National University of Singapore
NUS Business School
BMA5411 - Talent Management in a Globalized Environment
Semester Semester 2, 2009/10
Department Management & Organisation
Assistant Professor Wu Pei Chuan
Email:
Office: BIZ2-03-46
Course Objectives
In today’s globalized business environment, organizations are cultivating and accumulating human, organizational, and social capital as a means of gaining sustainable competitive advantages in order to respond to the critical business challenges that they face. Many managers and organizations are now coming to terms with the fact that human resources (HR) can play an important role in the company’s core and distinctive competencies. Although managers and organizations recognize the importance of the effectiveness of managing human capital, firms are yet to understand the process that leads to the appropriate implementation of HR policies and practices.
This course is therefore tailored to both HR professionals and business managers. Specifically, I intend to discuss the issues from two perspectives: managing talent in organizations as well as managing one’s own talents as an individual. It is important for both HR leaders and business leaders to understand the strategic roles of the talent management process that are activated in organizations. But it is also important for them to develop and realize their own career potential in a boundaryless world.
This course therefore focuses on the attraction, acquisition, and retention of talent in organizations. In particular, the module will focus on the alignment of the talent management process with business strategy, with culture, and with people. It will focus on global sourcing, employer and employee branding, retention, and succession planning. In addition, the module will touch upon conflict resolution issues faced by HR leaders and business leaders. As a manager’s success largely depends on how he or she negotiates with subordinates, peers, and superiors, I will also cover the negotiation problems that managers may face in decision-making processes; for example, the hiring negotiation, the promotion negotiation, the firing decision, and HR-relevant cross-cultural negotiation issues.
Learning outcomes
Overall, this course should help to develop students’ critical thinking skills to enable them to strategically formulate talent management tools in order to foster a cutting-edge approach to manage human capital in their organizations. In addition, as we will discuss the issues from multiple perspectives, the students should deepen their understanding of how to manage other people (i.e. their subordinates or peers) and themselves with regard to career-related issues. They should be able to sharpen their intellectual capital in order to enhance their talent management and leadership development capability.
Modes of Teaching and Learning
This course will employ a combination of teaching methods to foster both critical thinking and cooperative and active learning. Lectures will incorporate both traditional and interactive methods of teaching, including the use of video materials, Internet information, case studies, etc. Students will be required to apply the course materials to current issues. In addition to formal lectures, tutorial workshops will also be arranged. Students will be expected to participate actively in a series of classroom activities, such as seminars, case-study analyses, role-playing exercises and debates.
Assessment (Temp)
Class participation 20%
Individual assignment 20%
Group Project 40%
Tests 20%
Syllabus:
1. Talent management: an overview
2. Talent management and competitive advantages
3. Attraction, acquisition, and retention of talents: Employer branding
4. Attraction, acquisition, and retention of talents: Employee branding
5. Succession planning and boundaryless career spanning
6. Conflict resolution and talent management process
7. HR relevant cross-cultural management issues
8. Fieldwork/projects/perspectives
References
Primary text: Noe, R., Hollenbeck, J., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. (2008). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 6th Edition. McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Supplementary reading:
A number of relevant articles can be found in academic and business journals. The most frequently cited journals are listed below.
Academic Journals: Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, International Journal of Human Resource Management, Human Resource Management, Journal of Management, Journal of Vocational Behavior.
Practical Journals: Academy of Management Perspectives, Harvard Business Review.