Lahore University of Management Sciences

ORSC 341 – Human Resource Management

Fall Semester 2022
Instructor Dr. Ghulam Ali Arain
Room No. Room 3001, 3rd Floor, SDSB building
Office Hours TBA
Email Ghulam.arain@lums.edu.pk

Telephone TBA
Secretary TBA
TAs TBA
Course URL (if any)

COURSE BASICS
Credit Hours 3
Lecture(s) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week 2 Duration 75 minutes
Recitation/Lab (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Duration
Tutorial (per week) Nbr of Lec(s) Per Week Duration

COURSE DISTRIBUTION
Core
Elective Yes
Open for Student Category
Close for Student Category

COURSE DESCRIPTION
The course provides an overview of the fundamentals of human resource management (HRM) and the importance and impact of
human resource function in an organization. Drawing from operational and strategic perspectives, this course examines the
challenges facing human resource managers in the contemporary business environment and seeks to develop an understanding
of human resource management practices in the continually changing social, economic, industrial relations and organizational
environments. The course will focus primarily on eight major areas: Human resource management, ethics and accountability,
planning human resources, attracting and selecting human resources, placing, developing and evaluating human resources,
rewarding human resources, maintaining high performance and evaluating human resources strategies. This course will also
impart experiential learning to help students in their professional careers.

COURSE PREREQUISITE(S)
Quest to learn

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES

1. Develop a critical understanding of various HRM functional capabilities required to plan, select, develop,
and motivate workers and practice them in class and field to acquire HRM skills
2. Develop an understanding of the impact of changing social, economic, technological and organizational
environment on HR processes and practices and how to develop effective system
3. Prepare students to evaluate and apply theories of social science disciplines to workplace issues
4. Develop students’ ability to analyze and critically evaluate HR policies and practices

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5. Enable students to effectively design the HR processes and implement in their professional career

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon completion of the course, students will be able to;

1. Effectively manage and plan key human resource functions within organizations
2. Examine current issues, trends, practices, and processes in HRM
3. Address and respond to human resource and ethical challenges
UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAM LEARNING GOALS & OBJECTIVES
General Learning Goals & Objectives
Goal 1 –Effective Written and Oral Communication
Objective: Students will demonstrate effective writing and oral communication skills
Goal 2 –Ethical Understanding and Reasoning
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they are able to identify and address ethical issues in an
organizational context.
Goal 3 – Analytical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they are able to identify key problems and generate viable solutions.
Goal 4 – Application of Information Technology
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they are able to use current technologies in business and
management context.
Goal 5 – Teamwork in Diverse and Multicultural Environments
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they are able to work effectively in diverse environments.
Goal 6 – Understanding Organizational Ecosystems
Objective: Students will demonstrate that they have an understanding of Economic, Political, Regulatory, Legal,
Technological, and Social environment of organizations.

Specific Learning Goals & Objectives

Goal 7 – Discipline Specific Knowledge and Understanding
Objective: Students will demonstrate knowledge of key business disciplines and how they interact including
application to real world situations (Including subject knowledge).

GRADING BREAKUP AND POLICY

Attendance: 5 %. Maximum 3 absences (including petitions) are allowed, from the 4 th absence, you will lose 1 point per absence.
Coming late (five minutes after class has started) or leaving early will result in you being marked absent and you will lose your CP
marks as well.

Class Participation (CP): 10%. Focus on quality participation.

Group Project(s) and Presentation(s): 30% (10% for presentation; 20% for project report of 5000 words (max 8000 words)
excluding references and appendices)

Quizzes: 20%
Assignments: 10%

Final Examination: 25%. It will comprise descriptive and practicum-aligned questions. In each descriptive answer, you will need to
explain and apply HR Management related concepts to a given situation and provide your descriptive/critical answers to the given
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questions with the help of Organizational and Project based examples.

