Studiegids

nl en

Human Resource Management

Vak
2013-2014

Tag(s)

[BSc] En

Admission Requirements

None.

Description

The course Human Resource Management seeks to familiarize students with 1) the basic principles of human functioning in social settings; 2) the challenges for leadership and management in creating an environment that appeals to talent, ensures individual satisfaction, creates loyalty to the organization, and guarantees production and quality of output. The course will be taught in six modules, each comprising a theory-oriented and a practice-oriented meeting. The first module will consider the scope of “people in organizations” and the analytic tools to study all its facets. The subsequent modules will address key themes in organizational behavior and human resource management. The second module will address organizational identity, organizational architectures, and individual motivation. The third will address leadership, management, and influence. The fourth module will deal with the conditions of optimal performance. The fifth module concerns the prevention and resolution of conflict. The sixth module will consider organizational change (for better or worse) and individual mobility. Taken as a whole, the course serves as a primer of the conceptual and practical issues involved in dealing with the human factor in business and the public sector.

Course Objectives

By the end of the course, participants will have learned to:

  • Identify the scope of organizational behavior and human resource management

  • Recognize the methods that are used to study people in organizations

  • Describe organizational architectures, organizational goals, and individual motivations

  • Understand the ways in which people can influence organizations

  • Identify the conditions for optimal organizational and individual performance

  • Recognize factors that contribute to conflict prevention and conflict resolution

  • Describe scenarios for organizational change and individual mobility

Mode of Instruction

The classes of the course span a period of seven weeks. During each week, we will deal with one of the modules, with the exception of the final week that will be used for recapitulation. For each module, there will be a theory-oriented meeting and a practice-oriented meeting. A theory-oriented meeting will comprise a mixture of lectures, class discussions, group presentations, and guest lectures. The theory-oriented meetings primarily serve to familiarize participants with academic insights relevant for understanding people in organizations. In contrast, practice-meetings will zoom in on specific themes that are salient in current practice and will provide practical cases to be analyzed by the participants on the basis of theory but also self-generated insights. The themes are respectively: value congruence, formal and informal regulation, talent, diversity, adaptation, and innovation. During the practice-oriented meetings, the themes and cases are analyzed through class discussions and group assignments. Irrespective of theory or practice orientation, active contribution from the participants is encouraged in all meetings.

Assessment

To be confirmed in course syllabus:

The assessment methods are summarized in the scheme below. Participants are expected by actively contribute to class throughout the course. During the practice-oriented meetings, participants will be assigned to groups and asked to jointly present on a particular theme. Each participant will give one presentation as part of a group. The group presentations will be held from Week 2 till Week 7. Participation and the group presentation will each count for 20% of the final grade. Participants are also asked to write a concise research essay on a self-chosen topic related to the course content, accounting for 30% of the final grade. There will also be a final written exam, focusing on the theoretical components of the course and also accounting for 30% of the grade.

In-class participation: 20%
Group assignment: 20%
Research essay: 30%
Written exam: 30%

Literature

John W. Slocum, Don Hellriegel: Principles of Organizational Behavior, 13th edition. ISBN 978-0-538-74334-1

Information regarding additional literature and other supportive materials will be made available on Blackboard, two weeks prior to the start of the course.

Contact Information

For information, please contact: Mark Dechesne at m.dechesne@cdh.leidenuniv.nl

Weekly Overview

Week 1:
Theory-Oriented Meeting: The scope of “people in organizations” and analytic tools
Practice-Oriented Meeting: General information regarding working methods

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 1

Week 2:
Theory-Oriented Meeting: organizational identity, organizational architectures, and individual motivation
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “value congruence”

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 7, 15, 16. Participants will be notified of additional literature through blackboard.

Week 3
Theory-Oriented Meeting: leadership, management, and influence
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “formal and informal regulation”

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 9, 10, 11. Participants will be notified of additional literature through blackboard.

Week 4
Theory-Oriented Meeting: the conditions for optimal performance
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “talent”

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 5. Participants will be notified of additional literature through blackboard.

Week 5
Theory-Oriented Meeting: the prevention and resolution of conflict
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “diversity”

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 8, 13. Participants will be notified of additional literature through blackboard.

Week 6
Theory-Oriented Meeting: organizational change and individual mobility
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “resilience”

Literature: Slocum and Hellriegel, Chapter 17. Participants will be notified of additional literature through blackboard.

Week 7
Theory-Oriented Meeting: comprehensive review
Practice-Oriented Meeting: Theme “innovation”

Participants will be notified of literature for Week 7 through blackboard.

Preparation for first session

Participants are encouraged to visit the blackboard site for this course prior to the first meeting. This site will be opened two weeks before the first meeting. Participants are encouraged to read Chapter 1 of Slocum and Hellriegel as preparation for the first meeting.