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Course: 2017/2018

Managing employee attitudes and behavior

(11854)

Study: Master in Human Resources (276)

EPE

Coordinating teacher: STIRPE , LUIGI

Department assigned to the subject: Department of Mechanical Engineering

Type: Compulsory

ECTS Credits: 3.0 ECTS

Course: 1º

Semester: 2º

Students are expected to have completed

In order to make the most of this course, students are expected to have completed the following courses of the first semester:
-	Managing and Leading People
-	Strategic Management
-	International Strategic Management
-	Organizational Behavior
-	Comparative HR
-	Financial Management
-	Commercial Management
-	Production Management
-	Accounting

Competences and skills that will be acquired and learning results.

At the end of the course participants will be able to:

- Describe the different purposes of performance management as well as the components of an effective performance management;
- Explain the challenges associated with the implementation of an effective performance management programme;  
- Describe the purpose of compensation as well as the different approaches that mangers may follow to design compensation systems;
- Explain the components of an effective compensation system;
- Explain the rationale behind how incentive plans motivate the workforce;
- Contrast and compare the relative advantages and drawbacks of different types of incentive plans.

Description of contents: programme

How well employees perform is a function of the attitudes and behaviours they display at work. Promoting appropriate employee attitudes and behaviours implies motivating the workforce to constantly improve what they do. This is, indeed, a primary HR activity of which practitioners should demonstrate a solid understanding. Some of the principal devices that may be used to guide employee efforts on the job are:

- Performance management programmes;
- Base salary;
- Incentives;
- Benefits.

This course is designed to provide students with an in depth description of the above HR devices. The course also aims at presenting the main issues and challenges that are likely to be encountered in any organization when it comes to deploy these devices. Finally, potential approaches to effectively face such issues and challenges will be presented and discussed.

Learning activities and methodology

The course will be based on case studies, readings and some presentations. The debate and the exchange of ideas and experiences will be pivotal for the development of the course. Students will be encouraged to bring their insights and thoughts on the material assigned into class discussions.

As in many other areas on HRM, most issues, cases and problems will not have one "right" answer, though some answers will be more correct than others. Thus, being "right" or "wrong" should not be a concern for students when participating to class discussions. All viewpoints will be of interest. Everyone is expected to critically listen to the contributions of fellow students and any disagreement should be explained.
Each student is expected to:

- Be prepared for each class session, implying that assigned readings, exercises and case studies will have to be completed as required;
- Be a committed and loyal contributor to the team work; 
- Participate politely in class discussions and activities;
- Attend all classes;
- Be on time.

Assessment System

Assessment will be based on a mixture of individual and group work. The final mark will be weighted as follows: 

ORDINARY CALL

Individual participation (10%)
Team work (30%)
Final exam (60%)

EXTRAORDINARY CALL

Alternative 1.
Individual participation (10%)
Team work (30%)
Final exam (60%)

Alternative 2.
Final exam (100%)

Students can choose the alternative that benefits them the most.

% end-of-term-examination 60
% of continuous assessment (assigments, laboratory, practicals...) 40

Basic Bibliography

Aguinis, H.. Performance Management (Int. Edition). Pearson. 2014
Gómez-Mejía, L.R., Balkin, D.B. and Cardy, R.L.. Managing Human Resources. Pearson. 2012
Lepak, D. & Gowan, M.. Human Resource Management. Pearson. 2010
Martocchio, J.J. . Strategic compensation. A Human Resource Management approach (7th edition) . Pearson. 2013
Milkovich, G.T., Newman, J.M. and Gerhart, B. . Compensation (11th edition). McGraw-Hill Irwin. 2014

The course syllabus and the academic weekly planning may change due academic events or other reasons.