Week 1 Assessments
·
By
Day 1 (Thursday), submit the Academic Integrity Declaration
·
By
Day 1 (Thursday), submit your Personal Introduction to the Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the
Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Collaboration responses to the Collaboration
Forum
Key Concept Exercise: The changing nature of work and work
environments
Your first Key Concept Exercise will
enable you to process what you have read so far this week about the changing
nature of work and some of the forces behind those changes and to connect what
you are reading to your own experience.
Next week, you will use what you have
written to begin a conversation with your colleagues about these changes and
their implications for organisations, their staff and for HR leaders.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 1.
Reflect on what you have read about
changes in today’s work environments and the extent to which you have observed
these changes in your own experience.
Think of one or two organisations you
can use as examples in an analysis of the changing nature of work and work
environments.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
·
Using
one or two examples of organisations with which you are familiar, analyse
changes in the nature of work and work environments today, including the impact
of forces such as globalisation and advances in technology.
·
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What
changes in work and work environments have you observed in your personal or
professional life?
·
What
evidence, if any, do you see of the changes discussed in your Learning
Resources for this week?
·
What
implications do these changes have for organisations and their staffs? For HR
leaders in organisations?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
This assignment is not graded, but you
will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you improve your work.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your Instructor's
feedback – give the assignment your full effort and ask for clarification on
any feedback you do not understand.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 1 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: The changing nature of work: what does it mean
for me and my organisation?
You are developing an expanded sense of
how work and work environments are changing, at least partly due to a range of
influential social, technological and economic forces operating around the
world. What will it mean for the organisation in which you work and for the
people in that organisation?
This week’s Collaboration will allow
you to engage in discussion with your colleagues about these issues and further
develop, expand or change your thinking based on what you wrote for your first
Key Concept Exercise.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post this week’s Key Concept Exercise
to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your observations about changes in the nature of work and work environments
Sharing alternative perspectives on the
implications of these changes for organisations and their staff, for HR leaders
and for other organisational leaders with HR concerns, using examples from
organisations you know well when appropriate
Deepening your understanding of what it
means to critically analyse what you have read and to critically reflect on
your own experience
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
This collaboration is not graded, but
you will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you improve your work.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your Instructor's
feedback. Give the assignment your full effort and ask for clarification on any
feedback you do not understand.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 1 Collaboration Forum" link.
Week 2 Assessments
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Collaboration responses to the Collaboration Forum
Key Concept Exercise: A strategic role for HRM
HR professionals play a variety of
roles within an organisation. Increasingly, these roles are becoming strategic
in nature, as HR managers are seen more as leaders and strategic partners with
other business leaders.
In organisations in which the HR
leader’s role is shifting, many leaders and managers may see the value in a
more strategic role for HRM; others may have unclear ideas about how HRM can
add value. In some organisations, the notion of HRM as a strategic partner may
still be on the horizon, awaiting an HR leader who possesses the competencies
and vision needed to help the organisation move in a new direction.
This week’s Key Concept Exercise
provides you with the opportunity to examine the notion of a strategic role for
HRM.
To
prepare for this Key Concept Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 2. In particular, consider the notions of the HR leader as a strategic
business partner and ‘strategy architect’ (Ulrich & Brockbank, 2009).
Reflect on the role of the HR leader in
the context of changes in the nature of work and work environments that you
explored last week.
Think about an organisation you know
well. To what degree does the human resource manager in that organisation serve
as a strategic business partner?
To
complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
·
Critically
analyse the notions of the HR leader as a strategic business partner and
‘strategy architect’ and the value that this type of role might bring to an
organisation, particularly in light of changes in the nature of work and work
environments.
·
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
How
does the notion of a strategic role for the HR leader compare with the roles of
HR leaders you have encountered in your professional experience?
·
How
might other leaders and managers within an organisation view an HR leader
taking a strategic role?
·
What
special knowledge, skills or competencies might a strategic HR leader need to
be successful?
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise.
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 2 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: The HR leader’s
strategic role
Now that you have given some initial
critical thought to the notion of HR as a strategic business partner, you will
use this week’s Collaboration to share your thoughts with your colleagues.
