M&IS 34180 Section 003 Call 10818

Human Resource Management

Spring 2009

Class meeting:  TR, 5:30am - 6:45pm, BSA 210

Instructor:  Julia Levashina, Ph. D., BSA A427,

Phone 330-672-1144, E-Mail jlevashi@kent.edu

Office Hours:  TR, 3:00 -5:00pm & M, 4:00-5:00pm

Textbook

Noe R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2008). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage (6^th Edition). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

Course Prerequisites

M&IS 24163 Principles of Management (students that do not have the proper prerequisites risk being deregistered from the class).

Course Description

The purpose of this course is to provide you with a foundation in Human Resource (HR) management.  HR management is primarily concerned with systems for: making decisions about the people assets of the organization (e.g., hiring and compensating), developing those assets (e.g., evaluating, training), and supervising the relationship between those assets and the organization (e.g., maintaining employee morale, designing jobs and teams).  The goal of HR management is to contribute to organizational success by such means as increasing the efficiency in the use of resources, maintaining legal compliance, enhancing the motivation and commitment of employees, and providing a strategic competitive advantage.

The course will combine lecture, class discussion, cases, exercises, and textbook reading to expose you to HR management theory and research findings, give you an opportunity to apply some of these ideas to your own work experiences and management practice. 

Course Objectives

Overall Course Objectives are to:

(1) Develop an understanding of the major HR management needs of most organizations.

(2) Develop a familiarity with alternative HR systems designed to address those needs, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

(3) Gain an awareness of the technology underlying the HR systems, so that the range of quality can be understood.

(4) Develop an appreciation for basic HR decisions.

Plan for the Course

The course uses eight different types of pedagogy:

1.      Traditional lectures.  I will give a lecture at the beginning of each class. These lectures will be accompanied by PPT handouts posted on vista.kent.edu.

2.      Discussions.  Active participation is also important to ensure that the concepts in the course are properly understood and integrated.  Comments and questions will nearly always be welcome during a class meeting, but special times will also be designated during each topic where discussion will be the primary means of instruction.  The active involvement of all students is expected during discussions.  Participation can take many forms, including asking questions that clarify the class material, making points about the topic based on outside experience, providing well reasoned comments on the topic based on the learning points in the class, and volunteering for special exercises.  Grading for the course will include 5% for participation. Please bring your name card every class session, so everyone will know your name.

3.      Readings.  Most readings will be from your textbook as indicated in the course outline. Also, there will be supplemental readings to provide in-depth analyses of selected topics. Supplemental readings will be handed out in class along with other materials needed for the course or may be sent to students via e-mail or put on vista.kent.edu.

4.      Exercises.  There will be several exercises throughout the course.  They are meant to give brief hands-on exposure or practice in key topic areas.  Some may require advanced preparation, but most will be conducted during class. They will account for 5% of your total grade.

5.      Group Project.  Groups of approximately 3-4 students will be responsible for submitting a group project and making a presentation to the class. The project serves dual purposes.  First, it is intended to help you learn more about particular HR management topic of your choice.  Second, it will help you learn to work more effectively in groups.  A great deal of time and effort will be required for this assignment.  One class session will be reserved for your group work.  A description of the project is in a separate document.

6.      Guest speakers.  There may be a guest speaker during one of the class periods, depending on the availability of guest speakers and time on the syllabus.  Guest speakers bring special expertise to the classroom, and they provide pedagogical variety. Students are expected to ask the speaker questions to enhance the learning experience, and to anticipate that the material will be included on the exam. 

7.      Quizzes.  In order to encourage the reading of the textbook, and reward those who come to class prepared to make a contribution, there will be brief quizzes covering the required reading material for a given week.  The quizzes will typically be unannounced, consist of 6 one-point multiple-choice questions, with two points given for your name.  Approximately 10 quizzes will be given, the highest 8 will count toward your grade, the lowest two will be dropped, and will not count as extra-credit.  Because your lowest quiz scores will be dropped, missed quizzes may not be made up. 

8.      Exams. Three multiple choice exams will be given during the semester. The exams are closed-book, closed-notes, and not cumulative. Exam questions will be drawn from textbook and supplemental reading assignments, lectures, class discussions, cases, and exercises. Exams are to be taken at the scheduled time. If you miss an exam due to a legitimate reason (e.g., illness, death in the immediate family), a make-up exam will be provided (you will be required to provide an official university excuse to be eligible for a make-up exam). If you do not provide a legitimate excuse, no make-up exam will be granted. Make-up exams are essay format.

Grading

The grading scale is predetermined to ensure that you always know your grade in the class.  Grades will be based on the absolute standard below, and will not be curved. Grading will be based on the following factors and weighting:

·         Exam 1                                                                              20%

·         Exam 2                                                                              20%

·         Final Exam                                                                        20%

·         Quizzes                                                                              15%

·         Participation                                                                     5%

·         Exercises                                                                           5%

·         Group project                                                                    15%

Scale for final letter: A (100-90); A- (89-87); B+ (86-83); B (82-80); B- (79-77); C+ (76-73); C (72-70); C- (69-67); D+ (66-63); D (62-60); and F (< 59).

Preparation and Participation

Students are expected to come to class prepared by studying the readings assigned for that day and reviewing their notes from previous classes.  Students should expect to allocate three hours of outside work for each hour of class on average over the semester.  Although there will be some week-to-week variation, the course is designed so that workload should be fairly even throughout the semester, as long as students do not procrastinate.  Please see the professor if adjustments are necessary due to conflicts with other classes.

Attendance at every class is expected. Do not come to class in order to complete a quiz. If this is the case, your quiz will not be accepted. Moreover, leaving class shortly after completing a quiz will result in a lower participation grade.

Course Withdrawal Deadline

The course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, April 5, 2009

Registration

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Web for Students) 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 Sunday, September 7, 2008 to correct the error 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.

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.   In addition, it is considered to cheating when one cooperates with someone else in any such misrepresentation.  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.

Students with Disabilities

University policy 3342-3-01.3 requires that students with disabilities be provided reasonable accommodations to ensure their equal access to course content. If you have a documented disability and require accommodations, please contact the instructor at the beginning of the semester to make arrangements for necessary classroom adjustments. Please note, you must first verify your eligibility for these through Student Accessibility Services (contact 330-672-3391 or visit www.kent.edu/sas for more information on registration procedures).

Course Outline*

* I reserve the right to modify this schedule according to the needs and progress of the class.