Strategic Human Resource Management

This course is an introduction to Strategic HRM (Human Resource Management). HRM is critical for the survival of all types of organizations. Strategic HRM includes all activities concerning managing people and work within a company. Good leadership of human resources promotes effectiveness and profits organizations. This course introduces basic theories relevant for HRM, specifically focusing on core activities such as recruitment, performance management, human resource development and the employee-organization relationship. This course also introduces evaluation tools and methods used within the HR field. Strategic HRM will both be discussed and analyzed on an international and national level, with specific issues such as international recruitment and diversity management at the fore.

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Knowledge:

The student will have:

• Broad knowledge about the strategic significance of HRM
• Broad knowledge concerning relevant HRM activities, specifically recruitment, performance management and human resource development
• Insight into the different stages within the recruitment process starting from job analysis to hiring procedures
• Knowledge about systems and methods for performance management and human resource development in organizations
• Insight into the significance of equal opportunity, managing diversity and international recruitment
• Insight into how national culture may affect HRM practices
• Knowledge about methods commonly used to measure human resource and performance development
• Knowledge about how to conduct employee appraisals and how to utilize appraisals for career development

Skills

The student can:

• Prepare a job analysis and plan the different steps of a recruitment process
• Interpret different tests commonly used to measure human resource and performance development
• Actively contribute to the implementation, follow-up and conclusion of a recruitment process
• Use relevant methods to analyze human resource needs of an organization
• Use relevant methods to follow-up employees regarding performance and competence development

General competence

The student have

• Understanding of ethical issues regarding recruitment processes, performance management and career development

Teaching methods will include lectures, group work and case studies.

The class will be expected to form a fictional company and develop an empirically and theoretically based analysis of the HR issues within the organization. The assignment will be developed to cover the whole range of HR processes, from job/competence analysis through performance management and employee development. Different subgroups in the class will devote attention to specific issues but the class together is supposed to coordinate and present a coherent case.

Role Playing: Volunteers from the class will play core HR roles such as interview board and interviewees. An external resource person from the HR practice community in collaboration with your lecturer will provide feedback on the assignment.

The exam is a 48 hours home exam, where students have to write an individual paper of max. 8 pages.

All written exam aids. Plagiarism will be penalized, so adhere to the university regulation.

The individual exam is evaluated on a six-point scale from A to E for passed and F for failed. See the student handbook for grade explanation.

All the exam papers will be assessed by an internal examiner. An external sensor will evaluate a random selection of 25% of the exams and any exams where it is unclear whether the student has passed or failed.