EXAMINATION DETAIL

Midterm No
Exam

Yes
Final Exam Duration: TBA (usually two hours)
Combine
Exam Specifications: TBA

COURSE OVERVIEW
RECOMMENDE
OBJECTIVES/
LECTURE TOPICS D
APPLICATION
READINGS
Introduction to the Module and
1 overview of expectations related to - Intro to the course outline.
HRM
Introduction to HRM Intro to HRM, understanding what is Human Resource
2 Chapter 1 Management and why is it important in a global and
local context?
Human Resource Management Chapter 3 and How to design and develop an HR system that supports
3&4
Strategy and Performance Case / Exercise the company’s strategic goals.
Job Analysis and the Talent Understanding the methods of conducting a job analysis
Management Process Chapter 4 and and developing skills to write job descriptions and job
5&6
Case / Exercise specifications.

Personnel Planning and Recruiting Understanding the process of forecasting personnel

7 Chapter 5 requirements, and evaluating different methods used for
recruiting.
Employee Testing and Selection Chapter 6 and Understanding the selection process, testing concepts,
8&9
Case / Exercise types of tests, and selection techniques.
Interviewing Candidates Understanding types of selection interviews, examples of
Chapter 7 and
10 & 11 the main errors undermining interviews’ usefulness, and
Case / Exercise
conducting effective selection interviews.
Training and Developing Employees Understanding issues and challenges of training and
Chapter 8 and
12 & 13 development of employees: Needs analysis, techniques,
Case / Exercise
purposes, and evaluation.
Performance Management and Chapter 9 and Overview of the performance appraisal process and the
14 & 15
Appraisal Case / Exercise different tools and methods available.
16 Managing Careers and Retention Chapter 10 Understanding tools for managing careers and retention.

Group Project Understanding the practical aspects of HRM in the

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practical world. TAs
Establishing Strategic Pay Plans Understanding of basic considerations in determining
Chapter 11 and
18 & 19 pay rates, establishing pay rates, and current trends in
Case / Exercise
compensation
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Pay for Performance and Financial Overview of money and motivation. Discussion of
Chapter 12 and
20 & 21 Incentives different incentive programs that are used for different
Case / Exercise
types of employees, advantages & Disadvantages
Employee Benefits and Services Overview of different types of financial and non-financial
22 Chapter 13
benefits, insurance, and retirement plans.
Building Positive Employee Relations Chapter 14 Understanding the methods for managing employee
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relations, ethical behaviors, and disciplinary practices.
Labor Relations and Collective Chapter 15 and Overview of labor relations, bargaining, and grievance
24 & 25
Bargaining Case / Exercise procedure with respect of local and internal laws.
26 Presentation / Projects / Others TBA Estimating students’ progress.

27 Presentation / Projects / Others - Estimating students’ progress.

28 Presentation / Projects / Others - Estimating students’ progress.

29 Final Exam - Estimating students’ progress.

     NOTE: The course outline is indicative. The sequence of sessions can be changed and duration altered as per class
discussions. Group Project sessions will be re-SCHEDULED as per available arrangements and requisite need!!!!!!!!!!!

Recommended Readings
Book
Human Resource Management by Gary Dessler (16th Edition, 2018, Pearson)

The course will also comprise readings and articles from other sources, such as business magazines, national
dailies/journals, classics in HRM and management, popular media, best sellers, etc. These will be announced in class
and material will be made available either electronically (via LMS) or through LUMS photocopier.

Relevant academic journals:

 Human Resource Management Journal
 International Journal of Human Resource Management
 Human Relations
 Personnel Review
 Employee Relations

Relevant practitioner journals:

 Harvard Business Review
 Workforce
 People Management

Useful Information about the method of instruction, grading instruments, and some useful hints.

Method of instruction and class preparation

The class will consist of lectures, discussions, seminars, field visits, videos, cases, and activities to enrich learning.
As class discussions play a significant role in learning and understanding of the subject, it is your responsibility to
adjust your personal schedules and ensure your active presence in all the class sessions. It is essential that you:

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1. Prepare for the classes.
2. Attend all classes.
3. Actively contribute to class discussions and activities.
4. Thoroughly and thoughtfully complete assignments, group projects, organizational visits etc.

To enhance your learning you should also read chapter case studies, mini case studies, news items and respond to
critical questions given in the recommended books.

