Read the short case below and answer the questions after the case.

Direction: Read the short case below and answer the questions after the case. CS matrix may be used. The Big Blue (Adopted from: http://webfidel.free.fr/maich/ch04.htm) Growing up any time during the past 30 years revealed some events that were as certain to go away as any other fad. The 1960s witnessed the hippie generation; the 1970s saw the demise of Beatles; whereas the 1980s brought with it a time of greed: ethics and values appeared to go out of the window, and some of the select rich got increasingly richer. Throughout these decades, however, one thing remained constant: No matter what was happening in society, IBM was solid. If you were fortunate enough to get a job at IBM, you had one for life. Known for its outstanding products and employee training programs, those that joined the 'Big Blue' often found a 'Big Brother'. And Big Brother did not lay anyone off. Unfortunately, the 1990s have seen the passing of the Big Brother too. Its stock prices fell dramatically in 1991, losing more than 30 percent of its value overall from January to November, on a monthly basis. This called for some drastic action in an attempt to save more than $2 billion a year. The most drastic of these actions was to cut 20,000 jobs, and move toward more independent business units. As one former IBMer stated: 'Only strong products and organizations will survive'. To facilitate discussion, YOU may be guided on the following Case Study (CS) work matrix. Facts Ideas Learning Issues Action Plan What do you know? What are the Facts? What do you think is INTERESTING or IMPORTANT about the case? What do you need to know more about? How are you going to FIND OUT MORE? WHERE will you look? WHO will you ask? QUESTIONS. 1. Explain how strategic human resource planning is operating at IBM in this case. 2. If you were IBM's vice president of HR, how would you handle the 20,000 jobs cut? 3. Would outplacement services be an option when this many people are laid off? Explain.