MBA 554 HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Spring 2006
Dr. Mary Meisenhelter
Office: BA 201 /Office Hours:
Office Phone: 815-1277 / Monday 11 -12 and 6:00 – 6:30Email: / Tuesday 11 -12
Wednesday 11 -12 and 6:00 – 6:30
Thursday 11 - 12
COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course is designed to facilitate an understanding of how human resource systems are developed and maintained within organizations. Special emphasis is place on understanding the legal environment (both legislative and judicial) in areas such as equal opportunity, compensation, safety, and privacy. Specific systems covered in depth include recruitment, selection, training, performance appraisal, compensation & benefits, discipline and employee health. Throughout the course, specific attention will be given to the importance of ethics, employee rights and social responsibility in human resource decisions.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
As with the field of HRM, this course is in a state of ongoing change. I redesign the course every time I teach it, because I blend student feedback from previous semesters with the goals I have in mind. My general objectives for this presentation of the course are as follows. First, I want to help solidify your theoretical foundation for HR systems. Second, I want to provide a wide variety of practical applications of that theory through cases & exercises. I’ve chosen the texts (see below) specifically with these objectives in mind and have designed assignments to help you identify your thinking about HR issues.
LEARNING MATERIALS
Frost, P., Nord, W. & Krefting, L. (2002). HRM Reality: Putting Competence in Context (2nd ed). Prentice Hall.
Gowan, M. (2002). Human Resource Management Skills 1.0. Prentice Hall. (CD-ROM)
Gowan, M. (2001). eHRM: An Internet Guide for Human Resource Management. Pearson Education.
Meisenhelter, M.C. (2006). Refresher Course in Employment Law (handout provided by instructor)
Meisenhelter, M.C. (2006). Rational Models of HRM. (handout provided by instructor)
Various articles on eReserve. They can be retrieved via the Schmidt Library home page.
COURSE EVALUATION
Assignment / PointsTwo Exams (100 points each) / 200 points
eHRM research (with partner) / 100 points
Research Presentation (with partner) / 50 points
Weekly reflection papers (10 X 20 pts) / 200 points
Class Contribution / 50 points
Total / 600 points
FINAL COURSE GRADES WILL BE CALCULATED AS FOLLOWS:
With 600 points for the course, the following is a breakdown of final grade calculation:
Final Grade / % Range / Total PointsA (4) / 94 - 100 / 564+
B+ (3.5) / 88 – 93.9 / 528-563.9
B (3) / 82 – 87.9 / 492-527.9
C+ (2.5) / 76 – 81.9 / 456-491.9
C (2) / 70 – 75.9 / 420-455.9
F (0) / 70 / 420
Detailed Description of Course Assignments
Exams: The mid-term and final exams are aimed at making sure you understand and can apply the key concepts of HRM. The exams will be a combination of short answer and scenario questions. The first exam covers the major functional areas of HRM and the second exam will focus on employee relations and current issues. Exam content will come from the reference materials (CD ROM, my handouts), the articles from HRM Realities, and the student research presentations.
eHRM Research: Each team (two people) will perform the research associated with one of the research cases in the eHRM book. You will work through each question and write up the answers in the format listed in the case. The various formats include memos, power point presentations and outlines. These research reports are likely to be in the 8-10 page range. You are also required to write a one-page “executive summary” of your research finding. This will be the first page of your report.
Research Presentation: Each team will present the results of their research to the class. You should approach this presentation as if it were a staff meeting or briefing to your manager. In other words, while the class will have some familiarity with the topic/scenario (from their reading of the case) you should start with a summary of the situation you have been asked to investigate. From there, you can be creative with how you convey the rest of your research. In general you need to cover:
· Summarize the context of the assignment (summarize case, main facts, etc)
· Discuss any assumptions you made while completing the assignment
· Review your results, findings, recommendations
· Highlight particularly interesting/useful websites
· Provide the class with a copy of your Executive Summary
One of the criteria that I will use to evaluate your presentation is how well you motivate the class to participate in your presentation. Again, there are a variety of ways to do this, depending on your style and the specific case. For example, you can:
- Create an introductory “quiz” on the case scenario and have the class tell you how they would handle the situation
- Present your research in the form of a role-play and ask members of the class to participate in supporting roles
- Pre-identify some members of the class to act as colleagues at the meeting. You can supply them with some pertinent questions that they can ask you.
- Poll the class at key parts of your presentation
- Ask one or two class members to play the role of “devils advocate”
- Use the standard “Q and A” session after your presentation
Weekly Reflection Papers: Articles are assigned for each class period (beginning January 30th). After reading all of the articles for the week, you should choose two of them and develop a reflection paper. The format for the paper can be found on page 6 of this syllabus. To make life easier, you can go to my website, pull up the syllabus and copy the format to your system. NOTE: You cannot use an article that is less that 1 page long for this assignment! If you want to incorporate one of the short pieces, you can do so in addition to the two other articles you have chosen.
Class Contribution: This item includes attendance, willingness to take part in discussions, in-class activities and the quality of your contribution to the classroom environment. Things I consider when assigning the grade for this area include:
· How often a student participates (doesn’t mean you should talk for the sake of talking)
· Does the student challenge classmates to think in different ways?
