BE733-6-AU-CO:
Strategic Human Resource Management
2023/24
Essex Business School
Colchester Campus
Autumn
Undergraduate: Level 6
Current
Thursday 05 October 2023
Friday 15 December 2023
15
06 October 2023
Requisites for this module
BE410
(none)
(none)
(none)
(none)
BSC NN24 Accounting and Management,
BSC NN27 Accounting and Management (Including Placement Year),
BSC NN42 Accounting and Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC NNK2 Accounting and Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N200 Business Management,
BSC N201 Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BSC N202 Business Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N204 Business Management (Including Placement Year),
BA T7N2 Latin American Studies with Business Management,
BA T7N4 Latin American studies with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA N19R Business Management and Language Studies,
BSC N344 Finance and Management,
BSC N345 Finance and Management (Including Year Abroad),
BSC N346 Finance and Management (Including Placement Year),
BSC N347 Finance and Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV20 Philosophy with Business Management,
BA VV21 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA VV22 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Placement Year),
BA VV23 Philosophy with Business Management (Including Year Abroad),
BA L933 Global Studies with Business Management,
BA L934 Global Studies with Business Management (Including Foundation Year),
BA L935 Global Studies with Business Management (Including Placement Year),
BA L936 Global Studies with Business Management (Including Year Abroad),
BA L215 Politics with Business,
BA L216 Politics with Business (Including Placement Year),
BA L217 Politics with Business (including Year Abroad),
BSC LL25 Politics with Business,
BSC LL26 Politics with Business (Including Placement Year),
BSC LL27 Politics with Business (including Year Abroad),
BSC N260 Business and Human Resource Management,
BSC N261 Business and Human Resource Management (including Placement Year),
BSC N262 Business and Human Resource Management (including Year Abroad),
BSC N263 Business and Human Resource Management (Including Foundation Year)
This module will examine how a wide range of institutional and cultural contexts shape the way in which employer-employee relationships are constructed, enforced and normalised.
In particular, this module will contest popular norms and assumptions that lie behind the dominant HRM theories and approaches and seek to highlight and explain the oft-observed gaps between theory and practice. Students will develop a critical understanding of contemporary HRM challenges and an acute awareness of their impact on individuals, organisations and wider society.
The aims of this module are:
- To introduce students to the theory and practice of strategic HRM in contemporary organisations.
- To provide critical insight into the impact of strategic HRM on a range of stakeholders.
- To consider the influence of strategic HRM on employee and business performance.
- To review contemporary strategic HRM practice developments and debates.
By the end of this module, students will be expected to be able to:
- Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key perspectives, theories and concepts that inform contemporary strategic human resource management (HRM).
- Critically analyse connections between organisational strategy and people strategy.
- Demonstrate an understand of the employee lifecycle and ways in which domains of people practice are connected and inform strategic HRM practice.
- Critically evaluate the significance of strategic HRM for firms’ performance and the achievement of organisational priorities.
- Reflect on the role of HR professionals in supporting wider people and organisational strategies.
- Consider the effects of strategic HRM practices and values within a wider social, economic, and political context.
Over recent decades, political, economic and socio-cultural shifts have culminated in the emergence of Human Resource Management (HRM) as an organizational practice distinct from more traditional ‘personnel’ approaches to managing people at work. An HRM approach takes a strategic view of the organizations’ employees as drivers of competitive advantage and HRM functions – recruitment, training & development, performance & reward management and industrial/employment relations – are correspondingly aligned with this aim. However, the empirical evidence that HRM achieves these strategic objectives and, more fundamentally, the nature and role of HRM in an organization is highly contestable. While exploring existing dominant theories and approaches, this module focuses on contemporary HRM issues through a critical lens.
Syllabus
- Introduction to strategic HRM and the employee life cycle.
- Recruitment and selection.
- Performance management and reward management.
- Training and Development.
- Future trends (digitalised an sustainable agendas) and summary of the module.
This module will be delivered via:
- One 2-hour lecture per fortnight.
- One 2-hour seminar per fortnight.
- One independent study week.
Both the lectures and seminars are designed to encourage and facilitate active participation by students in order to create an inclusive, positive learning environment for all. Audio-visual learning resources will be delivered both in-situ and via Moodle, the on-line learning portal.
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Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A. (eds) (2017b)
Human resource management: a contemporary approach. Eighth edition. Harlow, United Kingdom: Pearson Education. Available at:
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/universityofessex-ebooks/detail.action?docID=5185647.
