Human Resource Management

Zubin R. Mulla

E-mail: zubin.mulla@gmail.com

 

Learning Objectives:

 

1. Understand the relevance of Human Resource Management for the individual, the organization, business, & society
2. Become familiar with basic Human Resource Management policies & processes like selection, recruitment, performance appraisal, compensation, training & development
3. Become sensitive to some of the current issues in HRM like diversity management, ethics, contingent workforce, etc.

 

 

Reference Texts

1. Human Resource & Personnel Management [Fourth Edition] by K. Aswathappa. Tata McGraw-Hill.
2. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage [Fifth Edition] by Raymond A. Noe, John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, & Patrick M. Wright. Tata McGraw-Hill.
3. Industrial Relations by C. S. Venkata Ratnam. Oxford

 

Timeline

 

[Session 1] Introduction to HRM: Nature &  scope.

Ø      Ulrich, D. (1998). A new mandate for human resources. HBR, 76(1): 125-134.

Ø      Case: HR department? (case)

 

[Session 2] Environment of HRM & Strategic HRM

Ø      Becker, B., & Huselid, M. (2003). Measuring HR? HR  Mag., Dec, 48(12): 56-61.

Ø      Rucci, A. J., Kirn, S. P., & Quinn, R. T. (1998). The employee-customer-profit chain at Sears. HBR, Jan- Feb, 82-97.

Ø      Flying high at Jet Blue (case)

Ø      Lorenzo and Texas Air (case)

Ø      Turbulent Times for Airlines in India (case)

 

[Session 3] Planning for Human Resources, Recruitment, & Selection

Ø      Mills, D. Q. (1985). Planning with people in mind, HBR, Jul-Aug, 97-105.

Ø      Drucker, P. F. (2002). They’re not employees, they’re people. HBR, Feb, 70-77.

Ø      Mathys, N. J., & Burack, E. H. (1993). Strategic downsizing: Human resource planning approaches. Human Resource Planning, 16(1): 71-85.

Ø      Roychowdhury, S. (2004, Jan 3). Globalization and labour. E&PW.

Ø      Manpower planning calculations (class exercise)

Ø      Film Clip: Charlie & the chocolate factory

 

[Session 4] Managing Performance-1

 

[Session 5] Managing Performance-2

 

[Session 6] Rewarding Human Resources – Compensation & Benefits-1

Ø      Pfeffer, J. (1998). Six dangerous myths about pay. HBR, 76, 109-119.

Ø      Kerr, S. (1995). On the folly of rewarding A while hoping for B. AME, 9, 7-14.

 

[Session 7] Rewarding Human Resources – Compensation & Benefits-2

Ø      Note on “The Pay Model” [From Milkovich, G. T., & Newman, J. M. (2005). Compensation [Eighth Edition]. Tata McGraw-Hill, pg. 14-20.]

Ø      Chapter 5 and Chapter 8 from Milkovich & Newman (2005). Compensation

Ø      Jaques, E. (1979). Taking time seriously in evaluating jobs. HBR, Sep-Oct, 124-132.

Ø      Parthasarathy, A., Menon, K., & Bhattacherjee, D. (2006, Sep 30). Executive compensation, firm performance, & governance: An empirical analysis, EPW, 4139-4147.

Ø      Mapping a total compensation strategy (class exercise)

 

[Session 8] Training & Development-1

Ø      Kesner, I. F. (2003). Leadership development: Perk or priority, HBR, May, 29-38.

Ø      Wiggenhorn, W. (1990). Motorola U: When training becomes an education, HBR,Jul-Aug, 71-83.

 

[Session 9] Training & Development-2

Ø      Film Clip: The Karate Kid

 

[Session 10] HRM in Emerging Workplaces

Ø      Kapur, D., & Ramamurti, R. (2001). India’s emerging competitive advantage in services, AME, 15(2): 20-33.

Ø      Hansda, S. K., & Ray, P. (2006, July 8-15). Employment & poverty in India during the 1990s: Is there a diverging trend? EPW, 3014-3023.

Ø      Noronha, E., & D'Cruz, P. (2006, May 27). Organizing call center agents: Emerging issues. E&PW. 2116-2121.

Ø      Singh, P., & Pandey, A. (2005). Women in call centers. E&PW, Feb 12, 684-688.

Ø      McMillin, D. C. (2006, Jan 6). Outsourcing identities: Call centers and cultural transformation in India. E&PW, 235-241.

Ø      Class exercises I & II

 

[Session 11] Industrial Relations & Labor Laws

Ø      Case studies on Industrial Relations & Labor Laws

 

[Session 12] Labor Unions & Employee Welfare

Ø      Note on unorganized sector workers’ social security bill

Ø      Noronha, E. (2006). Trade unions: Today & beyond tomorrow. IJIR, 39(1): 95-107.

Ø      Interaction with union leaders

 

[Session 13] Competency Based Management & Reservations in the Private Sector

Ø      Briscoe, J. P., & Hall, D. T. (1999). Grooming & picking leaders using competency frameworks: Do they work? An alternative approach & new guidelines for practice, Organizational Dynamics, Autumn, 37-51.

Ø      Omvedt, G. (2001, Sep 10 & 11). Infosys & Microsoft I & II, The Hindu.

Ø      The Hindu Business Line (July 29, 2006). India Inc divided over quotas.

