Wartburg College Fall 2009
BA 346:01 Human Resource Management Syllabus

Instructor: Gloria Campbell Gloria.campbell@wartburg.edu
Course offered MWF at noon in WBC 116. Office: WBC 107 352-8229; Home 352-6614 before 9:00 p.m.
Office hours in WBC 107: 9 on F; 1:30 to 2:30 on M & W and 1:45 p.m. to 2:45 on T & H

Required text: Fundamentals of Human Resource Management by Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 3rd edition, McGraw Hill / Irwin. www.Mhhe.com/noefund3e

Additional links on MyWartburg website including www.shrm.org

Course description: Serves as overview of the personnel/human resource management function and helps potential managers to understand the role of HR functions in the successful operation of the business. What is their role with regard to these functions and how do they impact this employee? How is the success of these factors measured in the company?

Course objectives:

1. Develop an understanding of the role of human resource management in strategic planning of the organization.

2. Learn how to gather information and develop job analyses, job descriptions, and job specifications.

3. Help students to make good decisions as they interview with employers and select from among options.

4. Introduce students to the training and appraisal process so that students will more likely advance within their careers.

5. Review the complexity of compensation and benefits systems and the effects on employee motivation.

6. Broaden view of human resource management to help value diversity and globalization of the work force.

7. Serve as realistic view of the challenges and satisfactions to those specializing in human resource management.

8. Assess the variety of factors that affect the quality of work life.

9. Emphasize the importance of safety and health programs in promoting employee welfare.

10. Identify human resource issues involved with unionization and collective bargaining.

11. Consider ways to assess the effectiveness of human resource management systems including dashboards.

12. Explore the issues faced when HRM systems become global in their deployment of employees.

13. Improve critical thinking skills to analyze and solve problems.

14. Improve teamwork and communication skills, both oral and written, especially through projects and
cases.

Proposed Evaluation components:

The final curve for the course will come from the compilation of points listed below. Exam curves will be 90/80/70/60 on exams, while other projects will be curved on the basis of 90% = A-; 80% = B-; 70% = C-; and 60% - D-.

Exam 1: 100 points

Exam 2 100 points

Final Exam 100 points
Teamed HRM Recruiting Paper 100 points

Teamed Case on Designing a Pay Structure 100 points

Reyes Fitness Case or Individualized HR Project 100 points
Class discussion and writing to learn exercises, in-class cases, etc. 100 points

Labor negotiation project??? ????

Total 700 points + ???

Examinations

Exams will include a combination of MC, T/F and short-answer questions showing your command of the course concepts and your ability to integrate information including case analyses on some tests. Quizzes are also available on the student CD or website to test your vocabulary and usage of concepts. Note that the potential essay questions are highlighted with an * on the study guide.

The Wartburg Honor Code applies. No exams may be made up without prior notification and good cause. Anyone caught cheating will fail the exam and/or the course. People are to remain in the classroom until they complete the exam unless approval of the instructor is secured. No hats with bills, notes, or cell phones during exams.

Expectations: The course is designed to help you think, not memorize information. But to think, you must come prepared to ask critical questions and to discuss assigned text content and cases. Application to current events will be helpful.

Note that each chapter ends with review and discussion questions, Business Week examples, and application cases. Make sure that you have reviewed them before class so that you are ready to participate in discussion. No written answers are required unless assigned in class. We may also add video cases throughout the term to help you better understand HR functions. Make sure that you take notes from speakers and discussion to integrate into your essay exam questions.

Attendance: Because of the potential for outbreaks of H1N1 flu this fall, make sure that you contact me by email regarding absences. If you have a fever or are feeling ill, don’t attend class. Do contact team members regarding your ability to attend group meetings if you are ill. If we work together as a learning group, we can overcome these potential obstacles. By trying to stay as healthy as possible, the whole campus will be better able to survive any outbreaks without complications. Assignments are due at the beginning of the class period on the date due. Please notify me of health or learning issues that require reasonable accommodation. Excessive unexcused absences or tardies will impact your class discussion points.

