Presentation

The basic objective of the course is to teach the basic principles and functions of Strategic Human Resource Management and the roles that HR professionals fulfill as business partners. Across the world, organizations cannot gain a sustainable competitive advantage without highly-skilled and committed employees. Especially, in times when innovativeness is so often a critical factor of success, management must go beyond “good enough” knowledge and the practices of the past. “People” are viewed as the most important asset of any organization. Managing an organization’s staff is often the most challenging and complex task required of a manager, and usually, the one he is not adequately prepared for.

Therefore, this course provides IMBA/IEMBA students with insights into their own and others psychological work characteristics (traits, emotion or motivation) and competencies relevant for effective management. On the one hand, acquiring this insight implies understanding critical potential psychological and motivational components of the employees’ personalities. These are important tools that acting managers need to administer on a day-to-day basis to achieve the organizational aims. On the other hand, the course enables the enhancement of critical skills required for setting development objectives, evaluating performance, recruiting, structuring teams, coaching, mentoring people, etc. Becoming acquainted with the best HRM practices of different cultural contexts provides an overarching ambition of this course.

Competences

General Competences

• GC4. That the students can communicate their conclusions, present their projects, results, plans, the knowledge and the reasons that support them before a specialized or an ordinary public in a clear and in an ambiguity free manner.
• GC5. That the students are able to integrate their knowledge in the different working areas of the business with information, usually incomplete or limited, in the business environment in order to manage the decision making and troubleshooting processes through complex and multidisciplinary situations.

Specífic Competences

• SC12. To understand the functional organization of the business. Areas interrelation. To identify and to understand the factors and dimensions that belongs to the functional part of the business, and the features of its administration system.
• SC26. To provide the student with managing techniques in team leadership in order to achieve concrete business targets and negotiation techniques.
• SC27. To develop and to maintain human talent within the organization, analysing the instruments and key proceedings in Human Resources management.
• SC28. Human team management techniques for innovation and continuing change management.
  

Transversal Competences

• TC4. To qualify the students with the knowledge and the skills necessary to be able to fulfil their professional performance in multicultural environments.
• TC8. To ease the process of transition to the business professional career.
• TC9. To provide the students with learning skills that will allow them to continue their studies in an autonomous manner.

Program

Unit 1. Evolution and main elements of Human Resources Management
Introduction
Historical evolution
Basic elements of Human Resource Management
Main differences between classical and contemporary HR management

Unit 2. Human Resources Management
Introduction
Goals and objectives of the HR Department
Operational areas of HR Department
Main HR policies in a company
Some new trends in HRM

Unit 3. Motivation at work
Introduction
Concept of motivation and main theories
Implications in the work environment

Unit 4. Talent and competency-based management
Introduction
Function and Goal of Human Resource Management
Functions of the Human Resources Department
Implementation of Strategic Policies for Human Resources
New trends in Human Resource Management

Unit 5. Individual development: training, performance appraisal and compensation policies
Introduction
Training and professional development
Performance management and potential appraisal
Compensation policies

Unit 6. International Human Resources Management
Introduction
International Business: main entry methods
Expatriates vs local employees
Stages of expatriate adjustment and reasons for expatriate failure
Main HR policies with expats: selection & recruitment and expatriate compensation
Don’t forget about repatriation

Methodology

The different tasks and activities programmed during the semester have been developed with the goal of adapting the learning process to the different capabilities, necessities and interests of the students.

The activities included in the subject are:

• Practical cases: will provide the student with actual business situations that will need to analyse and, after that, make decisions, evaluate the consequences and alternatives. They will allow acquiring intellectual skills to face sudden situations or to plan action programs adapted to a changing environment where there is no math logic.
• Participation in events. During the course you will be participating in different events. Some of those events are attendance to online classes, forums, self-evaluation tests.

In the weekly program you can find the specific tasks you need to complete in this subject.

These activities are combined with the following aspects:

• Personal Study
• Tutoring. The tutoring class can be implemented through different tools and means. During the course of the subject, the teacher-tutor plans the individual tutoring on specific days for the resolution of academic-oriented doubts through “Consultation sessions”. Supplementing these sessions, students have also available the “Ask your teacher” forum through which they can formulate questions and check the corresponding answers on general aspects of the subject.  Due to the very nature of the media used, there are no fixed schedules for the students.
• Mandatory on-site final exam

The hours dedicated to each activity are detailed as follows:

Bibliography

Basic bibliography

The necessary texts for the study of this subject have been elaborated by UNIR and are available in a digital format to consult, download or print inthe virtual classroom.

Evaluation and Assessment

The evaluation system is based on the following numerical chart:

The grade is made up of two components:

On-site final exam (60%). At the end of the semester, you need to assist a mandatory on-site final exam. You need to pass the final exam so the grade obtained from the assignments (continuous assessment) is summed up to the final grade of the subject. 

Continuous assessment (40%): this type of assessment will be measured through the different assignments you need to complete during the course:

• Active participation and involvement in forums, online classes.
• Tasks. The completion of the different activities the students need to send through our virtual classroom such as research, critical thinking, practice cases.
• Self-evaluation tests. At the end of each unit, students will find a short quiz which will help the students to check the knowledge acquired during the course.

Remember that you can check the points (value) of each assignment in the weekly program.

Professor

Susana Elena

Education: Susana Elena holds a PhD on Economy and Management of Innovation, Cum Laude, European award (2007). Interuniversity Programme: Autonomous University of Madrid, Complutense University, Polytechnic University of Madrid. She previously studied a Business Administration Degree at the Autonomous University of Madrid (1999).

Professional experience: Susana Elena has a wide experience as professor and lecturer at different universities: University Pablo de Olavide (Seville), Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Loyola Andalucia University and now at UNIR. She also has experience as a researcher in the European Comission Joint Research Center (JRC), Growth and Innovation Unit.

Lines of research: Intellectual Capital, intangibles and knowledge management, Higher Education policies, Governance, and financing of universities; Research and innovation policies; Regional development; Transnational R&D Collaboration.

Tips

Studying online means you can organize your study as you wish, as long as you meet the due dates of the different assignments (activities, tasks and tests). In order to help you, we propose the following steps:

1. From our online platform you will have access to each of the subjects you are enrolled. Apart from this, t you can access to the virtual classroom of the master. In this section, you have available all the documents on how to use the different tools included in the virtual classroom, how a subject is organized and you will also have the possibility to organize your study plan with the tutor.
2. Do not forget to check the weekly program. You will see which part of the content of the course you have to work on every week.
3. After knowing your work for the week, go to Units in your virtual classroom. There, you will have access to the study material (theory and practice) from the unit you need to study throughout the week.
4. Start by reading thethe Basic Knowledge of the unit, this section is the basic study material of the unit. Always read the first part of the same, Introduction, as we will show you here all the material you need to study. Visit, as well, the Resources section, you will find here the complementary readings, videos, experiences, etc.
5. Devote some time when doing the Practical Cases and Test. In the subject Program we will detail which are the corresponding activities for each week and the max. grade you can achieve in each one.
6. We strongly recommend to take part in the events of the course (On-site virtual classes, debate forums, etc.). To know the exact date for each one of these events you must visit the communication media on the Virtual Classroom. Your teacher and your tutor will inform of the subjects news.

Remember that in the virtual classroom of the master you can check how the different tools of the virtual classroom work: email, forum, online classes, sending the tasks, etc.