Dr Eddy Donnelly - NAB.4.07

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Human Resource Management/CIPD) and MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (International Employment Relations and Human Resource Management). This course is available on the CEMS Exchange, IMEX Exchange, MSc in Human Resources and Organisations (Organisational Behaviour), MSc in Management, MSc in Management (CEMS MIM) and MiM Exchange. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Also available as an option to students on the MPhil/PhD in Management: Employment Relations and Organisational Behaviour.

This course examines human resource management (HRM) strategies and practices of global corporations, seeking to understand typical approaches and best practices. Anchored in theories about strategic human resource management, comparative institutions and global value chains, the goal of the course is to understand the variety of determinants of global/international HR strategy and practice in a variety of HR domains. In doing so, it provides an international dimension to a variety of topics covered in the introductory HRM course (MG480).

In the course modules, we will:

• Evaluate the strategic choices facing global corporations, including the choice between adopting highly centralized or predominantly decentralized HR policies.
• Understand HR considerations in the outsourcing and offshoring of work; and the role of HRM in managing international mergers and acquisitions.
• Analyze how institutions and culture affect HR practices, in particular compensation and performance management strategies.
• Analyze the challenges faced by global corporations in structuring global assignments with specific reference to expatriation and repatriation of global managers, and how corporations are dealing with global talent management.
• Taking a global value chain approach, examine how global firms extend their HRM/ER policies to their supply chain, and evaluate the efficacy of methods to improve labor standards and human rights in global supply chains.

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of seminars in the LT. 1 hour and 30 minutes of seminars in the ST.

Students on this course will have a reading week in Week 6, in line with departmental policy.

One 2,000 word essay during Lent Term.

Harzing, A-W.and Ruysseveldt, J.V. (2004) International Human Resource Management, Secnd Edition. London: Sage Publications.

Rubery, J. and D. Grimshaw (2003) The organization of employment: An International Perspective. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, NY: Palgrave McMillan.

Catteneo, O., G. Gereffi, and C. Staritz (2010) Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World. The World Bank Press.

David Marsden. A Theory of Employment Systems: Microfoundations of Societal Diversity. Oxford University Press, 1999.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (40%, 2000 words) and class participation (10%).