HUMAN
RESOURCES MANAGEMENT
M&IS 34180 (section 003),
Fall 2002, Tuesday-Thursday
INSTRUCTOR
Name: Dr.
Cathy DuBois
Office:
Phone: 330-672-1157
fax: 330-0672-2448
(be sure to use a cover page)
E-mail: CDUBOIS@KENT.EDU
Office hours: Tuesday 1:30-4:30 , Wednesday 5:00-6:00, or by
appointment
TEXT
(required)
Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy
(2001). Managing Human Resources. NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Class PowerPoint notes are available on
the KSU College of Business Administration Web site:
http://business.kent.edu/courses/fall2002/bad/64271/
M&IS 24163 Principles of Management
This course will examine techniques,
practices and policies necessary to most competently carry out the management
of human resources within an organization.
In all areas of management functions, success is largely dependent upon
obtaining and appropriately utilizing a variety of resources. Managing the people, or the human resources,
who carry out all organizational functions underlies all of the other
functions.
The basic premise of this course is that
people are the most valuable resource an organization has. By now you should know this from your own
experience. It is people who conceive of
organizations, own them, manage them, and dissolve them. People perform the myriad organizational jobs
required to produce goods and services, and ultimately it is people who consume
these goods and services.
Because this is a survey course, we will
cover to some extent the whole spectrum of content areas associated with
HRM. We will cover a mix of prescriptive
and descriptive approaches to HRM, in that we will compare the ideal of
research-based practices with the range of current practices used by
organizations.
Anyone who has worked has had some array
of experiences with HR policies and procedures.
As employees, you are on the receiving end of these policies and
procedures. Most of you are in this course
because your career will likely include some sort of managerial position. As managers, you are/will be the individuals
who deliver a large percentage of HR policies/procedures to your employees (HR
employees do relatively little delivery, in comparison).
The
focus of this course will be how you, as managers, can positively influence the
effectiveness of your employees through your own actions to improve and
implement organizational human resource management policies and procedures.
The overarching objective of this course
is to make you a more intelligent administrator and consumer of HRM practices
for your organization's benefit as well as your own personal gain. At the end of this course you should be able
to:
- understand
how the HRM function can enhance an organization's business strategy.
- comprehend
the perspective of those who work in the HRM function, which should help you
work more effectively with them.
- discern
"right from wrong" HRM practice, based on 2 separate considerations:
government regulation and scientific research.
Ignoring the former can result in costly, time-consuming litigation for
your organization. Ignoring the latter
can lead to decisions about people that are potentially sub-optimal.
- develop
and more effectively utilize HRM practices to improve your own work
performance, as well as the performance of those who report to you.
Lecturing at length to a silent audience
does not create the most effective learning environment. A much more lively learning environment is
available for everyone when we are engaged in a dynamic dialogue that is
structured around the essential knowledge you should take away from this
course. Class time will therefore
include a blend of lecture and discussion about course content and cases.
Final grades will be comprised of the
following:
Class
participation 10%
Exams
(3) 70% (25%, 25%, 20%)
Group
Project 20%
Assignment of final grades will follow
the usual point cut-offs: 90+ A, 80-89
B, 70-79 C, 60-69 D, and 59- F. Although
I reserve the right to curve the final grades, do not expect me to do so.
Class participation is a function of how
regularly you offer insightful comments and/or pose useful, stimulating
questions in class, how much you contribute to small group discussions, and how
regularly you attend class. If it is
obvious that you are prepared for each class, you will receive at least a grade
of a B. To receive a grade in the A range,
you must speak up (intelligently) so that the professor knows you are
prepared! If it is obvious that you are
not regularly not prepared, you will receive a failing grade for class
participation.
Please recognize that class participation
is a subjective thing -- I can't tally how many times you speak up and the
quality of what you say in some objective manner. It's your responsibility to make sure I
notice your contributions. Also, if you
don’t volunteer, be prepared to answer if I call on you.
It is not enough to simply read the
material before class; you must also think through what you’ve read. Prepare a list of main points and any
questions you have. Bring these lists
and your text with you to class so that you can refer to them if necessary.
The commonly requisite employment
characteristics of participation, punctuality and attendance are very relevant
to your performance in this class. Thus,
if you cannot attend class, I would appreciate a courtesy e-mail or phone
call to let me know. I will likely
know you’re not there.
