HR Elective Subjects

STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 

COURSE DURATION: 4 HRS PER WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS

COURSE CREDITS: 4

 

1. OVERVIEW OF SHRM (2 HRS)

• Concept of people as strategic assets; value chain and role of HR
• Strategy and HR planning – the linkages between the two
• HRM challenges of the 21^st century

 

2. ALIGNMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES TO STRATEGY (4 HRS)

• Migration from HRM to SHRM; comparison and contrast between the two
• Barriers to SHRM
• Roles of SHRM
• Economics of HRM: Cost benefit analysis; employee value; human capital accounting

 

3. HRM AND ORGANIZATIONAL STRATEGIES (4 HRS)

·         Corporate strategy and HR

·         Business strategy and HR

·         Environmental (external and internal) context of HR: PEST, diversity, demographics, internal resources, etc. as factor dictating HRM

 

4. WORK SYSTEMS (4 HRS)

• Designing of work systems: Approaches
• Redesigning work systems and organizations
• O.D: Processes; dimension; influencing factors
• Organizational structure: Types of structures and their relevance and shortcomings.
• Emerging trends: Telecommuting; contract working; temps, etc

 

5. FORECASTING H.R. DEMAND AND SUPPLY (4 HRS)

• Forecasts of external and internal H.R. supplies: Meaning; techniques available; limitations of forecasts
• Strategic considerations involved: develop or procure; investment in training
• Demand forecasting: Methods; strategic issues involved; limitation of forecasts

 

6. STRATEGIC ISSUES IN LEADERSHIP (4 HRS)

·         Management of workforce diversity (age, gender, culture)

·         Succession planning

·         Family owned and professional businesses

·         Influx of technology and leadership issues

 

 

 

7. MAINTENANCE OF HUMAN RESOURCES (3 HRS)

·         Employee safety and health: Building organizational effectiveness related to safety and health; implementation of safety and health controls

·         Training strategies for health and safety

·         Financial implications of health and safety issues: compensation, production loss, employee turnover, product safety, and marketing issues.

 

8. EMPLOYEE SEPARATION AND DOWNSIZING (4 HRS)

• Concept, types, and management of separation
• Downsizing: Meaning, kinds, and process
• Downsizing vs. outsourcing
• Termination strategies, redeployment, and retraining

 

9. SHRM ISSUES IN M&A (4 HRS)

·         Management of HR during M&A: Due diligence, manpower plan, communication, retention

·         Integration: HR integration, cultural integration

·         Organizational culture and M&A: Significance of culture during mergers; role of HR department

 

10. OUTSOURCING (4 HRS)

·         Concept; outsourcing vs. consulting; outsourcing vs. jobbing; types of outsourcing

·         Reasons for outsourcing: Strategic, tactical, and transformational

·         Criteria for outsourcing

·         Practising outsourcing

 

11. HR AND INFORMATIONAL TECHNOLOGY (3 HRS)

• Linkage between HR & IT: Impact
• Various technologies affecting HRM: Interactive voice recording, CD-ROM, Laser disc, networks, www, RDBMS, groupware, etc.
• Human resource information systems
• Application softwares for HRM

 

Important Note: Ideally, SHRM includes Recruitment, Staffing, T&D, Compensation, Performance related issues as well. These don’t find a mention here since they have been covered elsewhere.

 

BASIC TEXT

• Strategic Human Resource Management – A General Managerial Approach (by) Charles R. Greer 

 

 

 

 

WORK PSYCHOLOGY

 

COURSE DURATION: 4 HRS PER WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS

COURSE CREDITS: 4

 

1. PSYCHOLOGICAL PROCESSES IN WORK CONTEXT (3 HRS)

• Framework of work psychology; methodology to understand it
• Biological basis of human behaviour at work
• Development, learning, perception, cognition, motivation, attitude formation, and action
• Attraction and application
• Aggression and conflict at workplace
• Working in groups

 

2. PERSONALITY IN WORK CONTEXT (3 HRS)

• Personality: Meaning; dimensions; psychodynamic, behaviouristic, dimensional, humanistic / phenomenological and cognitive perspective
• Psychopathology
• Work adjustment
• Personality assessment: rationale; tools & techniques

 

3. INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH (3 HRS)

• Descriptive statistics: Central tendencies, dispersions, correlation, regression, distributions
• Inferential statistics: Sampling distribution and hypothesis testing
• Practical application of statistical tools for conducting psychological research

