MODULE SPECIFICATION TEMPLATE
MODULE DETAILS
Module title
Module code
Credit value
Level
Mark the box to the right of the
appropriate level with an ‘X’
Managing the Employment Relationship
HRM80
10
Level 4
Level 5
Level 6
Level 0 (for modules at foundation level)
Level 7
X
Level 8
Entry criteria for registration on this module
Pre-requisites
Specify in terms of module codes or
equivalent
First year of MSc Human Resource Management or equivalent
First year of Postgraduate Diploma Human Resource Management or
equivalent
Co-requisite modules
Specify in terms of module codes or
equivalent
Module delivery
Mode of delivery
Taught
X
Distance
Placement
Online
Other
Pattern of delivery
Weekly
X
Block
Other
When module is delivered
Semester 1
Semester 2
Throughout year
X
Other
Brief description of module Learners will critically apply the activities, knowledge and behavioural
content and/ or aims
competencies required for managing employment relations practices
Overview (max 80 words)
within different employment contexts whilst contributing to organisational
performance. Learners will review and critically evaluate the roles and
functions of stakeholders, and the policies, procedures, practices,
structures and processes required to manage the employment relationship
effectively.
Module team/ author/
Vicky Richards, Carolyn Lewis, Bob Smale, Penny Simpson
coordinator(s)
School
Business School
Site/ campus where
Moulsecoomb
delivered
Course(s) for which module is appropriate and status on that course
Course
MSc. Human Resource Management
Postgraduate Diploma Human Resource Management
Status (mandatory/ compulsory/
optional)
Mandatory
Mandatory
MODULE AIMS, ASSESSMENT AND SUPPORT
Aims
The module aims to:
 Provide students with a comprehensive understanding of
employment relations perspectives and debates, both national and
international, from a theoretical and behavioural competency
perspective
 Provide opportunities to understand, analyse and evaluate
competing theories and perspectives associated with managing
employment relations strategies and their outcomes on
organisational climate, employees and management.
 Provide opportunities for learners to critically apply the activities,
knowledge and behavioural competencies required for managing
Learning outcomes
employment relations practices towards organisational success
within union and non-union, small and large, private, public and
indigenous and multinational organisations
 Enable learners to review and critically evaluate the roles and
functions of different stakeholders in employment relations and the
structures and processes required to manage the employment
relationship effectively.
 Enable learners to assess the impact of contextual changes on
employment relations practices and organisational performance
from a managerial perspective and gain insights into the creation
and implementation of effective employment relations procedures,
policies and partnership working.
 Develop learners’ ability to reflect critically on theory and practice
from an ethical, professional and Human Resource (HR)
standpoint and provides opportunities for applied learning and
continuous professional development.
On completion of this module students will be able to understand,
analyse and critically evaluate:
Subject specific
1. The different theories and perspectives on employment relations.
2. The impact of local, national and global contexts shaping
employment relations climates.
3. The roles and functions of the different parties to control and
manage the employment relationship.
4. The importance of organisational-level employment relations
processes that support organisational performance, including the
design and implementation of policies and practices in the areas
of: employee engagement; diversity management; employee
communication, involvement and participation negotiation and
bargaining; conflict resolution; and change management and
management control.
5. The importance of employment relations procedures that help
mitigate organisational risk, including the design and
implementation of policies and practices in the areas of discipline,
grievance, dismissal and redundancy.
6. The integration of employment relations processes and how they
impact on policy, practice and organisational outcomes such as
performance and employee engagement.
Cognitive
1. Critically evaluate and synthesise current research and
established theories in the literature and organisational practice.
2. Critically apply theory to organisational practice.
Content
Indicative syllabus content. This list is neither prescriptive nor
exhaustive.
1. Theories and perspectives on employment relations.
Employer and employee expectations; unitarism, pluralism and
radical theories; legal, economic and psychological contract
perspectives; power, authority and managerial legitimacy;
voluntarism; regulation; beneficial constraints; justice and fairness;
structural contradictions and structured antagonism; co-operation
and compliance; indeterminacy; the contested nature of work;
ethical employment relations.
2. Impact of local, national and global contexts shaping
employment relations climates.
The impact of organisational and external factors, including
workforce diversity, ownership, size, technology, fragmented
organisational hierarchies, globalisation and international and
political developments; labour and product markets; liberal-market
economic influences; co-ordinated market influences; the
European Union; comparative employment relations systems
(European and non-European); contextual factor impacts on
employees, managers, unions and organisational-level
employment relations climate.
3. The roles and functions of the different parties to control and
manage the employment relationship.
Management and managerial functions of corporate governance;
management styles and ideologies; union and non-union
management strategies; employer groups and associations (at
national and European levels); trade unions and other collective
employee associations (at national and European levels); models
of union growth and decline; strategies for union organising and
union servicing; the objectives and role of government, as an
employer, economic manager and regulator of employment
relations; state institutions; types and forms of legal intervention
and legal regulation; other third party actors, such as management
consultants and non-government organisations (NGOs), affecting
the management of employment relations; elements of individual
and collective employment relations law; how the law operates (at
national and European levels); impact of the parties on
employment relations climates.