· Does the student bring in ideas, questions, etc from the readings?
· Does the student move the discussion forward? Offer a new direction? Offer examples?
· Is the student respectful of others, particularly when disagreeing with someone?
LEARNING STRATEGIES – Preparing for class
The design of this course makes participant interaction essential. Class time will be devoted to discussions, small group work, and research discussions. As noted above, the texts were chosen deliberately to obtain a blend of application and experiential emphasis. Assigned articles and research cases must be read by all participants prior to our class discussion of each topic. You are responsible for all reading, whether or not you are writing or presenting on the topic. All assigned reading is fair game for exams.
In general, you should prepare for class by reviewing the appropriate module on the CD-ROM. You can even start with the “test yourself” section first, to pinpoint the areas that you are comfortable with and those where you need more work. Those of you with significant HRM coursework at the undergraduate level will most likely go through the modules fairly quickly. Those without an HRM course or courses at the undergraduate level will need to take more time with the modules. After completing the module, you should proceed with the readings assigned from the HRM Reality book or the articles on eReserve. Finally, you can then write your reflection paper for the week.
LEARNING STRATEGIES – Class format
The way I’ve designed the course, you will notice three distinct segments. The first four weeks of class will provide what I consider the “basic building blocks” of HRM. Our class time will be spent discussing these topics in-depth. Some topics may require a short review of theory, which I will provide, generally as an introduction to the topic. Once we are all comfortable with the concepts, we will move to a discussion of the readings from the HRM Reality book.
The middle third of the course will be focused on the functional areas HR. Here, we will review the theoretical & rational models of each function & work on your skill sets in those areas. We will also use the HRM Reality readings discuss the “real world” application of these concepts. Beginning on February 13th, the first part of class (1 hour) will be allocated to the presentation of research projects from the eHRM book. The remaining time will be used to review the assigned topic and discuss the readings.
In the last third of the course, we will focus more on the relationship between HR practices, current issues, fairness, workplace morale and overall organizational effectiveness. Class format will be the same as above, with the first hour allotted to presentation and the remaining time focused on the assigned readings.
Course Policies
Writing Standards: You are strongly encouraged to use the Learning Resource Center, which is located in the Wolf Academic Center. Students may schedule increments of 30-minute sessions with professional tutors who will provide writing assistance. The Learning Resource Center employs writing tutors who are helpful for all levels of writing assignments.
Style and Citations: Papers must be written in APA (American Psychological Association) style. APA is the format used for the majority of research in the social sciences, which includes management and HRM. All other papers should follow the format required in the instructions to the assignment, but all citations should be in APA format. The APA format and citation style is described in detail in the American Psychological Association Manual for Publication (5th ed.), which is available for purchase in the bookstore and for reference in the Learning Resource Center.
Honesty: You are encouraged to seek out the advice and assistance of a variety of people and sources in order to enhance your learning. In other words, the only unauthorized assistance is that taken from another person without their permission or without giving them credit for their contribution to your work. In short, using ideas, words or papers from others (this means other students and Internet sources as well as traditionally published authors) exactly or in paraphrased form requires that you reference the source. Failure to use citations where appropriate will cause a penalty of at least a one-half letter grade. If you are unsure about what kind of information needs to have a citation, you should check the APA Manual or schedule a consult with the Learning Resource Center.
Special Note regarding Electronic Sources: While you may be tempted to use the “cut and paste” method of using electronic sources, I’d like to remind you that doing so is considered plagiarism. You must treat an internet source just as you would any other outside source, and either paraphrase or direct quote with the appropriate citation style for both. Failure to use citations is also considered plagiarism. For each major case assignment I will choose a few papers at random to check for direct use from sources. If I determine that you indeed cut & pasted, you will receive a zero for that assignment.
MBA 554 Human Resource Management
Spring 2006
Format for Reflection Papers
This assignment is a modified version of a Learning Journal. The purpose is to help you prepare for each evening’s discussion, and help me assess how well the class participants are processing the course concepts. You are to choose two of the assigned articles for your reflection paper. You may not use an article or reading that is less than 1 page long. The only way you can incorporate a short article is to include it as third reading.
You will use your reflection papers as a reference during class, and you will hand in the paper at the end each class period.
Your Reflection Paper must contain the following three elements:
1. The main messages, themes and “takeaways” from the readings[1]
2. Points of agreement and/or disagreement with the authors
3. How you’ve seen the concepts/ideas applied in your work experience (or have learned about through the experience of someone else such as a spouse, parent or co-worker)
The Reflection Paper should conclude with one of the following:
1. What you’d like to hear from others regarding these concepts: in other words, given what you know about your colleagues, what would you like them to discuss about this topic?
2. Questions raised in your mind during/after the reading: Are you wondering how the ideas in these articles relate to the rational models? Are you thinking about how the articles relate to some other topic or concept we’ve been reading about?
3. Humor in HR: apply a cartoon or other humorous piece to supplement and/or further explore the messages from the readings. Guidance on how to do this can be found in the first chapter of the eHRM book.[2]
On the cover page of your paper, be sure to list the articles you will be writing about!