Specific details regarding updates to the eighth edition can be found later in the preface. However, highlights of changes include the following:

• 700 new references cited within text.

• Most introductory vignettes are either new, substantially revised, or updated.

• Approximately 75 percent of the end-of-chapter cases are new or have been extensively revised and updated.

• More than 80 percent of the boxed features within the text have been replaced with new ones or have been substantially revised and updated.

• New coverage of the special human resource issues concerning social responsibility and ethics as well as technology and social media. This is included in new topical sections of most chapters as well as in new Manager’s Notebook features, discussion questions, and cases.

• Updated coverage of how firms respond to dynamic changes in their strategy as a result of environmental jolts, and the important role that human resource management plays in this process.

• Updated coverage of the legal environment of HR such as the changing legal requirements for companies to provide health insurance to employees and emerging regulations that attempt to balance employee and employer rights to engage in religious practices in the workplace.

The Manager’s Notebooks provide exposure to a variety of issues that managers confront daily, from providing feedback during an appraisal session to preparing employees for a layoff. Approximately half of the Manager’s Notebooks are new for this eighth edition, and many of the remaining features have been updated with the most current information. Manager’s Notebooks are divided into five categories:

• New: Technology/Social Media notebooks discuss specific opportunities and challenges posed by technology and the rapid increase in the use of social media to the practice of human resource management.

• Customer-Driven HR notebooks demonstrate how managers and employees can benefit by approaching employees as internal customers.

• New: Ethics/Social Responsibility notebooks focus on the role of HR practices in promoting social responsibility and ethical issues that challenge managers and employees.

• Emerging Trends notebooks present new developments in HRM practice that are likely to require increased attention in the near future.

• Global notebooks focus on HR practices in different countries and offer lessons that can be applied to diverse work contexts within the United States and elsewhere.

In an effort to make the conceptual material discussed in each chapter come to life, we provide “You Manage It!” case studies at the end of each chapter to support each of the major themes of the book. For each case, we have included critical thinking questions, team exercises, and experiential exercises. Many cases also include individual exercises for students who wish to or who can only work individually as a member of a class (for instance, those taking online courses). These cases are organized as follows:

• New: Technology/Social Media cases deal with concrete situations where technology/social media affect HR practices related to the subject matter discussed in that particular chapter.

• Customer-Driven HR cases illustrate how HRM can add value to an organization by taking a customer-oriented perspective.

• New: Ethics/Social Responsibility cases illustrate how managing people can involve tough, real-life choices regarding the “right” actions that should be taken and how organizations can act in a more socially responsible manner through appropriate HR practices.

• Emerging Trends cases illustrate HR-related issues that are likely to require increased attention in the future.

• Global cases draw students’ attention outside the boundaries of the United States and illustrate that HR issues may be international in scope.

Chapter 1, “Meeting Present and Emerging Strategic Human Resource Challenges,” provides new coverage of the effects of layoffs on losing talent to competitors, niche certification for training, challenges and opportunities of rising diversity, the rise of the virtual workforce, electronic monitoring, and an expanded section on ethics and social responsibility. Specific changes and updates in this edition include a new vignette entry on giant Alcatel, a new notebook on the offering of massive open online courses (MOOCs) aimed at meeting specific training needs, a new notebook on how Harley-Davidson has taken advantage of diversity to increase sales, a new notebook on the use of personal information, and two new cases exploring electronic monitoring and embedding sustainability into HR strategies.

Chapter 2, “Managing Work Flows and Conducting Job Analysis,” has new content that explains the use of professional employer organizations (PEOs) that provide human resource management services on an outsourcing basis to smaller firms. A new Manager’s Notebook looks at the emerging trend of “reshoring” manufacturing jobs to the U.S. that were previously outsourced to China. Two new end-of-chapter cases examine the growing problem of companies giving unpaid internships to students that use them to perform unskilled labor for free as well as the implications from the restrictions on telecommuting at Yahoo announced by its CEO as a controversial tactic to increase employee productivity and innovation.

Chapter 3, “Understanding Equal Opportunity and the Legal Environment,” has been updated to include new regulations that require mandatory sexual harassment training in California for all supervisors in firms with more than 50 employees. New content has been added that explains how companies avoid age discrimination by redesigning jobs for older employees so they can work part-time while they extend their working lives to reflect longer spans of life. A new Manager’s Notebook brings to light the rampant gender inequity in India and its implications for this emerging economy. Another new Manager’s Notebook discusses how to avoid legal difficulties if companies need to install an English-only rule for communication at the workplace. A new end-of-chapter case discusses the implications of having a company policy that forbids employees from displaying visible tattoos at the workplace, which has become challenging because in recent years tattoos have become fashionable for younger-generation employees to display to express their individuality.

Chapter 4, “Managing Diversity,” provides updated information on demographic changes, based on recent census reports; new coverage of entrepreneurial firms launched by minorities; coverage of the rapidly changing landscape for legal protection of homosexuals; expanded treatment of religious diversity and recent EEOC religious-bias lawsuits; and expanded coverage of special issues concerning the rapidly expanding Hispanic populations in the United States. All notebooks have been updated or replaced and a new case has been added on technology/social media and how it affects the management of diversity.

Chapter 5, “Recruiting and Selecting Employees,” includes a new opening vignette that describes a common retail situation that students can identify with, an updated Manager’s Notebook focusing on the global supply and shortage of labor, an updated Manager’s Notebook on customer-driven HR, a new Manager’s Notebook on technology/social media, a new Manager’s Notebook focusing on social responsibility in recruitment and hiring, and two new cases exploring employer uses of social media in the hiring process and the role of social responsibility in business and potential impacts of a clear social responsibility initiative.