Be sure to discuss ways in which your
experiences and differing perspectives can help you understand what you have
read and, in turn, how your readings can help you expand your thinking about HR
roles and responsibilities within an organisation.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 2 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your perspectives on the role of an HR leader within an organisation
Sharing alternative perspectives on the
notion of the HR leader as a strategic business partner and ‘strategy
architect’, using examples from organisations you know well when appropriate
Proposing ways in which traditional
aspects of the HR function, such as recruitment, selection, succession
planning, performance management, reward management, talent development and
discipline, might be impacted by a shift toward a more strategic role
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 2 Collaboration Forum" link.
Week 3 Assessments
·
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the
Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Collaboration responses to the Collaboration
Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Personal Development Portfolio to Turnitin
Key Concept Exercise: Linking business strategy and HRM
As an organisational leader with an
interest in or responsibility for HR, knowing your organisation’s strategy is
the first step to taking on a more strategic role.
To become a true strategic business
partner, you need to consider the value of aligning HR management practices
with your organisation’s strategy and weigh the many options for doing so.
This Key Concept Exercise will introduce
you to ways of thinking about strategic HRM, including some perspectives that
call into question ideas that many leaders take as common sense. One of the
expectations of an organisational leader who has completed an advanced degree –
like the one you are now pursuing – is that you will be able to think
critically about different ideas and perspectives and make an educated and
informed choice, rather than simply accepting commonly held notions. Use this
opportunity to practice this kind of thinking.
To prepare for this Key
Concept Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 3. A recommended reading order is to begin with the chapters on
strategy and strategic HRM by Armstrong (2006), then the chapters in Boxall and
Purcell (2011), followed by the Sahoo, Das and Sundaray (2011) article,
finishing with Alvesson’s (2009) chapter on critical perspectives.
Reflect on what you have read about the
nature of business strategy, the potential for alignment between HRM practices
and business strategy and the notion of an HR strategy. Consider to what extent
you have experienced or observed aspects of these ideas in organisations.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
·
Critically analyse the notion of
aligning human resource management policies and practices with business
strategy, including the benefits and challenges of different approaches HR
leaders can take to achieve this alignment.
·
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What are the advantages and
disadvantages of the ‘best practice’ and ‘best fit’ approaches (Armstrong,
2006; Boxall & Purcell, 2011) as a means of linking business strategy and
HRM?
·
How could using one of these approaches
to the selection of HRM practices aid in the creation of an HR strategy for the
organisation?
·
What other aims should HRM have in
addition to aligning with business strategy?
·
What has been your experience in
organisations regarding the alignment of HRM and business strategy?
·
What aspects of concepts presented in
your readings have you observed or experienced?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 3 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Designing HR strategies to support business
strategy
Now that you have given some initial
critical thought to the notion of aligning HRM with business strategy, you will
use this week’s Collaboration to share your thoughts with your colleagues.
Be sure to discuss ways in which your
experiences and differing perspectives can help you understand what you have
read and, in turn, how your readings can help you expand your thinking about
strategic HRM within an organisation.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 3 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your perspectives on the potential for alignment between business strategy
and HRM practices
Sharing alternative perspectives on the
notion of ‘best practice’ versus ‘best fit’ as a means to alignment
Deepening your understanding of what it
means to take a critical stance on management practice, particularly strategic
HRM
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
In your discussion, bring in examples
of how traditional aspects of the HR function, such as recruitment, selection,
succession planning, performance management, reward management, talent
development and disciplinary practices, might become better aligned with
business strategy and how this might benefit or present challenges to an
organisation.
Ensure that you spread your Collaboration
posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will help maximise
the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet the learning
objectives for each activity.
This assignment is graded. See the
rubric for specific grading criteria.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 3 Collaboration Forum" link.
Personal Development Portfolio: Reflecting on your Personal
Development Portfolio
This module’s initial PDP assignment
asks you to look ahead to the topics addressed throughout the module and
reflect on your current perspectives on these topics, in preparation for your
final PDP assignment in Week 8.
To complete this PDP assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Write a critically reflective paper
(500 words) on the following:
·
Your
prior knowledge of and experience with the module's key concepts and themes,
including those you have identified as particular areas of interest
·
Your
personal biases and assumptions about key module topics
·
Your
current practice related to key module topics
·
Potential
areas for your personal development and strategies to continue this growth
(this could include your work or future studies)
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your PDP
assignment.
This assignment is not graded, but you
will receive feedback from your Instructor to help you improve your work.
