UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA
College of Business
Management 601
Human Resource Management
Fall 2009
R 600-845p IP
Dane M. Partridge, Ph.D.
OC 3066C
465-7085
465-1044 (fax)
dpartrid@usi.edu
http://business.usi.edu/dpartrid/
Office Hours:
TR 930-1145a
and by appt.
INTRODUCTION
Organizations must successfully manage their human resources to maximize competitiveness. Human
Resource Management in its essence involves attracting, retaining, and motivating organizational talent.
For HR practices to be effective they need to be related to the strategic direction of the business. This
course will emphasize how HR practices can and should contribute to organizational goals and help to
improve product and service quality and effectiveness.
READINGS
Students should obtain the following book:
Noe, Raymond A., John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, and Patrick M. Wright. Human Resource
Management: Gaining A Competitive Advantage, 6e (McGraw- Hill Irwin, 2008).
Note also the textbook website: http://www.mhhe.com/noe6e.
Copies of the text should be available for purchase in the Bookstore. Any other assigned readings will be
available via the instructor’s website or the David L. Rice Library online databases. Supplements to the
course outline and reading assignments may be distributed during the semester.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS, METHODS OF EVALUATION, AND RESPONSIBILITIES
In addition to the required reading assignments, there will be three exams, a number of individual and
group exercises, and a research paper. Given that the assignments are primarily for the purpose of class
discussion, any that are turned in late will be penalized by 50 percent (and any late assignments must be
submitted no later than one week following the original due date). Any in-class assignment missed due to
absence must be submitted at the next meeting.
Grading will be determined on the basis of the following weights:
Exams (3 @ 20% each)
Research paper
Case assignments
60%
20%
20%
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Regular attendance is expected, as the required readings and class meetings are intended to be
complements, not substitutes. The required reading is the foundation for the course; the class meetings will
build on that foundation. On the exams, students will be responsible for both material covered by the
readings and material discussed in class. Students are expected to keep up with the required reading, as
assigned, and to come to class prepared for discussion. Students are reminded that under the credit hour
system a three-credit class requires on average six hours of outside preparation per week.
Research paper topics may be selected from any contemporary human resource management issue, given
consultation with and approval by the instructor. Papers must be typed, double-spaced, 8-12 pages in
length, and are due no later than December 11. Papers should clearly identify the issue and its significance
to management, and consider potential managerial responses and their pros and cons. An appropriate
number of outside references should be consulted. Papers that focus on a particular organization and go
into some depth are strongly preferred to those that are less focused and more superficial (e.g.,
“Developing Team Leadership Skills at XYZ Company” vs. “Leadership in the 21 st Century”). A good
starting place for ideas would be recent issues of HRMagazine, published by the Society for Human
Resource Management (see below).
Further details of these requirements and grading procedures will be discussed in class as is necessary.
WHAT (SOME) PREVIOUS STUDENTS HAVE LIKED LEAST…

“Test material was not [adequately] covered in class...more outside material was covered rather than
test related material.”
o As indicated above, the required reading is the foundation of the course, and the class meetings
build on that foundation. Students have the responsibility to be active, not passive, learners and
to raise questions about, e.g., text learning objectives, that they may have. You are responsible for
text material regardless of whether it has been ‘covered’ in class.
Student Rights and Responsibilities: Academic Misconduct
Truth and honesty are necessary to a university community. Each student is expected to do his or her
academic work without recourse to unauthorized means of any kind. Both students and faculty are
expected to report violations to academic honesty. USI policies and regulations governing the conduct of
students and the procedures for handling violations of these policies and regulations are found in the USI
Bulletin and on the Dean of Students' website (http://www.usi.edu/stl/index.htm).
Students are reminded of the College of Business expectations regarding the avoidance of plagiarism, which
includes:
(1) failing to cite quotations and borrowed ideas,
(2) failing to enclose borrowed language in quotation marks, and
(3) failing to put summaries and paraphrases in your own words.
(Source: Diana Hacker, A Pocket Style Manual 2e (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1997), p. 92.) Students
are specifically reminded that electronically copying text from a source document, such as a web page, and
pasting that into one’s own document without putting the borrowed language in quotation marks is
plagiarism, even if the source of that language is included in a reference list or an in-text citation.
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SOCIETY FOR HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT (SHRM)
SHRM (http://www.shrm.org) is the leading voice of the human resource profession, representing the
interests of more than 250,000 professional and student members from around the world. SHRM
provides its membership with education and information services, conferences and seminars, government
and media representation, online services and publications that equip HR professionals for their roles as
leaders and decision makers within their organizations.
