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Organizational Behaviour (ORGB) 387

Strategic Human Resource Management (Revision 2)

Revision 2 closed, replaced by current version.

Delivery Mode:Individualized study* or grouped study.
*Note: This course may be offered online or online-enhanced. Confirm status before registering.

Credits:3

Area of Study:Applied Studies

Prerequisite:None. HRMT 386 or ORGB 386 is recommended but not required.

Precluded Course:ORGB 387 is listed under two different disciplines: Organization Behaviour and Human Resource Management. ORGB 387 cannot be taken for credit if credit has already been obtained for HRMT 387.

Centre:Centre for Work and Community Studies

ORGB 387 is not available for challenge.

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**Note:Students registering in grouped study, or grouped study international mode are advised that there may be some differences in the evaluation and course materials information indicated below. To obtain the most up-to-date information, contact the School of Business Call Centre at 1-800-468-6531.

Overview

ORGB 387 examines the management of all employment relationships in the work organization. Capitalist societies are characterized by constant change in response to innovation and to external market pressures. As a result, the past decade has witnessed a number of significant developments in work organizations. New technologies have radically altered the way work is performed and new structures have emerged—a process sometimes referred to as “reengineering.”

In parallel with these changes has been the emergence of a new approach to the management of people at work: the “new” or “progressive” Human Resource Management (HRM) paradigm. The course examines and evaluates the nature and significance of the “new” HRM model for Canadian workplaces; the strategic issues, such as the relationship between HRM and trade unions; and the links between HRM and organizational performance. Some of the key techniques including recruitment and selection, appraisal, reward systems, training and development, and international aspects of HRM are examined fully.

The course is intended to provide a critical analysis of HRM models both for students of management from an academic perspective, and for those people who are involved in the human resource management area whether as human resource specialists, as managers, or as trade union representatives.

Outline

The course consists of four units:

Unit 1: The Human Resource Management Phenomenon

Unit 2: Strategic Human Resource Management, Trade Unions, and Organizational Performance

Unit 3: Human Resource Management Practices

Unit 4: International Human Resource Management

Evaluation

To receive credit for ORGB 387, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least a “D” (50 percent) and a grade of at least 50 percent on the tutor-marked exercises. The weighting of the composite grade is as follows:

Tutor-marked Exercise 1 Tutor-marked Exercise 2 Tutor-marked Exercise 3 Tutor-marked Exercise 4 Total
25% 25% 25% 25% 100%

To learn more about assignments and examinations, please refer to Athabasca University's online Calendar.

Course Materials

Textbooks

Story, J. (Ed) 2001. Human resource management: A critical text. (2nd ed.) London: Thomson Learning.

Townley, B. 1994. Reframing human resource management: Power, ethics and the subject at work. London: Sage Publications.

Betcherman, G., McMullen, K., Leckie, N. & Caron, C. 1994. The Canadian workplace in transition. Kingston: ON: Queen's University, Industrial Relations Centre Press.

Other Materials

The course materials also include a study guide, student manual, and a reading file.

Athabasca University reserves the right to amend course outlines occasionally and without notice. Courses offered by other delivery methods may vary from their individualized-study counterparts.

Opened in Revision 2, June/02.

View previous syllabus

Last updated by SAS  03/24/2014 10:10:32