Please take advantage of this opportunity to learn from your Instructor’s
feedback. Give the assignment your full effort and ask for clarification on any
feedback you do not understand.
To submit your Personal Development
Portfolio to Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 3
Personal Development Portfolio -- Turnitin - FF.
Week 4 Assessments
·
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the
Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Collaboration responses to the Collaboration
Forum
Key Concept Exercise: Linking business strategy and HRM
In most organisations, HR managers and
line managers work together to implement systems and processes that will enable
staff to work productively and contribute to organisational performance.
High-performance work systems (HPWS)
are just one example of a planned, coherent system for accomplishing this, but,
as such, they provide an excellent means of exploring the implications of such
systems for organisational design and the division of HR manager and line
manager responsibilities.
This Key Concept Exercise asks you to
consider these larger questions of roles/responsibilities and design in the
context of HPWS.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 4.
Reflect on what you have read about
organisation design, HR and line manager roles and responsibilities and
high-performance work systems (HPWS). Consider the implications of implementing
HPWS for HR leaders, line managers and the organisation’s design.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
·
Critically
analyse the notion of high-performance work systems, including the important
aspects of such systems, their potential value for an organisation and how they
might be implemented. Use examples from organisations you know well as
appropriate.
·
In
formulating your Key Concept Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What
aspects of high-performance work systems, in your view, are most likely to
contribute to employee performance and business performance?
·
What
aspects of organisational design might have to be changed in order to implement
a high-performance work system?
·
In
the organisations with which you have experience and which do not already use
the HPWS approach, who would be responsible for implementing these changes? How
could line managers and HR managers work together to implement a
high-performance work system, or aspects of one?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 4 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Implementing HPWS
In this week’s Key Concept Exercise,
you examined the notion of ‘high-performance work systems’ as an example of a
system operating within organisations, designed and implemented by HR and/or
line managers.
Use this week’s Collaboration to share
your thoughts about HPWS, and HR systems and organisations in general, with
your colleagues. Be sure to discuss ways in which your experiences and
differing perspectives can help you understand what you have read and, in turn,
how your readings can help you expand your thinking about organisations and
systems.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 4 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your perspectives on the potential value of HPWS
Sharing alternative perspectives on
implications of HPWS for HR managers, line managers and the organisation’s
design
Synthesising general lessons about the
HR leader’s role in organisation design, systems design and relationships with
line managers
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 4 Collaboration Forum" link.
Week 5 Assessments
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Collaboration responses to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment to Turnitin
Key Concept Exercise: The value of CSR
Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
is a multidimensional concept addressing a range of social, cultural, ethical,
economic and political concerns.
Many organisations today have
implemented a CSR policy and made its goals and components public, even using
it as a marketing and public relations tool, as evidence of the company’s
attention to social and ethical issues.
This Key Concept Exercise will engage
you in an analysis of the costs and benefits of implementing a CSR policy, so
you can begin to think about the value of advocating for such a policy from the
standpoint of an HR leader.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 5.
Reflect on your experience with
cultural, ethical or values-related issues in organisations with which you are
familiar. If you have worked for or have experience with an organisation with a
corporate social responsibility policy, consider the nature and impact of that
policy.
Explore the CSR policy statements of
one or two large organisations online to examine the key aspects of these
policies and the issues they are designed to address.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
Critically evaluate the concept of CSR
and its value for organisations and their stakeholders. Use examples from
organisations with which you are familiar, or which you have researched, as
appropriate.
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
What are some of the tangible benefits
to an organisation that implements a CSR policy? What are some of the tangible
costs?
What are some of the benefits to an
organisation’s stakeholders (staff, vendors, customers, shareholders,
communities and the public at large)? What might some of the costs be to
certain stakeholders?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 5 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: Dimensions of CSR
Now that you have given some initial
critical thought to the notion of CSR, you will use this week’s Collaboration
to share your thoughts with your colleagues.
Be sure to discuss ways in which your
experiences and differing perspectives can help you understand what you have
read and, in turn, how your readings can help you expand your thinking about
CSR within an organisation.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 5 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your perspectives on the costs and benefits of CSR for organisations and
their stakeholders
Sharing alternative perspectives on the
ethical, cultural, social, political and economic dimensions of CSR (In other
words, how can CSR help organisations address these types of issues in an
environment of globalisation and change?)