Class participation
Class Contribution is and can be:
 Making observations that integrate concepts and discussions,
 Citing relevant personal or organizational examples,
 Being an active participant in group discussions,
 Working with others to come to a common understanding of the topics.
 By extension, the contribution is not continuously dominating the class and group discussions. It also
means listening to what others say - they have a right to contribute (and you may learn something!).
Contribution is not coming to class unprepared and ill-equipped to intelligently discuss the topic of the
day. Contribution is not repeating the points others just made to get the CP credit.

Working in teams
Students frequently complain about having to work on group assignments. The primary reasons for these
complaints are (a) often some members will "drag their feet" and force others to pick up the slack, and (b)
interpersonal conflicts arise in the group context.
Although there is certainly some merit to these complaints, we insist on incorporating the group projects as a
significant element in the course because of two major considerations.

First, this course is about human resource management in organizational settings. Learning about the concepts in
this course (as is true of the concepts in most any course) is facilitated by permitting direct experience with them.
Thus, by forming mini-organizations in each class meeting, you are given a greater chance to directly experience
some of the things you are trying to learn about. Second, the vast majority of you will find yourself -- if you haven't
already done so -- working in groups at some time or another (in fact, many of you will spend the majority of your
working lives as members of a group). There is no chance whatsoever that you will avoid slacking group members
and interpersonal conflict after college. Why not face the music and start now to learn how to cope with these
frustrating elements of group work?

Plagiarism
University’s ethics code applies. All project submissions and assignments will be scrutinized through Turnitin.

Group project and presentation

Deadline of project report submission is inflexible. Hence you must start working on it as soon as possible if you want to
produce quality report. Visiting an organization and making a good project report requires time, and if you leave this for

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the last moment, your grade might suffer.

The criteria you should consider in selecting the organization is the ease of access to information and the quality
and relevance of information. Thus a small and relatively unknown organization that provides you easy access to
data is far better than an MNC that is reluctant to share information. The size of organization is not important. Just
make sure that the organization is not too small, and it has at least 25 – 30 employees.

Usually you will need to choose a team of 5-8 people. Members will work in their teams to analyze a real
organization (public, private, or non-profit). The team will choose an HRM related issue or problem within an
organization. The project requires you to examine a problem or issue of concern in a real organization. The
purpose is to give your team an opportunity to analyze and apply what has been learned in the course to problems
in an organization of your team's choice. Your team can act as a short-term consulting team. Your team will focus
on an issue or problem that the organization is facing and is relevant to the content of this course. It will likely take
several conversations with your key contact person in the organization to identify a problem or issue that can be
clearly defined, is manageable in scope, and is relevant to the course. Please be selective in choosing an issue or
problem to study, as a lack of depth in the issue itself will not be an acceptable excuse for lack of depth in the
analysis.

Your team will gather information from people in an organization through direct contact. You may supplement this
information with data from the media, the organization's literature (eg annual report or web site), and other
secondary sources. You may wish to interview a few key persons within the organization to gather and analyze
your primary data. You should identify a relatively recent problem to analyze and may also critically examine an
historical account of a problem and the company's solution or response. You should focus your analysis by applying
the concepts from the course. While it is acceptable to incorporate several concepts from the course, please aim
for depth rather than breadth regarding the use of course concepts.

To meet these broad goals, your team should answer the following questions in the report detailed below.

a) What is the major (one or two) HRM related issue or problem facing the organization?
b) How is the organization responding to this problem?
c) What course concepts can be applied to understand why this problem is occurring?
d) What recommendations can you offer to help improve organizational functioning in this respect?

Deliverables

Each group (5-8 students) will visit/study the HR Department of an organization and write a report.

1. The group membership list is due in week 2. This should be emailed to course TA and include the names of your
group members as well as a team name. Identify a Team Leader and Team Secretary.

2. The project proposal (1000 words) is due in week 5. This should be emailed to course TA and include:
a) the names of your group members
b) your team’s name
c) the name of the organization you have selected for your project

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d) the level of your contact person and name
e) the method you will use to gain access to the organization
f) A brief description of the problem facing the organization.

