Mgmt 340 Human Resource Management (registration #003051)
Summer II, 2015, June 22 – July 24, delivered via the internet. Wall Street Journal $25 fee required.
Howard Miller, Ph.D., Professor of Management, Course Instructor
Email:
howard.miller@mnsu.edu
University web page:
http://mavweb.mnsu.edu/howard/
Course web page:
Mgmt 340 Summer II 2015 Human Resource Management The Latest Scoop Web Page.htm
MGMT 340 – Human Resource Management (3 Credits)
003051 01 GR
ARR
06/22/15 07/24/15
ON
Miller, Howard 33 33 Closed Notes
LINE
Course will be taught online.
NOTE!! THIS COURSE HAS ADDT'L FEE.
Wall Street Journal Fee-$25.00
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)
A fee of $25 for a Wall Street Journal subscription is required for this class. Get in touch with the
College of Business Dean’s Office for more details about that.
Course Requirements and Grading
You have responsibilities in three areas:
1)
2)
3)
Read all 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
Your grade will be determined from your combined total quiz scores and your written essay. Quizzes
will have roughly 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. Keep that list in
mind as you carefully review the pertinent chapter. 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 1-5 will become open at the start of the first week of summer class, 6-10 at the start of the
second week, and 11-15 at the start of the third week. All quizzes will remain open until midnight of
Wednesday, July 22nd, when all quizzes will close. This schedule is offered to allow the student
maximum flexibility in completing chapter quizzes.
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 tend to score the highest. Incorporate
excellent charts, tables and other information from sources that impressed and informed you. A
Word or Adobe PDF version of your essay is due no later than Friday, July 24, noon, submitted via
email attachment to my email address ( howard.miller@mnsu.edu ). Late submissions will lose 1
letter grade off the top.
You can choose to write about one of these 4 essay options listed below, or you can choose your own
HR issue to study (option 5 – topic MUST be cleared with instructor) …. send me an email listing your
research topic at your earliest convenience, so we can ensure your essay topic is worthwhile. You
must submit your topic choice for approval no later than Sunday, June 28th, 6 pm. These deadlines
matter – be sure to honor them.
Essay Options - write a 5-15 page essay in English prose that addresses the questions posed in the
essay option you choose. Use APA format. Submit it in Word Doc or Adobe PDF file format as an
email attachment no later than Friday, July 24, noon. Be sure to include a full list references to all
sources used.
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 everyone 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 does the pending US Supreme Court case King v Burwell have to do with Obamacare? What
would you do if you served in Congress …. would you push for repeal, leave it be, or modify it in useful
ways? WHY?!
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.