Ø      Ghildiya, S. (2007, Feb 26). Affirmative action: Infy takes the lead. The Times of India.

 

[Session 14] HRM in practice

Ø      Presentation by students on group projects

 

Evaluation Schedule:

 

No.	Method	Description	Credits
1.	End term examination	Objective questions, descriptive questions, & case study Performance Management (taught by Prof. Rimmi Joneja) will have 5% weightage in end term examination	60%
2.	Class Preparedness & Participation	Surprise quizzes & Questions asked by the faculty during the class. Preparedness for the class will be tested individually through oral questions but scored team-wise (5% weightage) Surprise quizzes will be tested & scored individually (3 quizzes of 5% weightage each)	20%
3.	Group Project / Assignment	Each group will submit an integrated group project which will cover all the areas of HRM. This project will carry 20% weightage [5% for data collection due before Session 5; 5% for analysis & draft report due before Session 8; & 10% for final presentation to be done during Session 9]. Failing to adhere to the deadlines will result in loss of marks for that section. All submissions must be made in soft copy format by email to zubin.mulla@gmail.com For details of group project refer Appendix 1.	20%

 

Appendix 1: Guidelines for Group Project

Objective:

The group project will involve a comprehensive study of the HR practices of a single organization. The objective of the group project is:

1.      To understand the working of an HR department at the ground level

2.      To understand the linkages between HR practices and business performance

3.      To be able to identify HR issues and propose solutions by application of theory

Methodology:

Select an organization of your choice where you have access to information. The organization must have a turnover greater than Rs. 50 crore and must have more than 50 employees. You are required to meet and interview at least 3 persons in this organization viz.

1. A senior manager in the HR function who is aware of all the HR policies and processes (preferably at Vice-President or General Manager level).
2. A manager in the HR function who is aware of the ground level implementation details and challenges in HR (preferably at Manager or Assistant Manager level).
3. Any line manager (i.e. not from the HR function) who has spent sufficient time in the organization to be aware of all the HR policies and practices.

The objective of interviewing three people is to identify commonalities and differences in their viewpoints and thereby understand how the same HR policy / practice may be viewed differently by different people.
Data to be collected:

1. Organizational business indicators e.g. turnover, profit, ROI, share price for the last 5 years, nature of business, products, nature of market, key competitors
2. Organizational size e.g. number of employees, number of unionized employees, number of managers, average age of employees, number of establishments, age of organization
3. HR department e.g. number of people at different levels in the HR department, general roles and responsibilities of each person in the HR department
4. What is the state of Industrial relations in the organization? How many unions are there and what are the key IR challenges faced by the organization?
5. Extent of maturity of six HR practices: (i) employee involvement; (ii) talent management; (iii) employee development; (iv) performance management; (v) efficiency of HR processes; and (vi) measuring HR (for a description of each of these practices refer Appendix 2).
6. For each of these practices you may ask a number of questions to ascertain their level of maturity and the extent to which they are prevalent in the organization, e.g.

a)      When was the practice introduced?

b)      What process was followed for introduction?

c)      What were the challenges faced during introduction and implementation? How were they overcome? What challenges continue to exist?

d)      How does the organization fare on this practice viz. its competitors? Has this practice has any impact on the competitive position of the company?

e)      What are the future plans for further development of this practice?

Milestones:

1. Submit the names of three companies which you are likely to use for your data collection.
2. Submit the data collected by you for your selected company in soft copy format by email prior to Session 5 [5 marks].
3. Analyze the data and using the following framework:
1. Comment on the HR policies and processes in the organization
2. What do you think is the key HR challenge faced by the company?
3. Do you think their actions to overcome this challenge are adequate?
4. Based on the theories of HRM in textbooks and articles, what are the discrepancies that you see between theory and practice? What do you think is the reason for these discrepancies?
5. What do you recommend to overcome the challenges faced?
4. Submit your analysis and recommendations in soft copy format by email prior to Session 8 in not more than 5000 words [5 marks].
5. Present your findings in the class in not more than 10 minutes during Session 9. All the six group members must come fully prepared for the presentation. Any one of the members will be randomly selected to make the presentation and to answer questions posed by the instructor.
6. Send a soft copy of your presentation by email [10 marks].

Appendix 2: Description of HR Practices

Sr. No.	HRM Practice	Description	Examples
1	Employee involvement	Extent to which there are structured initiatives for involvement and empowerment of employees.	Information sharing plans, Suggestion schemes, Surveys of attitude/ organizational health, Total Productive Maintenance Total Quality Management Six Sigma
2	Talent Management	Extent to which a structured approach is used for identifying and developing talent.	Job analysis, Recruitment strategy, Competency development Leadership development Succession planning
3	Employee development	Extent to which systems and processes for learning have been set up.	Training process, Tie ups with educational institutes, Own training infrastructure
4	Performance management	Extent to which there are formal systems for measurement, review, and improvement of the performance of individuals.	Employee motivation programs, Pay for performance, Variable pay Incentives, Competency assessment, ESOPs
5	Efficiency of HR processes	Extent to which the HR processes have be electronically enabled to improve efficiency & service levels.	E-enablement of HR processes, Implementation of ERP software, Knowledge management
6	Measuring HR	Extent to which HR processes and outcomes are being measured.	Balanced score card, Assessing the value of HR