Human Resources Management
MGMT 410
Human Resources Management
University of Kansas Business School
Fall 2010
Professor Clint Chadwick
Office: 326 Summerfield Hall
Phone: (785) 864-7559
E-mail: (preferred)
Course Hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays, 11:00 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Course Location: 506 Summerfield Hall
Office Hours: Tuesdays 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m., Thursdays 12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m., or by appointment
Course Overview
The goal of this course is to give you a basic understanding of most of the professional activities in Human Resource Management. Accordingly, a typical weekly session surveys a different HRM function. (You can later explore many of these functions in more depth through elective courses.) As part of studying these various functions, we will also examine the concerns and functions of the principal actors in employment systems: workers, management, and government.
Materials
The required text for this course is Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage, 7th Ed., by Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, & Wright (McGraw Hill Irwin). The list price for the softbound version of this text is about $180. I encourage you to look on the Internet for the best available price for this text. We will not need it for the first few sessions of the course, so you have time to order it.
Evaluation/Grading
Come to class prepared to take part and you will learn much more than you otherwise would. I will not grade on participation, but if you’re just below a grade cutoff at the end of the semester (i.e., only 1% from the next grade increment) and you have participated regularly in a quality way, I’ll bump your grade up and over the line to the next highest increment (for example, from B+ to A-). Quality of participation is more important than quantity, so please try to keep your “ideas per minute” ratio up. You’re always welcome to ask me how you’re doing on this dimension, and I will award you a subjective feedback score on your participation at three different points in the semester. You can see these scores on our course’s Blackboard webpage.
Exams. There will be two exams during the semester. Each exam will be closed book and closed note and will consist of true/false, multiple choice, and essay questions. The third exam will be a comprehensive exam drawing from all of the material covered throughout the duration of the course and will be given during the finals period.
Quizzes. A set of unannounced quizzes will also be part of the class. These quizzes take place at the beginning of a class session and cannot be made up.
Legal and Ethical Case Analysis.Students will be asked to write one 3-4 page (double spaced) analysis of a legal case. Students will be asked to search the Lexis Nexis database for cases regarding employment issues (i.e. cases regarding the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ADA, the ADEA, etc.). Each student is responsible for analyzing the case from a legal perspective and to determine whether or not the firm acted legally in the case. Beyond the legal aspects, the students will be asked to determine whether or not the firm acted ethically in the situation. The essays should be organized in the following manner:
1) Background and description of the case (brief)
2) Statement of the main legal issue in question
3) Discussion and decision as to whether or not the firm was legally guilty
4) Discussion and decision as to whether or not the firm acted ethically in the situation
Online Recruitment Activity. Each student will be asked to select the web sites of three companies that they are potentially interested in working for and to evaluate those on a number of different factors in a 2-3 page short paper. More details will be provided later in the course.
Each item's contribution to your course grade is given in percentage terms below:
First exam 25%
Second exam 25%
Final exam 20%
Quizzes 10%
Legal and ethical case analysis 10%
Online recruitment activity 10%
Total 100%
If a student misses an exam for any reason he or she may be allowed to make up the exam if the circumstances conform to those outlined by University of Kansas policy. If a student is eligible for a make-up, he or she will be given a different, essay versio9n of the exam which will be set at a higher level of difficulty than the original test.
I will base your final course grades on the following scale:
93-100% A
90-92% A-
87-89% B+
83-86% B
80-82% B-
77-79% C+
73-76% C
70-72% C-
67-69% D+
63-66% D
60-62% D-
0-59% F
How to succeed in this course
There is no special secret to succeeding in this course. Most people who do the following in good faith will have little trouble in passing:
· Read all assigned material
· Complete all your assignments
· Don’t miss class
· Pay attention
However, do not misread this advice as a message that this is an easy course. This course moves quickly over a diverse set of concepts that build on each other throughout the semester. I strongly urge you to not get behind. I will teach each session under the expectation that you are prepared. I will not take attendance, but it is my experience that students who do not come to class do not succeed.
Additional notes
I expect all members of this class to abide by the KU School of Business standards for academic integrity. Violations of the KU School of Business Honor Code, in the form of plagiarism, cheating on examinations, and the like, will not be tolerated and will be penalized according to the steps outlined in the Honor Code. For a complete description of the system, see:
http://business.ku.edu/_pdf/KUSchoolofBusinessHonorCode.pdf
I will not provide you with course notes or review sessions. I expect that your learning will be greatest when you are here and “in the game”, and prepared course notes interfere with that process.
Opportunities for extra credit will not be given.
I reserve the right to change this syllabus as needed during the semester, including course schedule, readings, examinations, assignments, etc.
If you require accommodation for a disability, please contact me ASAP to set up a private appointment to discuss this. I am happy to give students with disabilities reasonable accommodations. Please note that University of Kansas policy requires you to work with the Services for Student with Disabilities center (22 Strong Hall, 785-864-2620) if you ask for an accommodation. Disability accommodation requests that concern an already completed assignment will be denied.
My biases
Every teacher has preferences that students learn about sooner or later. I'd like to be up front about some of mine.
Availability: I’m happy to be available for you, but please respect the fact that my job entails a lot of responsibilities in addition to this class. Thus, I cannot always respond to you as quickly as you may like. Generally, e-mail is the most reliable way to contact me.
Equity: I believe that we should live up to our commitments. Asking to be an exception to general rules breaches our social contract as a group, and I can’t think of many reasons to do this that aren’t unfair to your colleagues. Also, I believe that part of my obligation to you is to evaluate your work without bias, and I’ll try my best to do this.