3. Brief presentation (5-10 minutes) on the project’s progress due in week 8.

4. Your written project (5000-8000 words) is due one day before your final presentation (25-30 minutes) allocated
to you in the classroom. You will need to submit an electronic as well as printed copies of your project report and
presentation slides (with notes) to the TA on or before the scheduled date. A physical copy of this should be
handed over to the TA by 5pm on the specified date. Also submit via email to TA by the same deadline. The length
of the report is 5,000 to 8,000 words (1 inch margins, 12-point font, Times New Roman, double spaced) excluding
references (in APA style). You will be penalized significantly for violating the word limit. The limit does not include
appendices, which you are free to use to provide charts, figures, tables or other background material not necessary
in the main body of your analysis. However, appendices that are not directly referenced in the main text will not be
read. The final presentation will be 25-30 minutes long with 10-15 minutes for question answer. All members of
the group are expected to participate in the presentation.

Helpful hints
In your presentation and project report, you will need to organize your thoughts clearly and make your points
logical, brief and with supporting rationale. This leads to the following suggestions:

1. Organize your project report and presentation well. What is the main point? How will you support it eg through
secondary data, primary interviews?
2. Link your ideas to class concepts. Integrate with other readings, etc.
3. Show your own independent thinking. Focus on new understandings.
4. Present your ideas cleanly, clearly, and logically. Style is important.

LATE PROJECT WRITE-UPS AND PRESENTATIONS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED.

The written project may consist of the following components (along with indicative word count) summarizing:
 Executive summary or abstract (500 words)
 Introduction (aim of the project, description of the problem or issue, why is it important, how you going to
achieve this aim, brief outline/structure of the project) (1000 words)
 Context: background of the organization (and brief industry or sector overview if needed) (1000 words)
 Problem and solution:
o Background and identification of the problem (1000 words)
o Diagnosis of root cause/s which you discovered, organizational approach to the problem - Empirical
data from secondary sources or interviews (1500 words)
o Proposed solution or recommendation (1000 words)
 Conclusion (400 words)
 References - in APA style (not included in word count)
 Appendices (not included in word count)

4. The oral presentations (25-30 minutes) will be in class during the allocated sessions. It should be structured in
line with the format of the written report. You should email your instructor and course TA’s your final presentation
(and written project) at least one day before your presentation date. After that you are not usually expected to
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make any changes. Bring a print out of your presentation for your instructor on the day you present.

Your team will be responsible for managing your time. Presentations will be allocated within the class based on
your team project. You should feel free to distribute any printed material that will assist with the presentation.
Your team should assume you are presenting to your focal organization’s newly appointed board of directors (i.e.
board members who do not work for the organization) who are only vaguely aware of the organization’s
operations.

5. Group Structure and Rewards: At the end of the semester, each group member will provide the instructor with a
confidential evaluation of the other members of the group – participation in team events, sharing of workload,
quality of work, and contribution to team process (e.g., constructive handling of conflict, good communication
skills). For this purpose, you may be asked to fill in the following proforma.

Total money: Rs. 100

Group’s name:
Group member: Share of total money
Name 1: Rs x
Name 2: Rs y
Name 3: Rs z
etc
Total sum of the allocated money should be equal to Rs.100.

Your group project will be evaluated on the following criteria:

a) Problem definition: how well (i.e., thoroughly and concisely) do you describe the organizational context, the
relevant parties, and the factors that are important to the problem?
b) Accurate and thorough use of academic concepts taught in the course as well as relevant and recent academic
sources (references in APA style)
c) Integration of course concepts with information about the company and problem, i.e., how well do you integrate
course concepts with information about the problem to illuminate the problem in a way that leads to solutions?
d) Extent to which recommendations are consistent with analysis.
e) Quality of written analysis.
f) Quality of oral presentation.

Note:

 Sequence of sessions can be altered to accommodate organizational visits/seminars/webinars.

 Additional guidelines for the project and research area analysis will be discussed throughout the semester