Describe how Dell uses human capital as a source of competitive advantage.

Suggested Answer: After the .com crash, top leadership realized they needed to
move from top-flight, competitive, and financially driven, employees with top-fl
ight, competitive growth by learning-driven employees.
To attract and retain this talent, they created the Soul of Dell culture. It is s
ucceeding, so now Dell grows human capital as a source of competitive advantage.
Dell people are:
(1) capable of producing work that supports an organization s strategy for competi
ng in the marketplace (human capital value),
(2) bring skills and talents of an organization s people are unique in the industr
y (rareness), and have skills and talents for fast, efficient, effective selling
direct to the customer (imitativeness).
Connection to this Chapter: Dell s results-oriented culture brings in people who
are both responsible and accountable for their own and the company s performance.
Their creativity is relied upon in this strategy.
Associates are expected to continuously search for better ways to manufacture, s
olve problems, reduce costs, and deliver.

Identify the aspects of high involvement management contained in the Soul of Dell
vision statement.
Suggested Answer: The Soul of Dell culture is aligned to their vision declaration
that the company is committed to providing its customers a superior experience a
t a great value.
At the enduring core of their manufacturing and selling strategy are direct rela
tionships. To achieve operational excellence, they staff their front lines of c
ontact with customers and
suppliers with highly engaged associates working in highly effective teams to id
entify opportunities to provide superior experience. They stress that they oper
ate without inefficient hierarchy and bureaucracy.
Connections to this Chapter:
Encouraging creative solutions is one aspect of how
Dell translates its soul into business reality though sound people policies.
These policies
Selective
hiringmap They
directly
are #upon
1 inmain
their
elements
field,of
sohigh-involvement
they attract andmanagement:
hire only the
best; qualified by their growth orientation.
Extensive training Dell continuously develops all associates and teams with a su
bstantial investment in formal training, on-the-job learning, and mentoring and
coaching.
Decision power Dell s top leaders model a high-touch leadership style and expect t
heir managers to be closely involved with responsibility and accountability righ
t down to the shop floor.
Information sharing
Town Hall meetings, follow up to bio-annual employee surveys
, one on one meetings with each employee once a month, are some of the ways Dell
is fostering a feeling of shared ownership that matches
their shared
Incentive
compensation
responsibility
Dellfor
rewards
the performance
on merit. of
People
the company.
are judged on their knowle
dge and contributions to team and organizational performance.
They recognize and reward individual and collective performance that brings abou
t strategic results.