Overview
Strategic Human Resource Management seeks to ensure that HRM activity is clearly linked to business goals and that it is accountable for its services. This unit also intends to bridge theory and practice in HRM to create a vehicle for adding value to an organisation. The need for sustained competitive advantage has made the strategic management of HRM increasingly important for business success as it focuses on linking all HRM activities with an organisation's business objectives. Topics to be covered include linking strategy and HRM, managing HRM activity to meet business goals and managing people in both global and domestic business contexts. The unit also examines the role of the human resource management professional in the strategy development and implementation process. A range of concepts, theories and models which aim to integrate the various functional areas of human resource management with business strategy are examined. If you have successfully completed the unit HRMT20008 you should not enrol in this unit.
Details
Pre-requisites or Co-requisites
Pre-requisite: HRMT20024 Managing Human Resources
Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework).
Offerings For Term 1 - 2018
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes – in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Postgraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Class Timetable
Assessment Overview
Assessment Grading
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%). Consult the University’s Grades and Results Policy for more details of interim results and final grades.
All University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
You may wish to view these policies:
- Grades and Results Policy
- Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework)
- Review of Grade Procedure
- Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – Domestic Students
- Monitoring Academic Progress (MAP) Policy and Procedure – International Students
- Student Refund and Credit Balance Policy and Procedure
- Student Feedback – Compliments and Complaints Policy and Procedure
- Information and Communications Technology Acceptable Use Policy and Procedure
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of University policies are available on the CQUniversity Policy site.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Feedback from Course evaluation
Some of the articles under the weekly reading were older, then I started to use older materials in my assessment piece, maybe there should be a reference to the age of APA referencing materials?
Review all provided materials to ensure currency.
Feedback from Course evaluation
Really good case studies were provided for this course.
Maintain use of case studies, updating where necessary.
- critically analyse the role of strategy and human resource management within a contemporary organisational framework;
- assess an organisation's current business strategies and objectives and identify strategic HRM issues;
- develop and incorporate appropriate individual and organisational human resource management strategies within an organisational context;
- interpret and construct detailed, practical recommendations supported by relevant academic literature on HRM in response to changing business strategy in organisations; and
- interpret the role of human resources in developing an organisation's competitive advantage and sustainable performance.
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Learning Outcomes
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | |||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 35% | |||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 45% | |||||
Alignment of Graduate Attributes to Learning Outcomes
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | |
| 1 - Knowledge | |||||
| 2 - Communication | |||||
| 3 - Cognitive, technical and creative skills | |||||
| 4 - Research | |||||
| 5 - Self-management | |||||
| 6 - Ethical and Professional Responsibility | |||||
| 7 - Leadership | |||||
| 8 - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures | |||||
Alignment of Assessment Tasks to Graduate Attributes
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | |
| 1 - Online Quiz(zes) - 20% | ||||||||
| 2 - Written Assessment - 35% | ||||||||
| 3 - Written Assessment - 45% | ||||||||
Textbooks
Strategic Human Resource Management
4th Edition (2015)
Authors: Mello, Jeffrey A
Cengage Learning
Melbourne Melbourne , VIC , Australia
ISBN: 1285426797
Binding: Hardcover
Strategy and Human Resource Management
Edition: 4th edn (2015)
Authors: Boxall, P and Purcell, J
Palgrave Macmillan
Basingstoke Basingstoke , UK
ISBN: 9781137407634
Binding: Paperback
IT Resources
- CQUniversity Student Email
- Internet
- Unit Website (Moodle)
All submissions for this unit must use the referencing style: American Psychological Association 6th Edition (APA 6th edition)
For further information, see the Assessment Tasks.
m.shah@cqu.edu.au
Module/Topic
Introduction, and an investment perspective of human resource management
Chapter
Chapter 1
Events and Submissions/Topic
Four discussion questions to engage students in learning. End of week task for students to discuss.
Module/Topic
Social responsibility and HRM, and Strategic management
Chapter
Chapter 2 and 3
Events and Submissions/Topic
Eight discussion questions to engage students in learning. End of week task for students to discuss.
Module/Topic
The Evolving/Strategic Role of HRM
Chapter
Chapter 4
Events and Submissions/Topic
Three discussion questions and a case study to engage students in learning.