Cell phones and wireless Internet: Please turn off all cell phones and wireless Internet devices during class. I consider it a personal affront if I discover that you are surfing the web, texting, answering email, managing your fantasy football team, etc. during our class. If I find that you are doing this in class, I will invite you to leave for the day.
Good reasoning: Within the domain of common courtesy, let’s challenge each other to be put forth well-reasoned opinions. If I put out a poor argument, call me on it. I'll do the same for you.
Grammar: My undergraduate degree is in English, so I usually notice poor grammar, even when I’m only evaluating a paper’s content. Please make an extra effort to get it right on your written assignments. I am glad to help you out on this, particularly if your native language is not English.
Big picture: I love cutting through superficial symptoms and getting to the heart of the matter. We will be pushing towards this in most, if not all, of what we do.
MGMT 410
Course Schedule and Reading Assignments
Thursday, August 19: What are employment systems, and why should we study them?
Activity: Delta Pride case (handed out in class)
Tuesday, August 24: Where did our current employment systems come from? Part I: Taylorism
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
Why did Western culture define management as supervision?
What are the relative roles of society/culture and markets in shaping employment systems?
Thursday, August 26: Where did our current employment systems come from? Part II: Internal labor markets
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
Who were the winners and the losers in internal labor markets?
What parts of the economy could still use internal labor markets?
Tuesday, August 31: How does collective bargaining work in today’s economy? Part I: The legal structure
Reading: Chapter 14
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
What role does a union play in employment systems?
Is this role still relevant? Who defines relevance?
Thursday, September 2: How does collective bargaining work in today’s economy? Part II: The bargaining process
Question to keep in mind while reading:
What role do labor/management history in a firm play in current negotiations?
Tuesday, September 7: Can Human Resources fill a strategic role? Part I: A strategic view of human beings
Reading: Chapter 2
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
Why would you expect Human Resources to increase organizational performance?
What is the difference between managing human resources for efficiency and managing human resources for competitive advantage?
Thursday, September 9: Can Human Resources fill a strategic role? Part II: How firms manage human beings for competitive advantage
Question to keep in mind while reading:
Are systems that manage human beings as commodity laborers strategic?
Tuesday, September 14: Can Human Resources fill a strategic role? Part III: System level views of HRM
Case: The unhappy analysts at Trustworthy Trust Company
Thursday, September 16: What is the role of government in employment systems? Part I: The pervasive influence of employment law and employment at will
Guest lecturer: Carol Flinchbaugh
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
Which parties benefit from the increasing legalization of employment? What is the cost, and who bears it?
What is the proper role of government in employment systems?
Short case: What’s wrong with what’s right?
Tuesday, September 21: What is the role of government in employment systems? Part II: Diversity, equal employment opportunity, and affirmative action
Guest lecturer: Carol Flinchbaugh
Reading: Chapter 3 + pp. 201-2.
Question to keep in mind while reading:
Under what circumstances is diversity good for business?
Thursday, September 23: What is the role of government in employment systems? Part III: Diversity, equal employment opportunity, and affirmative action
Question to keep in mind while reading:
What problem is EEO/Affirmative Action designed to address?
How good a solution is it?
Legal and Ethical Case Analysis due
Tuesday, September 28: How are employment relationships different in today’s economy? Part I: Alternative job structures and contingent work arrangements
Question to keep in mind while reading:
Who wins and who loses in these new work arrangements?
Thursday, September 30: How are employment relationships different in today’s economy? Part II: Work-life balance and career paths
Question to keep in mind while reading:
Who wins and who loses in these new work arrangements?
Tuesday, October 5: Exam 1
Thursday, October 7: Recruiting, Selection, and Separation Part I
Reading: Chapter 5
Question to keep in mind while reading:
What is the role of good recruiting, selection, and turnover in relation to the other HRM functions?
Activity: Educational Consultants, Inc.
Tuesday, October 12: Recruiting, Selection, and Separation Part II
Guest lecturer: Carol Flinchbaugh
Reading: Chapter 6
Question to keep in mind while reading:
How will changes in technology affect recruiting, selection, and turnover?
Thursday, October 14: No class—Fall Break
Tuesday, October 19: Recruiting, Selection, and Separation Part III
Reading: Chapter 10
Question to keep in mind while reading:
How much do ethical treatment of workers and business necessity conflict when a firm terminates a worker’s employment?
How can firms retain workers when competitors can match or exceed the salary they pay?
Online Recruitment Activity due
Thursday, October 21: Training and Development
Reading: Chapter 7, Chapter 9
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
How would you demonstrate that a training program is needed?
How would you show that it works?
Tuesday, October 26: Motivation and Human Nature in HRM Systems Part I: Motivation theories
Reading: Chapter 12 (pp. 524-6 only)
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
Which of these theories of motivation are most accurate?
Does it depend on the situation?
Thursday, October 28: Motivation and Human Nature in HRM Systems Part II: Applying motivation theory in HRM systems
Question to keep in mind while reading:
Why should managers verify their assumptions about what motivates their employees?
Tuesday, November 2: Compensation and Benefits Part I: Principles
Chapters 11, 12, 13 (just skim Ch. 13)
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
What does compensation buy?
How important are assumptions about what motivates employees in designing compensation systems?
Thursday, November 4: Compensation and Benefits Part II: Putting principles into practice
Question to keep in mind while reading:
What is the proper role for customizing rewards vs. standardizing them for all employees?
Case: Merck and Co., Inc. (A) & (B)
Tuesday, November 9: Exam 2
Thursday, November 11: Performance Appraisal
Reading: Chapter 8
Questions to keep in mind while reading:
How can performance evaluation support management’s objectives?