As
people who aspire to work with or manage others in the workplace, your oral
communication skills are or will be an essential part of your
effectiveness. I expect you to practice
them in class. Even introverted people
can develop excellent communication skills.
HRM-in-the-News
Presentation: (informally part of
class participation)
The purpose of these presentations is to
make you aware of the many HR-related articles that routinely appear in the
popular press. These articles reflect
the HR issues that are of current interest to employers and employees; thus
they shed light on the evolving nature of the field. We will start each class period with 1 or
2 of these presentations.
Your presentation will consist of a brief
summary of the highlights of an
HR-related article that appeared in the recent popular press
(newspapers, magazines, etc.). Please do
not use articles from HRM research/practitioner journals or websites
(Workforce, Training Magazine, etc.). If
your source is inappropriate, you will get to make a second presentation! If
you present an article that was already presented, you get to make a second
presentation!
Keep in mind that presentation style is
important! I expect this to be a professional
presentation. Use of overhead
transparencies or handouts to summarize main points is recommended (be sure to
use large point font (30+) on
transparencies). Please DO NOT
chew gum, read the article to the class, read from notecards, or do
anything that makes you look unprofessional or unprepared.
You will have a maximum of 5 minutes to
speak. Do identify the source of your
article. There is nothing to hand in to
the professor.
There will be 3 exams, each over a
separate set of material. The dates of
the exams are indicated on the schedule page in the syllabus, as well as the
chapters/readings to be covered in each exam.
Format for the exams will be multiple
choice and true/false. You will be
expected to know all material from the chapter as well as class discussions on
the topics covered. Therefore, you will
need to study well for these exams – do not take them lightly!
All students must take each exam on the
scheduled date; only in extreme circumstances can alternate arrangements be
made. If you can’t make the scheduled
exam date, I must be notified in writing and we must establish an alternate
date prior to the scheduled test date.
Make-up exams will be alternate forms of the scheduled exams. That is, do not expect an exam taken on an
alternate exam date to be exactly the same as the exam given on the scheduled
date; even formats can change.
In groups of 5 or 6 students, you will
create the HRM Section of a Business Plan.
Envision that your business will be a successful venture with at least
15 employees (not jobs; there will likely be fewer jobs than employees). Write a report on the HRM systems you
envision for your firm.
Be
sure to follow the writing guidelines listed below!!!
The first part of your report presents an
overview of the company and its human resources. The second part provides an in-depth analysis
of the HR systems for one critical job in your organization. Use the library and the Internet for your research. Include evidence from your research and
document your sources in your bibliography.
PART 1 (25 points total)
1. Briefly describe your business and
your business strategy. Include your mission statement, and state where your
firm is located. [5 points]
2. What jobs will these 15+ people be doing?
Show the job titles in an organization chart. Provide a job summary statement for each job
that is listed on your organization chart.
[10]
3. Look up the standard wages for all the job descriptions listed on your
organization chart (use publicly available wage survey information). List all wages in a spreadsheet and include
benefits as a percentage of wages. Be
sure to calculate your total payroll expenses.
[10]
PART 2 (70 points total)
Choose one critical job from your
organization chart and research common practices in your industry for this
class of employees. Follow the general outline below. Use the questions listed below and the
examples in your textbook as models for researching and writing your report.
For this job:
1. Write a complete job description and a corresponding job specification. [8]
2. List the characteristics of the relevant labor market. [2]
3. Write a recruiting plan (sources you’ll use, sample advertising copy,
etc.). [10]
4. Write a selection plan:
-
list ‘tests’ you’ll use to assess the qualifications of each candidate and
create a matrix
showing which KSAOs each ‘test’
will assess. [10]
-
write a few interview questions that you can use in a structured situational
interview;
indicate what KSAOs each question is
assessing, and list ‘graded’ sample answers.
[5]
5. Indicate where are your recruiting and selection processes are vulnerable to
legal challenge, and
how you will address these legal challenges. [5]
6. List rewards and compensation you will offer. Include salary minimum, maximum, midpoint,
and other monetary and non-monetary incentives. Indicate how your compensation and
incentives compare to similar jobs in other firms in your region and
industry. [10]
7. Describe the formal performance measurement process you will use (frequency,
who is involved,
and the process). Create a
performance appraisal form. [10]
8. List the training and development programs/opportunities that are necessary
to support excellent
performance and support advancement.
[8]
9. Bibliography [2]
Executive Summary (5 points total)
Summarize the main points from Parts 1 and 2 of your report into a 1-2 page
executive summary and attach it to the front of the report.