Job description since class participation requires more than just “being here”:

• Arrives on time to class
• Body language shows respectful interest in the course content and classmates.
• Comes prepared to class with chapter/s read and ready to discuss Critical Thinking Questions (CTD?). Cases are posted to the website along with specific readings to accompany chapters. Make sure that you are ready to discuss them.
• Asks stimulating and insightful questions in class and in small group
• Volunteers to answer class discussion questions or provides examples from personal or family work experience.
• Stays on track during small group exercises and respects input from others in group
• Communicates constraints to instructor and/or small groups
• Stays until class is dismissed and doesn’t leave early without prior notification of complications
• Wears appropriate attire that isn’t derogatory or suggestive
• Is attentive during guest speaker presentations
• Turns off cell phone during class; no leaving class to take calls unless emergency. No IM / texting during class unless info searches requested by instructor.
• Bonus points are available for any class members who successfully invite HR speakers and host them for improved class understanding of the concepts covered. Please collaborate with your instructor to make sure that the potential timing will work before making any commitments. Several speakers are already scheduled.

Teamed HRM Recruiting Project. This project can be done by up to three people but each student must research all the sites. Choose 3 companies in a similar industry or category that interests you with at least one of the companies on the Top Companies to Work For listing posted on the myWartburg HRM website under bookmarks. Use APA to site sources of information including full URL’s of sites.

Backgrounds on each of the 3 companies:

• Where are they headquartered, how large are they? Are they publicly traded, privately held, or nonprofit?
• Describe the information about the company structure and financials that are included on the site. If it isn’t available, look at other sites to find out how the company is doing financially (be specific in these metrics by showing how profitable the organizations have been during the past 3 years).
• How do the missions and visions of the companies compare as listed on the site?
• Do you find any evidence of social responsibility, sustainability or corporate governance? Does the company encourage its employees to be involved in the community? Describe.
• To what extent is ethics profiled in information about the organization?
• How globally focused is the company? Does that show up on the site?

HR Components:

• What types of jobs are available at these organizations as described on these sites? (If none, you may want to change to another site!)
• Compare how extensive the actual job descriptions are? What aspects were included that you didn’t expect? Did any of the organizations omit job description info that you wanted? What was omitted? Why do you think the info was omitted?
• Do the sites offer the option of sorting job openings? On what factors? How easy is it for you to sort the jobs available?
• Can you develop and save an online profile for applying to jobs? In what format/s? Describe.
• How do the benefits of the companies compare as listed on the site? Which benefits matter to you? Why?
• How easy is it for you to find career development and training information about the companies? Does this matter? Why?
• How clear is their recruiting process? Do the companies have special recruiting efforts at colleges? How does that recruiting differ from other recruiting?
  
  

Reflective Summary/Changes:

• How engaging is the content on the website? Do they have tips to help the user navigate the site or stories about successful employees? Are any awards for the company clearly available? What special efforts are made to get candidates to return to the site? Do they have any videos, podcasts or other graphic components to attract and keep your attention?
• What suggestions do you have for improvements to any of the recruiting sections of the sites? Which site/s do you think is superior and why? What did you learn from this exercise? How will you use this learning in the future?

Procedure for Posting Selecting Companies: To ensure that we don’t have duplicates on companies, make sure that you post your choice on the collaboration section ASAP. Click on the “threaded discussion” section and hit the “reply” button. Add the names of the companies you are researching plus the first and last names of group members. That way you can stake your claim to the companies you want with a first come, first “taken” rule! The topic posting is due on Sept. 18 and the completed paper is due on Oct. 9. Send one copy electronically and copy in your group members so that they know you have the paper in by class time.

The rubric for the paper will be:

80 points Quality and quantity of content with sufficient comparision/contrast to show learning:

20 points Quality of writing and documentation of sources using APA style.

Final Individual HRM Interview Research Project on one company. Contact at least one person in HR in a company of at least 100 employees to schedule an interview to learn more about how the company approaches/handles the following: (This will require an interview of at least 45 minutes, not a 10-minute conversation. It also should not duplicate any of the companies profiled by the speakers already scheduled for the term, nor should two people do the same company without a prior OK.) Note that a second interview of an employee in the company will strengthen your information and perspective.

