Principles of business administration Organizational behaviour

Knowledge-based competences: - Learn and identify the basics of Strategic human resource management - Learn the relationships between Strategic Human Resource management and the remainder functions in the company. - Learn the role of Human Resource Direction as strategic parner of the firm. - Learn the key contingency factors relevant for the implementation of policies and strategies of effective human resource management - Learn the various alternatives in specific Human resource policies (e.g. selection, training, ect.) and their relative advantages and disadvantages. - Learn that some aspectec of human resource management are not evident and need a profound analysis and specific knowledge. Skills: - Ability to take advantage of a text book as a didactic tool - Ability to critically analyze the alternatives in human resource management. - Ability to take decisions based on human resource management and forsee its possible secondary effects. - Ability to team working Actitudes: - Conceptual and intellectual effort - Inclination towards based and profound analysis - Active participation - Iniciative

This course aims at providing students with a strategic framework to address the main Human Resource (HR) issues and activities. Its intention is to approach Human Resource Management (HRM) from the perspective and concerns of the general management. Students will be introduced to the field of HRM using an integrated perspective showing its connections to the organizational objectives and contingencies. Throughout the term the following topics will be analyzed: 1. The strategic role of HRM. - It will be explained what it means to manage employees strategically. - The primary HR activities will be presented. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment influence HRM. 2. Job design and job analysis. - It will be explained the importance of job design and job analysis for the deployment of the strategy and the organizational performance. - The main approaches to job design will be presented. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment influence job analysis and job design. - Different sources of data for job analysis will be presented. 3. Workforce planning. - It will be explained why workforce planning is an important activity - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment influence workforce planning. - The primary tactics used to remedy labour shortages and labour surplus will be discussed. - The advantages and drawbacks of various workforce planning tactics will be discussed. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment influence workforce planning. 4. Recruitment. - Recruitment will be defined and its importance for gaining a competitive advantage explained. - The components of a successful recruitment strategy will be presented. - Multiple sources for recruiting employees will be identified and their relative advantages and disadvantages discussed. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment influence recruitment. 5. Selection. - It will be described how employee selection affects the organizational performance. - The meaning and importance of person-job fit will be discussed. - The standards for an employee selection process to be effective will be identified. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment affect the employee selection process. - The various types of employee selection methods will be explained. 6. Training and development. - It will be explained the purpose of training and development. - The typical stages of a training program will be presented. - Commonly used training methods will be presented. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment affect training and development activities. 7. Performance management. - The different purposes of performance management will be described. - The components of an effective performance management system will described. - It will be discussed how to develop useful performance measures. - The advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches used to evaluate employee performance will be discussed. - The typical rater bias will be described and discussed. - The common methods to reduce rater bias will be presented. - It will be discussed how to give effective feedback to the employees. 8. Compensation. - The purpose and components of compensation will be described. - The importance of equity relative to a firm¿s compensation decisions will be discussed. - ¿Point¿ and ¿competency-based¿ systems for the determination of compensation will be described. - It will be described how organizational demands and the external environment affect a firm¿s compensation decisions. 9. Incentives. - Theories behind how incentives plans motivate employees will be explained. - The different types of individual incentives will be presented. - The different types of collective incentives will be presented. - The advantages and disadvantages of the different incentive types

Methodology is composed of three broad issues: 1. Magistral classes, with support on specialised text books and readings, through which theoretical frameworks will eb presented in order for students to focus on the different aspects of Human resource management and their functions in the context of organizations. 2. Case-method approach, whereby issued related with human resource management in real organizations will be presented. Such cases will stimulate students to employ the theory learned in magistral classes as framework of analysis and interpretation to search for solutions. 3. Teachers will be available for students at the office. The last wee of the semester will be dedicated to tutorials in order for students to ask doubts and address the final examen with re adequate preparation.