University of Wales The Turning Point

MC7 – Human Resource Management

Subject Outline
The Turning Point
April 2008

Credit Points: 10
Lecturer: Yvonne Krishnan
Email: yvonne.krishnan@gmail.com

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Table of Contents
Section 1: General Information...........................................................................................3
1.1 Lecture Time & Location......................................................................................3
1.2 Brief Outline.......................................................................................................3
1.3 Aims...................................................................................................................4
1.4 Learning Outcomes.............................................................................................4
1.5 Attendance.........................................................................................................4
1.6 Required Texts & Readings..................................................................................4
1.7 Supplementary Reading.......................................................................................4
Recommended Journals...................................................................................................................5
1.8 Course Schedule.................................................................................................6
1.9 Web References..................................................................................................7
1.10 Policies on Educational Issues and Student matters.............................................7
1.11 Assessments.....................................................................................................7
1.12 Submission Dates..............................................................................................8
Section 2: Assessment.......................................................................................................9
2.1 Grades Awarded..................................................................................................9
2.2 Satisfactory Completion Requirements of this Subject..........................................10
2.3 Assessment Weight...........................................................................................10
2.4 Assessments.....................................................................................................10
Assignment Guidelines...................................................................................................................10
2.5 Examination Information....................................................................................11
2.6 Google Groups...................................................................................................12
2.7 Assignment Submission......................................................................................17
Section 3: Citation & Plagiarism........................................................................................22

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SECTION 1: GENERAL INFORMATION

1.1 Lecture Time & Location

This subject will be taught over 2 weekends, plus have scheduled weekend meetings to assist
with project research and discussion.

Friday 11th April 2008 1900 – 2200 hrs

Saturday 12th April 2008 1400 – 1800 hrs
Sunday 13th April 2008 0900 – 1800 hrs

Friday 9th May 2008 1900 – 2200 hrs

Saturday 10th May 2008 1400 – 1800 hrs
Sunday 11th May 2008 0900 – 1800 hrs

Saturday 7th June 2008 1300 – 1600 hrs EXAMINATION

1.2 Brief Outline

In today's changing environment, HRM is becoming more complex and traditional

management techniques are often inadequate in dealing with an increasingly diverse
workforce. Students will develop an understanding of the role of Human Resource
Management (HRM) in fulfilling corporate goals and business strategy, and will be able to
critically examine the nature and implications of HRM in the effective management of people
at work. The subject examines the integral aspects of HRM processes in the organisation, and
will develop skills that allow the student to critically examine and compare the operations of
HRM internationally. Major philosophies, policies, procedures and practices related to
management of human resources will also be taught. Students will also develop an
understanding of the influence of differing internal and external environments on current
practices and developments in the management of human resources.

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1.3 Aims

This module aims:

• To appreciate the role of Human Resource Management (HRM) in fulfilling corporate

goals and business strategy.
• To understand and critically examine the nature and implications of HRM in the
effective management of people at work.
• To critically examine the constituent aspects of the HRM processes in the
organisation.
• To critically examine and compare the operation of HRM internationally.
• To be critically aware of HRM practices in the context of a changing environment

1.4 Learning Outcomes

On successfully completing the subject participants should be able to:

1. Explain the role of HRM in effectively fulfilling corporate goals and business strategy.
2. Critically explore the development of HRM as a theoretical approach to the
management of people and as an organisational function.
3. Recognise the role and contribution of psychology in the understanding of human
behaviour in the workplace.
4. Critically examine the HRM process in recruitment, selection, development and
retention.
5. Critically appraise the role and importance of performance and reward management.
6. Evaluate human resource strategies in support of managing change.
7. Explore and critically appraise issues in HRM e.g. discrimination, diversity,
internationalisation, cross-cultural issues, flexible work practices and the learning
organisation.

1.5 Attendance
Attendance is strongly recommended in order for students to be able to satisfactorily attempt
the final examination. Students are required to sign in their attendance for every lecture
attended.

1.6 Required Texts & Readings

Human Resource Management, 7th Ed.
Torrington, D, Hall, L, & Taylor, S. (2008)
Prentice Hall.

1.7 Supplementary Reading

• Gibb, S , Learning and Development Processes, Practices and
Perspectives at Work, 2nd ed. (2007), Palgrave/Macmillan.
• Pilbeam, S & Corbridge, M, People Resourcing: Contemporary HRM in
Practice, 3rd ed. (2006) FT/Prentice Hall.

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• Beardwell, I & Holden, L, Resource Management: A Contemporary

Approach, 4th ed. (2003) Prentice Hall.
• Evans, P., Pucik, V. and Barsoux, The Global Challenge: Frameworks for
International HRM (2002), McGraw-Hill.
• Harvey, C & Allard, M J, Understanding and Managing Diversity, 3rd ed.
(2004), Prentice Hall.
• Armstrong, M., Strategic Human Resource Management: A guide to
action, 3rd Ed. (2006), Kogan Page
• Beardwell, J., Claydon, T., Human Resource Management: A
Contemporary Approach, 5th ed. (2007), Prentice Hall.

