Managing People, HRM and Organizations in Changing Contexts

This course introduces students to managing people and organizations in the context of change. As such it deals directly with some of the central issues faced business and its key functions.  The course is based on two books I have just written and deals with some of the core problems faced by all organizations, including management  and leadership, how individuals relate to their organizations, organizational design, international management, corporate reputations and branding, knowledge management, technology and people, and managing change and culture change and strategic HRM.   The two key themes in the course are change and internationalisation: change because there is rarely anything which is "fixed" about organizational life and HRM; one way of looking at organizations is that they are always in a state of becoming; internationalisation because looking at organizations and theories from other countries helps you to understand your organizations in this country.  Thus we will also look at some cases from Europe, the US and Asia, a few of which I have written myself in the course of previous research.

 

Learning Outcomes

 

The course has four main learning outcomes and by the end of it you will

1. Understand the key issues in organizational change and the management of change from the perspective of senior and middle managers and employees
2. Understand the role played by people management in the process of managing organizational change and be able to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various approaches and techniques.
3. Understand how effective management and leadership relates to other key business functions
4. Be able to use some of the key ideas and techniques as practical tools for the design and change of organizations.

 

Set Texts and Further Reading

 

Set Text

Martin, G. (2006) Managing People and Organizations in Changing Contexts, Oxford: Butterworth

(I will provide additional material on the internet)

Further Reading

 

Boxall, P. & Purcell, J. (2003) Strategy and Human Resource Management, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave.

 

Clegg, S., Kornberger, M., Psitis, T. (2004) Managing and Organizations:  An Introduction to Theory and Practice, London: Sage

 

Hatch, M. J. & Cunliffe, A. (2006) Organization theory:: Modern, postmodern and symbolic perspectives. (second edition) Oxford: Blackwell

 

Kaplan, R. & Norton, D. (2001) The strategy-focused organisation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press Newell, H. and Scarborough, H. (2002) HRM in context: a case study approach, Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan

 

Martin, G. & Hetrick, S. (2006) Corporate reputations, branding and people management: a strategic approach to HR. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann

 

Journals

Academy of Management Perspectives

Academy of Management Review

British Journal of Management

Human Resource Management

The International Journal of Human Resource Management

Employee Relations

International Journal of Training and Development

The British Journal of Industrial Relations

Personnel Review

 

Key Internet Sites

 

Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (www.cipd.co.uk)

Society of Human Resource Management (www.shrm.org)

World Federation of Personnel Management (www.wfpma.com)

American Society for Training and Development (www.astd.org)

 

Teaching Approach and Schedule

 

My approach to teaching this class is to make it as interactive as possible.  Consequently, you will need to read the cases and book chapters beforehand.  

 

You will need to buy the book, which has all of the basic reading and cases.  Paper handouts in class will be kept to a minimum.  When doing the assignments you will need to do further reading.