assignment on human resource management pdf

Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Book Title: Human Resource Management

Author: [Author removed at request of original publisher]

Cover image for Human Resource Management

Download this book

Digital PDF
Pressbooks XML

Book Description: Human Resource Management teaches HRM strategies and theories that any manager—not just those in HR—needs to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected]

Book Information

Book description.

Human Resource Management is adapted from a work produced by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution. This adapted edition is produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning Support Initiative. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected]

Human Resource Management Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Beginning Management of Human Resources

(24 reviews)

ISBN 13: 9781946135117

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Steve Custer, Professor, Oakland City University on 11/17/23

This text covered a wide range of HR competencies. At first, I was not expecting to find such a comprehensive text, particularly in light of the fact that the copyright was 2016 - well before the COVID-19 pandemic. However, I was pleasantly... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 5

I found the text to contain a high degree of accuracy in addressing the fundamental elements of human resource management inherent to most organizations.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Aside from some name changes in functional areas that have occurred in recent years (safety and health to risk management, compensation and benefits to total rewards, training and development to learning and development - just to name a few), the essence of the content remains pertinent to today's organizational culture.

Clarity rating: 5

This text was easy to read and should be very understandable to both undergraduate and graduate students in either traditional or adult learner formats.

Consistency rating: 5

The text was consistent in its definitions of the functional areas of HRM and in the resources provided.

Modularity rating: 5

It would be very reasonable to devise a schedule of learning activities from the contents of this text.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

This material is grouped in a logical fashion and could be tailored to fit a variety of course delivery options.

Interface rating: 5

This reader did not experience any issues in this regard.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

This reader did not note any grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

The text places a priority on respecting diversity and devotes significant coverage to this important realm.

As a certified HR professional, I found this text helpful in guiding students to a greater understanding of human resource management.

Reviewed by Sungdoo Kim, Associate Professor, Northeastern Illinois University on 5/9/23

It covers all major HR topics. It even includes chapters on communication and motivation that are not typically included in traditional HRM textbooks. One issue, though, it is too lean on some major topics like job analysis, HR planning, benefits,... read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

I do not see any issues in accuracy.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

I think the biggest issue with this book is the content update. As the role of HR is complying with and adapting to rapidly changing work environment like new legislations, new developments in training and staffing, etc., it is critical that HR book needs to be updated frequently. That being said, given so many benefits open books can offer students, I think instructors can supply up-to-date knowledge through separate materials (exercise, cases, assignments, news articles), supplementing the book.

The book is written in an easy to understanding manner with many real-world examples. Those who have a difficulty understanding traditional textbook would have a better time with this book as it focuses less on abstract concepts but more on practical use of those concepts.

Yes, this book is well organized from the start to the end, starting with the broad overview of HRM and trends to end with topics such as labor relations and international HR which is typical in other HRM textbooks. The book is consistent across all the chapters in terms of its components (topic discussions, key takeaway, cases, and team activity).

Each chapter consists of several sub units that are well fit together and help readers understand the topic in a step-by-step manner. At the end of each chapter, key takeaway section looks like a good wrap-up and the cases and team activity assignments are very useful in teaching students hands-on knowledge.

Each chapter is presented in a logical, clear fashion.

Interface rating: 4

I do not see any glaring issues on this, though I think they may use more images to illustrate hear and there.

No grammatical errors noticed.

No issues on this aspect. Actually, this book, unlike other traditional HRM books spend more space on diversity and multiculturalism (see ch.3).

Reviewed by Robert Eliason, Lecturer, James Madison University on 4/12/23

This professionally prepared textbook offers a wide overview of the management of Human Resources. Although over 10 years old, the book is up-to-date enough to serve as a primary textbook or a supplemental resource for a Human Resource Management class. This text covers a wide range of topics in the Human Resource Management field. Created as a published textbook, it has examples, illustrations, pictures, graphs, and charts to enhance the content. It generally covers tests, assessments, and software but does not go into specific tools in these areas. The text fails to provide an index or glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

The overall content is high quality and free of errors. It has a quality fitting a professional textbook in the HRM field. Being over a decade old, it does not reflect Generation Z or many minority groups in society.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

The text was written in 2011 with a publishing edition in 2016. The publisher does not want to receive attribution. Updates and improvements are not likely. The content remains basically sound but fails to include any content from the last decade. Additional content could easily be added and fit into the framework provided.

Clarity rating: 4

The text does contain a large amount of technical language that is well defined and easily understood. Key terms are bolded but the text is not consistent in providing definitions nor is there a directory of key terms with definitions.

As a professionally constructed textbook, it is well organized with chapters that are all structured on the same order, layout, and boxes.

The text is structured with defined chapters and subchapters allowing the content to be delivered in any order desired. Each chapter is followed by cases and problems related to that chapter. The text provides a summary at the end of each chapter.

The chapters do flow in an acceptable structure that has special topics at the front, follows employee paths from recruitment to termination, and then adds additional topics at the end. It could have been structured better if it gathered relevant topics together. The text does make it easy to assign chapters in a more logical order.

Links to videos mostly work. Clearly the book was created as a printed text so navigation within the text does not work. Links to other sections in the text do not work in the PDF version.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text does discuss diversity and multiculturalism. The photos throughout the book largely portray white males and females in workplace settings.

This textbook would work well as a supplemental source or as a primary text if you add additional content to bring it up-to-date.

Reviewed by Donala Kawaauhau, Associate Professor, Hawaii Community College on 12/12/22

The text covers all topics associated with the appropriate performance of a Human Resource Manager. It also introduces the reader to additional elements associated with strategic planning and performance focused on legal compliance. read more

The text did a great job explaining and describing the various tasks and performance measures of and in the field of Human Resource Management. The discussion of and on racial situations were perspective based and read as an outlier in an otherwise legally driven field focused on quantifiable employee performance and compensation, but the rest of the text did an excellent job preparing its reader for and on what to expect if and when employed in the field of Human Resources or in the field of general management.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

The text provided an up to date analysis of Human Resource Management and presented the reader with tools that can assist them in their preparation for work in the field.

Clarity rating: 3

The text did an excellent job presenting multi-dimensional topics in a clear and comprehensive way. Steps were broken down and connected appropriately to assist with reader comprehension. The chapter on multiculturalism confused the clarity of the topic of EEO compliance. The topic of multiculturalism is of great importance in the field and should be discussed within the realm of equal employment expectations to ensure the avoidance of illegal activity (accidental or otherwise) in the recruiting and hiring process.