THE INSTRUCTOR
DANE M. PARTRIDGE -- Associate Professor of Management; B.A., Michigan State University; M.S., Cornell
University; Ph.D., Cornell University. Dr. Partridge's primary teaching and research interests involve human
resource management and labor relations. His research has been published in the Journal of Collective
Negotiations in the Public Sector, the Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, the Journal of Labor
Research, and the Denver University Law Review; his most recent article is forthcoming in the Employee
Relations Law Journal. Dr. Partridge has presented management development programs on topics including
employee involvement in quality improvement and managing workforce diversity. Dr. Partridge has also
taught at Virginia Tech, Radford University, and Roanoke College, and has received several awards for
teaching excellence.
COURSE OUTLINE, TENTATIVE SCHEDULE, AND READING ASSIGNMENTS
INTRODUCTION AND ORGANIZATION (9/3i)
Human



Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage (9/3ii)
Container Store Does Great HRM
An Extraordinary Stumble at JetBlue
“Why We Hate HR,” Fast Company, August 2005.
I.
THE HUMAN RESOURCE ENVIRONMENT
a. Strategic Human Resource Management (9/10i)
 Strategy and HRM at Delta Airlines
 Downsizing: Saving Money While Remaining Ethical
 Frost, Inc.
b. The Legal Environment: Equal Employment Opportunity and Safety (9/10ii, 9/17)
 Brown v. Board of Education: A Bittersweet Birthday
 “A Question of Appearances,” HRMagazine, April 2002.
 Food Chain Supermarkets
c. The Analysis and Design of Work (9/24)
 Electronic Banking System (EBS) Inc.
 Giving the Boss the Big Picture
 EXAM I (10/1i)
II.
ACQUISITION AND PREPARATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES
a. Human Resource Planning and Recruitment (10/1ii)
 What’s Really Propping Up the Economy
o “Factories Fading, Hospitals Step In,” Wall Street Journal, April 15, 2008.
 Diversity Planning at Colorado Aerospace
 “In Limo on a New Hire,” HRMagazine, November 2001.
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b. Selection and Placement (10/8)
 Never Having to Say “You Never Know”
 Hiring a Store Director at Bag Grocers, Inc.
 Personnel Selection in Team Environments
 Selecting Employees for Work Teams at Levi Strauss
 Selecting Patient Escorts at City Hospital
 “Fat Chance,” Harvard Business Review, May 2005.
c. Training (10/15i)
 Knowledge Is Critical for the Rubber to Meet the Road
 On-the-Job Video Gaming
 Solving Problems Through Training
 Get Serious About Diversity Training
 Safety Training
III.
ASSESSMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN RESOURCES
a. Performance Management (10/15ii)
 A Customized Appraisal System
 Cracking the Whip at Wyeth
 Creating a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale
 A Morale Problem at Stellar Systems, Inc.
b. Employee Development (10/22i)
 How to Groom the Next Boss
c. Employee Separation and Retention (10/22ii)
 Feeling Insecure Over Airline Security
 Getting Out of Dodge
 Identifying Problems and Reducing Turnover: The Exit Survey
 We Don’t Want to Get Involved (or Do We?)
 The Aftermath of a Layoff
 “Civics and Civility,” Harvard Business Review, October 2004.
 “Why Didn’t We Know,” Harvard Business Review, April 2007.
 EXAM II (10/29i)
IV.
COMPENSATION OF HUMAN RESOURCES
a. Pay Structure Decisions (10/29ii, 11/5i)
 Changing Compensation to Support Changes in Corporate Strategy
 How Rising Wages Are Changing the Game in China
b. Recognizing Employee Contributions with Pay (11/5ii, 11/12i)
 Paying for Good Employee Relations
 The Art of Motivation
 Direct Response Group Restructures
 Merit Pay Decisions at Bag Grocers, Inc.
 A Compensation Dilemma at Textron, Inc.
c. Employee Benefits (11/12ii)
 Companies Learn That It Pays to Keep Employees Fit
 Get Healthy or Else
 To Leave or Not to Leave
 The Controversy Over Domestic Partner Benefits
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V.
SPECIAL TOPICS
a. Collective Bargaining and Labor Relations (11/19)
 How Nissan Laps Detroit
 Twilight of the UAW
 Are Labor Unions Becoming Extinct?
b. Managing Human Resources Globally (12/3)
 Terrorism and Global Human Resource Management
 The Toyota Way to No. 1
 Columbia Sportswear Faces Bugaboos Overseas
 “We Googled You,” Harvard Business Review, June 2007.
c. Strategically Managing the HR Function (12/10)
 Transforming the Business and HR at Xerox
 Saving Starbucks’ Soul
 FINAL EXAM: Thursday, December 17, 600-800p.
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