 

4. ORGANIZATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (3 HRS)

• Individual as the focus of organizational working
• Group behaviour
• Organizational processes and dynamics

 

5. ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY (3 HRS)

• Environmental perception, cognition, and attitudes
• Environmental stressors; relevance of territorial, private, and personal space to environmental behaviour

 

6. ERGONOMICS (3 HRS)

• Meaning; objectives; philosophy of ergonomics
• Human environmental interaction: Psychological and physical considerations
• Principles and practices of ergonomics and designing and laying out of workspace

 

7. PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENTS IN THE WORK CONTEXT (4 HRS)

• Work and psychological well being
• Work life balance and its work psychology implications
• Work maladjustment & psychological adjustments
• Work dysfunctions and other work related & organizational adjustments problems
• Strategies to manage and promote organizational and employee well being; individual methods to promote the psychological health in workplace

 

8. WORKPLACE DIVERSITY (5 HRS)

• The diversity mosaic: Meaning and sources
• National culture and functioning of organization
• Role of an individual in diversity
• Prerequisites for the effective functioning of a diverse force
• Promotion of diversity to enhance organizational performance
• Management of diversity to preserve performance

 

9. INDUSTRIAL PSYCHOLOGY TESTING AND ASSESSMENT (5 HRS)

• Psychological testing: Meaning, scope, and effectiveness
• Principles involved: Norms and meaning of test scores, reliability, validity, and item analysis
• Ability testing: Individual tests; tests for special populations; group testing
• Personality testing: Self assessment personality inventories; measurement of interests and attitudes; projection techniques
• Application of testing; ethical and social considerations involved

 

10. PERSONNEL PSYCHOLOGY (4 HRS)

• Industrial psychology: Foundations; research methods involved
• Criteria: Standards for decision making, job analysis, job evaluation
• Predictors: Psychological tests and inventories, interviews, assessment centres, etc.
• Personnel decision: A model of personnel decisions, recruitment, selection, placement, training and development

 

11. INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AND WORK PERFORMANCE (4 HRS)

• Demographic, personality, and cultural factors contributing to individual differences
• Individual differences in the work context
• Individual differences in cognitive behaviours, personality traits, personal orientation, and emotional state
• Individual difference in goal striving, work motivation, and work satisfaction
• Individual differences and decision making behaviours
• Individual differences and entrepreneurship
• Individual differences and organizational withdrawls 

 

Important: Ideally topics like Learning, career management, group dynamics, etc. are also covered under work psychology. But these find a suitable coverage elsewhere in our credit courses. Hence their exclusion here.

 

BASIC TEXTS

• Psychology Applied to work (by) Paul M. Muchinsky
• Work Psychology: An Introduction to Human Behaviour in the workplace (by) Matthewman, Rose, and Hetherington (OUP: 2009)

 

 

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT & APPRAISAL SYSTEM

 

COURSE DURATION: 4 HRS PER WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS

COURSE CREDITS: 4

 

1. INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL (3 HRS)

• Performance appraisal: Meaning, purpose, and scope
• Pros, Cons and reputation of performance appraisal
• Legal aspects of performance appraisal systems

 

2. PERFORMANCE PLANNING (5 HRS)

• Performance planning: Definition
• Performance planning and manager’s as well as employee’s responsibilities
• The performance –planning meeting
• Results versus behaviours
• Determining key job responsibilities
• Goal setting & goal statement; SMART objectives

 

3. PERFORMANCE EXECUTION (4 HRS)

• Performance execution: Meaning, and scope
• Performance execution & managerial and employee responsibilities
• Performance tracking
• Performance enhancement: Motivators

 

4. PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT (6 HRS)

• Role of performance assessment; responsibilities of employee, manager, and top management
• Performance assessment: Ensuring reliability and validity
• Performance appraisal: Self, 360⁰ , web based
• Evaluating the appraisals
• Avoidances of biases in appraisal process
• Rating scales and rating errors
• Extenuating circumstances
• Appraisal reports

 

5. PERFORMANCE REVIEW (5 HRS)

• Tools and techniques for review
• Roles of employee and manager in review process
• Process of review; cares to be taken
• Tricky situations during review
• Closure of review process

 

6. THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL FORM (4 HRS)

• Determination of core competencies & job analysis before appraisal
• Designing of appraisal format and form
• Ratings and weightage of various yardstick
• Interpretation of scores