Consistency rating: 4

The topics in the text were exceptionally consistent throughout. The only outlier is the section on diversity and multiculturalism, which brought in statements that could be seen as legally problematic in both public and private sector Human Resource environments.

The text segments topics well and allows for comprehensive learning at both the micro and macro level.

Topics in the text are organized well with generalized introductions that are further dissected and broken down in later chapters. Chapters make references to one another and all tie together well.

The interface was excellent. The text loaded appropriately and all images appeared without incident.

The text was well written. No significant grammatical errors were found.

This is a very difficult topic to discuss in general but it is next to impossible to appropriately discuss in the field of Human Resource Management. Human Resource Managers are expected and required to ensure that the most qualified employees are hired, that all employees are treated equally, and that discrimination or preferential treatment does not exist at or on any level within the organization. Having to balance that requirement with the essential discussion of diversity means that language must be purposeful and devoid of any possible misinterpretation to ensure consistent legal compliance. Human Resource Management is required to follow the law and even a hint of predetermined prejudice can cost a company millions even if coming from a place of good intentions. The chapter on diversity and multiculturalism fails to make mention of that and contains language that may cause a learner to carry with them misunderstandings of and on the field of Human Resources that could lead to their eventual termination. Statements on the truth of the field as it stands is essential and should be added to the chapter to ensure that learners understand what can happen if they get ahead of the law when working in the field.

A substantial amount of work went into the creation of this text, which is full of important and useful information on the processes and tools of and in the field of Human Resource Management.

Reviewed by Angela Hayslett, Lecturer, James Madison University on 9/18/22

This book covers most key HR areas with just enough depth. This book could benefit from including a wider array of HR policies affecting employee rights and restrictions. read more

This book covers most key HR areas with just enough depth. This book could benefit from including a wider array of HR policies affecting employee rights and restrictions.

Content seems to be consistent with other similar texts.

This book addresses generational differences in HR management, and a chapter on diversity and multiculturalism, both of which are timely and should be relevant for years to come.

Keywords and terminology are defined and examples are used to help with understanding of text.

Each chapter follows a similar structure.

The book design uses sections, headings, bold text, enumeration, bullets, etc. to help organize and structure the topics. It is easy to follow and digest.

Some chapters are organized in a logical order of the chronological stages of HR management. Each chapter consistently concludes with case studies and problems.

It was not immediately apparent how to navigate to the next page. Instead of a task bar at the bottom of the website, a next page button at the bottom of the reading or something similar to the scroll up arrow that hovers over the text would be more obvious. Hyperlinks allow readers to easily navigate to videos and different sections of the book. There is an effective search feature that allows you to search by keywords. Images are clear.

No grammatical issues were observed.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Some of the examples given may show a bias to who is reading the text, but care is given to provide background to the issues of how bias and discrimination impact the workplace.

This is a great option to orient students to the function and role of human resource professionals. Relevant examples are included and information is presented in an easy to read format.

Reviewed by Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly, Professor, Loyola Marymount University on 2/18/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

This book covers the basics of HRM and is suitable as an introduction to the vast array of topics in the field. It provides a professor with competent summaries of each chapter at the end, which could also be used to frame the chapters. The principal limitations of this text are the dated references, broken links, and lack of discussion of how diversity, equity, and inclusion is fundamental to achieving socially just organizations.

Content Accuracy rating: 3

Insofar as this book provides a fundamental overview of the broad functional areas of HRM, it presents accurate information about what each area is. As references are quite dated by 2022, which is when this review is written, there are more current examples that would resonate better with students.

Because of the changing nature of HRM and the sheer number of professional settings for which this work is applicable, all topics should be supplemented with relevant and timely case studies to personalize students’ experiences of the topic. For example, there are no cases relevant to educational settings, yet all educational institutions have HR departments or divisions—and it is applicable subject matter for all educators, whether K-12 or higher education.

Most of the author’s references cited are a decade or older old at this point, requiring the professor to provide newer research to supplement or build on more background that is frequently aged. The diversity, equity, and inclusion theme is missing for the most part, and this warrants extensive discussion in many of the topics covered. For example, implicit bias is a natural topic for HRM courses.

Many examples are provided for the principles of each functional area. For example, in the chapter on communication (Chapter 9), explanations are fulsome and then the charts and opportunities for students to consider their own circumstances, help build deeper understanding.

The book has a standard format that is internally consistent. Narrative is frequently enhanced with tables, graphs, charts, etc., and this is very helpful to summarize concepts.

Modularity rating: 4

My view is that these chapters are stand-alone topics that, for the most part, could easily be taught in any order, or prioritized or eliminated for shorter modules within a more global course on business functions.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

Overall, the book is well organized and easy to follow. Learning Objectives, Key Take-Aways, Exercises, Case Studies, and References are very helpful to get the professor started on their lessons, presentations, and application of the content. The links in the digital PDFs link back to topics within the book as well as to external topics. One issue is that when you click on an external link, you cannot then easily get back to the section of the book you were reading, as the default is back to the beginning of the book. In addition, many links are broken, which occurs enough so as to affect the flow. As mentioned, references are very dated, so professors should check topics for updated content, research, case law, etc.

Interface rating: 2

The links in the digital PDFs link back to topics within the book as well as to external topics. One issue is that when you click on an internal or external link, you cannot then easily get back to the section of the book you were reading, as the default is either not available for internal links or sends you back to the beginning of the book with external links. In addition, many links are broken, which occurs enough so as to affect the flow.

The book is free of grammatical issues.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

I am waiting for an HRM book that has diversity, equity, and inclusion as a through line for each functional area and topic. With the exception of Chapter 3, which is only six pages, DEI is missing and is not presented or revisited as issues relevant to the many facets of HRM, and yet its relevance warrants extensive discussion in many of the topics covered in the book. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are key issues in HR and the topic demands addressing and requires relevant, current content.

I have reviewed and used a variety of HRM books over the years, and while the fundamentals of the functional areas are present in all of them, including this text, one of the challenges of keeping this field relevant and rigorous for our students is presenting current examples, laws, policies, and trends to supplement the basics. While this book can provide some of these basics, professors would do well to supplement with generous amounts of additional materials. I do appreciate that is is open access, as students can learn the basics without paying for a really expensive textbook.

