiences. At one of
those sessions, I learned about OpenSesame and its extensive library of e-learning courses that would integrate with
our LMS. Upon returning to the office, I shared my findings with Kelly, and we subsequently decided to partner with
OpenSesame to revitalize our e-learning.

The library of e-learning courses is curated for high-quality content and applicability to a wide variety of corporate
training needs. It has more than 20,000 courses from the world's leading publishers, and simplifies how L&D
professionals find, purchase, deploy, and measure training program content. Through integration with any LMS it
provides a seamless e-learning experience for LMS administrators, L&D staff, and learners.

Exponential growth in learner use

On account of this partnership, I have seen a total transformation in our organization as a combined result of our
powerful LMS and OpenSesame's library of e-learning courses. I've been most impressed by the modern content, its
relevance to learners, and the broad selection of e-learning courses. I've seen some tremendous results, with interaction
by learners with the LMS growing by hundreds of percent as compared to before.
Sandi Denton, the director of human resources at Overhead Door, remarks how there are so many more options of
courses and learning plans for employees today with our e-learning library. Beforehand, learners only had access to
Microsoft Office courses, and now they have tons of e-learning available to them.

The courses can be taken by individuals on their own, on a mobile device, or even on their computer at home. Some
groups still conduct training in groups, but now use the e-learning courses as part of the curriculum and then discuss
what they learned and how it applies to their everyday jobs.

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"We [can] give them the best tools for their current role and for their future," says Denton. "It shows team members we
care about their development and want to give them opportunities. We want to help individuals learn."

Saving time and money

Kelly adds that OpenSesame was a "no brainer" for us. Not only were they there to help our L&D team get going; also,
the customer support is always available to answer our questions. Kelly notes that we saved both time and money
compared to the content we were purchasing previously—and yet we expanded our offerings.

With a lean L&D team trying to serve 4,000 learners, the integration of OpenSesame with our LMS saves us an
immense amount of time. Now, I can log into the LMS, directly access the e-learning courses, pull them into the LMS,
and assign them to learners. What used to take me hours now only takes me minutes, so I can spend more time
consulting with various department managers and learners.
Source: https://www.td.org/Publications/Magazines/TD/TD-Archive/2017/08/Transforming-a-95-Year-Old-
Organization-Through-Elearning

QUESTION 1 (40 Marks)

It is stated in the case study: “On account of this partnership, I have seen a total transformation in our organization as a
combined result of our powerful LMS and OpenSesame's library of e-learning courses”.

1.1 Given the fact that Overhead Door has introduced e-learning, would it be justifiable to categorise the company
as a learning organisation? (20 marks)

1.2 Critically evaluate the status of the human resource development function at Overhead door and substantiate
whether it plays a strategic role within the company. (20 marks)

QUESTION 2 (20 Marks)

Analyse the elements involved in the strategic management process model and provide recommendations on how the
current human resources practices of Overhead Door can be better aligned to the strategic process.

SECTION B [40 MARKS]

Answer ANY TWO (2) questions in this section.

QUESTION 3 (20 Marks)

“Effectively incorporating new employees can be a challenging task for HR and managers alike. With the expectation
that the majority of new hires were there to stay for the long haul, traditional orientation programs consisted of a brief
introduction to the company and a lot of paperwork. However, this task has become even more difficult with the
entrance of a new generation of workers.”

Discuss how the organisational practices of induction and onboarding for new employees can assist with the challenge
being alluded to, in the statement above.

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QUESTION 4 (20 Marks)

Discuss the process of establishing the training needs of an organisation and explicate the linkage to the workplace
skills plan.

QUESTION 5 (20 Marks)

There is a distinct inter-connection between organisational development (OD) and human resource development (HRD).
Evaluate this statement and provide a model of organisational development that offers guidance on the processes
involved.

END OF PAPER

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