Syllabus (Subject to change during the semester – check WebCT for updates.)

Seminar In Human Resources Management

BUS 533

Textbooks

Required reading:

Title: Human Resource Management: Essential Perspectives,4th Edition

Publisher: Thomson Author: Robert L. Mathis, John H. Jackson

ISBN: 0324361785  ISBN13: 9780324361780

 

Various articles as specified below.  Students can obtain the articles by searching the ECSU library databases.

 

Instructor Information

Name:

Elizabeth D. Scott

 

Email:

scotte@easternct.edu (best way to contact me)

 

Office location:

445 Webb Hall

 

Office hours:

Monday 5:00-6:30, Tuesday 4:30-6:30, Wednesday 10:00-11:30 and by appointment

 

Policies

Syllabus:

This syllabus is not a contract; it is simply a road map to give you an idea of what we will be doing during the semester.  I may take advantage of events which occur during the semester and change the topics we cover or the order in which we cover them.

 

Accessibility:

If you are a student with a disability and believe you will need accommodations for this class, it is your responsibility to contact the Office of AccessAbility Services at 465-0189. To avoid any delay in the receipt of accommodations, you should contact the Office of AccessAbility Services as soon as possible. Please note that I cannot provide accommodations based upon disability until I have received an accommodation letter from the Office of AccessAbility Services. Your cooperation is appreciated.

 

Class Participation:

Class participation includes arriving at class on time and prepared, making useful contributions, refraining from dominating the conversation, following instructions, and helping to make the class a good learning experience for all.  It is possible to receive negative points in class participation.

 

Grading:

25% short papers (five papers at 5 points each, chosen from six possible papers), 25% class participation (two points per class session), 25% team member rating (based on teammate journal), 25% group projects

 

Integrity:

All sources (including classmates) must be properly acknowledged. Quotation marks must surround any string of 4 or more words used verbatim from a source. Penalties, including failure in the course and recommended dismissal from the program, will be assessed upon violation of this policy.

 

Attendance:

If you expect to miss a class, I would appreciate being informed in advance.  There is no such thing as an "unexcused" or "excused" absence -- I realize that you have many demands on your time and make the best decisions you can about how to fulfill those demands.  However, I do plan class activities assuming you will be there.  Knowing you will be absent will help me to adjust.  In rare cases, if I know you are going to be absent, I may be able to suggest something you can do to participate in absentia.  In most cases, however, absences mean that you will not be able to receive points for class participation.

 

Introduction

Date:

Monday, September 10, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Introduce to course and simulation.  Establish what it would take to be a good team member. Initial team meeting.

HR Basics

 

Readings:

For next week:  Chapter 1  

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Check your ECSU e-mail for an invitation to sign up for simulation and follow the instructions in that e-mail. http://www.interpretive.com/  Prepare budget proposal for simulation. Research the job you’re filling in the Occupational Outlook Handbook http://stats.bls.gov/oco/home.htm and in O*NET http://online.onetcenter.org/

 

 

Interdependence of HR functions

Date:

Monday, September 17, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss HR metrics and simulation issues.  Make budget decisions.

 

Readings:

For next week:  Read Chapters 3 Equal Employment and 4 Staffing

Visit http://connect-ability.com/

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Prepare draft screening criteria for simulation and evaluate testing options.

 

Consider writing optional paper 1 -- a two to three page decision memo advising your boss as to how to measure the effectiveness of the Human Resources Department

 

Equal Employment Opportunity and Staffing

Date:

Monday, September 24, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss laws and principles of EEO. Discuss staffing issues.  Run simulation with first team.

 

Readings:

For next week:  Read Do You Blush Often? Questions on Integrity and Personality Tests That Legally Embarrass Employers by Dexter R. Woods, Jr., and David M. Savino, Employee Relations Law Journal, Vol. 33, No. 1, Summer 2007

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Write draft interview questions for simulation.

 

Staffing

Date:

Monday, October 1, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Share interview questions with members of second team.  Rerun simulation in second team. 