Online Quiz for Week 3 closes Friday 23 March 11.45pm AEST. Quiz questions align with chapters 1, 2, and 3.
Module/Topic
Strategic workforce planning
Chapter
Chapter 5
Events and Submissions/Topic
Four discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Sample case study to be discussed in weeks 4,5 and 6 tutorials to facilitate better understanding of assessment 2.
Module/Topic
Design and redesign of work systems
Chapter
Chapter 6
Events and Submissions/Topic
Three discussion questions to engage students in learning. End of week task for students to discuss.
Online Quiz for Week 5 closes Friday 6 April 11.45pm AEST. Quiz questions align with chapters 4, 5, and 6.
Sample case study to be discussed in weeks 4,5 and 6 tutorials to facilitate better understanding of assessment 2.
Module/Topic
Students to work on assessment 2: Individual written essay
Chapter
Aligns with all chapters
Events and Submissions/Topic
Details of the assessment is on Moodle site
Module/Topic
Employment law and staffing
Chapter
Chapters 7 and 8
Events and Submissions/Topic
Three discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Sample case study to be discussed in weeks 4,5 and 6 tutorials to facilitate better understanding of assessment 2.
Module/Topic
Training and development
Chapter
Chapter 9
Events and Submissions/Topic
Four discussion questions to engage students in learning. End of week task for students to discuss.
Assessment 2 due on 23 April 11:45pm AEST. Full details of the assessment can be found on Moodle site.
Individual essay Due: Week 7 Monday (23 Apr 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Performance management and feedback
Chapter
Chapter 10
Events and Submissions/Topic
Four discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Module/Topic
Compensation
Chapter
Chapter 11
Events and Submissions/Topic
Four discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Online Quiz for Week 9 closes Friday 11 May11.45pm AEST. Quiz questions align with chapters 7, 8, and 9.
Module/Topic
Labor relations
Chapter
Chapter 12
Events and Submissions/Topic
Two discussion questions to engage students in learning. End of week task for students to discuss.
Module/Topic
Employee separation and retention management
Chapter
Chapter 13
Events and Submissions/Topic
Two discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Online Quiz for Week 11 closes Friday 25 May 11.45pm AEST. Quiz questions align with chapters 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14
Module/Topic
Global human resource management
Chapter
Chapter 14
Events and Submissions/Topic
Three discussion questions to engage students in learning.
Assessment 3 due on 1 June 11:45pm AEST. Full details of the assessment can be found on Moodle site.
Individual case study report Due: Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
Module/Topic
Chapter
Events and Submissions/Topic
The unit has three assessments. All assessments are individual.
Assessment 1 includes four quiz
Assessment 2 is an individual essay
Assessment 3 is an individual case study report
Each week, students will engage in a number of discussion questions which is included in the weekly powerpoint slides.
1 Online Quiz(zes)
Assessment 1 - Online Quizzes
This assessment comprises of four (4) online quizzes, each worth five (5) marks, to comprise 20% of the total assessment.
Each test is based on chapters from the textbook. The quizzes can be accessed from the "Assessment block" or from the weekly schedule.
The tests are available from 9am (AEST) on the first day of Week 2, and are available 24 hours a day. Please note that each test closes at 11.45pm (AEST) on the Sunday of the week that the test is due.
Information relevant to the quizzes (such as which chapters are covered in each Quiz) is outlined on unit profiles and Moodle site. The assessment is aligned with learning outcomes 1 and 2.
4
Other
On-line quizzes will be conducted in Weeks 3, 5, 9 and 11
Result is shown on completion of the test
Each test has 10 questions and each correct answer earns you 0.5 marks.
The test must be completed and the answer registered on the system within 20 minutes. Please time yourself carefully because going over time may result in a zero score.
While technological issues with these quizzes are rare, they can happen occasionally. Accordingly, please contact me if the test 'freezes', or doesn't record your answers. I will check to see what the system has recorded, and if warranted, I will reset the quiz for you so that you can attempt it again. Please note that running out of time and not submitting your answers before the time limit expires is not a valid reason for your quiz attempt to be reset. The system will register attempts that have exceeded the time limit.