Reviewed by Steven Dickson, Adjunct Professor, Southern Oregon University on 1/2/22

This is an excellent open-source text for use in any business course with a focus on human resources as an occupation or a function. Student reception of the text was in the affirmative for courses Strategic Staffing and Principles of Human... read more

The foundational content of the book is good; however, there exists a need for a text revision due to changes in the working environment.

The content of the text is applicable across small to large business operations. Great introductory text.

The text was easy to read and the content is applicable to practice.

The text is consistent with the theme specific to the practice of human resources throughout.

The text is easily divided into sections into strategic learning/teaching sections.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The framework of the text is easily followed and has a clear flow. Some of the subunits may need to be reorganized based on the course focus.

The text is a PDF that is easily navigatable and searchable.

No significant grammatical errors were seen.

No significant culturally discrepant material was noted; however, an update/revision of the text may be warranted.

Reviewed by Kevin Knotts, Assistant Professor, Marshall University on 10/28/21

The textbook provides an overview of most key areas in HRM that would be covered in an introductory or survey course. Any introductory HRM textbook should cover HRM strategy, diversity/EEOC, recruitment and selection, comp and benefits, turnover, training and development, and performances with additional focus where the author feels it needs to be devoted - communication, safety, international HRM, etc. This textbook provides coverage of most major HRM areas and there is no truly lacking areas that needed to be completely added.

There are some areas that could have a bit more detail provide or additional chapters provided on that material. For example, EEOC should potentially have its own chapter to fully provide the context and understanding of the different laws. Another example is that compensation and benefits are combined into a single chapter. There are so many different areas that have to be considered in the context of these two areas that separation of them into two chapters would allow for a more comprehensive coverage of both key HRM issues.

Overall, there was not many errors throughout the text and it appears to be mostly unbiased. There were some definitions that were proposed by the textbook that could have discussion on the specifics of the text; however, for the most part the content was accurately conveyed with few errors.

This is probably the area of the textbook that I am the most concerned about as an instructor. Per the nature of the content covered in HRM with the everchanging landscape and adjustments that have to be made, the structure and framing of the textbook give me concerns over my ability to use it for a longer period of time without having to make major adjustments. There are a multitude of different change to legislative actions that occur every year that would impact different elements of these chapters. One way to potentially address this is through updating of supplementary materials to provide instructors with more current information. If I were to use this, I would assume that I would need to bring in a large amount of outside materials to make the material be as up to date and relevant as possible for the students in the course.

The clarity of the textbook was well done. I did not see any major issues that I would run into when having students use this text. While there is some jargon that is used throughout the textbook, it is relevant to the field and the terminology that would be used - that is, when working students would need to know this jargon anyways and the textbook provides the introduction to that.

The text is generally consistent with terminology and framework, following a similar pattern throughout chapters. Additionally, most of the terminology is comparable to what would be used outside of the context, however, with the everchanging landscape of HRM, there are obviously changes to terminology that are not captured due to the older materials used. This would be a relatively easy item for an instructor to incorporate into the materials they were covering.

The modularity of the textbook is well done. The material is broken down into smaller, readable sections that a reader can easily get through or digest in smaller components. The information is also prepared in a way that would be easy to move the material around within a course to adequately compose the course in the instructor's desirable manner.

The topics are presented in a logical manner. For the most part, there is a order in which material should be covered. This text covers it in that manner. In the very few instances that it is not, the modularity of text would allow the items to be moved around.

Interface rating: 3

There were no major concerns regarding interface, but there was several items that did not seem to work properly for links and the layouts sometimes seemed to not be clear. This isn't a total problem, but there is the possibility for improvement to make sure that all video links are up to date and work, proper formatting of tables/figures, etc.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

There did not appear to be any major grammatical errors. As I reviewed the grammar, I came across a few minor errors, but they were few and far between. I may have missed more grammatical errors, but for the most part, I did not notice major errors throughout the text.

There was adequate coverage to cultural elements throughout the text by having both a chapter on diversity/multiculturalism and international HRM. These are two major areas that help to provide a cultural understanding within the context of HRM. A separate chapter on EEOC laws could have been included to help strengthen the arguments and framing. The language did not appear to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way - a suggest, similar to my prior comments would be to update the material as need be to be more up to date with current terminology.

Reviewed by Satoris Howes, Professor, Oregon State University on 8/17/20

The main content includes areas that are of most importance for HR practitioners, although some areas are missing and/or under-represented. I think this is to be expected of most any book, and completely understand and appreciate the difficulty in creating a truly comprehensive yet reasonable-length book. Overall, there is much to like, and most of the main topics that are usually covered (and those covered for SHRM certification) are included. In terms of some specifics, I liked that there was a section on alternate dispute resolution when discussing performance management issues. I don’t see that in all HR books but it is quite valuable. The section on employee separation – I personally don’t like the term “rightsizing” as I think it likely has negative “PR” connotations. In addition, in today’s world, I think a discussion of furloughs is needed, as they are quite prevalent. I feel like HR has gotten much more savvy in recent times in terms of possible ways to deal with economic woes, and examples that are more recent (e.g., related to how companies have handled things during the COVID-19 pandemic) would be helpful. Given that many of the references/examples are from 2011, this is an area where much supplementation would be necessary. In Chapter 11 (on Employee Assessment) there are also areas I would feel the need to supplement. For example, given the animosity associated with performance appraisals, I typically like to discuss the reasons for / purposes of performance appraisal and link it more clearly to strategic imperatives. I like how motivational theories are brought into the section on compensation (termed pay theories in this book) as I think that is a key element of compensation that is not always considered. I didn’t see any mention of corporate social responsibility and felt the discussion of ethics was a bit short, so those would also be areas I’d supplement. In sum, the basic comprehensiveness is fine for a standard undergraduate HR text. I would feel the need to supplement in many areas, whether wholly (e.g., CSR issues, HRIS, impact of AI, ) or to bring in more detail (e.g., ethics). In order to make room for this during a term, I’d likely not use the chapter on communication, as we cover that in our OB course and there wasn’t really anything in that chapter that seemed HR-specific.

Most of the information is accurate. However, due to the outdated nature of some of the information (the book was originally published in 2011 and this version was adapted/published in 2016 yet it seems like things weren’t updated beyond 2011…), there is some misinformation within the text that an instructor would want to be aware of. For example, Table 10.1 shows the various employment-at-will exceptions by state. Unfortunately, there are several that appear to be wrong. At the very minimum, I would recommend alerting students to the need to check on their state’s requirements and restrictions when it comes to any law as legal issues are quite fluid. To be fair, this is an issue that any textbook would have after a couple years. In addition, some links to YouTube videos no longer work so that is something to also be aware of (though the ones that do work are valuable and/or fun in many cases).