 

7. THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS (4 HRS)

• Designing and establishment of process
• Stakeholder expectations
• Management training requirements for performance appraisals
• Maintaining and monitoring the appraisal system
• Inter-and intra-rater reliability

 

8. BUILDING PERFORMANCE EXCELLENCE (5 HRS)

• Factors leading to excellence in work
• Creating development plans that work for the employees
• Management and employee responsibilities in development
• Using the job as part of the development process
• Problem employees
• Identifying gaps between desired and actual performance
• Getting a buy in to change
• Documenting change discussions
• Attitude and attendance problems

 

9. PERFORMANCE CONSELLING (4 HRS)

• Objectives of counselling
• Conditions for effective counselling
• Sequential process of performance counselling
• Making counselling effective

 

BASIC TEXT

·         Performance management and Appraisal Systems (by) TV Rao

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CROSS CULTURE MANAGEMENT

 

COURSE DURATION: 2 HRS PER WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS

COURSE CREDITS: 2

 

1. UNDERSTANDING OF CULTURE (3 HRS)

• Essence of culture
• Definition and implication for human behaviour
• Dimensions of corporate culture
• Crosscultural adjustments
• Culture and social groups

 

2. ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE (3 HRS)

• Administrative heritage and organizational culture; implications of globalised world
• Impact of organizational culture on managerial aspects, specially HRM
• Challenge of multicultural workgroups and teams

 

3. FRAMEWORKS FOR MAPPING CULTURE (3 HRS)

• Geert Hoefstede
• Clyde Cluckhohn
• TE Hall / Trompennai’s contribution

 

4. BUSINESS CULTURES IN (4 HRS)

• USA
• Japan
• China
• Middle East
• South Korea

 

5. IMPLICATIONS FOR HRD & HRM: (4 HRS)

• Recruitment, selection, compensation, training and development, etc
• Communication
• Other areas, like team working, etc
• Management of complexities in cross culture situations

 

6. ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF A GLOBAL MANAGER (3 HRS)

• Manager as decision maker in a cross cultural environment
• Manager as negotiator
• Manager as leader

 

BASIC TEXT

• Essentials of International Management – A cross cultural Perspective (by) David C. Thomas

 

INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

 

COURSE DURATION: 2 HRS PER WEEK FOR 10 WEEKS

COURSE CREDITS: 2

 

1. INTRODUCTION TO IHRM

• Meaning and scope
• Difference between domestic HRM and IHRM
• Forces of change and global work environment

 

2. THE ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXT

• Introduction; path to global status
• Control mechanism in an organization: Formal (reporting, structure, etc) and informal (culture, etc)
• Mode of operation of a firm in international context

 

3. IHRM: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS OPERATIONS

• Staffing and international allocation of human resources
• Approaches to staffing: Ethnocentrism, polycentrism, geocentrism, regiocentrism
• Transfer to staff for international business activities: International assignments
• Expatriates and their roles
• Role of non – expatriates
• Corporate HR

 

4. RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION

• Issues in staff selection
• Factors influencing performance of expatriates
• Selection criteria
• Issue of female expatriates

 

5. TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

• Scope of T&D in IHRM
• Role of expatriate training
• Components of effective pre departure training programs
• Effective of pre departure training
• Development of staff through international assignments

 

6. COMPENSATION

• Objectives of international compensation
• Key components of an international compensation program
• Approaches to international compensation

 

7. RE-ENTRY AND CAREER ISSUES

• The repatriation process
• Individual reaction to re-entry
• Multinational responses
• Designing a repatriation program

 

8. GLOBAL HR ISSUES

• HRM in the host country context
• Standardization and adaptation of work practices
• Retaining, developing, and retrenching staff
• HR implications of language standardization
• Monitoring the HR practices of host country subcontractors

 

9. INDUSTRIAL RELTIONS

• Introduction to IR in international context
• Key issues in international industrial relations
• Trade unions and international industrial relations
• Response of trade unions to multinationals

 

10. PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

• Introduction: Performance appraisal and management
• Multinational performance management
• Performance management of international employees
• Performance appraisal of international employees
• Appraisal of host country nationals (HCN) employees

 

Note: Each topic will be covered in 2 hrs

 

BASIC TEXT

• International HRM (by) Peter J. Dowling & Danice E. Welch (Cengage Learning)