 

Readings:

Looking Good and Lying to Do It: Deception as an Impression Management Strategy in Job Interviews, BRENT WEISSAND ROBERT S.FELDMAN, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 2006, 36,4, pp.1070–1086.

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Revise interview questions for simulation.

 

Consider writing optional paper 2 -- a two to three page decision memo advising your boss as to the pros and cons of outsourcing recruitment and selection processes. 

 

Interviews

Date:

Monday, October 8, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Rerun simulation in third team.  Prepare interview questions.  Conduct interviews.  (Team project one.)

 

Readings:

Read chapter 5 Training and Developing Human Resources

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.

 

Training and Development

Date:

Monday, October 15, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss training and development methods. Apply methods to particular training needs.  Brainstorm training for new job.

 

Readings:

Read:  “What predicts skill transfer? An exploratory study of goal orientation, training self-efficacy and organizational supports,” by Dan S. Chiaburu and Sophia V. Marinova, International Journal of Training and Development 9:2 and

“Learning by Doing Something Else: Variation, Relatedness, and the Learning Curve,” by Melissa A. Schilling, Patricia Vidal, Robert E. Ployhart, and Alexandre Marangoni, Management Science Vol. 49, No. 1, January 2003 pp. 39-56

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Identify evidence of transfer of training from MSOM courses to work setting.

 

Transfer of Training

Date:

Monday, October 22, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss transfer of training.  Create measures for transfer of training. 

 

Readings:

Read Chapters 2 and 9 Employee Relations

and Organization / Individual Relations and Retention

 

Why Does Affect Matter in Organizations? by Barsade, Sigal G.; Gibson, Donald E.. Academy of Management Perspectives, Feb2007, Vol. 21 Issue 1, p36-59, 24p;

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.

 

Consider writing optional paper 3 -- a case study on transfer of training. 

 

Employee Relations

Date:

Monday, October 29, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss employee motivation, retention, and turnover issues.  Discuss absenteeism.

 

Readings:

Read Chapter 10.  Labor Relations

and

Global Competition's Perfect Storm: Why Business and Labor Cannot Solve Their Problems Alone. By: Rousseau, Denise M.; Batt, Rosemary. Academy of Management Perspectives, May2007, Vol. 21 Issue 2, p16-23, 8p;

 

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.

 

Labor Relations

Date:

Monday, November 5, 2007 

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss laws and principles underlying Labor Relations approaches.

 

Readings:

Read chapter 6 Performance Management and Appraisal

and

How Right Should the Customer Be? (cover story) By: Anderson, Erin; Onyemah, Vincent. Harvard Business Review, Jul/Aug2006, Vol. 84 Issue 7/8, p59-67, 9p, 1 graph, 2c;

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook.  Obtain copies of your organization’s performance appraisal instrument. Create a performance appraisal instrument to measure human resources class teammate performance.  Compare Performance Management to Employee Development.

 

Consider writing optional paper 4 -- a decision memo advising your boss as to the differences in labor relations systems in Germany.

 

Performance Management and Appraisal

Date:

Monday, November 12, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Design appraisal instrument.  Team project two.

 

Readings:

http://www.opm.gov/perform/

 

Assignments:

Record observations on teammate interactions in notebook. 

 

Appraisals

Date:

Monday, November 19, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Use appraisal instrument

 

Readings:

Read Chapter 7 Compensation Strategies and Practices

 

Assignments:

 Obtain copies of your organization's compensation plans.  Consider writing optional paper 5.

 

Compensation

Date:

Monday, November 26, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Identify compensation strategies.

 

Readings:

Read Chapter 8 Variable Pay and Benefits and Wal-Mart Benefits Memo (NY Times, October 26, 2005)

 

Assignments:

 

 

Benefits

Date:

Monday, December 3, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Discuss issues related to benefits.

 

Readings:

 

 

Assignments:

Consider writing optional paper 6.

 

Team presentations

Date:

Monday, December 10, 2007

 

Objectives or Goals:

Present job analysis, compensation, and recruitment plan for assigned job.  Group project three.