Your writing style is a critical element
of the grade you receive on your project.
Professional writing used in organizational communications is concise
and well organized. Communications that
contain rambling paragraphs or lack clear sections are simply not effective
(and often not even read!). Be aware
that effective written and oral communication can be highly influential in
selection and promotion decisions.
Thus, please incorporate the following elements
in your writing for this class: make liberal use of “bullet points” – phrases
or short sentences that effectively summarize ideas (if you really know
the material, you can use appropriate terms and be succinct); subheadings;
numbered lists; outlines; and Tables of Contents. Write full sentences when needed, but ONLY
when your message cannot be clearly communicated in more abbreviated form.
For some of you this will come easily,
because you already incorporate these elements in your writing. For others it will be much more challenging,
simply because you are accustomed to being ‘long-winded’. In some courses you might have been rewarded
with high grades when you’ve used lengthy prose. However, because lengthy prose is never
appropriate in a business setting, lengthy prose will earn low grades in
this class! Say a lot with little
writing; use page space wisely; and make every word count. Make it a quick read for your reader –
workers are too busy for long reads!
The
Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course
A. Students attending the course who do not
have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.
B. Students have
responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes. You are advised to review your official class
schedule during the first two weeks of the semester to ensure you are properly
enrolled in this class and section.
Should you find an error in your class schedule, you have until Friday,
September 13, 2002 to correct it with your advising office. If registration errors are not corrected by
this date and you continue to attend and participate in classes for which you
are not officially enrolled, you are advised now that you will not receive a grade at the conclusion of the semester for any
class in which you are not properly registered.
C. Academic Honesty: Cheating means to misrepresent the source,
nature, or other conditions of your academic work (e.g., tests, papers,
projects, assignments) so as to get undeserved credit. The use of the intellectual property of
others without giving them appropriate credit is a serious academic
offense. It is the University's policy
that cheating or plagiarism result in receiving a failing grade for the work or
course. Repeat offenses result in
dismissal from the University.
D. For Fall 2002, the course withdrawal
deadline is Saturday, November 2, 2002.
Withdrawal before the deadline results in a "W" on the
official transcript; after the deadline a grade must be calculated and
reported.
E. Students with disabilities: In accordance with University policy, if you
have a documented disability and require accommodations to obtain equal access
in this course, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester
or when given an assignment for which an accommodation is required. Students with disabilities must verify their
eligibility through the Office of Student Disability Services (SDS) in the
Michael Schwartz Service Center (672-3391).
SCHEDULE
OF TOPICS:
PART
1: Understanding HRM, the
Environment, and Acquiring Employees
August 27 Introduction
to the course and HRM
August 29 Strategic
HRM Chapter
1
September 3 Regulatory Environment/Constraints Chapter 3
September 5 Regulatory Environment/Constraints Chapter 3
September 10 Diversity Chapter
4
September 12 Job Analysis / Work Design Chapter 2
September 17 Recruiting Chapter
5
September 19 Employee Selection Chapter
5
September 24 Employee Selection Chapter
5
September 26 Employee Separations Chapter
6
October 1 Exam #1 (Chapters 1-6)
PART
2: Managing, Rewarding,
Appraising, and Developing Employee Performance
October 3 Performance
Management: Compensation Chapter
10
October 8 Project
Work (Org.
overview & Org chart)
October 10 Project Work
(Job Descriptions, Recruiting, Selection)
October 15 Performance Management: Compensation Chapter 11
October 17 Performance Management: Appraisal Chapter 7
October 22 Performance Management: Communication Chapter 13
October 24 Training & Development: Training Design Chapter 8
October 29 Training
& Development: Careers Chapter
9
October 31 Project Work (Compensation, Appraisal, Training)
November 5 Exam #2
(Chapters 7-11,13)
PART
3: Workplace Rights &
Responsibilities, Global HRM
November 7 Employer-Employee Rights & Responsibilities Chapter 14
November 12 Unions Chapter
15
November 14 Safety & Health Chapter
16
November 19 International
HRM Chapter
17
November 21 Exam #3
(Chapters 14-17)
November 26 Project Work
(Connect and polish all sections)
November 28 No Class - Thanksgiving!
PART
4: Tying it all together: group
projects
December 3 Exam Return; Group Project questions (Write summaries)
December 5 Group Projects Due!
Project Discussions. Mandatory attendance!