Mgmt 340 Human Resource Management - Spring, 2015, Sections 01 and 02
MGMT 340 – Human Resource Managemnt (3 Credits)
005491 01
GR T H
11:00 am - 12:15 01/13/15 pm
05/07/15
MH
0209
Miller, Howard
33 33 Closed
MH
0209
Miller, Howard
33 33 Closed
NOTE!! THIS COURSE HAS ADDT'L FEE.
Wall Street Journal Fee-$25.00
005492 02
GR T H
12:30 pm - 1:45
pm
01/13/15 05/07/15
NOTE!! THIS COURSE HAS ADDT'L FEE.
Wall Street Journal Fee-$25.00
Instructor
Howard E. Miller, Ph.D.
Professor of Management
256 Morris Hall
College of Business, MnSU-Mankato
507-389-5400
howard.miller@mnsu.edu
On-line Course Description
The MSU,M online catalogue aptly describes the core content of this course:
"This course examines the effective management of human resources of organizations. Topics include
analyzing jobs and writing job descriptions; recruiting and hiring of applicants; complying with
employment law; managing promotions, quits, and layoffs; employee training and development;
evaluating job performance; determining compensation; and managing human resources in a
unionized environment"
Put differently, human resource management (HRM) is focused on people at work. Over the years a
variety of management policies, practices, and decisions have been tried to ensure that employees
can achieve the organization's objectives - HRM courses like this expose you to that body of
knowledge. Virtually every manager handles human resource issues, regardless of the area of
responsibility. Important HRM activities include analyzing jobs and writing job descriptions, recruiting
and hiring employees, providing training, motivating and monitoring job performance, determining
pay and benefits, ensuring safety and health, and complying with employment-related laws and
regulations. Managing these activities successfully is necessary for an organization to fulfill its
purpose.
This course serves as an introduction to HRM both for students who plan to specialize in HRM, and for
students who plan a career in other managerial and professional disciplines. For students majoring in
HRM, this course prepares students for the advanced courses in the field. For students in other
majors, this course can provide a working knowledge of important HRM policies and practices. My
role as instructor is to help you achieve the greatest learning and skill gain that you can. If there is
something I can do to support your learning, please get in touch.
Learning Objectives
After completing this course you should:
* understand how job analysis supports HR practice in staffing, training, & compensation
* understand how employment staffing processes work
* understand how compensation set
* understand how training programs work
* understand HR contributions to organizational functioning
Required Textbook
Students must gain access to the following textbook, the main source of class information:
Title:
Author(s):
Publisher:
Human Resource Management, 9th Edition
Noe, Raymond; Hollenbeck, John; Gerhart, Barry; Wright, Patrick
McGraw-Hill Higher Education, Copyright year: © 2015
(see separate document which shows more details for access to the required text) access details for
on-line and printed copies)
The COB computer notebook - or equivalent – and computer support fee of $125 is also required for
this class.
Course Requirements and Grading
You have responsibilities in three areas:
1)
2)
3)
4)
Read assigned chapters in Noe, et al HRM text, retain key information, concepts
Take chapter quizzes on each chapter in the D2L on-line learning support system
Write and submit an essay of 5-15 pages on a topic you choose subject to instructor approval
Deliver an oral presentation to the class about your research and conclusions
Your grade will be determined from your combined total quiz scores and your written essay. Quizzes
will have between 10 – 30 questions on each chapter. Review the “Key Words” for each chapter
before you read the chapter – those pages are listed on the course schedule. The quizzes will be
developed from the key words list primarily, but may include other items not shown in that
convenient listing. The plan is that quizzes will become open on the day the topic is covered, roughly
in order of the schedule.
Your written essay must address one of the 4 questions listed below, or one of your choice once
cleared by the instructor. The essay must be between 5-15 pages, not counting the full references list
you must supply with the paper body. You should use a large number of professional sources to write
this paper – it cannot be written using solely the information in our required text for the class. Use
APA format for your paper structure and references. You can reasonably expect that longer essays,
concisely written, with several excellent reference sources will score the highest. Bring in excellent
charts, tables and other information from sources that impressed and informed you. A printed
version of your essay is due no later than Tuesday, April 28th, during class time. Late submissions will
lose 1 letter grade off the top.
You can choose to write about one of these 4 essay options, or you can choose another HR issue to
study (option 5) …. send me your research topic at your earliest convenience, so we can get an oral
presentation schedule established as soon as is possible. You must submit your topic choice no later
than January 29th. Topic approvals must be cleared by Feb 5th.
Essay Options
1-Employment and unemployment – we have recovered enough jobs in the US so that the total now is
above the pre-recession high in employment. Yet we are still short on good paying employment in
the US, as jobs lost were replaced with lower paying positions, and the labor force would be much
larger if many people formerly employed had not given up seeking work. How big is our work force?
Who is part of that work force, who is not counted as part of the work force? How many employed,
unemployed are there in the US currently? How many of those unemployed are “long term”
unemployed? Finally and most importantly, what policies should business and government use to
encourage growth of high paying jobs in the United States?
2-Unions represent under 7% of the private sector work force, perhaps 1/3d of public sector
employees, down from a peak of union representation in the 1950’s. Some argue that unions are
necessary, and the decline of unionization is a root cause of the economic decline in the US middle
class for several decades. Have unions outlived their usefulness in the US economy, should be shut
down as a right of employees to bargain with their employers? Or do unions have an important role
in the economy, ensuring that the economic pie is shared among every one who helps “bake” that
pie? What public policies would you advocate, based on your view of the future role of unions in the
US?
3-Income inequality has grown dramatically in the US over the past 4 decades. Is that a bad thing?
Why/why not? What percentage of the US work force has enjoyed improved standards of living over
the past 4 decades? Who has received the productivity and income gains generated by the US
economy over that period of time? Should public policy be changed to encourage greater or lesser
income inequality? What changes would you advocate?
4-Just about ½ of Americans receive their health insurance coverage through their employers. Up
until the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (2010) was passed, 1 of 6 Americans had no
health coverage at all, there was a dramatic amount of health care cost inflation, and fewer and
fewer people were able to get insurance. With the passage of the PPACA (2010) (aka “Obamacare”)
health care cost inflation has moderated, and several million more Americans now have health
insurance coverage. Yet a significant number of Americans just hate the PPACA, think it should be
repealed. What does the PPACA (2010) actually require (there’s 10 sections.) How has passage of
this law affected employers? How has passage of this law affected people in your family, others you
know well? Should the PPACA (2010) be repealed? Or left intact? Or revised in constructive ways?
What would you do if you served in Congress …. Would you push for repeal, leave it be, or modify it in
useful ways? WHY?!
(continued on next page)
5- Develop your own research topic. Make it a question that is as specific as the examples above … so
that a topic “What is HR” is impossibly broad and shallow …. Something more along the lines of “Who
were the IWW … also known as the Wobblies … in labor history and employee relations today?“ …
that would be specific enough and manageable in a short (ie.,5-15 page) paper and oral presentation.
Also possible are biographical reviews of famous figures in human resource management history, such
as who was Samuel Gompers, what role did he play in US labor history? Or the same question about
Joe Hill, or any number of historical figures from HR. In addition, it is possible to report on a
significant event in labor history, like the Triangle Shirtwaist fire, or the Minneapolis Teamster Strike,
or the assassination of Martin Luther King. Send me your research question ASAP …. So I can respond,
work with you to sharpen it if necessary.