• Strategic planning for organization including the environmental factors that most impact their organization
• Legal implications regarding discrimination in EEO, ADA, FMLA, reverse discrimination, OSHA, etc.
• Issues of safety and healthy work environment
• HR planning for number and types of jobs.
• Job analysis to develop job descriptions
• Recruitment and selection techniques used
• Testing in the selection process; types of interview questions used
• Orientation, training, and development processes
• Performance assessment and management
• Separating and retaining employees
• Developing a compensation and benefits structure that fairly rewards and motivates employees
• Avoiding unions or working effectively with them
• Managing employees in a global environment
• Continued change to create and maintain a high performance work environment

Summarize the findings of your project in a research paper using APA style. Use secondary web sources to fill in where possible. Make sure that you have included specific references to your prior research on the company’s HR policies to help you to ask insightful questions.

Rubric for grading HR research project:

____80 pts Fully explores all required sections of project; connects to all HR functions listed in project assignment. Shows extensive research with competitors, second interviews/contacts, etc.

____20 pts Format of paper includes: Introductory section with clear thesis of why you selected the topic and any relationship you have to the organization. How did you go about getting any contacts? The paper uses headings for subsections of paper. Single spaced content with blank lines between paragraphs. Full bibliography of sources in APA style. Paper is written at a professional level with varied sentence structure, clear transitions, etc. Content is edited and proofed effectively.

Alternative 1: More Focused Individualize HR Research Project:

Rather than describing all the HR issues in the company you research, choose at least 3 HR functions and investigate them fully in a company of at least 25 employees (see listing of HR functions above). Describe the current status of these functions. What are the issues and challenges that surface in the organization? (These should be based upon interviews of at least two people in the company, including at least one HR person). Relate these to the potential profitability of the company. What are possible solutions to the HR problems? What are the advantages and risks of each potential solution? What solution or combination of solutions would you recommend for each of these HR issues? Why? You are encouraged to present your research, fully referenced, to the company that you are investigating including references to what their competitors might be doing…plus generalized information on HR in all companies. This will take assertiveness and investigation skills to complete this problem but could be used in a job interview to show your proactive potential. Rubric is the same as above with substantial emphasis put on your ability to identify and solve problems from a HR perspective.

Alternative 2: Reyes Fitness Case Analysis (with up to 3 students in group) answering case questions and proposing HR improvements.

Tentative Schedule for Course Topics: (Notification of change possible in class)

CTQ = Critical Thinking Question to be prepared before class for discussion

9/9 Intro to course

9/11 Chapter 1: Managing Human Resources

9/14 Chapter 2: Trends in HRM;

CTQ: Which of the trends do you feel are most critical to the success of organizations during the next decade? Why?

Bookmark Reading: Strategic Workforce Planning (Hewitt)

9/16 Missy Santman, HR at Wheaton/CovHealth in Waterloo (confirmed)
Review her resume prior to class to formulate questions

9/18 Chapter 3: Providing Equal Employment Opportunity

CTQ: What HR laws recently enacted are the most important? What laws are still needed?
Deadline for posting recruiting project companies to be researched on the collaboration section of the course webpage:
https://my.wartburg.edu/ics/Academics/BA/BA___346/2009_FA-BA___346-01/Collaboration.jnz?portlet=Forum

9/21 Chapt. 3 continued
Case Analysis: Whatever Happened to MarShawn Demur? (discussion only)
Bookmark Reading: Defusing Discrimination Claims, English Only Policy Challenged, Age Discrimination, Postville Child Labor Law Issues

9/23 Chapter 4 Analyzing Work and Designing Jobs

9/25 Ch. 4 continued

Bookmark Reading: Leading Indicators, Job Market Outlook

9/28 Test 1

9/30 Chapter 5 Planning for and Recruiting HR

10/2 Finish Ch. 5 & Start Ch. 6

Bookmark Reading: Hiring is Hard Work, Immigration Issues of H1B Visas, College Recruiting in a Downturn, Conducting Background
Checks in CA, Spring 2009 Staffing Magazine

10/5 Chapter 6: Selecting Employees and Placing Them in Jobs

10/6 Corporation Education Day on Sustainability at 11:30 a.m. in Lyceum with
1:30 p.m. Roundtable discussion in Ballrooms (ties to final case)

10/7 Ch. 6 Selecting Employees

CTQ: Which factors in selection are increasing in importance? Decreasing?