It is impossible to reopen the quiz for you once the quiz has closed, so it's best to complete your attempt well before the cut-off time for the quiz. That way, if something genuinely does go wrong, I will be able to fix it for you. If you leave it until the Friday night, and there is an issue, I won't be able to reopen the quiz for you to attempt the quiz again.
- critically analyse the role of strategy and human resource management within a contemporary organisational framework;
- assess an organisation's current business strategies and objectives and identify strategic HRM issues;
- Knowledge
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
2 Written Assessment
Assessment item 2 - Individual essay
Length: 1500 words (excluding title page, reference list, appendices), presented in essay format
Reference Style: APA Referencing Style only
Alignment with learning outcomes: this assessment item relates to course learning outcomes numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Assessment Task
Organisations spend enormous amount of time in developing corporate strategy. The development of the corporate strategy involves consultation with wide range of internal and external stakeholders. The corporate strategy is also informed by trend data on performance measures to set new targets. An important aspect of setting corporate strategy is HR planning and workforce development. Development of HR strategy is critical to recruit, retain and develop future workforce. It is also critical to meet some of the contemporary workplace challenges such as: talent acquisition and management, flexible work arrangements, workplace diversity, and building and sustaining friendly workplace culture. This assessment provides case studies of three organisations. The corporate plans or HR priorities of all three organisations can be accessed at the Moodle site.
You are asked to select one organisation and discuss the following:
1. Analyse how HR strategy or priority is embedded in the chosen corporate or strategic plan
2. Outline the rationale of embedding HR or workforce related strategies in the corporate or strategic plan
3. How can the organisation achieve HR or workforce related priority at departmental level?
4. What could be some of the contemporary HR challenges facing the organisation which may have prompted the development of HR or workforce related strategy
5. In your view, what could be some of the key HR related achievements if the organisation is able to successfully implement the HR or workplace related strategy?
You are required to review one selected corporate or strategic plan and also review relevant literature to support your analysis and discussion. You are welcome to review other corporate information about the company, provided they are acknowledged in the essay. A minimum of 15 academic papers should be part of your literature review. Reference to the corporate or strategic plan and other corporate documents is in addition to the 15 academic papers.
Week 7 Monday (23 Apr 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
All assignments must be submitted through Moodle site.
Assignments will be returned after the marking and moderation processes are completed.
Marking criteria for Essay
Your essay will be assessed on the extent to which it meets the following criteria (detailed main and sub criteria are provided on the Moodle site):
-
A thorough knowledge and critical analysis of the HRM topics/ strategies expressed in a coherent format. Appropriateness of responses to the task requirements (20%)
-
Persuades the reader that the point of views developed in the answers are well supported by ideas and information drawn from academic literature and reflection. (20%)
-
Overall application of relevant theories, models and concepts to address the topics. An in-depth knowledge, application of the linkages to different approaches to Strategic HRM (20%)
-
Demonstrates an understanding, application of HR challenges, issues and practices associated with various directional strategies. (20%)
-
Demonstration of additional research beyond the course material and textbook including use of recent and relevant peer reviewed academic journal articles, academic references (minimum of eight (15). (10%)
-
Presentation, including referencing, formatting, layout and grammar. (10%)
- critically analyse the role of strategy and human resource management within a contemporary organisational framework;
- develop and incorporate appropriate individual and organisational human resource management strategies within an organisational context;
- interpret and construct detailed, practical recommendations supported by relevant academic literature on HRM in response to changing business strategy in organisations; and
- interpret the role of human resources in developing an organisation's competitive advantage and sustainable performance.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
3 Written Assessment
Assessment item 3 - Individual case study report
Length: 2000 words (excluding title page, table of contents, reference list, appendices), presented in report format
Reference Style: APA Referencing Style only
Alignment with learning outcomes: this assessment item relates to course learning outcomes numbers 1, 3, 4 and 5.
