Human Resource Management (HRMT) 387

Overview

HRMT 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 HRMT 387, you must achieve a course composite grade of at least “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:

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