MIS 64271-Stark-Spring 2013 Hogue

Human Resource Management

Spring 2013

Instructor:                   Mary Hogue, Ph.D.

Office:                         College of Business A423

Phone:                         (330) 672-1148

Office Hours:              Thursday 3:00-6:00 at my office in Kent

Also, I’ll arrive at the Stark campus about an hour before class starts. I can stay after as well, and I can meet at a mutually convenient time.

E-Mail:                        mhogue@kent.edu

Required Text:            Noe, R. A., Hollenbeck, J. R., Gerhart, B., Wright, P. M. (2011)

                                    Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. New York:

                                    McGraw-Hill.

Course Objectives:

1. Acquire knowledge of basic human resource management (HRM) concepts/processes.
2. Develop an awareness of the applications of HRM concepts/processes in your own organization, the organizations with which you come into contact, the news.
3. Critical analysis of applications of HRM concepts/practices.

Class Procedures: Your book is essential reading for class. You must read it and be familiar with the concepts therein before arriving in class because our time together will be spent expanding on the material in the book. The book provides your foundational knowledge. Our class discussions will build on that to create a more integrative, deeper understanding of the material.

Each class (except for test days) will follow the same format.

• We will begin with questions about the assigned chapters.
• You will ask me about things you don’t understand.
• I will pose questions to you to ensure that you do understand.
• I may present additional material related to the assigned topics and designed to expand your understanding.
• Your book is a “fundamentals” book, which means it offers you information on all of the basics. However, basic information is in no way sufficient for a master’s level class. Once you understand basic terms and concepts from the text, we will go deeper into the material to explore how concepts and techniques work in the real world.
• We will listen to a debate presentation.
• As you will learn, there is much controversy involved in the management of people. There will be one area of controversy related to the assigned reading material that will be scheduled for deeper examination each night. Students will work in pairs or groups (depending on class size) to research and present both sides of the debate topic. Both/all members of the pair/group must be familiar with both sides of the issue, and both/all members of the pair/group must be involved in the preparation and presentation of each side.
• Audience members will present debaters with additional questions and examples.
• These questions might be simple questions of clarification, or they may be deeper questions that ask the panel for more comprehensive coverage of the topic.
• Additionally, students in the audience will come to the debate with a news story related to the application of the debate topic within a real organization. These news stories may pose an opportunity for the debate team to expand on their previous presentation, or they may pose an opportunity for the audience member to challenge the debate team’s presentation. Therefore, debate teams must be thorough in their research and preparation.
• We will wrap up the class with specific thoughts and take-away points.

Determinations of Course Success:

Application papers

Application papers are those real-word examples that are brought by audience members to add to discussion about a debate topic. There are 11 opportunities for you to hand in application papers. You must hand in 7. Each is worth 5 points for a total of 35 points. To earn points, it is not sufficient to simply hand in a paper. You also must discuss your example during class.

Debates. Students will work in appropriately sized groups so that each student works on 2 debates. Each student can earn up to 50 points for each debate. Forty will be determined by me and assigned according to the clarity and comprehensiveness of the presentation; ten will be assigned by your group members for your participation.

Exams

There are 3 exams. Each contains multiple choice and short answer questions. Multiple-choice questions will be drawn from your textbook. Short answer questions will be drawn from our class discussions – the material I bring to class as well as the material that is debated.

Tests will begin as soon as class begins. You will have 2 hours to complete the exam. No one can begin an exam after the first person has finished and left the room, so it is important that you arrive on time. Each exam is worth 55 points.

Missed work. No late application papers will be accepted, so schedule your time accordingly. No make-up tests will be allowed without a documented and approved excuse. Your employer, a doctor, or the university must provide acceptable documentation.

Grading:

Grade dispute: If you are unhappy with the grade you receive on any assignment, I will happily revisit my decision. For this to occur, you must make your argument IN WRITING within 3 days of receiving your grade. Your explanation should include your rationale for deserving a different grade (“I worked really hard on this” is not rationale for receiving a different grade) along with any supporting material. Keep in mind, however, that upon revisiting my decision, any change can be made in your grade. It might be raised as you request, but you also run the risk of it being lowered.

Class attendance: All students are expected to attend class regularly and are responsible for all material covered even when they miss class.

The Following Policies Apply to All Students in this Course:

Students attending the course who do not have the proper prerequisite risk being deregistered from the class.

Students have responsibility to ensure they are properly enrolled in classes.  You are advised to review your official class schedule (using Student Tools on FlashLine) 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, Sunday, January 27, 2013 to correct the error.  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: 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.

For Spring 2013, the course withdrawal deadline is Sunday, March 24, 2013.

Students needing accessability: 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 http://www.registrars.kent.edu/disability/  for more information on registration procedures).

Course schedule: The following is a tentative schedule for this course. Chapter assignments are subject to change as the course progresses. Any changes will be announced in class.

Application papers

Application papers involve the application of the debate topic to a real world setting. These applications will be found in news reports. There are 11 debates, so 11 possible opportunities to turn in an application paper. You will choose 7 topics, and hand in 7 papers.

Applications can be recent or historic news, but they cannot be outdated unless you also bring the most recent update to the story. You will write a brief (< 1 page) description of the news report, including a citation noting where you found it. You will use your news report to help generate discussion on the related debate topic.  

I will collect application papers before the debates begin, so if you need your own copy in order to share during class, then bring two copies.

Debates

Students will work in pairs or groups to research and present the debate topic. Each pair/group is responsible for both sides of the debate. Groups must present an outline of their debate to me and to the rest of the class with major points and citations included. Groups may use visual aids (e.g., Power Point, videos, still images, etc.) during their presentations.

Plan a 15-20 minute presentation for each side, resulting in 30-40 minutes for your formal presentation. We will also have approximately 30 minutes for class discussion, depending on the number of application papers being discussed.

Your task will be to convince the class of the veracity of each side of the debate. Thus, you should prepare for each side as though it is the truth.

You will be graded on your research and your presentation. Your research must be informative, demonstrating clear evidence of a thorough understanding of the topic. You must use legitimate sources that provide clear support for the position. Cite your sources during your presentation.

Your presentation must be professional. Professional dress is not necessary, but you must show evidence of knowledge. You may use note cards as aids, but you may not read directly from them. You must speak clearly with sufficient volume for the classroom. Each group member must speak during the presentation to a sufficient degree that I am able to assess her or his knowledge. If one group member is quiet, that group member will either be marked down or will have several direct questions posed by me that she or he must answer.

You must clearly articulate each side of the debate and be able to address comments and questions posed by members of the audience.

You will be graded on the following scale:

 1-10 points – Presentation shows an overall lack of knowledge of the issue, no preparatory

                       work, lack of research effort

11-25 points –             Presentation shows average understanding of topic, mediocre amount of

                                    preparation, mid-level research effort

26-30 points –             Presentation shows above average understanding of topic, good preparation and

                       good research effort

31-40 points –             Presentation shows an outstanding knowledge of the issue, thorough preparation,

                       exceptional research effort