BAD 64271 Spring 2008 DuBois

 

Name:                          Dr. Cathy DuBois                  

Office:                         Business Administration Building, A412                              

Phone:                         330-672-1157   fax: 330-672-2448 (use a cover page with my name)

E-mail:             cdubois@kent.edu

Office hours:               Tuesday, Thursday 10:30-1:00; other times M-F by appointment

 

 

 

Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart & Wright (2006).  Human Resource Management (6th Ed.).  McGraw-Hill.

Additional professional readings from the web and required.  Such readings will be posted on the course website throughout the course.  Pay attention to due dates on these readings!

 

 

http://cdubois.pageout.net

You must register on this website by the end of the first week of classes!  Penalty for not doing so is a loss of 2 points from your final class participation grade.

 

 

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: impacts of organizational factors, government regulations, and environmental conditions on the evolution of HRM, as well as the many functional activities of human resource management.  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 the MBA program.  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; they focus on system design, record keeping, and troubleshooting). 

 

 

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:

   1.   understand how the HRM function can enhance an organization's business strategy.

   2.   comprehend the perspective of those who work in the HRM function, which should help you work more effectively with them.

   3.   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.

   4.   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 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 lots of discussions, some cases, and student presentations. 

 

Final grades will be comprised of the following:

                        Class preparation and participation                 10%

                        Exams (3)                                                        60%     (20% each)

                        HRM-in-the-News Presentation                       5%

                        Professional Readings Discussion                    5%

                        Group Project                                                  20%                

 

I will use +/- grades for this course.  Assignment of final grades will most likely be:  92+ A, 90-91 A-, 88-89 B+, 82-87 B, 80-81 B-, 78-79 C+, 72-77 B, 70-71 C-, 68-69 D+, 60-67 D, 0-59 F.  I reserve the right to curve these final grades, up or down, based on overall class performance.

 

Class discussions will be much more meaningful if you have read and thought about the appropriate material prior to class.  Come to class with notes on chapters and questions to ask. Also, use this opportunity to bring up salient work experiences that we can all learn from.  We cover a great deal of material every class period.  I do not have a set of written notes to give you if you miss class.  Thus, if you must miss a class, please check in with a class member to find out what transpired in your absence. 

 

Recognize that class participation is a subjective thing – I can’t tally how many times you speak or the quality of what you say in some objective manner.  It's your responsibility to make sure I notice your contributions.  It’s your responsibility to take the initiative to speak (rather than my responsibility to call of you if you do not raise your hand).  If you don’t volunteer, I still might call on you, so be prepared to answer. 

 

I will ask for mid-semester and final self-evaluations for your class participation.  Please keep track of the number of classes you miss, and have a good idea of how frequently you participate in class, as well as the quality of your participation.  Failure to submit these forms will result in a 10 point subtraction from your earned class participation/preparation grade.

 

There will be 3 exams that cover non-overlapping content.  They will consist of short/long answer questions that are integrative and application oriented.  Each exam will have a solo section (20-30 points) to be completed by each individual, and a partner section to be completed when working with a partner (70-80 points).  You must work with a partner to write the first exam; you have the option of working alone or with a partner on the second exam.  My rationale for partner exams is based on two factors: people rarely work in isolation in the workplace, and  discussing ideas with another knowledgeable individual is a terrific way to reinforce and extend your learning. The purpose of these tests extends beyond determining what you know; I also want the testing process to reinforce your learning.  I will make an exception for International students who feel their English language skills are not well developed enough to support a complex, fast-paced dialogue.  Upon approval, they may take all exams solo.

 

To insure that everyone studies all material covered on the test, partners will be randomly assigned when you arrive to take the test.  Please be conscientious in your test preparation, for your partner as well as for yourself.  Partners will receive the same exam grade unless the partner evaluation form indicates a need for adjustment (I do make adjustments as appropriate). 