This book was originally produced in 2011 and adapted/published to the current version in 2016. While much of the basic information is still very much relevant (basic terminology and general HR concepts) some things are simply out-of-date (e.g., legal findings mentioned earlier) or haven’t updated to be fully reflect today’s realities (e.g., furloughs, gig work, AI). As I noted earlier, this is a fine basic text with most content areas included, but you should definitely plan to supplement the content to ensure you’re up-to-date with what you’re covering. This is true for any HR book that is over 3 years old. Unfortunately, given most of the information in this book is from 2011, with just a few updates in 2016, there is much to update. Is it worth compiling all of that separately versus going with a more recent/updated text? I’m not sure.

This is a clear positive for the book. I like that it is clear and there are light-hearted / funny examples that I think would appeal to students (e.g., Jack Sparrow and Barbossa negotiation video link). The cases, while sometimes a bit simplistic, are good ways to engage students in a discussion, though again with the simplicity they are likely somewhat shorter discussions (or well-suited to an online forum perhaps?). Overall, the text is well-suited for an undergraduate course (again, if supplemented content-wise), but would be far too simplistic for a graduate course.

No problems with consistency. The layout of the chapters were fine and consistent with one another. Some chapters felt far shorter with less information than others though, so it might be worth combining the chapters when covering them (e.g., Chapters 10 and 11 – both on performance management).

I have no problems here either. The chapters essentially stand on their own so you can teach them out of order, and there are links to related material in other chapters in case more explanation is needed. The text is also easily searchable, and Table of Contents easy to decipher, so the book seems easy in that respect.

The author(s) is(are) upfront about the point that there is not a separate chapter focused on HRM laws, and that instead the laws are presented in the relevant chapters. I typically like to cover a separate section on legal issues as many laws cut across HR activities and I don’t want students to be confused. I find that many students already think that many laws only apply to the hiring of people and not to things like training and development opportunities or performance management. I like to talk about them early in the course and briefly refer back to that when we get to various chapters / content. So I feel like I would be supplementing this book with a separate section just on legal issues, and it may become overly redundant when presented again later. Alternatively, it could be seen as a great reminder / refresher of information. Regardless, I’d be supplementing beyond what is here to discuss HRM laws as a separate unit/section. Job analysis is in the section on recruitment. I have never taught it there, so that’s odd for me. And no mention of O*NET? That’s a clear miss IMHO. This said, the general organization is fine if you’re okay with legal things being interspersed, etc. – and like I noted earlier, the text is easily searchable and there are links throughout that take you to areas in other parts of the text that are relevant, so that’s nice.

I had no problems with the basic interface. I was disappointed there was no subject index, but at least there is the possibility of searching in the text. Some searches are just funky (e.g., searching for ONET, it gave me “monetary” and I got nothing for O*NET, so it may be there and I just overlooked it and am not choosing the right search term). Many videos on YouTube have been removed so that’s no good, but within the text itself the links appear to work.

I may have missed some, but I didn’t see any problems here. Things were clear and easy to read, unlike some open source texts I’ve seen that feel like they were thrown together with typos and poor grammar.

Given the importance of diversity and inclusion in today’s world, and for HR in particular, I think this chapter could really be expanded on. Certainly, the surface of this issue is covered, but there is a lot more that could be done to discuss this topic. Many HR managers are struggling to update their DEI policies and create a diverse workforce, so more tangible discussions of ways to ensure equity beyond the four-fifths rule is needed. In addition, the reference to research in this chapter was a bit light, and the recommendations seemed a tad trite at times. Again, it’s great there is a chapter and the material is broached, but more depth would be ideal. In addition – the stock photos most definitely do not reflect a diverse population and should be updated accordingly so that students can relate to the profession.

If you’re looking for a basic, inexpensive option for an undergraduate HR course, and you’re willing to supplement (in some cases considerably) in order to bring in important topics and ensure the material is up-to-date, this book works. There are definitely things to like about the book, and aspects that deserve kudos. Unfortunately, as with any textbook, there are things that are missing and/or don’t work for my particular style of teaching an HR course. With some updating, I think I’d love this option. With it being so outdated, I just can’t bring myself to be excited about it as an easy option to adopt.

Reviewed by Julia Carr, Professor, James Madison University on 7/30/20

The topics covered by the book are comprehensive and reflect the areas an HR manager would deal with on a daily basis. The book begins with a very good overview of human resources with sets the stage for the information to follow. It is well organized and the Key-Takeaways will be very helpful for students as well as the way the important vocabulary is called out in bold.

The content is accurate, error-free and unbiased. It provides a good foundational knowledge for those seeking an introduction to human resource management and development. It does need to be updated with present day statistics. It does indicated that it was updated in 2016, however most of the references were from 2010 or 2011 or earlier. In addition, I would recommend a more robust group of references to deepen the content presented.

The general content covered is good and relevant to a person learning about the basics of human resource management. It hits the major functional areas if HR that I am teaching in an Introduction to HR type of class. Much of the data presented is coming from statistics gathered in 2011 or earlier. In addition there are topics where significant changes have been made since 2011, such as web-based training delivery platforms, employment law, challenges of labor unions and examples shared related to sexual orientation. That being said it is tough to keep this information up to date. There are many areas that are presented that would be very helpful to student with no background in human resource management such as the introduction of a SWOT analysis and then the practical example that follows and the forms presented such as in the section on job analysis

The text is written in an organized fashion that is easy to follow. Technical terminology is bolded and definitions are provided for additional clarity.

The text is consistent in the framework and it is very easy to follow. In addition, as an instructor, it is helpful because each chapter has the same flow and consistent ancillary items.

The design of the text lends itself to a flexible course design. It would be easy to change the organizational structure to cover things in a different order or to leave a section out if it was not relevant to course objectives. However, the topic order that the text follows work well as is and does not need much, if any adaptation.

The topics in this text were sequenced well and very easy to work though. The organization was such that it built on the basic introductory topics to the more technical concepts.

There were no significant interface issues that I encountered. I did use mainly the printable PDF version because from past experience I thought that is what my students would primarily use. There are some videos that require additional login credentials.

I did not see any glaring issues here. I do think a more robust discussion of these topics could be presented. As I said previously, much has occurred in this area since 2011. It is stated that this textbook was updated in 2016, but the references in the Diversity and Multiculturalism chapter are from 2010 and 2011. This is a chapter given the present state of our society that I feel warrants expansion and deeper coverage of the areas presented.

