Welcome to MGTO 231 !
Human Resource
Management
Introduction to the Course
About us
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Dr. Jeroen KUILMAN
M.Sc. from Maastricht University, Ph.D. from
RSM Erasmus University, both in the
Netherlands.
Joint appointment at Department of
Organization & Personnel Management, RSM
Erasmus University (The Netherlands)
E-mail: mnjgk@ust.hk , Room 2377
About us
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Instructional Assistant (IA): Sylvia LI
Room 2332 (near Lift 3)
E-mail: mnsylvia@ust.hk
About us
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Our principles
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Open-door policy
Equal treatment
Interactivity
Respect
Honesty
Fun
Course Objectives
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What will I get from this course?
Basic and fundamental knowledge of HRM
 Overall picture of how HRM works in
organizational contexts
 How HR functions can improve firm performance
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Difference OB and HRM?
MGTO121: OB
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Organizational Behavior
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Prerequisite
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MGTO231: HRM
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(Social) psychology, sociology
Topics covered: learning, decisionmaking, motivation, etc.
Human Resource(s) Management
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Tends to be a bit more applied
Topics covered: everything from
hiring to firing
Course Materials
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Where can I obtain the course materials?
http://teaching.ust.hk/~mgto231/
 PowerPoint files will be provided prior to each session
and you can obtain them from the course website
 Textbook (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright’s
“Fundamentals of Human Resource Management”
should be available in the bookstore TODAY
 One supplementary textbook is reserved in library
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Grade Distribution
Component
Points
A. Midterm
225
B. Final exam
225
C. Hot Seat assignments (6 X 25)
150
D. WSC assignment
75
E. Participation and attendance
100
F. HRM Consultants Report
225
TOTAL:
1000 pts
Note: You are allowed to miss at most 4 sessions
Manager’s Hot Seat Assignments
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Code card with book
Group discussions in the
form of business meetings
Secretary hands in a report
about the meeting the day
after.
First try-out next Monday
WSC Assignment
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Case about HRM at Ocean Park (will be made
available at the MGTO office, @ HKD20)
First draft will be graded by the Language
Center (April 12)
Final draft will be graded by the instructor
(April 20)
HRM Consultants Report
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You take the role of a team of consultants.
You analyze a self-chosen HK company in
terms of its HRM practices.
As professional consultants, you present your
report at the end of the course.
Participation and Attendance
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Participation during case discussions, lectures,
guest lectures and assignments is very
important.
In case you miss a business meeting session,
you will have to do the case individually.
At most 4 sessions can be missed.
Taking attendance starts today, but people that
join in later can easily catch up.
PRS Devices
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Get your PRS device from the AV counter (Rm 1030,
lift 1, close to Bank of China Branch)
Please bring your PRS to the next session!
Setting Expectations: Workload
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Before mid-semester break: reasonable.
After mid-semester break higher due to
deadlines for WSC assignment, HRM
Consultants’ report.
Try to manage your workload by doing
some preparations before the mid-semester
break.
Why study HRM?
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What do all the departments of HKUST Business
School have in common?
What drives competitive advantage?
According to the Resource-Based View (RBV), firms
need to have “something” that is:
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Valuable
Rare
Difficult to imitate
Lack of substitutes
Jay Barney
Why study HRM?
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Human Resources are one of the most critical
determinants of competitive advantage.
Managing organizations is about managing
people, and exceptional firms often have hard
to substitute people with valuable, rare, hard
to imitate skills and knowledge.
So even if you do not plan to become an HR
manager, knowledge about HRM helps you to
understand how organizations work.
Why study HRM?
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What kind of positions?
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HR Director
HR Manager
Specialized functions: In-House Recruitment
Manager, Compensation & Benefits Specialist
HR/Personnel Officer, Administration Manager
But also: (HR) Consultant, General Management
Salaries vary across industries
An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Understanding the Job and Duty
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Organizational structure
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Work Flow
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The structure of a firm
The processes through which a product or a service
is produced
Job analysis
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The process that defines the details of a job
An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Pursuing human resources
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Staffing
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Recruitment
 Getting
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a pool of qualified candidates
Personnel selection
 Select
the specific one to hire
An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Evaluating human resources
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Performance appraisals
Identify the performance
 Measure and assess the performance
 Feedback for future improvement
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An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Retaining human resources
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Compensation
How much shall I pay for an employee?
 Why I shall pay this amount?
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Benefits
Indirect compensation
 Providing a more attractive feeling of working
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An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Strengthening human resources
Pay for performance
 Training
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Special or general skills
Development
Promotion
 Career development
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An HRM Framework
Understanding the jobs
Pursuing human resources
Evaluating human resources
Retaining (useful) human resources
Strengthening human resources
Separating human resources
Separating human resources
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Separations
Layoffs, voluntary retirement
 Reengineering, downsizing
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Special Topics in HRM
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International HRM
Workforce diversity
Labor unions/collective bargaining
Organizational change
Strategic HR choices
Manager or top-management have to decide
policies and actions that are consistent with
their goals!
 There are many strategies they can choose in
various HR contexts
 The choices may be different for different
Business strategies
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Some strategic HR Choices
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Work Flows
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Efficiency
Control
Explicit job description
Detailed work planning
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Staffing
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Internal recruitment
Supervisor makes hiring
Fit wit firm’s culture
Informal hiring
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Innovation
Flexibility
Broad job classes
Loose work planning
External recruitment
HR makes hiring
skill and qualification
Formal hiring
Some strategic HR Choices
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Separations
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Voluntary inducements to retire
Hiring freeze
Continuing support after termination
Preferential rehiring
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 Layoffs
 Recruitment as needed
 Letting them fend for themselves
 No preferential
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Performance appraisal
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Customized appraisals
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Multiple purpose appraisals
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Multiple inputs (peers, subordinate) 
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Uniform appraisal Procedures
Control-oriented appraisals
Supervisory input only
Some strategic HR Choices
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Training and development
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Individual training
Job-specific training
Buy skills with higher wages
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Compensation
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Fix pay
Job-based pay
Seniority-based pay
Centralized pay decisions
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Team training
Generic training
make skills at lower wages
Variable pay
Individual-based pay
Performance-based pay
Decentralized one
Some strategic HR Choices
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International management
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Create global company culture
Rely on expatriates
Repatriation agreement
Universal company policies
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Adapt to local culture
Rely on country nationals
No formal repatriation
Country-specific company polices
Choices of HR strategies
No HR strategy is “good” or “bad” in and of
itself
 Depends on the situation/context
 Fit between the strategies and organizations
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That’s it...
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See you on Wednesday!
Don’t forget to pick up book (prepare Chapter
4 and have a quick look at Chapter 1)
Also please pick up your PRS handset!