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2020/2021

Human Resources

Code: 102342 ECTS Credits: 6
Degree Type Year Semester
2501572 Business Administration and Management FB 2 1
2501573 Economics OT 3 2
2501573 Economics OT 4 0
The proposed teaching and assessment methodology that appear in the guide may be subject to changes as a result of the restrictions to face-to-face class attendance imposed by the health authorities.

Contact

Name:
Stefan Felix van Hemmen
Email:
Stefan.vanHemmen@uab.cat

Use of Languages

Principal working language:
catalan (cat)
Some groups entirely in English:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Catalan:
Yes
Some groups entirely in Spanish:
No

Teachers

Carlos Martinez Lizama
Eduardo Balbuena
David Urbano

Prerequisites

In order to be able to successfully follow and complete the course, it is recommended that the student has 
passed the following subjects: Business Economics I. 
 

Objectives and Contextualisation

 
Over last few decades as economy has become more oriented toward knowledge-based work and dominated by 
the service sector, organizations have recognized that people are their major source of competitive advantage 
and their key resource. As a result, human resource management (HRM) has taken on a more strategic role in 
organizations. Decisions made about whom to hire, what training to give them, how to reward them, and so on 
have become increasingly important. More and more these decisions are made not only by the HR department 
and managers but also by individual employees and team members. Thus the main goal of this course is to 
enable students as future employees and future managers to understand their responsibilities regarding HRM. 
Additionally, we will consider HR policies, with emphasis in ethical behavior and non-discriminatory gender policies.
 
 
 

Competences

    Business Administration and Management
  • Capacity for oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which enables synthesis and oral and written presentation of the work carried out.
  • Delegate decision making to the workers and provide them with the necessary incentives so that those decision arte taken in the interest of the company as a whole.
  • Organise the work in terms of good time management, organisation and planning.
  • Respecting diversity and plurality of ideas, people and situations.
  • Select and generate the information necessary for each problem, analyse it and take decisions based on that information.
  • Work well in a team, being able to argue proposals and validate or reject the arguments of others in a reasoned manner.

Learning Outcomes

  1. A capacity of oral and written communication in Catalan, Spanish and English, which allows them to summarise and present the work conducted both orally and in writing.
  2. Identify the conditions that favour the delegation of decisions.
  3. Identify the main incentive mechanisms used in companies.
  4. Organise work, in terms of good time management and organisation and planning.
  5. Respect the diversity and plurality of ideas, persons and situations.
  6. Select and generate the information needed for each problem, analyse it and make decisions based on this information.
  7. Work as part of a team and be able to argue own proposals and validate or refuse the arguments of others in a reasonable manner.

Content

1. Strategic management of human resources
 
- Stages of the human resources function

- Functions of the human resources department

- Competencies of human capital (emotional, intellectual)

- Culture and organizational ethics
 
2. Organizations and job design
 
- Degrees of flexibility (quantitative and qualitative)

- Activities or tasks of the job (degrees of complexity)

- Mission, functions and requirements of the job

- Qualitative and quantitative assessment of the job position
 
3. Recruitment and selection
 
- Recruitment (internal and / or external) and selection

- Objectives and process of socialization
 
4. Training and development

- Identification of training needs

- Types of training (oriented to content and / or process, depending on location)

- Training planning

- Evaluation of training
 
5. Performance appraisal
 
- Objectives of the evaluation

- Evaluation systems (by factors and / or by objectives)

- Performance tracking
 
6. Compensation and career development 
 
- Types of remuneration (direct or indirect, fixed or variable)

- Objectives of the remuneration policy (internal and external equity, individual performance, team and / or organization)

- Remuneration systems (degree of centralization and participation in salary decisions)

- Remuneration criteria (depending on the job and / or the individual)

- Remuneration tools (based on skills or observable individual performance, team or organization)

Methodology

 
To achieve the objectives of this course the following teaching methods will be used: 

1. Theoretical classes
The objective of the theoretical classes is to offer a vision of the management of human resources in which they consider the main strategic aspects and deepen in the understanding of the processes that are carried out in this area of the companies.

2. Presentation and discussion of cases

The purpose is to develop the necessary skills to apply the concepts acquired in specific situations.

3. Review of articles of economic disclosure and business management

The objective is to develop the skills of reflection and analysis on the most important current aspects in the management of human resources.

Teaching will be offered on campus or in an on-campus and remote hybrid format depending on the number of students per group and the size of the rooms at 50% capacity.

The proposed teaching methodology may undergo some modifications according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.

Activities

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Development on specific issues 12 0.48
Theory sessions on general topics 33 1.32
Type: Supervised      
Oral presentations of news and cases. Discussions and applications of concepts 25.5 1.02
Type: Autonomous      
Studying of the class material and preparation and solution of exercises 75 3

Assessment

The assessment has three main components:

a) Individual or small group activities of reading articles on human resources (with presentations in class>) and participation in class discussions: 30%

b) Midterm exam: 10%

c) Development of the theme of one of the points of the program with implications on an organization or group of organizations with local ties. This is a group activity with a minimum of 3 people and weighs 30% of the final grade.

d) Final Exam. The contents of the whole course in a written exam that will be done following the academic calendar that the Faculty of Economics and Business will provide. This exam has a weight of 30% of the final grade.

The student will be considered NOT AVALUABLE only when he has not participated in any of the activities of the course evaluation.

Calendar of evaluation activities

The dates of the evaluation activities (midterm exams, exercises in the classroom, assignments, ...) will be announced well in advance during the semester.

The date of the final exam is scheduled in the assessment calendar of the Faculty.

"The dates of evaluation activities cannot be modified, unless there is an exceptional and duly justified reason why an evaluation activity cannot be carried out. In this case, the degree coordinator will contact both the teaching staff and the affected student, and a new date will be scheduled within the same academic period to make up for the missed evaluation activity." Section 1 of Article 115. Calendar of evaluation activities (Academic Regulations UAB).Students of the Faculty of Economics and Business, who in accordance with the previous paragraph need to change an evaluation activity date must process the request by filling out an Application for exams' reschedulehttps://eformularis.uab.cat/group/deganat_feie/application-for-exams-reschedule

 

Grade revision process

After all grading activities have ended, students will be informed of the date and way in which the course grades will be published. Students will be also be informed of the procedure, place, date and time of grade revision following University regulations.

 

Retake Process

All students are required to perform the evaluation activities. If the student's grade is 5 or higher, the student passes the course and it cannot be subject to further evaluation. If the student grade is less than 3.5, the student will have to repeat the course the following year. Students who have obtained a grade that is equal to or greater than 3.5 and less than 5 can take a second chance exam. The lecturers will decide the type of the second chance exam. When the second exam grade is greater than 5, the final grade will be a PASS with a maximum numerical grade of 5. When the second exam grade is less than 5, the final grade will be a FAIL with a numerical grade equal to the grade achieved in the course grade (not the second chance exam grade).

A student who does not perform any evaluative task is considered “not evaluable”, therefore, a student who performs a continuous assessment component can no longer be qualified with a "not evaluable"

 

Irregularities in evaluation activities

In spite of other disciplinary measures deemed appropriate, and inaccordance with current academic regulations, "in the case that the student makes any irregularity that could lead to a significant variation in the grade of an evaluation activity, it will be graded with a 0, regardless of the disciplinary process that can be instructed. In case of various irregularities occur in the evaluation of the same subject, the final grade of this subject will be 0". Section 10 of Article 116. Results of the evaluation. (UAB Academic Regulations).

The proposed evaluation activities may undergo some changes according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.

 

Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Case. More than 3 students group assignment 30 0.5 0.02 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 7
Final exam 30 2 0.08 1, 3, 2
Individual assignments (readings and news discussion)+participation 30 0.5 0.02 1, 3, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7
Midterm test 10 1.5 0.06 4

Bibliography

Reccomended readings:

GÓMEZ-MEJÍA, L. R.; BALKIN, D. B., CARDY, R. L.: “Managing Human Resources” (7th

 Ed.). Prentice Hall. 2012.

BARON, J.; KREPS, D.: “Strategic Human Resources”. John Wiley & Sons. 1999.

LAZEAR, D.: “Personnel Economics for Managers”. John Wiley & Sons. 1997.

MILKOVICH, G. T.; NEWMAN, J. M.: “Compensation”. McGraw-Hill. 2010.