This textbook provides a solid foundation in human resource management and development. I would consider adopting it for my class if the information was updated and brought into present day terminology and issues/challenges. I love the organization, key takeaways and may of the exercises. I also appreciate the cases and the connection between many of the concepts to practical workplace examples.

Reviewed by Lauren Maguire, Professor, Bunker Hill Community College on 5/27/20

The text provides a solid overview of the tenants of HR Management. It is somewhat technical in its approach, but touches on all important areas of a introductory review. read more

The text provides a solid overview of the tenants of HR Management. It is somewhat technical in its approach, but touches on all important areas of a introductory review.

Content is accurate, error-free and unbiased.

The approach to the subject matter is broad and offers examples across the spectrum.

The reading level is fairly high. The text uses some business jargon and occasionally refers to concepts that may not be readily understandable to entry level students.

The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

The material is broken down within each chapter. Each concept is addressed individually and also as a whole.

The text manages the information in a clear and effective manner.

The text is free of significant interface issues, including navigation problems, distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader.

The text discusses a variety of corporate situations and managerial tools. It assumes a formal business structure which does not always address the many different cultural and personality issues which complicate HR Management.

A solid option and valuable OER resource.

Reviewed by Joshua Jensen, Adjunct Professor, SHRM-SCP, George Fox University on 4/3/20

This textbook addresses a wide range of important topics relevant to human resource management today. The text covers most of the key areas that should be considered in an undergraduate course on human resource management. Strengths of the text include content related to the strategic role of HR (Chapter 2), which is placed toward the front of the text (as it should be), along with content related to HR’s role in retention of top talent (Chapter 7). A weaknesses of the text relates to the inclusion of a chapter on successful employee communication (Chapter 9). This is indeed an important topic but one that is often covered in other undergraduate courses. Another weakness of the text is that it is very thin on any content related to Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), which in today’s global business environment is a critical component of an effective human resource management function. On a final note, a considerable difference between this text and most other HR texts is that it addresses applicable HR/employment laws within each respective section of the text, whereas many other human resource management texts dedicate an entire chapter to HR/employment laws. The approach of this text makes more sense as these concepts are often first exposure for many students in an undergraduate human resource management course.

The content of the text is accurate and relatively free from error. The text does a good job of providing sources for most information. However, I would recommend inclusion of more rigorous, academic sources to complement the existing professional sources referenced throughout the text. Several of the URLs and links provided throughout the text are broken and need updated. Human resource management changes so frequently and any textbook on the subject must also be updated frequently, as discussed below.

Human resource management is a highly dynamic subject matter. Just this week Congress and the President enacted significant new legislation related to human resource management and employment matters due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a good example of just how fast things can change in the field of human resource management. While I wouldn’t expect a textbook on human resource management to be updated in real-time, I would expect that it be reviewed at least every two years, if not every year. Some content of the text is outdated and in need of refreshing. Many of the data points and sources used throughout the text are outdated – some by nearly 10 years. The text does not provide adequate coverage of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), which is a critical component of any human resource department today. On a final note, in the discussion regarding skills necessary for human resource management, the discussion on HR certification only covers the Human Resource Certification Institute’s (HRCI) PHR, SPHR, and GPHR certifications. The text makes no mention of the Society for Human Resource Management’s (SHRM) HR certifications which came on the scene over 5 years ago. The SHRM-CP and SHRM-SCP today are highly recognized and sought-after standards in the human resource field.

The text is well written with regard to clarity. Human resource management is a complex subject matter, yet the text does a very good job of addressing difficult topics in a clear, easy to understand manner. It provides the perfect balance of informal and technical language.

The text is internally consistent in terms structure and style. The terminology, framework, and flow of the text is very good. Chapters are sequenced in a logical format, and chapters have a similar look and feel. No inconsistencies were noted.

The modularity of the text provides for ease of breaking down concepts and looking at individual components within chapters. The Table of Contents guides the reader to particular sections within each chapter which is helpful. The text is organized by relevant chapters and then each chapter is organized with multiple sections that are of reasonable length with appropriate section headings that are easy to follow. Overall the book is easy to navigate.

Overall the text is organized very well, the structural consistency is good, and the content flows in a very effective manner. Organization is critical to a complex subject matter, and this text provides that.

The text is laid out well and is visually appealing. It is more “exciting” from a visual perspective than many e-texts I have come across. Sections are properly titled and they are chunked into sections that contain manageable amounts of information. However, as mentioned previously, many of the URLs and links throughout the text are broken and don’t work. Many of the video links do not work as well.

The text is well-edited and relatively free from grammatical and typographical errors.

I appreciate the fact that the text had a separate chapter on Diversity and Multiculturalism (Chapter 3). That said, it could be more robust, and include other forms of bias not mentioned (such as unconscious bias). In general, the discussions on diversity and inclusion are well laid out. One issue that I would point out is that while there are few images and pictures sprinkled throughout the text, these images do not portray much diversity – they mostly reflect individuals of Caucasian decent with very little cultural diversity reflected. Consideration of updating the images and pictures to reflect the more current diverse workforce is recommended.

Overall, this open textbook on Human Resource Management is a good open textbook that is a viable alternative to expensive big-publisher textbooks on the subject matter for an undergraduate class. While the textbook is not perfect (and no textbook is), I support adoption of this open textbook for undergraduate human resource management courses facilitated by a human resource management professional who can supplement the text with updated materials and cases to give students a relevant and current overview of the human resource management field.

Reviewed by Jiwon Suh, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Arlington on 2/5/20

The author covers pretty much every topic that should be covered in HR management. Especially, I like that the author places Strategic HR management upfront. Additionally, I like that the author has a chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication... read more

I did not come across any inaccuracies. But, I found some tables do not have references.

This textbook needs to be updated. Tables are mostly from 2010 - 2011 which are perceived old. For example, Table 14.2 Top Global 100 Companies is based on 2010 data. We all know that the contents in the table are no longer true. Also, youtube videos should be replaced with more recent examples.

This textbook is written concisely, and I believe students would easily be able to read and understand.

The structure and style are great and consistent. I also like the cases that are included at the end of the each chapter. It will be easily used by instructors.

The content is adequately divided into small pieces. Yes, the modularity is great.

The organization of the chapters are good, easy to follow, and very logical.

