HR Strategy Read Abstract

Mountain Bank

Strategies to achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace

Organizations thrive by providing a level of value or services for their customers that their competitors cannot. Mountain Bank currently has a strong retail banking business, but it wishes to expand its outreach into the more lucrative business banking sector. It wishes to expand into retail and corporate banking. To do so, it desires to better use its tellers to convince current private banking account holders to open up corporate accounts.

Tellers are the 'face' of Mountain Bank. They are a critical asset, because one of the main reasons consumers desire to use a bank beyond basic 'nuts and bolts' needs is the confident and concerned image presented by the teller. Of course, more and more banking is being done online today. However, many consumers are frustrated by this, and often it is when a bank goes 'above and beyond' the bare minimum and truly addresses a consumer's personal needs that the patron is more apt to show loyalty to a particular institution. But Mountain Bank employs tellers as entry-level workers, which means that the quality of service they provide may be variable, particularly as the most competent tellers are promoted from their entry-level positions fairly quickly.

Of course, the human element is not the only reason various enterprises and individuals choose a bank. Low interest rates for loans, a willingness to extend credit, and assistance with overcoming regulatory hurdles are...

However, given the competition that Mountain Bank is faced with, there is a limit to which Mountain Bank can pursue a cost leadership strategy (offering bargain basement rate loans). Instead, a differentiated strategy based upon the quality of its services, specifically catering to small businesses, is a more feasible approach (Porter's five forces, 2011, Quick MBA).
Universalistic vs. contingency strategies

Universalistic strategies of human resource development uphold the notion that a single HR strategy is universally useful in all situations. One universalistic paradigm of human resources is Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which suggests that worker's lower-level needs must be fulfilled before higher-level needs such as self-actualization will be of concern to the employee (Huitt 2007). For example, basic sustenance needs like a decent paycheck must be provided before workers can be exhorted to give more effort to their work.

In contrast, contingency theories like path-goal theory suggest deploying different types of leadership, based upon the needs of workers and the situation. For example, with a clear goal in mind and relatively inexperienced followers, directive leadership might be a necessary approach, while a supportive leadership style that stresses manager's personal interest in workers might better motivate workers to perform routine administrative tasks (Straker 2005). For more capable followers completing complex tasks, a participative or achievement-oriented…