 

Advice:  Do not write lengthy paragraphs for test answers; use bullet points / lists and sentences as appropriate (see writing guidelines in this syllabus). Tests will cover material from the textbook, extra readings and class discussions.  Mastery of all material will be necessary to earn an A on exams.  Take lots of written notes during each class on your copies of the PowerPoint slides.  Key themes, recommendations and overarching points will often be stated by the professor in class, but won’t appear on the PowerPoint.

 

NOTE: All exam questions and answers must be left with the professor at the end of class.  Taking either exam questions or answers from the classroom at any time will result in a 20 point subtraction from your earned exam grade, no exceptions.

 

The purpose of these presentations is to make you aware of how many HR-related articles routinely appear in the popular press.  We will see how they reflect HR issues that are of current interest to employers and employees, and how they shed light on the evolving nature of the field. 

Your presentation will consist of a brief summary of the *highlights* of an HR-related article that appeared in the recent popular press (articles no older than 3 months past; from newspapers, internet news sites, magazines like Business Week or Newsweek, or non-HRM professional publications).  Do not use articles from HRM research or practitioner journals (Workforce, Training Magazine, etc.) or HRM web sites.  I encourage the International students to present articles from publications in their home countries.   Content must be HRM, not just business.

 

Important! As you identify an article you want to use, go to the Discussion section of the course website to check whether anyone has already claimed it.  If no one has, follow directions to post your article title and source, along with your name.  No duplications will be allowed, either on a single day or throughout the semester.

 

Keep in mind that presentation style has a significant impact on the effectiveness of your presentation.  I expect this to be a professional presentation. Use PowerPoint to summarize main points (use 30+ point font).  Do not chew gum, read from the article or from notecards, or do anything else that makes you look unprepared.  Do dress appropriately, look at and connect with your audience, “own” the material you are presenting, monitor your time, smile and seem interested!  See the Evaluation Forms section on the course website for grading criteria.

 

We will have 1 or 2 presentations each class period.  The presenter has 5 minutes to speak; you cannot receive an A if you exceed this, nor can you receive an A if you speak less than 4.5 minutes.  Practice your talk so you can keep it to 5 minutes.  Do extra research if your article has less than 5 minutes worth of material.  Hand the professor a copy of your PowerPoint slides (more than 1 to a page) before you speak.

 

 

Each topic will have an assigned reading from publications aimed at professionals.  Each of these articles has an assigned due date.  In order to facilitate class discussion on these articles, write out the following points for each article, and bring your notes to class on the due date:

1.      Main points of the article

2.      Why I might have assigned the article - how the article links to course material 

3.      Concerns/questions/disagreements you have about article content

 

 

Students will be called upon at random to speak from their written notes in class, either on the article due date or any date thereafter within the corresponding part of the course.  The professor will track when students are prepared v. unprepared to speak when called upon during these discussions.  When a student is unprepared to speak from written notes for an article, 25 points will be deducted from this aspect of the student’s grade.  The degree to which student responses are substantive will also impact grades assigned to each student.

 

In groups of 4-5 students, you will create an HRM Plan for a business of your choosing.  Envision that your business will be a successful venture with at least 40 employees (not jobs; there will be fewer jobs than employees).  Write a report on the HRM systems you envision for your firm.  

 

Every group must have a different type of business.  Business selections must be communicated to the professor and approved by January 24.   Job Description for your Key job is due Feb. 26.

 

The first part of your report presents an overview of the entire 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.  Cite these sources appropriately throughout the project and document your sources in your bibliography.

 

Final report must be presented in a 3 ring binder with tabs for each section.  Be sure to put all sample forms in the correct sections (appendices should not be needed.)  Follow the writing guidelines listed below. 

Executive Summary  (5 points total)
> <b>Summarize the main points from Parts 1 and 2 of your report into a 1-2 page executive summary. Place this summary at the front of the report. (be sure this is introduced and summarized well)