No serious issue, but some minor issues as I mentioned earlier. Some tables do not include references.

I did not come across any grammatical errors.

I did not notice any cultural insensitivity. Diversity and cultural perspectives are a very important topic in HR management and the textbook successfully includes the topic.

Generally, this textbook is in excellent shape and I am considering to adopt. However, I strongly recommend to update or publish the next version.

Reviewed by Patturaja Selvaraj, Assistant Professor, Gettysburg College on 3/14/19

The textbook covers the most important topics in Human Resource Management. Diversity is vital for the success of organizations. A full fledged chapter covers the aspects of diversity and multiculturalism. The following topics could have been covered in detail: Equal Employment Opportunity and the legal environment, Employee Benefits, HR Analytics (could have been a separate chapter), Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) and Talent Management. Employee engagement is emerging as an important area in HRM. A separate chapter about employee engagement would have added great value. Subject index at the end would be of great help.

I did not come across any inaccuracies in the textbook. The information and examples provided is accurate and unbiased. Some of the practical aspects of HRM are justified using theories. It provides an opportunity for the participants to know about the theoretical underpinnings as well.

Constant changes in laws and regulations make it difficult to incorporate the amendments, as and when it takes place. Some of the examples are dated. The text is simple, hence incorporating updates will not be an issue.

The content is simple and well structured. The examples provided for the concepts would help students to learn the concepts clearly and grasp it quickly. The cases provided at the end of every chapter is also very helpful.

I found the textbook to be consistent. There is not much of overlap between chapters. The book chapters are arranged in a logical chronological order , which provides an opportunity for the students to built on the concepts learnt in earlier chapters.

The textbook is divided into different sections and organized very well. It is easy to read and understand each section. The table of contents provide link to different sections, which makes it easy to access the particular section in the textbook.

The content and topics are arranged in a logical order. Students would be curious to know about the benefits that they would be entitled for, as an employee. It would help to provide more details about employee benefits.

There is a scope for improvement, although I did not encounter major issues. 1) some of the links require login credentials. 2) Some of the video links did not work. for examples the link provided in page 125 (Silly Job interviews: Monty Python) did not work. 3) issue with page lay out for tables and figures. for example In page 35. the table heading appears in page 35 whereas the table appears in page 36.

The textbook appears inclusive. It is neither insensitive nor offensive. It has a separate chapter dedicated towards diversity and multiculturalism.

This is a good text book for a beginner to understand the basic functions of Human Resource Management and it also provides practitioner focus. The book is very practical and interesting. The cases and video links provided would help the students to understand the concept in a better way. The text book can covers some topics in greater detail like - In the job analysis topic, detailed coverage of techniques for collecting data for job analysis and also mention about different job analysis technique could have incorporated. Similarly, in Chapter 2, the author could have mentioned how HR practices change depending on the strategy of the organization like cost leadership, differentiation and focus. While discussing about different techniques of selection, discussing about group discussion, case method, case competition conducted by different organizations would have helped students to know more about different and contemporary techniques. While discussing about pay for performance , it would have helped to know about advantages and disadvantages of pay for performance and conditions in which it can/cannot be used. Overall, it is a comprehensive textbook.

Reviewed by Lee Myers, Faculty, Linn-Benton Community College on 2/13/19

The (2016) content is appropriate for a survey course in Human Resources Management. It is geared toward helping current and future supervisors and managers understand the functions, roles, and practices needed to manage employees. While the practical examples and applications are dated (2011) key HRM terms are relevant and are clearly communicated. The specific sections of the text that are limited and could use more detail:

1. Laws, regulations, and policies. Laws have been amended, legislation has been passed and agency regulations have changed since 2011 (e.g., the Affordable Care Act, FSLA, Privacy Law, OSHA, IRS (tax) and Labor Law)

2. Include a new section on HRM digital technology, (e.g., Talent websites, social media, video job interviewing, mobile apps and optimization, cloud-based record management, analytics, and predictive modeling, real-time and always-on feedback systems)

The text is relatively free from errors. Authors have taken care to represent several sources and practices applicable to various public and private organizations as well as industries and company size. Relevance and reflection of recent research are a greater concern.

Specific content reflecting "current practices" and organizations dated. Updates would be time-consuming in order to replace existing content. Most examples are from resources dated 2011 or prior.

The writing style is conversational and has limited jargon. It is appropriate for most students at the community college level.

Consistency rating: 3

The framework is consistent from section to section. The section content does build upon previously discussed and defined terminology.

The content is broken down in a format where cross-reference links are embedded into section areas. While the intention is to help the reader either skip to a section or review content from an earlier section, it be may not be all that helpful to the reader. A possible alternative to this formatting would be: 1. Including a glossary of terms and subject index. 2. Including a typeface whereby the key terms are not only bolded but the definition of the term is also designated by italics or linked to a lookup feature.

Modularity rating: 3

Most Human Resources Management activities do not happen in a vacuum, therefore, the difficulty of creating a text that is modular reflect this challenge. The text is broken down according to basic HR functions and concepts and has some potential of reorganization and standalone capability.

There are some distortion and sizing issues with images and charts. Some video quality is marginal.

Most resource direct links are currently available, though have not been updated with current material. (e.g., Dictionary of Occupational Titles -could be updated to using O*Net Online, YouTube videos could be searched for more current content and higher quality video, SHRM resources replaced by sources that do not require access rights or logins.)

Few grammatical, word usage or typographical errors were noted.

To be more reflective and sensitive to the current workforce and cultures, additional content would make the text more inclusive. (e.g., gender identity, sexual orientation, single parenting and caregiving, biculturalism, veteran status, and disabilities.)

The basic structure (headings and numbering) allows users to navigate throughout the document and appear to be conducive to assistive technology. YouTube videos allow for closed captioning and transcripts increasing accessibility.

Reviewed by Huh-Jung Hahn, Assistant Professor, Winona State University on 5/21/18

The textbook is very comprehensive, covering various subjects adequately. Unlike most other HRM textbooks, some unique chapters (e.g., Chapter 3 and Chapter 9) are included. However, some areas can be improved by adding more explanations or detailed information. My overall impression about the contents is that they are short and simple. This is fine for a survey textbook, but can be too brief for students wanting to study the topics in depth. Furthermore, it would help to have an index or glossary at the end.

Overall, the content is conveyed accurately with a neutral tone.

Some of the HR content (e.g. laws and regulations) requires continuous updates due to constant changes. Considering that the textbook was written several years ago, an update is recommended in terms of the content and the supplementary materials.

