HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
MGMT 3313 Fall 2008
Instructor:
Dr. Chalmer Labig
Phone:
744-8635
Office:
Business Building 314
Email:
cel@okstate.edu
Office Hours: 5-7PM Mondays & Wednesdays & by appointment
Classrooms: 2:30PM (AG Hall 275) 4:00PM (AG Hall 275)
Webpage:
http://spears.okstate.edu/~cel
Website for textbooks: www.prenhall.com/gomez
Texts/Materials:
 Managing Human Resources by Gomez-Mejia, et al. (custom edition of selected chapters)
Prentice Hall, 2008 (comes with access code for critical thinking test)
 Beyond Feelings: A Guide to Critical Thinking by Ruggeriero, 8/e, McGraw-Hill
 Purchase a Lab Receipt (under $4) and bring it to class in order to receive the DIT2 test
(which is due by Friday, 8/29)
Course Objectives
This course involves a survey of the human resource function within organizations. You will
learn about the major activities common to most human resource departments and managers.
You will learn to recognize the limitations of these activities as tools for attracting, retaining, and
motivating employees. More importantly, you will be asked to think critically about this subject
to enhance your knowledge about managing people and yourself. There is little memorization in
this course but much reading and reflecting on the material read. By practicing critical thinking
skills for each class session throughout the semester, you will be better prepared for any future
class or endeavor that asks you to think for yourself or more importantly, for any situation in
which you wish to use your critical thinking skills.
Course & Teaching Philosophy
At its most general level, critical thinking is about thinking about your thoughts. It is not about
criticism but about asking probing questions. More than anything else, your grade will be based
on the effort you put forth in approaching the material in the Ruggiero book with an open mind,
the application of those processes and thoughts to the subject of human resource management,
and a suppression of your emotions about ideas you hold dearly but without good reasons. It is
ironic that we can be most passionate about our beliefs that we have gained that were not the
result of critical thinking.
Preparation for each class is necessary. This preparation consists of doing the homework
conscientiously, actually thinking in terms of comprehension, analysis, application, evaluation,
and synthesis of the reading material, and doing the projects that are assigned and often carried
out in class.
Teaching Method
The instructor’s role is to facilitate your understanding the concepts presented in the texts and
assist you in thinking about how you would conduct interviewing, coaching and other HR
activities of managers using critical thinking. You will be required to reflect on the HR policies
covered in each chapter and evaluate them from a critical thinking perspective. You will gain
ideas through interactions in groups in class and get practice presenting ideas in a simulated
meeting format.
Grading
Consistent with the course objectives, the bases for grades are completion of the homework and
class preparation. Projects will be graded according to the thoroughness and thoughtfulness of
your answers and application of principles from the min-lectures and texts. Unexcused absences
during the semester will result in a lower final grade. In order to obtain an excused absence, you
must email the instructor prior to class with the reason for missing class and a contact number for
him to verify the reason for your absence. If you have excused absences that cause you to not
hand in your homework or assigned projects, it is your responsibility to make them up in a timely
manner or see you lower your grade substantially.
Homework and Class Participation is worth 33% of your grade. Projects are worth 34%
of your grade. Comprehensive Final Exam is worth 33% of your final grade.
Grading Guidelines
A = 90% and above
B = 80 – 89%
C = 70 – 79%
D = 60 – 69%
F = Less than 60%
Assignment Schedule:
Week of Aug 18: Introduction
Monday: Introduction and review of the course. Mini-lecture on various perspectives about
critical thinking. Purchase a lab receipt from any local bookstore and bring the receipt to
Wednesday’s class to get your copy of the DIT2 which you are to complete and bring to class
next week
Wednesday:
Assignment: Read Chapter 1 of Ruggiero. “Who Are You?”
Week of Aug 25:
Monday: Write out an answer to Applications questions 6 (on page 12) and 9 parts a & e (on
page 13) and hand in the answers at the beginning of class on Monday August 25.
You are to complete the critical thinking test on line within two days after you receive your
HR textbook or before Wednesday if you have a copy presently.
Wednesday:
Assignment: Read Chapter 2 of Ruggiero. Write a typed one to two-page answer to the
Difference of Opinion exercise (on page 29 and 30). By following the directions in Ruggiero,
you will google and find the following websites among others: rateitall.com, debateusa.com,
whitehouse.gov.news/releases, newdemocracyworld.org, and leeiwan.wordpress.com on Google.
Then go to the OSU library database – academic search elite and find an electronic copy of an
article entitled, “Illegal Immigration and Enforcement along the US-Mexico Border: An
Overview”, published in the Economic and Financial Review in 2001 and written by Pia
Orrenius. Which writing do you find most believable and why? Which one was most helpful in
forming your own opinion about this issue and why?