Initiating discussion about the role of
the HR leader in CSR
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 5 Collaboration Forum" link.
Individual Assignment: Change management
This assignment puts you in the role of
change manager.
You will take on the role of internal
change agent for a hypothetical organisation that is planning a significant
restructuring, and you will analyse options for using HRM concepts and
practices to manage the change.
Part 1 of this assignment asks you to
analyse the cultural, ethical and CSR implications of the planned organisational
change. Part 2, due in Week 7, asks you to evaluate strategic options for
managing HR issues related to the change, including those you identified in
Part 1.
To prepare for this Individual
Assignment:
For your Individual Assignment, choose
from one of the following scenarios:
A manufacturing company has recently
acquired two new subsidiaries that manufacture new product lines, each in a
different country.
A global chain of coffee shops is
closing fifteen of its locations in six different countries but is expanding
into two new countries with eight new locations.
A large, multinational banking and
finance company has decided to outsource its technical support and helpdesk
functions, eliminating the internal departments that handle these functions. At
the same time, the company is hiring an outside vendor to develop an online
self-service portal that staff can access to answer the most basic technical
support questions.
Instead of choosing one of these
scenarios, you may create your own; obtain approval on your scenario from your
Instructor before proceeding with the assignment.
To complete this Individual Assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Complete a 1,500-word analysis of the
cultural, ethical and CSR issues present in your scenario. Add detail to your
scenario as you choose to clarify the situation and help highlight possible
cultural, ethical and CSR issues faced by a company in such a situation.
Use the following general outline:
Scenario: describe your chosen
scenario, adding detail about the company, its location(s), history, strategic
goals, staff characteristics and other features that might be relevant to the
scenario. Be creative!
·
Cultural
issues: what issues related to culture (including national culture, organisational
culture, etc.) might the company in your scenario face?
·
Ethical
issues: what ethical issues related to staff and stakeholders might the company
in your scenario face?
·
CSR
issues: what issues related to CSR might the company in your scenario face?
·
HR
implications: what are some of the implications of these issues for staff and
the HR function in the organisation?
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Individual Assignment.
Be sure to read over your Individual
Assignment before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Individual Assignment to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 5 Individual
Assignment -- Turnitin.
Week 6 Assessments
·
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the
Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Collaboration responses to the Collaboration
Forum
Key Concept Exercise: Measuring HRM
effectiveness
Guest (2011) argues that we are still
‘searching for some answers’ to the perennial question of the linkage between
HRM and business performance.
Ideally, HR professionals and other
organisational leaders would be able to inform their decisions about policies
and practices with sound theory developed through research, and they would be
able to assess the effectiveness of their decisions using valid metrics.
Though we may not have all of the
answers, how can HR leaders move forward with what we have? How can leaders use
alternative ways of thinking about organisational performance and
effectiveness, such as ‘human capital management’ (Armstrong, 2006) to enhance
management approaches?
This Key Concept Exercise will allow
you to investigate these issues.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 6, focusing on the article by Guest (2011) and the concept of human
capital management (HCM) advanced by Armstrong (2006).
Consider how ideas from some of your
other readings this week might relate to the issues outlined in the article.
Find and read one or two other articles
cited by Guest (2011) to further inform your thinking about the issues.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
Formulate a critical response to the
Guest (2011) article, addressing how HR professionals might measure the
effectiveness of their own efforts and how they might test ideas about HRM
practice in their own contexts.
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What
measures, metrics or tools might HR professionals use to assess the
effectiveness of HRM and/or HCM and/or its contribution to business
performance?
·
What
types of questions might an HR leader, or other organisational leader with HR
responsibilities, be able to answer in his or her own context about how to
improve HRM/HCM effectiveness?
·
In
organisations with which you are familiar, what types of information about
HRM/HCM effectiveness and business performance were available? What types of
information might have been useful in improving management practice?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 6 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: HRM and business performance
Now that you have spent some time
thinking and reading about possible ways of measuring HRM effectiveness and the
impact of HRM on business performance, share these ideas with your colleagues
and discuss the implications for your own practice.
How might you assess HRM and/or HCM
effectiveness in your organisation? How might you answer questions about the
relationship between HRM/HCM practices and your organisation’s performance? Use
this Collaboration to further explore these questions.
