BUAD 875: STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCES Spring, 2005 ______________________________________________________________________________ Instructor: Office Location: Office Hours: Contacts: Text: Thomas E. Becker, Ph.D. Alfred Lerner Hall #226 1:30pm to 2:30pm on Mondays and Wednesdays and by appointment Phone: 831-6822 Fax: 831-4196 e-mail: beckert@lerner.udel.edu
Mello, J. A. (2002). Strategic Human Resource Management. Columbus, OH: South-Western. ______________________________________________________________________________ Course Objectives Welcome to the class! The purpose of the course is to assist you in understanding the principles, policies, and practices related to the procurement, development, maintenance, and utilization of employees, with a focus on how these activities fit with an organization’s vision and goals. The central objective is to not only encourage you to learn essential facts but to comprehend and apply your knowledge of human resource topics. Course Requirements Exam 1 (20%) Exam 2 (20%) Paper (20%) Team Presentation (20%) Participation (10% assignments, 10% classroom assessment) Notes (1) If class size allows, exams will be of essay form, non-cumulative and challenging. (2) The paper assignment is described on p. 3 of this syllabus. (3) Information on the presentations is given on pp. 4-5. (4) See p.6 for details on participation. (5) Please bring your book to class. (6) I reserve the right to use other forms of evaluation on a class-by-class basis. (7) If a student is scheduled to take more than three exams on one day, I will consider rescheduling the test for that student. To qualify, the student must give me notes or emails from his/her other professors stating that (a) their exams are on the same date as mine, and (b) the professors cannot or will not move their exam date for the student. (8) For an absence to be excused, it must be adequately documented. The documentation will depend on the cause of the absence, so please see me if you wish to discuss. See back of this page for the schedule
Week 1 (2/7/05) 2 (2/14) 3 (2/21)
Topic Introductions and course overview HR perspectives and trends Strategic planning Presentation A: Employment at Will Human resource planning Presentation B: Affirmative Action Designing work systems Presentation C: Smoking Restrictions Employment law Staffing 3/21/05: Midterm SPRING BREAK!
Chapters
1&2 3&4
4 (2/28)
5
5 (3/7)
6
6 (3/14) 7 (3/21)
7 8
7 (3/28) 9 (4/4)
Training and development I Presentation D: Random Drug Testing Training and development II Presentation E: TQM Performance management Compensation Presentation F: Comparable Worth Employee separation International HRM Open Last day: 5/16/05
9
10 (4/11)
9
11 (4/18) 12 (4/25)
10 11
13 (5/2) 14 (5/9) 15 (5/16)
13 14 To be determined
16 Final Exam _______________________________________________________________ NOTE: The above schedule is tentative. We will move at our own pace. page 2 of 6
Paper This assignment asks you to describe and evaluate the human resource system of a real organization. This organization could be one in which you currently work or have worked in the past; or it could be an organization in which you don’t work but can get useful information (e.g., one in which one of your parents or friends work). In order to complete the assignment:
Interview several individuals in the company and ask them about (1) the company’s vision and major goals, and (2) one or more of their human resource functions (e.g., staffing, T&D, compensation, etc.). You will have to create your own interview guide with the questions you intend to ask. You can also use this form to record the persons’ answers. Keep the interview guide and respondents’ answers because you’ll turn these in with paper. Make sure that you have an in-depth understanding of the function(s) you’ve chosen. For example, if you’re studying the company’s methods of hiring people, you should know all about how they select employees – what kinds of application forms, written tests, and interviews they use and why, who makes the final decision, and so on. You will need detailed, specific information to write the paper. Collect basic descriptive information on the company: what type of business they’re in, the age of the company, how many employees they have, etc. For the purpose of confidentiality, you don’t need to provide the name of the company. Evaluate how good a job the company is doing in performing the particular HR function(s) you’ve chosen. Pay special attention to the extent to which the policies and practices relevant to the function are or are not consistent with the company’s vision and primary goals. Base your evaluation on the 10 core principles of HR, related book and class material, and your own good sense. Be sure to be objective! You are not an advocate for the company or a biased critic. You are a cool, rational scientist trying to truly understand what the company is doing well and where it could improve.
