# data[].attributes.body
Understanding of other cultures

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The role of the HR function has evolved over the last decade and a half to keep pace with business realities. A number of definitions of the HR function and its roles has been put forth by business leaders and researchers alike. For example, a simple typology of four groupings of HR practices that follow the processes central to organizational success are:

Flow of people

Flow of performance management

Flow of information

Flow of work

The role of HR has also been defined through the lens of strategy, wherein the HR function is actively involved in both the creation and implementation of the overall strategic direction of the organization. HR no longer has to worry about working doubly hard to convince leaders that it is central to the business and about achieving the proverbial "seat at the table". In this context, HR is a Strategy Architect, looking at organizational challenges through the lens of both business and people. This leads to the HR function facilitating strategy creation, clarifying and articulating the strategy, ensuring timely execution, aligning leadership behavior to strategy and bringing the view of the outside customer into the organization.

However, there is also a third, and extremely crucial function with respect to strategy implementation. This 'missing link' is only now beginning to be understood by HR practitioners and business leaders. The link assists in seamlessly integrating the four crucial groupings laid out above, and is sometimes seen as the 'soft side' of management. However, experienced leaders will tell us that it is actually the hardest, because it deals with attitudes and behaviors which seem vague, but are critical to the firm. This missing link is Culture.

Defining Culture

What then is organizational culture? The concept of organizational culture has been defined from many perspectives in the literature. There is no one single definition. The topic of organizational culture has been studied from many perspectives and disciplines, such as anthropology, sociology, organizational behavior, and organizational leadership to name a few. Deal (1999) defines organizational culture as values, beliefs, and behaviors that differentiate one organization from another. Simply put, culture defines the proper way to think, act and behave within an organization.

This simple, yet accurate definition of culture gives us scope to ask several questions about the nature of firm culture. What is our current culture? Who creates culture? Who sustains it? Is it always aligned to firm strategy? Is it well aligned with the firm's vision, mission and values? What leads to changes in firm culture? Is it always managed top-down? And most importantly, it leads us to the question: What role does HR play in shaping firm culture?

Leveraging Firm Culture for Competitive Advantage

Human, not financial, capital must be the starting point and ongoing foundation of a successful strategy. Significant advantage accrues to companies that encourage open communication and that know where and how to break down barriers to honest feedback. Risk management programs at large companies tend to be finely tuned to financial and compliance risks but rarely focus on cultural sources of risk7.

If the collective attitudes, perceptions and behaviors of all employees in an organization shape its culture, then alignment of culture with the firm strategy is imperative to firm success. It is common to talk of an organization's culture as if it is simply "the way things are". But no culture is static8. It is continually reinforced and balanced by internal and external events that drive the organization.

How then can HR play a pivotal role in shaping firm culture? Would some of the traditional tools of pay systems, performance management, recruiting, selection and training & development suffice in this endavor? Or is something more required?
References:

Ulrich, Dave; Brockbank, Wayne, The work of HR part one: people and performance, Strategic HR Review; Jul/Aug 2005; 4, 5; ABI/INFORM Complete

Ulrich, Dave; Brockbank, Wayne; Johnson, Dani, The Role of Strategy Architect in the Strategic HR Organization, People and Strategy; 2009; 32, 1; ABI/INFORM Complete

Boniface C. Madu, Grand Canyon University, Organization culture as driver of competitive advantage, Journal of Academic and Business Ethics.

HR.com, HR Impact on Corporate Culture, Jul 1, 2005.

Andy Hanselman, Moneywatch, How to Use Culture for Competitive Advantage, July 22, 2010.

Christopher A. Bartlett & Sumantra Ghoshal, Building Competitive Advantage Through People, MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter 2002, Vol. 43, No. 2.

Paul Edelman, Srikanth Seshadri and Randeep Rathindran, Organizational Culture: An Overlooked Internal Risk, Bloomberg Businessweek - Companies & Industries, October 01, 2010.

Peter M. Senge, The Fifth Discipline, Random House Business Books.

This post first appeared here.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The role of the HR function has evolved over the last decade and a half to keep pace with business realities. A number of definitions of the HR function and its roles has been put forth by business leaders and researchers alike.

# data[].attributes.body
Communication

# data[].attributes.headline
5- Provide guidance for individual student strengths, interests, and values

# data[].attributes.subject
5- Provide guidance for individual student strengths, interests, and values

# data[].attributes.headline
Standard 5- augment and integrate current technologies to increase to the resources to enhance student performance -allowing students to collaborate with other students, parents, and community members 

# data[].attributes.subject
Standard 5- augment and integrate current technologies to increase to the resources to enhance student performance -allowing students to collaborate with other students, parents, and community members 

# data[].attributes.body
Teachers are ethical in their practice by learning and gaining the tools needed for all students

# data[].attributes.body
Diversity - engage ALL students.

# data[].attributes.headline
Self Awareness is essential! (Standard 1)

# data[].attributes.subject
Self Awareness is essential! (Standard 1)

# data[].attributes.body
Students can and should be aware of their own needs. They can comunicate these needs to individuals who are within their support system.

# data[].attributes.body
Inquiry!

# data[].attributes.body
the socio-emotional development development needs of students should be met and ongoing professional development can be given to support

# data[].attributes.body
Creative, critical, and analytical thinking!

# data[].attributes.body
Establish learning environments to nurture relationships with others and learn ways to effectively communicate with other students of the 21st century.

# data[].attributes.body
provide human and material resources needed for the development of their talents.

# data[].attributes.body
Use pre- and formative assessment to identify needs & differentiate

# data[].attributes.body
Educators use a variety of PROGRAMMING options, such as acceleration, enrichment, and individualized learning options.

Regularly use alternative approaches to accelerate learning.

# data[].attributes.body
Assessment/Identification Process: Assessments provide information which identifies student's learning progress by using non-biased, technically adequate, and equitable approaches. Using multiple measures of identification allows students to demonstrate their gifts and talents regardless of their background. Evaluation of the measures are assessed for quantity, quality, and appropriateness so that student performance is improved.

# data[].attributes.body
Planning - support growth by aligning curriculum with local, state, and national standards while differentiating and using evidence-based instructional strategies to engage ALL learners - like we are required to do for ALL students, including G&T kids!

# data[].attributes.body
In my classroom students establish MP goals. They establish 3 academic (math, reading, and writing) goals as well as 1 social goal for the MP. The social goal does not need to relate directly to school but must relate directly to character. During my goals conferencing students often open up about their needs and weaknesses. For example, several of my boy students struggle with competition and we discuss coping mechanisms for situations that involve competitions.

# data[].attributes.body
Describe why addressing the unique learning needs of 2E learners is a matter of ethics...