Week of Sept. 1:
Monday: Labor Day No class
Wednesday: Read Chapters 3 and 4 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) How does the author
define truth? b) Of the 8 items of common knowledge on page 42, which do you think is most
accurate and why? c) Give your thoughts about Epictetus’ words on page 44. d) What is the
relationship between religious faith and truth according to our author? e) Provide an example of
assuming or guessing from your own life that was an obstacle to knowledge. f) What does
intellectual honesty mean, and when do you know you exhibit it? g) Answer Applications
question 4 (on the page 51). h) Congress passed a law in 1991 dealing with Civil Rights which
expressly forbid quotas. Some thought quotas were a very useful employment practice for
reducing discrimination in hiring. Give the pros and cons of such quotas. What does one know
for sure about this action? (See a section of Gomez-Mejia for an introduction to this subject)
Week of Sept 8:
Monday: Read Chapter 5 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) What kind of people are most
likely to have mistaken opinions? b) What makes an opinion an informed one? c) How does one
go about forming “correct opinions”? d) Answer Applications questions 2, 4, 5, 6, 8 (page 63)
Wednesday: Read Chapter 6 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) How does one know when
one is biased? b) Answer Applications questions 5 a) & e) (on page 75) c) Write a couple of
pages on “A Difference of Opinion” on page 76. Use a section of Gomez-Mejia on Managing
Compensation as a resource in answering this question.
Week of Sept 15:
Monday: Read Chapter 7 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) What is an argument, its parts
and how does one evaluate arguments? b) Write a couple of pages on Applications question 4d.
Wednesday: Read the Chapter of Gomez-Mejia on Understanding Equal Opportunity
Write up the following: a) Under what circumstances would hiring preferences for OU
graduates be considered discriminatory and under what circumstances would it be fair?
Week of Sept. 22:
Monday: Read Chapter 8 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Applications question 6a.
Wednesday: Read the chapters of Gomez-Mejia on Recruiting & Selecting Employees and on
Conducting Job Analysis. Start work on your first project: By developing a “job analysis”
and a set of interview questions to “select” a long-term significant other. Due date is Oct. 3.
Week of Sept 29:
Monday: Read Chapter 9 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Provide definitions in your
own words for the 7 specific errors of perspective in this chapter. b) Answer Applications
questions 1c, 3a, 6b, & 9h.
.
Wednesday: Read Chapter 10 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Provide definitions in
your own words for the 6 errors of procedure in this chapter. b) Answer Applications questions
6, 9c, and 10e. Project 1 is due on Friday Oct. 3.
Week of Oct. 6:
Monday: Read the chapter of Gomez-Mejia on training. Start work on your second project by
developing a training program for your significant other. Discuss doing a needs
assessment, determining location options, presentation options, as well as types of training.
Decide on each of these options and explain your reasoning. Due Oct. 24.
Wednesday: Read Chapter 11 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Provide definitions in
your own words for the 6 errors of expression in this chapter. b) Answer Applications question 5.
Week of Oct. 13:
Monday: Review
Wednesday: Read Chapter 12 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Provide definitions in
your own words for the 5 errors of reaction in this chapter. b) Answer Applications questions 4,
9b (Answer as if this were a work situation.)
Week of Oct. 20:
Monday: Read the chapter of Gomez-Mejia on Compensation. Homework assignment to be
announced in class.
Wednesday: Make-up day.
Week of Oct. 27:
Monday: Read Chapter 13 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Provide one example each
for an oversimplification, a hasty conclusion, and an unwarranted assumption. (See page 147.)
b) Answer Applications questions 4, 7a or 7i, and 8b.
Wednesday: Read the chapters of Gomez-Mejia on Appraisals and Rewarding
Performance. Homework assignment to be announced in class.
Week of Nov. 3:
Monday: Read Chapter 14 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Answer critical thinking
inventory questions. b) Answer Applications question 1. In class also do 2e.
Wednesday: Read the chapter of Gomez-Mejia on Safety. Homework assignment to be
announced in class.
Week of Nov. 10:
Monday: Read Chapter 15 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Answer Applications
question 1.
Wednesday: Read Chapter 16 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: Select an issue related to any
HR practice and apply the approach suggested in this chapter.
Week of Nov. 17:
Monday: Read the chapters of Gomez-Mejia on separations and labor unions. Homework
Assignment to be announced in class.
Wednesday: Read Chapter 17 of Ruggiero. Conduct an inquiry into an HRM issue. (You may
write about the same issue that you did last Wednesday.)
Week of Nov. 24:
Monday: Read Chapter 18 of Ruggiero. Write up the following: a) Applications question 2.
Wednesday: No class for Thanksgiving
Week of Dec. 1:
Monday: Read Chapter 19 of Ruggiero. Write a two or three page persuasive composition about
an HRM issue.
Wednesday: Review for final exam. Take DIT2 test again.
Week of Dec. 8:
Final Exam
Please note that this syllabus will be updated by the first of October, depending on the
progress students are making in developing their critical thinking skills. In addition,
instructions for the two projects will follow.