Chapter 6, “Managing Employee Separations, Downsizing, and Outplacement,” includes a new chapter-opening vignette, a new Manager’s Notebook on voluntary employee turnover in China, a new Manager’s Notebook focusing on termination of employees for using social media, a new Manager’s Notebook focusing on the ethical/social responsibility aspects of the effects of layoffs on survivors, a new Manager’s Notebook addressing management actions to minimize the negative effects of a layoff, and two new cases that focus on the management of voluntary turnover and policy that addresses terminations as a result of employee use of social media.

Chapter 7, “Appraising and Managing Performance,” includes a new chapter opening with a vignette that illustrates a performance review interaction between a manager and a worker, a new Manager’s Notebook focusing on competencies needed in a global workplace, a new Manager’s Notebook that focuses on the use of technology in measuring and improving performance, a new Manager’s Notebook on using a strength-based approach to provide performance feedback, a new case on the strength-based approach to performance appraisal, and two extensively revised cases on addressing global competencies and the use of technology in appraising performance.

Chapter 8, “Training the Workforce,” includes a new chapter opener on employee training, a new Manager’s Notebook on the use of technology and social media as a means to shift training toward “learning on-the-fly,” a new Manager’s Notebook focusing on expatriate training needs, a new Manager’s Notebook on customer-based training, and two new cases on the use of social media in training and the training of expatriates.

Chapter 9, “Developing Careers,” includes a new Manager’s Notebook on the steps involved in international assignments and provides management suggestions for each step, a new Managers Notebook that addresses social media as a skill and as a tool in career development, and a new case that explores the use of social media in career development.

Chapter 10, “ Managing Compensation,” provides an expanded treatment of the disappearance of entitlements, tying rewards to socially responsible behaviors, the use of non-monetary pay, the rise of telecommuting and compensation, job evaluation in small firms, and updates of legislation concerning compensation. The revised chapter includes a new Manager’s Notebook on rewarding employees with non-monetary rewards, a new Manager’s Notebook on telecommuters, and a new case on pay and social responsibility.

Chapter 11, “Rewarding Performance,” offers new coverage of the effect of pay incentives on employee ethical behaviors, the pitfalls of merit pay and pay-for-performance systems, the complementary relationship of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards, and special issues with pay incentives in small firms. The chapter includes a new Manager’s Notebook on healthy living incentives, a new Manager’s Notebook on the pros and cons of awarding long-term income, and a new case on providing rewards for key contributors.

Chapter 12, “Designing and Administering Benefits,” has been thoroughly revised to include the latest information covering health and retirement benefits. New information on the Patient and Affordable Care Act (PACA) has been added that gives a definition of a full-time employee or part-time equivalent employee for whom employers are required to provide health care coverage, as well as guidelines for the minimum percentage of employees’ health care costs that must be paid for by the employer. New content introduces the increasingly popular high-deductible health plan that provides employees with low-cost health coverage that covers only high-cost medical procedures. New laws in a few states that provide paid parental leave that go beyond the unpaid parental leave standards of the FMLA at the federal level are explained. A new Manager’s Notebook offers some ways that companies are using wellness practices to lower their health care costs. A new end-of-chapter case explains the wildly popular Superannuation retirement program in Australia, which is similar to the 401(k) retirement benefit in the United States but mandates sizeable minimum employee contributions to the retirement account.

Chapter 13, “Developing Employee Relations,” offers new content on the use of workplace chaplains, ordained ministers who provide outreach to employees with personal problems, as an alternative to Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs), which require employees to file a complaint before they can receive access to counseling. A new Manager’s Notebook explains how social media is being used to build corporate alumni networks that can be a powerful source of competitive information. A new end-of-chapter case brings to light the fact that many employee feedback systems, which are designed to allow employees to have a voice to complain about unfair treatment, remain unused by employees due to their fear of retaliation by managers. The case challenges students to come up with ways to administer feedback systems that actually get used by employees.

Chapter 14, “Respecting Employee Rights and Managing Discipline,” provides expanded content on whistle-blowing, including recent controversies over whether individuals who disclose classified government documents to the WikiLeaks Web site should be considered to be whistle-blowers or criminals. A new Manager’s Notebook introduces the emerging employment practice of performing credit checks on applicants’ credit histories when they are being considered for a job, which some legal experts claim discriminates against minorities. A new end-of-chapter case introduces the growing problem of incivility in the workplace where employees act rude and disrespectful to each other on a regular basis. Blaming this bad conduct on higher stress and increasing performance expectations, the case challenges students to think of ways to restore civility back into the workplace.

Chapter 15, “Working with Organized Labor,” contains updated information on the percentage of the workforce that is unionized in the United States and other countries. A new Manager’s Notebook examines how Chinese workers have recently asserted their power and demanded to have unions that actually represent their interests to management rather than act as a tool of the government to pacify the workers and keep them docile. In a new end-of-chapter case, the recent setbacks of public sector unions in Wisconsin are examined and students are challenged to think about whether unions are really necessary in the public sector, which tends to have better job security and benefits than many private-sector workplaces.

Chapter 16, “Managing Workplace Safety and Health,” has a new chapter opening that provides summaries of recent workplace safety infractions that resulted in major OSHA fines, a new Manager’s Notebook on preventing workers’ compensation fraud, an updated Manager’s Notebook on company actions regarding AIDS in South Africa, and a new Manager’s Notebook on the use of social media in wellness programs.

Chapter 17, “International HRM Challenges,” provides new treatment of ethical concerns with outsourcing, new legislation around the world on the use of bribes, equal employment opportunity in a global context, ways to keep the expatriate linked to the home country, and new developments in cross-cultural training. The revised chapter also includes a Manager’s Notebook on training expatriates on how to cope with political risks, a new Manager’s Notebook on the use of toxic factories in China, and a new case on terrorism.