To complete this
Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 6 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Sharing alternative perspectives on
strategies for assessing HRM and/or HCM effectiveness in an organisation
Synthesising general lessons about
value of different kinds of metrics, tools and approaches for evaluating
HRM/HCM practice
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Offering contributions based upon the
literature and your prior experience
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 6 Collaboration Forum" link.
Week 7 Assessments
·
By
Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key Concept Exercise to Turnitin and to the
Collaboration Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Collaboration responses to the Collaboration
Forum
·
By
Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Individual Assignment to Turnitin
Key Concept Exercise: Leading and managing organisational change
‘We
buy companies to get excellent people’ - Mark Zuckerberg (2010)
Any leader may be faced with developing
strategies to respond to organisational change, or he or she may have the
opportunity to promote and lead an organisational change initiative.
Some types of significant structural
change, such as those brought on by restructuring, mergers and acquisitions, or
downsizing, hold both challenges and opportunities. ‘We buy companies to get
excellent people’ said Mark Zuckerberg in 2010 to sum up Facebook’s acquisition
strategy (Goldberg & Lobb, 2012, p.2).
Organisational growth, talent
management and business performance can all be enhanced through change
initiatives and can present a real opportunity for HR to add value; at the same
time, not all staff may experience these changes as positive.
For this Key Concept Exercise, you will
examine the role of the HR professional in planning for and managing change.
Reference:
Goldberg, L.G. & Lobb, A. (2012) ‘The Facebook IPO litigation’, Harvard Business School, 9 June, pp.1-23.
Goldberg, L.G. & Lobb, A. (2012) ‘The Facebook IPO litigation’, Harvard Business School, 9 June, pp.1-23.
To prepare for this Key Concept
Exercise:
Read the Required Learning Resources
for Week 7.
Think of an organisation in which
you’ve worked, or which you know well, which has gone through a significant
structural or other type of organisational change. Consider what the
implications of these changes were, or might have been, for the HR leader(s) of
the organisation.
To complete this Key Concept Exercise:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
In an approximately 500-word response,
complete the following:
Analyse the role of the HR leader(s) in
the organisational change example you chose. In your analysis, connect concepts
from your readings about organisational change and HRM to your experiences and
observations.
In formulating your Key Concept
Exercise, consider the following questions:
·
What
did the HR leader(s) do to lead and/or manage the organisational change?
·
How
do the HRM approaches used to address the change reflect theories, models or
other thinking about the role of HRM in organisational change from your
readings? How do they diverge from ideas evident in your readings?
Be sure to read over your Key Concept
Exercise before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your Key
Concept Exercise.
To submit your Key Concept Exercise to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 7 Key Concept
Exercise -- Turnitin.
Collaboration: The role of the HR leader in organisational
change
Now that you have given some initial
critical thought to the role of the HR leader in leading and managing
organisational change, you will use this week’s Collaboration to share your
thoughts with your colleagues.
Be sure to discuss ways in which your
experiences and differing perspectives can help you understand what you have
read and, in turn, how your readings can help you expand your thinking about
HRM and organisational change.
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post your Key Concept Exercise from
Week 7 to the Collaboration Forum.
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Exploring similarities and differences
in your perspectives on the role of the HR leader in leading and managing
organisational change
Sharing alternative perspectives on
ways that HRM could have been used differently in the organisational change
situations you analysed
Synthesising general lessons about how
HR leaders can leverage organisational change to achieve important
organisational or strategic objectives
Asking insightful questions about the
experiences of your colleagues and about their interpretations of ideas from
the Learning Resources
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 7 Collaboration Forum" link.
Individual Assignment: Change management, part 2
For this final assignment, continue in
the role of internal change agent for an organisation that is planning a
significant restructuring.
You will use the same scenario that you
used for your Week 5 Assignment and expand your thinking to evaluate strategies
that the organisation might use to mitigate problems and maximise the
opportunities presented by the change.
This Individual Assignment asks you to
synthesise your learning over the prior weeks of the module in the context of
organisational change.
To complete this Individual Assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Complete a 1,500-word paper in which
you propose and evaluate different strategic options for addressing HR issues
in your scenario organisation, including the cultural, ethical and CSR issues
identified in your Week 5 Assignment. Add further detail about your
organisation and the scenario if needed.