Recommended Journals
Benefits Quarterly
Business Week Online
Harvard Business Review
HR Focus
HR Professional
Human Resource Planning
International Journal of Management
Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology
People Management
Personnel & Guidance Journal
Personnel Journal
Personnel Management
Personnel Psychology
Training
Workforce
Workforce Management

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1.8 Course Schedule

The following schedule covers materials to be addressed over the weekend sessions.

Students are advised that they should seek to cover as much of the material as possible prior
to attending each of the weekends.

Weekend Dates Indicative Content

1 th
11 April 2008 Chapters 1 & 2

12th April 2008 Chapters 3-10

13th April 2008 Chapters 11-16

2 9th May 2008 Chapters 17 & 18

10th May 2008 Chapters 19-28

11th May 2008 Chapters 29-34

Please ensure that you read the respective chapters before coming to class.

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1.9 Web References

It is expected that students will make good use of the online materials that are
now available from a myriad of organisations on the world-wide-web. The
following are a list of predominant organisations whose web sites will provide
material most a appropriate to this module.

Http://www.wales.ac.uk/ University of Wales

http://www.economist.com/ The Economist
http://www.forbes.com/ Forbes
http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/ Forbes Asia
http://www.agsm.edu.au/~eajm/ Australian Journal of Management
http://www.spea.indiana.edu/ids/SBE.html Small Business Economics
http://www.businessweek.com/ Business Week
http://www.iscebs.org/BQinfo/default.asp Benefits Quarterly
http://harvardbusinessonline.org Harvard Business Review
http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm People Management
http://cbae.nmsu.edu/~dboje/jocm.html Journal of Organizational Change
Management
http://sloanreview.mit.edu/smr/ MIT Sloan Management Review
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescriptio Organizational Behavior & Human
n.cws_home/622929/description#description Decision Processes

1.10 Policies on Educational Issues and Student matters

Please refer to the student handbook available from the University of Wales
Website.

1.11 Assessments
All assignments are expected to be the original work of students. Each
assignment should give details of references used and all quotations should be
clearly attributed to their source. Although group preparation is encouraged it
should be noted that collusion and plagiarism will not be tolerated and will be
subjected to severe penalties.

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1.12 Submission Dates

Assignments should be submitted to the office and not directly to the lecturer. A
completed Assignment Submission Cover (see attached) should accompany each
assignment. The centre will set deadlines for submission of assignments and
students must adhere to this deadline. Assignments received one week after the
deadline will be marked “Late submission” and 5% of marks apportioned to the
assignment will be deducted. Assignments submitted later than a week after the
deadline will be deemed as a fail. Submission of assignments is compulsory: you
cannot pass a module unless you have completed the assignments.

Submission of an assignment is considered to be final. A student is not entitled

to revise an unsatisfactory assignment and may only re-submit an assignment
when the Examination Board gives permission to do so. The assignment mark
provides part of the composite subject mark upon which the award of MBA is
based and the submission of assignments should be treated as part of the final
assessment and as a formal process.

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SECTION 2: ASSESSMENT

2.1 Grades Awarded

The approved grades of performance and associated ranges of marks this subject is:

A Grade: To be awarded a Grade A you must provide evidence of wide reading of relevant
literature, exercising discernment in the selection of appropriate quotations and evidence to
support your work. The use of appropriate models and concepts should be accurate and
demonstrate depth of understanding and creative application to the subject companies. Your
work should be logical and coherent, presented in an interesting and accessible style. By
definition A Grade work is of an “exceptional” standard.

B Grade: To be awarded a Grade B you must provide evidence of wide reading of relevant
literature, selecting appropriate quotations and evidence to support your work. The use of
appropriate models and concepts should be accurate and demonstrate understanding and
application to the subject companies. Your work should be logical and presented in an
interesting and accessible style. Work in the G Grades can be generally defined as very good.

C Grade: To be awarded a Grade C you must demonstrate that you have undertaken a
review of relevant literature and that you have used the information to illustrate your answer.
You should clearly demonstrate your ability to apply the key theories and concepts to the
given circumstances. Your work should be logical, correctly referenced and convincing. Work
in the C range can generally be described as average.

D Grade: To be awarded a Grade D you must demonstrate that you have undertaken a
review of relevant literature. You should attempt to apply relevant models and concepts to
the given circumstances. Work in the D range is a marginal pass.

E Grade: An E Grade is a marginal fail. Your work may be similar to the description of C
grade, but failing to meet the objectives of the assignment and not satisfying the learning
outcomes. Work not properly referenced.

F Grade: This is a clear fail. Inadequate literature review, not properly referenced. Limited
attempt to apply models and concepts to circumstances and/or inaccurate application.
General failure to meet the objectives of the assignment and not satisfying the learning
outcomes. Work not properly referenced.