4. Importance of organisational-level employment relations
processes that support organisational performance
Employee voice, including communication, involvement and
participation (formal and informal) and collective bargaining;
negotiation and persuasion skills; pay determination; incentive,
individual and collective pay systems; employee engagement
(informal and formal); conflict behaviours and industrial sanctions
(official and unofficial, constitutional and unconstitutional); dispute
resolution and dispute handling; third party conciliation, mediation
and arbitration; management strategies to control employee
behaviours to mitigate organisational risk; change management;
resistance to change; overcoming resistance to change; policy and
practice for diversity management.
5. Importance of employment relations procedures that help
mitigate organisational risk
Statutory compliance; natural justice; differences between
discipline and grievance; the contents of discipline and grievance
policies; factors that influence effective discipline and grievance
handling; legal aspects of discipline and grievance to mitigate
organisational risk; dismissal and redundancy policies; legal
aspects of dismissal and redundancy to mitigate organisational
risk; collective redundancy consultation; creative solutions for the
equitable handling of redundancy in support of organisational
goals, including skills needed to negotiate redundancy agreements
and implement policy.
6. Integration of employment relations processes and how they
impact on policy, practice and organisational outcomes such
as performance and employee engagement.
Interconnections between employment relations processes; impact
of employment relations processes on organisational climate,
performance and employee engagement; implementation plans for
the effective integration of employment relations processes to
improve organisational effectiveness.
Learning support
Students are supported by tutors, Studentcentral (or equivalent VLE),
Student Support (as needed) and the resources of the library.
Indicative reading – most recent editions of:
Core text(s)
Dundon, T. & Rollinson, D. Understanding Employee Relations.
Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
Other recommended reading
Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) Advisory
Booklets. London: ACAS publications.
Blyton, P. & Turnbull, P. The Dynamics of Employee Relations.
Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Research
Series. London: CIPD.
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Change
Agendas. London: CIPD.
Corby, S. & Symon, G. Working for the State: Employment Relations
in the Public Services. [e-book] Basingstoke: Palgrave (available
through the on-line library).
Fells, R. Effective Negotiation: From Research to Results. Melbourne:
Cambridge University Press.
Gennard, J. & Judge, G. Managing Employee Relations. London:
CIPD
Lewis, P. Thornhill, A. Saunders, M. Employee Relations –
Understanding the Employee Relationship. Harlow: Pearson.
Pilbeam, S. & Corbridge, M. People Resourcing & Talent Planning.
Harlow: Pearson.
Rose, E. Employment Relations. Harlow: Pearson.
Williams, S. & Adam-Smith, D. Contemporary Employee Relations: A
Critical Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Recommended journals include:
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Incomes Data Services (IDS)
IRS Employment Review
IRS Employment Trends
Journal of Management Studies
Personnel Review
Recommended websites include:
ACAS, http://www.acas.org.uk/
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
http://www.cipd.co.uk/
Incomes Data Services (IDS) http://www.incomesdata.co.uk/
Online library: Xpert HR
Teaching and learning activities
Details of teaching and
learning activities
The teaching and learning strategy is designed to develop individual
knowledge and skills, group skills and presentation techniques.
Accordingly, teaching sessions may take a variety of forms and will
normally involve one or more of the following elements: lecture, case
study, discussion, guest speakers (which may include actors). The
latter will be involved in practical skills exercises with the students and
topical case study scenarios. Students will be required to have read,
completed and reflected upon preparatory material including case
study analysis in some depth, as appropriate, before any particular
lecture/workshop session, in order to facilitate full participation in such
sessions. This is also to ensure proper and effective understanding of
the material covered.
Allocation of study hours (indicative)
Study hours
Where 10 credits = 100 learning hours
SCHEDULED
This is an indication of the number of hours students can expect to
spend in scheduled teaching activities including lectures, seminars,
tutorials, project supervision, demonstrations, practical classes and
workshops, supervised time in workshops/ studios, fieldwork,
external visits, and work-based learning.
20
GUIDED INDEPENDENT
STUDY
All students are expected to undertake guided independent study
which includes wider reading/ practice, follow-up work, the
completion of assessment tasks, and revisions.
80
PLACEMENT
The placement is a specific type of learning away from the
University that is not work-based learning or a year abroad.
TOTAL STUDY HOURS
100
Assessment tasks
Details of assessment for
this module
Types of assessment task1
Summative assessment is individual coursework of up to 2500 words
(100%)
% weighting
Indicative list of summative assessment tasks which lead to the award of credit or which are required for
progression.
WRITTEN
(or indicate if
component is
pass/fail)
Written exam
COURSEWORK
Written assignment/ essay, report, dissertation, portfolio, project
output, set exercise
PRACTICAL
Oral assessment and presentation, practical skills assessment, set
exercise
100%
EXAMINATION INFORMATION
Area examination board
MSc Human Resource Management
Refer to Faculty Office for guidance in completing the following sections
External examiners
Name
Position and institution
Date appointed
Date tenure
ends
Refer to Studentcentral (or equivalent VLE)
1
Set exercises, which assess the application of knowledge or analytical, problem-solving or evaluative skills, are included
under the type of assessment most appropriate to the particular task.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
Date of first approval
December 2012
Only complete where this is not the
first version
Date of last revision
Only complete where this is not the
first version
Date of approval for this
version
Version number
Modules replaced
July 2014
2
Specify codes of modules for which
this is a replacement
Available as free-standing module?
Yes
No
X