Introductory description

This is an elective module available for WBS and non-WBS students.
This module aims to introduce students to different processes and practices involved in managing people at work. It seeks to develop a critical understanding of a range of conceptual, theoretical and practical issues. We will explore and evaluate different approaches to managing people, considering different contexts and stages of the employment cycle. It will be of value to students seeking managerial positions and, more generally, to those interested in analysing the management of people at work.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Outline Syllabus
Introduction. Origins, approaches and the HR function.
Resourcing: recruitment and selection.
Performance management.
Pay and rewards.
Equality, diversity and inclusion
Training, learning and development
Employee voice.
Employee engagement and high-performance work practices.
HRM and business strategy.
HRM and the future of work. Module summary.

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Understand issues, approaches and debates in a number of the key "people-management" areas .
• Be able to critically question different models and approaches.
• Be able to handle material in an analytical rather than merely descriptive way and evaluate and marshall evidence to present a well argued case.
• Problem solving .
• Analysing a case.
• Critical thinking.

Indicative reading list

Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A. (eds) (2017) Human resource management: a contemporary approach. Eighth dition. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Beer, M., Boselie, P. and Brewster, C. (2015) ‘Back to the Future: Implications for the Field of HRM of the Multistakeholder
Perspective Proposed 30 Years Ago’, Human Resource Management, 54(3), pp. 427–438.

Boxall, P. F. and Purcell, J. (2016) Strategy and human resource management. 4th edition. London: Macmillan Education.Edwards, P. and Wajcman, J. (2005) The politics of working life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Frey, C. B. and Osborne, M. A. (2017) ‘The future of employment: How susceptible are jobs to computerisation?’, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 114, pp. 254–280.

Grugulis, I. (2017) A very short, fairly interesting and reasonably cheap book about human resource management. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Legge, K. (2005) Human resource management: rhetorics and realities. Anniversary ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

McKenna, S., Richardson, J. and Manroop, L. (2011) ‘Alternative paradigms and the study and practice of performance management and evaluation’, Human Resource Management Review, 21(2), pp. 148–157.

Thompson, P. (2011) ‘The trouble with HRM’, Human Resource Management Journal, 21(4), pp. 355–367.

Townley, B. (1994) Reframing human resource management: power, ethics and the subject at work. London: Sage

.Ulrich, D. et al. (2013) ‘The State of the HR Profession.’, Human Resource Management, 52(3), pp. 457–471.

Wright, C. (2008) ‘Reinventing human resource management: Business partners, internal consultants and the limits to professionalization’, Human Relations, 61(8), pp. 1063–1086.

Subject specific skills

Able to execute, analyse and evaluate actions taken by HR professionals to deal with a range of issues, including:

• Learning needs analysis
• Recruitment & selection (interviews and assessment centres)
• Discipline and dismissal

Transferable skills

• Able to analyse a case relating to HRM and propose relevant and feasible solutions
• Able to interpret HRM data
• Able to defend a particular perspective on managing people
• Able to critically evaluate arguments about the management of people at work, including complex academic arguments, models and perspectives (e.g. critical readings of 'power')

In addition, through group work and regular class contributions, students should develop their team working, communication and presentational skills.