Description
The core of Human Resource Management (HRM) is the recognition of the value of employees for organisational success, which is often defined in terms of creating and sustaining competitive advantage. Selection, development and socialisation of employees become core activities of personnel management. Such practices are no longer seen as tasks that are the responsibility of a separate personnel department, but they become part of top management’s personnel strategy. Line managers are increasingly expected to play an active role in implementing HR policies and practices. In this course, we will discuss several key points, such as the nature of HRM and its practices, the link between HRM and firm performance, HRM dilemmas of today’s firms and future trends. The course is structured through the three main phases of employment management: entry, performance, and exit of employees.
Study Goals
At the end of this course, students are expected to competently:
understand the nature of human resource management (HRM) andhow HRM contributes to organizational performance.
Recognize HR practices and analyze the success of these within organizations
understand the need for alignment between HR practices and the need for alignment between HRM and business strategy
Education Method
The course consists of weekly lectures. The lectures are dynamic and participative including:
Theory presentations and interactive lectures by the staff and students;
Individual and group exercise work;
Evaluation of Student Performance
Students will be evaluated according to the following two components:
1. Individual final exam: 70% of final grade
2. Group case write-ups: 30% of final grade
Individual Final exam
The final exam takes place on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 (10.00-12.00. Use of (a) dictionaries and (b) calculators is not allowed. The final exam will be an open book exam on the content of this course. In general, the exam is nothing more then a test of your understanding of the HRM field. Hence, students who take the course seriously and structurally prepare the literature and assignments will be very likely to pass the exam. The exam will consist of Open Questions. Please note that the classroom discussions on the business cases are particularly likely to help you in performing well on this part of the exam.
Literature
The required literature of the course consists of a book: R. A. Noe, J. R. Hollenbeck, B. Gerhart, P. M. Wright: Fundamentals of Human Resources Management: 3rd Edition. McGraw-Hill,New York, 2008.The book has the following ISBN code: 0077116798“and will be available at Kooyker (price approx. EUR 55,00).