Sample Online Discussion Interaction

In an online classroom, students may participate from anywhere in the world, thus
making it a global community. Even though online students are provided with
guidelines for participation in online Discussion, it can be difficult to know how to
implement them.

This document provides excerpts from an online discussion interaction in an actual

University of Liverpool online course. (All students identified have given their
permission for their names and postings to be used).

Remember that these are excerpts and not full responses. Be sure to always follow
the word or paragraph count requirements provided for each Discussion Question to
which you respond. These excerpts are intended to model behaviour and interaction
among colleagues as something to strive for in your own online Discussion
interactions.

The students in the class (SHRM 21/8/08)

The students in University of Liverpool online programmes are of various
nationalities, live around the world, and bring a variety of personal and professional
experiences to the classroom.

Name Nationality Location Description

Paul Kenyan Kenya GM of a bottling plant in Rift
Matelong Valley (400 employees)
Anne Marie Jamaican Jamaica company director and
Hibbert (nationalised British) grandmother of 4
Desmond South African Dubai business group manager with
Nair software company
Carina de Brazilian Qatar manager of community
Moura support division of non-profit
Razi Al- Yemeni offshore electrical engineer (oil
Zubaidi Yemen industry)
Marc Belgian DR Congo MD of branch office of mobile
Gielissen phone company

SHRM Week 3 Discussion Question

Below is the Discussion Question that students were asked to respond to by Day 3
(Saturday).

Torrington chapters 16, 18 and 19:

Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2010.

The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any
additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V.
Last update: December 2011
Explain how competency and skills acquired from the labour market and how internal
learning & development policies help an organisation achieve strategic
organisational objectives. Show how this impacts our understanding of careers.
Compare and contrast your findings with wider research.

SHRM Week 3 discussion postings from students

The requirement is to post an original Discussion Question posting (a response to
the Discussion Question set by the Instructor) and a number of follow-on postings in
response to classmates.

As you read the sample postings below, consider the following questions:
 What personal knowledge and experience do the students bring to the
discussion?
 How are the students making original contributions to the discussion and the
online academic community?
 How do the students respond to one another, ask questions and build on the
views of others?
 How do the students encourage the effective contribution of other members of
the class?
 How are the students using citing and referencing in the postings?

Post 1 (initial Discussion Question response extract)

I have witnessed in the organisation management insisting on certain levels of
competencies but accepting persons with low levels. This has become a
common feature because of…criteria that consider regional and tribal balances in
recruitment in Kenya. In the hope of addressing…gender, rights of minorities and
a commitment not to discriminate...the Kenyan Government has issued
employment guidelines that must be considered by employees in making
resourcing decisions… it becomes a challenge to management who has to strive
to achieve organisation goals.

Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2010.

The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any
additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V.
Last update: December 2011
 Post 2 (follow-on response extract to Post 1)
I wanted to discuss with you one area from your comprehensive and
detailed answer. I was particularly interested in the points you made
about the compromises being made in Kenya as a result (if I've
understood you correctly) of a number of external and internal constraints
on the theory of ‘recruitment of high quality staff’. So these are (mainly)
Government requirements to meet certain quotas for diversity, and
internal requirements informally and formally to make balanced
recruitment decisions – or even to use very subjective criteria for
recruitment.… The question is about recruiting and developing the best
talent as a strategic objective. To what extent does this objective
contradict that which compels us to maintain and develop a diverse
workforce – diverse in every sense of the word with no discrimination on
the basis of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, even age? Can we really
achieve both objectives?

Post 3 (follow-on response extract to Post 1)

Bernes and Magnusson (1996)…note that career development systems
can be subdivided into two categories: career planning and career
management…. Very rarely do companies offer both. The latter, is the
norm in most organisations as the former may be considered by
management as a ‘dangerous’ avenue to make employees marketable
elsewhere while the organisation has invested time and money
developing staff…. How does your organisation assist its employees with
career development options? Do they have both career management and
career planning services?
———
Bernes, K. & Magnusson, K. (1996) 'A description of career development
services within Canadian organizations', Journal Of Counseling &
Development, 74 (6), pp. 569–574.

Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2010.

The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any
additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V.
Last update: December 2011
 Post 4 (follow-on response extract to Post 1)
In my previous role in South Africa, we faced a similar requirement in
order to ensure external demographic representation within the
organisation. Since the skill pool was not as easily available, we put in
place a development programme that targeted graduates with the aim of
full time placement of successful candidates. In so doing we were
creating a pipeline for ourselves and also our partner companies (who
had access to the candidates we trained), This then changed the
discussion from one of where hires were considered to be low skilled to
one where the hires were actually people we incubated for at least 12
months.

We have something similar running in our current location, and already

we have government talking to us to replicate the programme in other
corporates in the country.

Is this something that could work for you Paul?

Copyright - Laureate Online Education © All rights reserved, 2000 – 2010.

The module, in all its parts: syllabus, guidelines, lectures, discussion questions, technical notes, images and any
additional material is copyrighted by Laureate Online Education B.V.
Last update: December 2011