Assessment Task
The assessment is related to a real workplace case study. The assessment enables students to examine a case study of a global company. The use of real workplace case study will enable you to learn workplace practices and HR trends in global companies. Organisations are increasingly recognising the value of flexible work arrangements. Such arrangements are improving staff morale and employee satisfaction. The introduction of flexible work arrangements also has positive impact on various aspects of HR which is covered in this unit. They include: workplace diversity and inclusion, social responsibility of employers, strategic workforce planning, staff training, performance management, and employment relations. Students will review the case study presented below and prepare a report. While examining the case study, students are also asked to analyse the companies HR strategy. Your report will address the following discussion questions:
1. In your own words, outline the strategic HR priorities pursued by the company
2. Discuss the rationale of implementing the ‘leave loudly’ strategy
3. How does Pepsico’s ‘leave loudly’ strategy align with other HR practices such as: - equity and diversity - workforce planning and development - social responsibility - work-life balance
4. Outline how the CEO’s personal life has shaped and influenced the implementation of ‘leave loudly’ strategy Discuss how such strategy could improve workplace morale and productivity
A minimum of 15 academic papers should be part of your literature review. Reference to the corporate or strategic plan and other corporate documents is in addition to the 15 academic papers.
Details of the full case study can be found at the Moodle site.
Week 12 Friday (1 June 2018) 11:45 pm AEST
All assignments must be submitted through Moodle site.
As this assessment task takes the place of an exam, assignments will be returned after the certification of grades.
Marking criteria for Essay
Your essay will be assessed on the extent to which it meets the following criteria (detailed main and sub criteria are provided on the Moodle site):-
A thorough knowledge and understanding of the problem(s) identified in the case study. Report demonstrates an understanding of HR strategies, performance management strategies and Management concepts. (20%)
-
Appropriateness of responses to the case study problem. Solving the problem, development of a convincing report, using supporting evidence; recommending practical and creative solutions to the HR problems. (20%)
-
Report demonstrates the application of strategic HR or Management concepts to solve the HR problems in the case. Implementation steps of recommended strategies mentioned in the report. (20%)
-
Demonstrates an understanding, application of HR challenges, issues and practices associated with various directional strategies. (20%)
-
Demonstration of additional research beyond the course material and textbook including use of recent and relevant peer reviewed academic journal articles, academic references (minimum of fifteen (15). (10%)
-
Presentation, including referencing, formatting, layout and grammar. (10%)
- critically analyse the role of strategy and human resource management within a contemporary organisational framework;
- develop and incorporate appropriate individual and organisational human resource management strategies within an organisational context;
- interpret and construct detailed, practical recommendations supported by relevant academic literature on HRM in response to changing business strategy in organisations; and
- interpret the role of human resources in developing an organisation's competitive advantage and sustainable performance.
- Knowledge
- Communication
- Cognitive, technical and creative skills
- Research
- Self-management
- Ethical and Professional Responsibility
- Leadership
As a CQUniversity student you are expected to act honestly in all aspects of your academic work.
Any assessable work undertaken or submitted for review or assessment must be your own work. Assessable work is any type of work you do to meet the assessment requirements in the unit, including draft work submitted for review and feedback and final work to be assessed.
When you use the ideas, words or data of others in your assessment, you must thoroughly and clearly acknowledge the source of this information by using the correct referencing style for your unit. Using others’ work without proper acknowledgement may be considered a form of intellectual dishonesty.
Participating honestly, respectfully, responsibly, and fairly in your university study ensures the CQUniversity qualification you earn will be valued as a true indication of your individual academic achievement and will continue to receive the respect and recognition it deserves.
As a student, you are responsible for reading and following CQUniversity’s policies, including the Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure. This policy sets out CQUniversity’s expectations of you to act with integrity, examples of academic integrity breaches to avoid, the processes used to address alleged breaches of academic integrity, and potential penalties.
What is a breach of academic integrity?
A breach of academic integrity includes but is not limited to plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion, cheating, contract cheating, and academic misconduct. The Student Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure defines what these terms mean and gives examples.
Why is academic integrity important?
A breach of academic integrity may result in one or more penalties, including suspension or even expulsion from the University. It can also have negative implications for student visas and future enrolment at CQUniversity or elsewhere. Students who engage in contract cheating also risk being blackmailed by contract cheating services.
Where can I get assistance?
For academic advice and guidance, the Academic Learning Centre (ALC) can support you in becoming confident in completing assessments with integrity and of high standard.
What can you do to act with integrity?