10/9 Southwoods Schools Recruiting Case posted in pdf form
Teamed recruiting project due in class.

10/12 Southwoods Schools Recruiting case finished through discussion only

10/14 Ch 7: Training Employees
Bookmark Readings: Making of a UPS Driver, 15 Ways to Train on the Job

10/16 Career Directions and Connections during class time (attendance required at one or more sessions)

10/19 Ch. 7 continued
Excel spreadsheet project on staffing costs

10/21 Chapter 8: Managing Employees’ Performance
Bookmark Reading: Managing Performance, Performance Art

10/23 Ch 8: Managing Employees’ Performance continued

Case: Southwoods Schools Performance Management for discussion

10/26 Ch 9: Developing Employees for Future Success
Bookmark Reading: Career Development for HR Professionals

10/28 Speaker: Jim Denholm of CUNA Mutual Insurance HR Department, ’92 alum

10/30 Fall term break; no class

11/2 10/28 Ch. 10 Separating & Retaining Employees

CTQ: What are the impacts on the work environment as a result of firings, layoffs, demotions, etc. on managers, those who stay, and those who leave?
Bookmark Reading: Layoff Aftermath, Managing Employee Attendance, Keeping Pace with Older Workers

11/4 Ch. 10 continued
“We Need to Talk” Case handed out in class

11/6 Case analysis continued

11/9 Test 2

11/11 Ch 11: Establishing a Pay Structure

CTQ: What issues develop with pay structures in entrepreneurships?

Case groups of up to 3 people formed for “Designing a Pay Structure” due 11/20

11/13 Ch 11 continued
Bookmark Reading: Executive Pay, Perception and Reality; 08-09 Salary Survey

11/16 Intro to Ch 12: Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay
Bookmark Reading: Incentive Pay Fuels HR Salaries, Incentive Systems to Fuel Unpopular Shifts,

11/11 Chapter 13 Providing Employee Benefits

11/13 Ch. 13 continued

Bookmark Readings: Overtime Compensation Issues, How to Talk About Salary Changes, plus 3 benefits articles

11/20 Ch 14 Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations
CTQ: What are the advantages and disadvantage of unions? For which types of HR functions are unions critical?

Bookmark Readings: Mediating a Better Outcome
Designing a Pay Structure Case handed in via email

11/23 Labor negotiations

11/25 Labor negotiation project handed by noon. No class to complete project

11/27 Thanksgiving

11/30 Ch 15 Managing HR Globally

CTQ: If you were to be transferred to another country, what HR functions would be impacted and why?
Bookmark Reading: Strategic Planning of Global Workforce, One-on-one Training Crosses Continents

12/2 Ch 16 Creating and Maintaining High-Performance Organizations

CTQ: What metrics are the drivers of HR in high performance organizations?

Optional Bookmark Readings on Technology Systems

Reyes Fitness Management Case Groups Formed

12/4 Chapter 16 continued

12/7 Safety in the Workplace (from rest of Chapter 3)

CTQ: In what ways does safety impact the various components/functions of HR?

12/9 Discussion of article on Role of HR in Sustainable Organizations

Bookmark Readings on Sustainability

12/11 Reyes Fitness Management Group Case or final Individualized HR Project Due

12/15 Final exam from 8 to 10 a.m.

This syllabus may be changed with notice to students, especially as a result of Outfly. If you have any questions, please contact Gloria Campbell. I am eager to help you learn more about the exciting opportunities in HRM as a career and how you as a potential manager will implement and be impacted by this function.