In writing the paper, use double-spacing with 1” margins and 12-point font. The text of the paper should be no more than 5 pages long, not counting the cover page and appendix. The cover page should list the title of your paper (your choice), name, date, and social security number. The appendix should contain your interview guide and responses, along with any other materials (e.g., company forms, policies). Please do not put the paper in any kind of folder – this makes it harder to handle. One other note: In conducting the interviews, be sure to dress and act professionally. When in doubt, err on the side of being a little more formal. The idea is to leave the folks in the company with a good impression of you and of the University of Delaware. I believe you’ll find this to be a useful assignment that will give you additional contact with HR in the real world. Have fun and learn a lot! Page 3 of 6
TEAM PRESENTATIONS The objectives of these presentations are (1) to help you understand both sides of controversial HRM issues, and (2) to allow you to apply HRM concepts in understanding the policy implications of the issues. The steps involved in meeting these goals are: 1. Identify groups and topics. Teams and topics will be assigned in class. After your team is composed you will be assigned one of the topics in Step 2. 2. Teams study and evaluate resolutions on their topic. To examine both sides of their topic, teams will investigate and assess certain resolutions (statements, positions) regarding the topic. Specifically, the resolutions are: (a) Employment-at-will should remain the basic doctrine governing employee dismissal and should not be subject to legislative restrictions (as in wrongful discharge laws). (b) Affirmative action is a fair method of achieving equal opportunity for minority groups and women. (c) Smoking restrictions are needed to assure a safe working environment for nonsmokers. This can and should include organizations testing workers for nicotine and, possibly, the dismissal of smokers who are themselves at risk of chronic illness. (d) Random drug testing in the workplace makes good business sense and does not infringe upon employee rights. (e) Total Quality Management (TQM) is an effective way for improving individual and organizational effectiveness. (f) Labor unions in the United States have been a positive force for both employees and the economy. (g) Comparable worth should become an accepted means of addressing gender-based wage gaps. 3. Teams present their findings in class. Each team will make a 30 minute class presentation. The presentations should follow this format: I. Introduction A. B. C. D. Statement of the proposition and your team's position Why is the issue important? Origin and history of the issue (brief) Outline of conflicting arguments -- Why is there a controversy? page 4 of 6
II.
Analysis A. Arguments to support your position B. Reasoning and evidence supporting your arguments
III.
Conclusion A. Summary of main points B. End with an affirmation or denial of the proposition
IV. Q & A -- Respond to questions and arguments from the class and professor
The size of your team will depend on the number of people in class and the final list of topics we identify in class. The grading of your team will take into account assessments by your classmates and the professor. Also, your individual grade will reflect evaluations by your fellow group members. Thus, people who contribute an extraordinary amount to the team presentation can earn a grade higher than the group grade, while “social loafers” can earn a lower grade. Additional details of the team project will be given in class.
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Explanation of the Participation Component of the Course As indicated on page one, 20% of your grade in this class will be based on your participation in the course. Your participation grade will be a function of two things: completion of “participation assignments” (completed in-class or, occasionally, outside class) and my overall assessment of your classroom contributions. Earning Points through Assignments From time to time, I will assign brief case studies, exercises, analyses, and so on. You will sometimes complete these in-class and sometimes outside. To earn in-class participation points, you must be present. To earn full credit on outside assignments, they must be turned in by their deadlines. Assignments turned in up to 24 hours late may receive up to half-credit. Together, these assignments will comprise 10% of your participation grade. Overall Classroom Participation The remaining 10% of your participation grade will be based on my assessment of your classroom contributions over the course of the semester. Don’t worry: In grading this part of participation I’m not going to count the number of times you raise your hand or how many syllables come out of someone’s mouth. The below scale will give you an idea about how I will approach the task of assigning overall classroom participation grades: A. Visible, thoughtful, and regular involvement in class discussion. You got involved, and not just for the purpose of hearing yourself speak. Class members seemed to pay attention to what you said, and your comments almost always were appropriate to the context. Tending toward the quieter side, but active and alert enough in large and small group discussions that it was clear you were engaged in what was going on. Comments, though offered less often than by an “A,” almost always were appropriate to the context. Dutifully present for class, but usually without indications of active participation. I couldn’t always tell if you were following what was going on in class, or your comments were often way off the mark. Like a C, but with substantial unexplained absences that kept you from participating.
B.
C.
D/F
NOTE: As usual, a “+” or “-“ indicates that you were near the high or low end of the category in question.
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