The author did an excellent job on clarity of the content. The content was very straight-forward and well-guided for readers.

The textbook has a high-level of consistency in terms of terminologies, interfaces, and organizations.

The textbook's modularity is excellent. The content is adequately divided into smaller chunks.

The topics are arranged in a logical order. Also, chapters throughout the textbook did a great job on connecting different topics by referring to other chapters appropriately. This may help students understand the interconnectivity of contents.

There were no significant interface issues. The textbook's interface was easy to follow and consistent throughout the chapters. However, I recommend addressing an issue regarding page layout for tables or figures. Specifically, several pages do not present tables or figures despite showing only their titles. For example, the title of a table is placed on page 254, while the actual table is shown on page 255. Similar issues are found on pages 269-270 and pages 295-296.

I did not notice any grammatical errors.

I did not notice any cultural insensitivity or offensiveness in the content. Rather, the textbook puts the importance of cultural perspectives as one of the key fundamentals for good HR practice; this was done by placing the subject of diversity and multi-culturalism at the front of the textbook while other HR textbooks do not.

The author did an excellent job on making the content very practical and interesting. Each chapter has a good balance of containing both general information and the necessary how-to's for particular, real-world situations. Human Resources Recall, cases, and exercises at the end of each chapter are very critical and thought-evoking - one of the best that I have ever seen. Lastly, this book leaves a very positive impression in regards to the quality of open textbooks. This reviewer hopes the use of open textbooks becomes more mainstream throughout universities and other teaching institutions.

Reviewed by Joseph Frank, Adjunct Instructor / Manager HR Reporting and Compliance, Fontbonne University on 5/21/18

The book covers a wide variety of topics related to human resources management. There is 1 brief mention of analytics for candidate sourcing, but much more discussion of HR analytics is needed in order to bring this forward to present day. The... read more

The book covers a wide variety of topics related to human resources management.

There is 1 brief mention of analytics for candidate sourcing, but much more discussion of HR analytics is needed in order to bring this forward to present day. The HR analytics subfield has grown dramatically in its significance to the field during the past decade. Also the related subfield of HR Information Systems is barely mentioned at all. A solid understanding of HR practice requires knowledge of how these subfields work and how they relate to the other subfields such as recruitment, training, compensation, benefits, etc.

The content is somewhat accurate but not always unbiased. For example, the discussion of how we define diversity vs multiculturalism is not necessarily how I would have constructed it. Another example is Table 2.2. It is a good summary of the 4 stages in business lifecycle but “Seattle University presentation” is not the original source of this! That’s like the kind of citation an undergraduate student might use in a paper. The citations URLs overall – when they are not broken links -- are from random local news and other types of websites that are rather dated (like jobs.aol.com) way too often. These are the kinds of sources that disappear quickly. Academic citations would be much more stable, but admittedly less digestible for the average student. However, more solid academic citations would be more useful as resources to give students for writing their own academically rigorous papers.

HR is a difficult topic to keep up-to-date. The activities are actually really good and pretty much timeless, especially the suggested group activities (although most of those would be hard to do in an online class, could be useful face-to-face).

I have several concerns in the discussion of generational differences. The “Generation Y” case study reads really outdated. Millennials now make up a slight majority of the workforce. Would be more compelling as a discussion of how Generation Z – the group really entering the workforce and college in the next 5 years – as Digital Natives differs from Millennial, Gen X, Baby Boomer and the earlier generations work styles. Lots of articles are out there now that could be cited about “the 5 generations now in the workforce.” This quote is also outdated and conflicts with current reality: "It is expected that over the next ten years, over 40 percent of the workforce will retire, and there will not be enough younger workers to take the jobs once held by the retiring workforce (Fernandez, 2007)". In fact, Baby Boomers – and some of the older generation too -- have stuck around. Because of the 2009 recession, many could not afford to retire when they planned. As an instructor with this book I would have to supplement with more current articles.

The section about PHR, SPHR and GPHR is now outdated since SHRM is now offering their own competing credentials. That’s a confusing landscape even for seasoned HR pros – needs some explanation for students to understand how and why to pursue those HRCI credentials instead of SHRM-CP, etc.

Also I have several concerns in the areas of compensation and benefits. The ACA discussion is very, very outdated. Section 6.4 should be called Benefits instead of Other Types of Compensation, and the title of Chapter 6 should be Total Rewards in order to be current with the jargon typically used today in the professionals of compensation and benefits.

Also policies and employee relations matters need updating. Sections about social media recruiting are very outdated (reflecting a 2011-12 timeframe). Issues with mobile device usage by nonexempt workers (i.e., Chicago Police Department) and overtime eligibility not addressed. Map of “right-to-work” states is also outdated given the political debates in several states on this issue. Internet usage policy is mentioned but nothing specifically about employee rights under the National Labor Relations Act (even in non-union employers) to conduct protected concerted activity online. This has in practice limited the legal scope of Internet acceptable use and social media policies.

The writing is accessible, conversational without being unprofessional, and generally clear even when addressing complex, confusing jargon-laden HR topics. This is where this book excels!

The framework and terminology used are generally consistent without the textbook, although not always consistent with the terminology actually used by current-day HR practitioners.

It would be pretty easy for me as an instructor to pick and choose chapters from this book to utilize and not stick with the textbook order. For example, I would pretty much scrap Chapter 6 (compensation and benefits) and replace with more current articles that reflect current practice in Total Rewards, particularly the impacts of the Affordable Care Act. But much of the other content I could use without too many changes and without much concern that the chapter refers to the previous chapter a great deal.

The content generally flows well, although some of the "key takeaways" call-out boxes could be shorter and more succinct.

Most of the video links did not work for me, and the ones that did were pretty low-quality videos. Maybe that's just a function of my connection speed, but could use enhancement. Many of the images were stock photos of questionable relevance to the content.

The grammar and the writing style were generally easy to follow and there were few typographical errors.

The discussion of multiculturalism vs diversity is a good one, but leaves out the most common diversity and inclusion training concept in U.S. corporations today: unconscious bias. Also the imagery is still mostly white faces in this chapter, which is also problematic. Aspiring HR practitioners are in my experience more diverse than the general student population. Overall, the book has too many white faces in its imagery (whether stock photos or cartoons) which is problematic given the increasingly diverse U.S. student body and workforce. A textbook about HR matters including diversity and Equal Employment Opportunity needs to be especially cognizant of this.