In completing your Individual
Assignment, consider the following questions:
·
What
measures or tools might you use to better understand the issues you identified
previously and their impact on the organisation and its staff?
·
What
HR strategies, practices or systems might you implement or enhance to address
the identified issues? Why would you choose these options and not others?
·
With
whom would you need to work or collaborate in order to implement these
strategies?
·
Might
the strategies you are proposing create any new issues or problems, and how
might you mitigate those?
·
How
would you know if your decisions had the desired effect? What kinds of measures
or metrics might you use to assess your impact on the organisation?
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your Individual Assignment.
Be sure to read over your Individual
Assignment before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Individual Assignment to
Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 7 Individual
Assignment -- Turnitin.
Week 8 Assessments
By Day 3 (Saturday), submit your
Collaboration initial post to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Collaboration responses to the Collaboration Forum
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
Personal Development Portfolio to Turnitin
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your
UoL Satisfaction Survey
Collaboration: The future of HRM
In this module, you have been on a
journey as a new master’s degree student. You are also beginning a journey to
develop your capabilities in the field of HR management.
This final Collaboration will provide
you an opportunity to reflect collectively with your colleagues on how your
thinking about HRM has changed over the course of the module, about where the
profession itself has been and where it is going in the future and on your
development as a leader in this dynamic and challenging field.
There is no Key Concept Exercise for
this week; instead, you will begin the Collaboration with a post on your
perspectives on the issues.
To prepare for this Collaboration:
Read the Required Learning Resources for
Week 8.
Reflect on how your view of HRM and the
HR profession has changed. Then, ‘reflect forward’ to the future of HRM, and
try to predict one or two new developments, trends or changes in the field that
could occur over the next five to ten years. Be creative, and do not allow
current constraints in existing technology or business practices restrict your
thinking.
Examine the CIPD Profession Map and
SHRM HR Competency Model. Think about what new skills or competencies might be
needed by leaders with HR responsibilities in the context of the changes you
predict
To complete this Collaboration:
By Day 3 (Saturday)
Post a brief (approximately 500 words)
analysis of how your view of HRM has changed and how the profession might
change in the future.
In formulating your post, consider the
following questions:
·
How
has your view of HRM changed as a result of the insights you gained in this
module?
·
How
has the HR profession itself changed, and how is it likely to change in the
coming 5 to 10 years?
·
What
skills and competencies are likely to be needed by leaders with HR
responsibilities in the context of these possible developments?
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Post 3-5 responses to your fellow
students by:
Comparing and contrasting your
perspectives with those of your colleagues
Asking insightful questions
Offering contributions based upon the
literature and your prior experience
Extending the discussion into new but
relevant areas
Modelling or promoting critical
reflection
Ensure that you spread your
Collaboration posts across at least three separate days of each week. This will
help maximise the value of your Collaboration with colleagues and serve to meet
the learning objectives for each activity.
To access the Collaboration Forum,
click on the "Week 8 Collaboration Forum" link.
Personal Development Portfolio: Final reflections
In the final week of this module, you
will contribute to your Personal Development Portfolio by reflecting on what
you have learned in this module and its potential for advancing your career.
To complete this PDP assignment:
By Day 7 (Wednesday)
Build upon the material from your Week
3 PDP assignment, incorporating feedback received from your instructor as
appropriate.
In a 500-word reflective paper, address
the following questions/issues:
·
What
links have you now identified between strategic HRM and effective business
decision making?
·
How
do you see the concepts that you have studied applying to your professional
experience?
·
What
steps might you now take to aid you in the transition of applying the
coursework to your workplace?
·
How
can you link what you have studied in this module with what you took away from
your previous modules?
·
What
ethical and cultural issues have you considered important in this module and
how have they impacted upon your views of global business?
·
Do
you feel that you have improved your ‘key skills’ (report writing, time
management, etc.) as a result of your experiences with this module?
By Day 7 (Wednesday), submit your PDP assignment.
Be sure to read over your Individual
Assignment before submitting it to your Instructor. Make sure the spelling and
grammar are correct and the language, citing and referencing you use when
providing your opinion are appropriate for academic writing.
To submit your Personal Development
Portfolio to Turnitin, click the "View/Complete" link for Week 8
Personal Development Portfolio -- Turnitin.
No comments:
Post a Comment