Aims

To provide a basis for critical judgement on the current state of human resource management.

To evaluate key recent changes in the practice of HRM in organisations.

To explore the role of political forces, ideologies and institutional conditions in shaping the practice of HRM.

To identify possible alternative ways of organising HRM.

Outline Of Syllabus

1. What is HRM? A pragmatic introduction
2. The problem with HR strategy
3. HRM and organisational forms
4. The political economy of HRM
5. Autonomy and control at Work
6. Equality and Diversity
7. Migration
8. Employee Voice
9. Workplace skills and job quality
10. Technology and HRM
11. Precarity and HRM

Teaching Rationale And Relationship

There will be one non-synchronous introduction lecture, which has been demonstrated as better for attendance in the last two years. There will be 11 present-in-person subject lectures. There will be approximately 2 hours structured research and reading activity for each present in person lecture. Lectures will be grouped into 5 areas for discussion, with one further small group teaching to discuss the assessment. Each of these will have three hours of guided independent study. Further formative feedback will be in the form of comments in an essay plan. It is expected that further reading will take approximately 22 hours and that the assessment will take about 22 hours to draft and edit.

Assessment Rationale And Relationship

The essay assesses students' depth of understanding of a the module will be assessed, synoptically, drawing on extensive independent further research and reading.