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Roper, I., Prouska, R. and Chatrakul Na Ayudhya, U. (eds) (2020)
Critical issues in human resource management: contemporary perspectives. Second edition. London: Red Globe Press. Available at:
https://app.kortext.com/Shibboleth.sso/Login?entityID=https://idp0.essex.ac.uk/shibboleth&target=https://app.kortext.com/borrow/397021.
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Gladka, O., Fedorova, V. and Dohadailo, Y. (2022) ‘DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPTUAL BASES OF THE EMPLOYEE LIFE CYCLE WITHIN AN ORGANIZATION’,
Business: Theory and Practice, 23(1), pp. 39–52. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.3846/btp.2022.13510.
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Edwards, Tony (2016) ‘Global standardization or national differentiation of HRM practices in multinational companies? A comparison of multinationals in five countries’,
Journal of International Business Studies, 47(8), pp. 997–1021. Available at:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41267-016-0003-6.
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Carpentier, M., Van Hoye, G. and Weijters, B. (2019) ‘Attracting applicants through the organization’s social media page: Signaling employer brand personality’,
Journal of Vocational Behavior, 115. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2019.103326.
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Golik, M. and Blanco, M.R. (2022) ‘Homophily: functional bias to the talent identification process?’,
Personnel Review, 51(2), pp. 620–643. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1108/PR-05-2019-0230.
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Rivera, L.A. and Tilcsik, A. (2016) ‘Class Advantage, Commitment Penalty’,
American Sociological Review, 81(6), pp. 1097–1131. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122416668154.
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Lynda M. Applegate (2016) ‘Why the Problem with Learning Is Unlearning’,
Harvard Business Review [Preprint]. Available at:
https://hbr.org/2016/11/why-the-problem-with-learning-is-unlearning.
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Mull, M., Duffy, C. and Silberman, D. (2023) ‘Forgetting to learn and learning to forget: the call for organizational unlearning’,
European Journal of Training and Development, 47(5/6), pp. 586–598. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1108/EJTD-10-2021-0162.
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Westerman, J.W.
et al. (2020) ‘Sustainable human resource management and the triple bottom line: Multi-stakeholder strategies, concepts, and engagement’,
Human Resource Management Review, 30(3). Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hrmr.2020.100742.
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Tambe, P., Cappelli, P. and Yakubovich, V. (2019) ‘Artificial Intelligence in Human Resources Management: Challenges and a Path Forward’,
California Management Review, 61(4), pp. 15–42. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125619867910.
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Kramar, R. (2022) ‘Sustainable human resource management: six defining characteristics’,
Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 60(1), pp. 146–170. Available at:
https://doi.org/10.1111/1744-7941.12321.
The above list is indicative of the essential reading for the course.
The library makes provision for all reading list items, with digital provision where possible, and these resources are shared between students.
Further reading can be obtained from this module's
reading list.
Assessment items, weightings and deadlines
| Coursework / exam |
Description |
Deadline |
Coursework weighting |
| Coursework |
Case study analysis and management recommendations |
|
40% |
| Coursework |
Case Analysis and Recommendations |
|
60% |
Additional coursework information
The coursework comprises:
- Case Study Analysis and Management Recommendations (1000 words - 40%).
- Case Study Analysis and Management Recommendations (2500 words - 60%).
Exam format definitions
- Remote, open book: Your exam will take place remotely via an online learning platform. You may refer to any physical or electronic materials during the exam.
- In-person, open book: Your exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer to any physical materials such as paper study notes or a textbook during the exam. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, open book (restricted): The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may refer only to specific physical materials such as a named textbook during the exam. Permitted materials will be specified by your department. Electronic devices may not be used in the exam.
- In-person, closed book: The exam will take place on campus under invigilation. You may not refer to any physical materials or electronic devices during the exam. There may be times when a paper dictionary,
for example, may be permitted in an otherwise closed book exam. Any exceptions will be specified by your department.
Your department will provide further guidance before your exams.
Overall assessment
Reassessment
Module supervisor and teaching staff
Dr Elaine Yerby, email: e.yerby@essex.ac.uk.
Dr Elaine Yerby, Dr Huiyan Fu, Dr Beatrice Piccoli & Beenish Chaudry
ebsugcol@essex.ac.uk
No
Yes
No
Dr MARGARITA NYFOUDI
University of Birmingham
Associate Professor of Human Resource Management & Organisational Behaviour
Available via Moodle
Of 90 hours, 90 (100%) hours available to students:
0 hours not recorded due to service coverage or fault;
0 hours not recorded due to opt-out by lecturer(s), module, or event type.
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