Advanced Topics in Human Resources Management

Objectives

Everything within an organization gets done through people. The global economy transformed the composition of the workforce, as well as the relationship between employees and employers, in order to have a fast response to the needs of new markets. To effectively manage a more diverse workforce and achieve organizational success often requires a technology based solution. Managers face the challenge of effectively motivating and engaging their work teams to implement the organizational strategy. The Advanced Topics in HRM course broadly focuses on the implications of globalization and digitalization on the nature, design, and future of managing people in organizations, work, careers, organizational and individual well-being, so that human resources may be an important source of sustainable competitive advantage.

General characterization

Code

2463

Credits

3.5

Responsible teacher

Rita Cunha

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - Available soon

Teaching language

English

Prerequisites

Available soon

Bibliography

Badal, S. & Harter, J. (2014) Gender Diversity, Business-Unit Engagement, and Performance, Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Vol. 21(4): 354–365.
Badger, J.M., Kaminsky, S.E. & Behrend, T.S.  (2014) Media richness and information acquisition in internet recruitment, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 29 No. 7, pp. 866-883.
Boudreau, J. W. & Ramstad, P. M. (2002). Strategic HRM measurement in the 21st century: From justifying HR to strategic talent leadership (CAHRS Working Paper #02-15). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations: 1-20
Brenda L Berkelaar (2017) “Different ways new information technologies influence conventional organizational practices and employment relationships: The case of cybervetting for personnel selection”, Human Relations, Vol. 70(9) 1115–1140.
Castilla, E. (2016) Achieving Meritocracy in the Workplace, MIT Sloan Management Revue, Summer:34-41.
Chowdhury,S., Schaninger, B. & Hioe, E. (2018) “Harnessing the power of performance management” McKinsey & Company.
Craig, E. & DeSimone, L. (2011) What Executives Really Need to Know about Employee Engagement, Accenture Institute for High Performance: 1-27.
Ewenstein, B., Hancock, B., & Komm, A. (2016) Ahead of the curve: The future of performance management, McKinsey Quarterly, May 2016.
Gratton, L. (2011) Workplace 2025–What will it look like? Organizational Dynamics, 40, 246—254.
Gross, S. (2016) What to expect from the next decade of total rewards, Workspan, Mercer, January: 21-24.
Hunt, V., Layton, D. & Prince, S. (2015) Diversity Matters, McKinsey and Company, 1-19.
Manyika, J. & Sneader, K. (2018) AI, automation, and the future of work: Ten things to solve for, McKinsey Global Institute, Briefing Note.
McCord, P. (2014), How Netflix reinvented HR, Harvard Business Review, January-February: 70-76.
Quinn, R & Thakor, A (2018) Creating a Purpose-Driven Organization, Harvard Business Review, July 2018.
Strohmeier, S.  (2013) Employee relationship management — Realizing competitive advantage through information technology? Human Resource Management Review, 23: 93–104.
Strohmeier, S. & Kabst, R. (2014), Configurations of e-HRM – an empirical exploration, Employee Relations, Vol. 36 Iss 4 pp. 333 – 353.
Ulrich, D., Younger, J., & Brockbank, W. (2008) The Twenty-First-Century HR Organization, Human Resource Management, Vol. 47, No. 4, Pp. 829–850.

Teaching method

There is no text book, since the material to be covered is very recent. Instead, articles will be used. The presence in class is therefore critical to the learning process. There will not be a participation criterion for evaluation. I leave participation and attendance to the students’ responsibility. However, I’m expecting students to be ready to ask questions and discuss the topics that will be presented, by me or by your colleagues!

Evaluation method

  • Group report on case study (5 pages max.): 25%

  • Group article presentation: 25%

  • Individual exam (mandatory): 50%

Case study report:

Case study reports allow you to apply the learning from the lectures to specific, real organizational situations, as well as to improve your analytical, communication and team-work skills. Each group must do 1 or 2 case study reports for evaluation. A report of 5 pages (max) is expected to be delivered by email and hard copy, until the beginning of the class assigned for the discussion. Reports not delivered in time will not be graded.

Group presentation:

Each group will choose an article, for a 15 minute class presentation (not more!) and discussion. The articles cover topics included in the class content, for a broader student participation and are available as required readings in the Moodle course page. Your goal is to present the main idea in the article and stimulate the class discussion, namely in terms of impact for the management of people.

The report must be comprehensive as to the above goals, so that students may study from the presentation slides, not needing to read all papers! No written report is required.

The presentations will be graded on the following criteria:

Coverage of main ideas of the article (60%)

Stimulation of discussion (20%)

Oral and Powerpoint Presentation (20%)

A copy of the presentation is expected to be delivered one day before, to rcunha@novasbe.pt, to be uploaded on Moodle for the whole class. No written report is required.

Individual exam: Exam is mandatory.

Passing in this course requires a minimum grade of 10 in the final exam.

Subject matter

  • February 2

    Introduction to course and to HRM;

    The role of the HRM function – revision of basic concepts;

  • February 9

    The 21st century workforce – management challenges;

    E-HRM;

    Employee Attraction;

  • February 16

    Employee Selection;

    Performance Management – Appraising and Developing;

  • February 23

    Performance Management – Compensation and Rewards;

    Managing Diversity – Groups;

    Delivery and Discussion of case study: To be defined;

  • March 2

    Employee Engagement;

  • March 9

    Evaluating HRM;

    Summary and Wrap-up.

Programs

Programs where the course is taught: