This version of the course guide is provisional until the period for editing the new course guides ends.

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Organisation, Human Resources and Management

Code: 41258 ECTS Credits: 10
2025/2026
Degree Type Year
Public Administration OB 0

Contact

Name:
Raquel Gallego Calderón
Email:
raquel.gallego@uab.cat

Teachers

Antonio Morales Plaza
Joaquim Hernandez Tornil
(External) Carles Ramió
(External) David Sancho
(External) Miquel Salvador

Teaching groups languages

You can view this information at the end of this document.


Prerequisites

General knowledge on public administration and public management 


Objectives and Contextualisation

1. To encourage and promote in students an interest in learning about the elements that make up the structure and components of public administration management and organizational systems.

2. To provide students with an understanding of the main theoretical models for analysing the various components of public administration organizational systems.

3. To help students learn about the nature and methods applicable to the study of public administration organization, human resources and management systems.

4. To cultivate a spirit of critical analysis in students that allows them to evaluate the various national and international political and administrative contexts.

5. To provide students with an understanding of how to apply this knowledge to analyse and address the main issues faced by public administrations.

6. To equip students with the necessary knowledge and skills to apply their knowledge in public-sector organizational systems.

7. To help students master the basic concepts in the fields of organization and civil service.


Competences

  • Address complex public intervention situations, possibly involving ethical dilemmas, on the basis of proposals founded both on explicit values and on conceptual and methodological rigour.
  • Apply concepts, theories and models from various disciplines in the exercise of public administration duties.
  • Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously
  • Design and evaluate processes of public intervention in specific social, political and sectorial situations and problem areas.
  • Identify, understand and analyse complex social and political phenomena that are important to the exercise of public administration duties.
  • Propose innovative solutions to solve social and political problems.
  • Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Learning Outcomes

  1. Address complex public intervention situations, possibly involving ethical dilemmas, on the basis of proposals founded both on explicit values and on conceptual and methodological rigour.
  2. Analyse management systems through simulation techniques that encourage improvements to the working of the organisation.
  3. Analyse processes of innovation
  4. Apply instruments of human-resource management in public administration and associated organisations.
  5. Apply strategies for innovation and change in organisations
  6. Continue the learning process, to a large extent autonomously.
  7. Design internal communication systems.
  8. Design strategies to evaluate the management models of organisations.
  9. Evaluate communication strategies
  10. Identify and define different human resources policy instruments.
  11. Identify factors affecting the implementation of these policies.
  12. Know the techniques of legal analysis.
  13. Negotiate processes to implement change in organisations.
  14. Propose guidance programmes on innovation and change processes in the management of public organisations.
  15. Propose innovative solutions to solve social and political problems.
  16. Use acquired knowledge as a basis for originality in the application of ideas, often in a research context.

Content

Scheduled sessions in accordance with the approach of integrating conceptual and applied content, the scheduled sessions are as follows:

 

Topic 1. Institutional problems of public administrations. Lecturer: Carles Ramió (support materials will be provided for work after the session). Friday 09/01/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Topic 2. Public administration of the future. Lecturer: Carles Ramió (support materials will be provided for work after the session, in addition to proposing an activity). Friday 16/01/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

Topic 3. The organizational dimensions of public administration. Lecturer: Carles Ramió (support materials will be provided for work after the session, in addition to proposing an activity). Friday 23/01/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Topic 4. Strategic management of organizations. Professor: David Sancho (support materials will be provided to work on after the session, in addition to proposing an activity). Friday 30/01/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

Topic 5. Strategic management, innovation models. Professor: David Sancho (support materials will be provided to work on after the session). Friday 06/02/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Topic 6. The role of personnel in public organizations. Professor Miquel Salvador (support materials will be provided to work on after the session and a group activity will be proposed). Friday 13/02/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Topic 7. Areas of innovation in public management. Lecturer EAPC Seminar and workshop. Friday 20/02/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Topic 8. Emerging areas in human resources management. Lecturer: Miquel Salvador (support materials will be provided to work on making group presentations in the session). Friday 27/02/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. 

Topic 9. Organizational and civil service law. Lecturer: Joaquin Rodriguez. Friday 06/03/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

Topic 10. Administrative activity law. Lecturer: Antonio Morales. Friday 13/03/2026, from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

 

Syllabus

The syllabus consists of ten topics and one special session on innovation, which will be organized around the main content to be presented and discussed. The aim of the learning process is for students to finish each topic having acquired the basic knowledge and operational tools to address each of the presented areas of organization, human resources and management. This learning process will result from the recommended reading and from listening to the lecturers’ presentations, discussing all content and applying it to case studies.

 

Topic 1. The institutional problems of public administrations

Lecturer: Dr Carles Ramió

●      Evolution of public administrations

●      Public administration models: clientelist, bureaucratic and managerial

●      Institutional problems

●      Institutional successes

●      Corruption

●      Clientelism

●      The lack of institutional quality

 

Topic 2. The public administration of the future

Lecturer: Dr Carles Ramió

●      Technological, economic, social and political changes

●      Governance and meta-leadership

●      Future public administration scenarios

 

Topic 3. The organizational dimensions of public administration

Lecturer: Dr Carles Ramió

●      The socio-technical dimension, the political and cultural dimension, and the control and improvement dimension of public organizations

●      Informal organization management, intraorganizational conflict management and administrative culture management. Tools for managing and motivating public employees.

  

Topic 4. Strategic management of organizations
Lecturer: Dr David Sancho

●      Organizational strategy: definition of organizational goals and relational networks at public institutions

●      Structure: divisionalization, agencies and new organizational formulae

●      Procedures and impact of technologies: communication strategies

●      Programming: the Service Plan

 

Topic 5. Strategic Management: innovation

Lecturer: Dr David Sancho 

●      Organizational control: quality control of provision

●      Elements of innovation in service provision

●      Control and impact assessment

 

Topic 6. Innovation areas in public management

Lecturers: Drs David Sancho and Miquel Salvador

●      Innovation in public management and information and communication technologies

●      E-government, e-administration and e-governance. The dimensions of e-government and e- administration


Topic 7. The personnel function in public organizations

Lecturer: Dr Miquel Salvador 

●      The concept of the personnel function in public organizations

●      Personnel management and people management

●      An integrated vision of the personnel function: personnel policy, management and administration

 

Topic 8. Emerging areas in human resource management
Lecturer: Dr Miquel Salvador

●      The areas or subsystems of the personnel function and their interconnections: planning, jobs and competency-based management; recruitment and selection; mobility and civil service careers; training and socialization; human resource assessment in public administrations

●      Human resource management assessment systems: methodologies and experiences

 

Topic 9. Organizational and civil service law
Lecturer: Dr Joaquim Rodriguez

●      Rules limiting the government’s power to self-organize

●      The government and its bodies. In particular: rules of procedure of corporate bodies and the distribution of powers amongst bodies

●      The different administrations: territorial, corporate and institutional. In particular: the proliferation of independent entities or private forms of personification

●      Classification of personnel who provide services to the government

●      Civil servant statute

●      Civil servant situations and responsibility regimes for the exercise of their offices

●      Senior officials

 

Topic 10. Administrative law
Lecturer: Dr Antonio Morales 

●      Principles governing the activity of administrative agencies

●      Main types of administrative activities

●      In particular: the activity of limitation through authorization

●      In particular: the activity of providing citizen services

●      In particular: the activity of promotion

●      In particular: the activity of inspection and sanction

 


Activities and Methodology

Title Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Type: Directed      
Lectures 50 2 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 12, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16
Type: Supervised      
Seminars and tutoring 75 3 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 12, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16
Type: Autonomous      
Elaboration of essays 125 5 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 12, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16

Learning method

Learning is based on the review, questioning and constant construction of theoretical and practical knowledge. The learning objective is to acquire the ability to generate questions and give (provisional) answers. To achieve this objective, students must play an active role in the autonomous approach to the information, reading and reflecting on what they have read in order to establish an informed and enriching dialogue with the teacher.

In this module, this preliminary autonomous work will be required, in the form of reading and the writing of short papers, for each topic. This work will be supplemented with seminar discussions and the preparation of presentations, as well as case studies and presentations of real-life experiences to better consolidate students’ knowledge and ability to reconsider it. 

The learning time is organized around a combination of teacher-supervised learning and autonomous work: 25 hours of student work per ECTS credit (total of 250 hours), of which 20% (50 hours) will be master classes, 30% (75 hours) will be activities supervised by the teacher, and 50% (125 hours) will consist of autonomous work by the student.  

 

Teacher-supervised learning will consist of a combination of master classes and discussion seminars on both theoretical aspects and their application to both real and simulated case studies, and of specific tutoring for the short papers and preparation of presentations.

Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.


Assessment

Continous Assessment Activities

Title Weighting Hours ECTS Learning Outcomes
Assignment 1 25% 0 0 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 12, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16
Assignment 2 25% 0 0 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 12, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16
Assignment 3 25% 0 0 1, 3, 2, 5, 4, 9, 8, 7, 11, 10, 13, 14, 15, 6, 16
Assignment 4 25% 0 0 3, 4, 11, 10, 15, 6

Assessment method 

The assessment will be continuous and will be based on the demonstration of the skills achieved by the student during the following activities and the corresponding results. Elaboration of four assignments throughout the development of the syllabus evaluated for each teacher (1/4 of the mark each of the four papers). In each work, the analysis carried out will be assessed as well as the public presentations to the rest of the colleagues of the conclusions and/or the participation in case discussions and seminars.

1. Assignment 1: 25%

2. Assignment 2: 25%

3. Assignment 3: 25%

4. Assignment 4: 25%

 

 

 

 

 


Bibliography

Bibliography

The following bibliography is of an introductory nature for the entire module and is organized into generic reading, reading by policy sector and recommended journals. For each topic, the lecturers will recommend specific reading, which will mainly consist of excerpts from some of these references, but may also include other texts.

 

ALLAM, Z.; DHUNNY, Z.A. “On big data, artificial intelligence and smart cities”, en Cities, 89, 2019. Págs. 80–91.

BRUGUÉ, Q.; SUBIRATS, J. Lecturas de gestión pública. Madrid: INAP, 1997.

CROSBY, B.C.; HART, P. y TORFING, J. “Public Value Creation through Collaborative Innovation”, Public Management Review 19 (5), 2017. Págs. 655–669.

DENHARDT, J.; DENHARDT, R. The New Public Service. Serving, not Steering. Nova York: M.E. Sharpe, 2003.

GASSNER, D., GOFEN, A. and RAAPHORST, N. “Performance management from the bottom up”, Public Management Review, 2020. Págs. 1–18.

KETTL, D. The Global Public Management Revolution. Washington DC: Brookings, 2005.

LÓPEZ, J.; GADEA, A. Servir al ciudadano. La gestión de la calidad en la administración pública. Vitoria: IVAP, 2000.

OECD. The OECD Digital Government Policy Framework: Six dimensions of a Digital Government. OECD Public Governance Policy Papers, 2, 2020.

PARRADO, S.; SALVADOR, M. “The institutionalization of Meritocracy in Latin American Regulatory Agencies”. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 77(4), 2011. Pàgs. 715-742.   

POLLIT, Ch.; BOUCKAERT, R. Public management reform. A comparative analysis. Oxford: OUP, 2004.

RAMIÓ, C. La renovación de la función pública. Estrategias para frenar la corrupción política en España. 1a. ed. Madrid: Catarata, 2016.

RAMIÓ, C. Administración pública y crisis institucional. Estrategias de reforma e innovación para España y América Latina. 1a.ed. Madrid: Tecnos, 2015.

RAMIÓ, C.; SALVADOR, M. Instituciones y nueva gestión pública en América Latina. Barcelona: Fundación CIDOB, 2005.

RAMIÓ, C.; SALVADOR, M. “Provisión de servicios públicos en el contexto de la Administración local de España: el papel de los factores políticos e institucionales y la externalización de los gobiernos locales”. Gestión y Política Pública, 21(2), 2012. Pàg. 375-405.   

RAMIO, C..; SALVADOR, M. La nueva gestión del empleo público: Recursos Humanos e Innovación en la Administración. Barcelona: Tibidabo Ediciones, 2018.

RAMIÓ, C. y SALVADOR, M. Gobernanza social e inteligente. Una nueva organización para el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Barcelona: Ajuntament de Barcelona.2019.

SALVADOR, M. Polítiques de funció pública: l’avaluació de recursos humans. Barcelona: Escola d’Administració Pública de Catalunya. Generalitat de Catalunya, 1997.

SALVADOR, M. Institucions i polítiques públiques en la gestió dels recursos humans de les comunitats autònomes. Barcelona: Escola d’Administració Pública de Catalunya, 2005.

SALVADOR, M. La configuración del Sistema de la Función Pública de la Comunidad de Madrid: instituciones y políticas públicas en la gestión de recursos humanos de la Administración de la Comunidad de Madrid. Madrid. Instituto Madrileño de Administración Pública, 2006.

SALVADOR, M.; RAMIÓ, C. “El diseño institucional de la participación ciudadana en la administración local: reflexiones a partir de un estudio de caso”. Revista del CLAD: Reforma y Democracia, 53, 2012. Pàg. 163-186.   

SALVADOR, M. “Perspectivas analíticas en torno a la institucionalización del servicio público”, Revista de Administración Pública, XLV(123), 2010. Pàg. 5-32.

SANCHO, D. Gestión de servicios públicos: estrategias de marketing y calidad. Madrid: Tecnos, 1999.

STECCOLINI, I.; SALITERER, I. and GUTHRIE, J. “The role(s) of accounting and performance measurement systems in contemporary public administration”, Public Administration. Núm. 98, 2020. Págs. 3–13.

TRAYTER, J.M., Derecho administrativo. Parte general. Atelier, 2020.

WIRTZ, B.W.; WEYERER, J.C. and GEYER, C. (2019): “Artificial Intelligence and the Public Sector—Applications and Challenges”, International Journal of Public Administration 42 (7), 2019. Págs. 596–615.

WISEMAN, J.M. Data-Driven Government: The Role of Chief Data Officers, Washington, DC: IBM Center for the Business of Government. 2018.


Software

No specific software is used in this course.


Groups and Languages

Please note that this information is provisional until 30 November 2025. You can check it through this link. To consult the language you will need to enter the CODE of the subject.

Name Group Language Semester Turn
(TEm) Theory (master) 1 Catalan first semester morning-mixed