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2.2 Satisfactory Completion Requirements of this Subject

In order to satisfactorily complete the requirements of this subject, the student must achieve
an aggregate mark of at least 50% for the subject, and achieve a mark of at least 40 % in
the final examination. Students must ‘reasonably’ complete all assessment components other
than the final examination and submit by the final week of session/ intake or by the final
examination date (whichever is earlier) in order to pass the subject. ‘Reasonable’ completion
of an assessment will consider instructions given to the student including; word length,
demonstration of research and analysis where required, University Plagiarism Policy, and
completion of each section/ component of the assessment. Failure to ‘reasonably’ complete
any assessment components to the standard specified above will result in a Fail grade
awarded for the subject. Assessment tasks submitted after the due date may be penalized.
Refer to Penalties for Late Submission of Assessment policy.

2.3 Assessment Weight

Assessment Type Word Length Weighting Due Date

1. Individual Assignment 3000 - 3500 40% 23rd May 2008

2. Examination - 60% 7th June 2008

2.4 Assessments
There are two pieces of assessment for this subject.

The assignment information is available in a separate handout.

Assignment Guidelines

Assessment of postgraduate assignments is based on postgraduate standards. This means

that an assignment should demonstrate evidence of good understanding of what the question
asks. The structure of the answer should be relevant to the question and provide evidence of
critical thinking and good use of appropriate research material. Assignments should be
correctly referenced using the Harvard System of Referencing and Citation of Electronic
Sources in line with the guidelines provided in this Outline.

The assignment is a paper is to be prepared in no more than +/- 10% of the word count
indicated.

Please type wherever possible, using 12 point font, Times New Roman or Arial.

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Please note: Any analysis and evaluation conducted should make appropriate use of the
methodologies, concepts and frameworks studied in the module.

You are also encouraged to read other sources at your discretion.

Plagiarism will not be tolerated. Please see the guides to citation, referencing and
plagiarism appended to this outline.

Students must retain a copy of all assessment work submitted. Marks will not usually be
modified or scaled. Feedback on assessment tasks will be returned to students before the
final examination date.

Although student attendance records will be kept, attendance or class participation will not be
part of the assessment for this subject.

2.5 Examination Information

There is an examination for this subject. It is scheduled for 7th June, 2008.

Please follow the examination information as uploaded in your Google Group for more
information.

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2.6 Google Groups

Additional information is made available to students from the school and your lecturer
through the use of Google Groups. This allows:
• Files to be shared amongst everyone in the group
• Emails to be sent to everyone using a single email address

Please note that basic information about the requirements for citation and referencing,
information about examinations and other useful documents are also placed in the group for
your access.

When you commence each subject, you will be sent an email that will allow you to access the
Google Group for that subject. A step-by-step guide on how to access Google Groups follows.

STEP 1: Open the email

(please check your spam box if you cannot see the email in your in box)

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Step 2: Sign in to the Google Group

If you are not signed in to a Google Account

Click on the 'sign in and apply for membership' as indicated above. This will allow you to sign
in to Google Accounts, Apply for a Google Account (if you don't already have one) and enter
the group.

If you are already signed in to a Google Account

Refer to Step 4 – you should be permitted to access the account automatically. If this doesn't
happen, then please click on 'Apply for membership'.

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Step 3: Sign into your Google Account

(1) If you already have a Google account, please sign in.

(2) If you do not have a Google account, please create one **

** Note that creating a Google Account DOES NOT automatically give you a new email
address. It just associates a Google Account with your existing email address.

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Step 4: Set up how you want to participate in the group.

Our suggestions are below.

You MUST specify a nickname. Your name is probably a good idea.

Please note that you must click on 'Accept invitation' to access the group.

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Step 5: Access and Explore the online area of the group

Note the areas 1, 2 and 3 above which will have information for your reference.

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2.7 Assignment Submission

You are required to submit your assignment online through the website service called Turn It
In. Instructions are as follows.
STEP 1: You will receive an email like the one below.

Click on the link in the email: http://submit.ac.uk

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STEP 2: Enter the 'Turn It In UK' website

After you click on the link in the email, you will see the following web site (or something
similar)
Click on [user login]

Use the username and password in the email to log in.

You will be prompted to change your password. Please do so and choose a password that
you will remember. Write it down somewhere just in case.

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STEP 3: Enter the class

Click on the class name for the assessment that you are going to submit.

STEP 4: Click on the 'Paper icon' next to the name of the assignment you will be
submitting.

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STEP 5: Upload the file to the system

Fill in the fields as requested, select the file using the browse button, and click on 'SUBMIT':

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STEP 6: Verify your submission

You will see the screen below, which will have a copy of your assignment printed out. Read
your assignment AND VERIFY THAT IT IS ALL THERE. If it is OK, click on 'yes, submit'.
If there is a problem, click on 'no, go back' and upload your file again.

The file types that will be accepted are: MS Word, WordPerfect, PostScript, PDF, HTML,
RTF, and plain text.

TROUBLESHOOTING TIP: If you have trouble submitting your file using Microsoft Word,
then use the cut and paste method. To do this, go back to Step 5 and change the 'submit a
paper by' to 'cut and paste' instead of 'file upload'.

STEP 7: Once your assignment has been submitted, your screen will show confirmation
of the submission and email you a digital receipt to confirm that your assignment has been
received by the system.

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SECTION 3: CITATION & PLAGIARISM

Please see the attached guide from the University of Wales for information on how to avoid
plagiarism and reference for your assignments.

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