Many videos required a login; and many of the URLs deep-linking to specific articles from HRE, SHRM, etc don’t work anymore.

Reviewed by Mussie Tessema, Professor, Winona State University on 5/21/18

The textbook covers most HR topics that are found in other HRM textbooks. Although many issues related to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) were discussed in different chapters, it would have been good if an entire chapter had been devoted to EEO. Besides, compensation and benefits were discussed in one chapter (chapter 6), which should have been discussed under two separate chapters given the size, variety, and importance of employee benefits. Unlike other HRM textbook, however, the textbook includes full-fledged chapters on communication (chapter 9), and diversity and multiculturism (chapter 3), which are both important in effectively managing an organizational workforce.

The content of the textbook is accurate and unbiassed. It covers fair presentation of the theoretical and practical aspects of HRM and includes references of all sources used, which also improve their verification and credibility.

The content of the textbook is relevant to the respective HR topics/issues, although some of the data/information are not updated. The textbook was originally published in 2011/2012 and used sources from 2005-2010. Since its publication, there have been some legislative (laws and regulations) changes which have impacted some HR practices. Overall, the textbook is written in such a way that makes future updates relatively simple.

The textbook is written clearly and offers good examples and explanations of HR concepts and terminology.

The style and presentation of the content of the textbook is consistent across all 14 chapters, which makes it easy to follow.

The 14 chapters are divided into HR topics and sub-topics, which are also arranged in manageable sizes for the reader. Such presentation also makes navigation and assigning readings to students easy and straightforward.

The textbook presented the 14 chapters in a logical and straight forward manner. It assigned learning objectives for each chapter and section, which allow students what to expect from each chapter/section.

The textbook is free of any issues with the interface or distortion of images/charts, and any other display features that may distract or confuse the reader. The only problem I encountered was with some links that required login credentials (e.g. video link: Chapter 2.2- How Would You Handle This).

The textbook does not contain grammatical errors that would be distracting to students. I only found a few typo-errors, which could be easily corrected. For example, on page 23, “… and expectations are different(Capezza, 2010).” There is no space between the word ‘different’ and ‘(Capezza)’. Also, there is no space between ‘200,000’ and ‘total’ on page 393, “… incidence rate=number of injuries and illness × 200,000total hours worked by all employees…”.

The textbook does not have insensitive or offensive examples. Unlike other HRM textbooks, it dedicated a chapter to “diversity and multiculturism” (chapter 3), which is also presented fairly. It also makes a good point in that while diversity is about the ingredients, the mix of people and perspectives, inclusion is about the container, the place that allows employees to feel they belong, to feel both accepted and different. Cultural sensitivity is a critical issue in managing people in an organization.

It is one of the best textbooks I have used. It presents both the theoretical and practical aspects of HRM in appealing and convincing way. Overall, it is clear and easy to follow and is a great textbook for course in HRM for undergrad students. My two comments are: Adding two more chapters: Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and employee benefits and updating the text with most recent laws and regulations.

Reviewed by Denise Potosky, Professor, Penn State University on 2/1/18

The textbook covers most of the main topics typically associated with HRM and includes a "linked" table of contents. The definition of HRM in Chapter 1 (“the process of employing people, training them, compensating them, developing policies relating to them, and developing strategies to retain them”) is used to set up most of the subsequent chapters in the text. But this definition is narrower and more basic than the implied definition of HRM according to Ulrich’s model presented in Chapter 2, in which a manager of HR needs to be a strategic partner, change agent, administrative and functional expert, human capital developer, and an employee advocate. I wish the text were organized to address the latter definition, as it would be more comprehensive and suitable for advanced undergraduate and graduate level students interested in managing human resources and/or becoming HR managers.

The depth of coverage varies for each topic. The information on compensation, for example, is quite detailed and interesting, but the information on selection tends to "mention" ideas rather than develop details.

In Chapter 4, the section on job analysis seems peculiar. First, figure 4 provides a very simple process model (e.g., select the jobs to study, determine information needed, identify sources of data…), but then quickly introduces forms and questionnaires. Where are students of this course supposed to get the questionnaires? Then task vs. competency-based approaches are described, but there is no mention of worker-based job analysis approaches. If a competency approach focuses on KSAOs, is it still a job analysis?

And why not use O*Net to help identify essential tasks of common jobs?

A lot of the information presented is general and most information is accurate, albeit dated in places.

Some of the information provided is incorrect. For example, in the context of selection tests in Chapter 5, the author states, “Personality tests such as Meyers-Briggs and the “Big Five” personality factors may be measured and then compared with successful employee scores.” The Meyers Briggs measures personality style and preferences, not personality traits, and is not valid for use in selection.

In other places, the presentation of information is peculiar and somewhat misleading, if not incorrect. For example, when presenting cognitive ability tests, the author writes, “A cognitive ability test measures intelligences, such as numerical ability and reasoning. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is an example of a cognitive ability test. It is important to note that some cognitive ability tests can have disparate impact. For example, in EEOC v. Ford Motor Co. and United Automobile Workers of America, African Americans were rejected from an apprentice program after taking a cognitive test known as the Apprenticeship Training Selection System (ATSS)1. The test showed significant disparate impact on African Americans, and it was then replaced by a different selection procedure, after costing Ford $8.55 million. Some sample test categories might include the following…”

The SAT is considered as an entrance exam by some universities, and the ATSS showed disparate impact against African Americans. In fact, many if not most cognitive ability tests administered in the U.S., including the SAT, are associated with disparate impact. This is an important consideration, but is it part of the definition of what cognitive ability tests are? Why not have a separate paragraph about disparate impact in selection tests, which would include considering how interviews and various tests might create adverse impact?

Another example where accuracy can be questioned is the statement “Most expatriates go through four phases of adjustment when they move overseas for an assignment.” (Chapter 14). A few studies have found some support for the culture shock model of adjustment, but several studies have found that this model is not very accurate. Further, expatriation is only one type of global assignment, and is not necessarily the most popular type of global work performed in organizations today. More recent research evidence would really help to update the material presented.

An HRM textbook can be difficult to keep up-to-date, and the author has done a good job in terms of the many laws and changes to HR systems that have occurred since the 1980s. That said, the underlying assumptions and research evidence for the different recommendations regarding key HR practices do not always reflect current thinking in the field. There is so much to cover and keep up-to-date, it might be helpful to have co-authors from different areas of expertise in the different HR functional areas work on this textbook.

In addition, some of the actitivities seem dated. For example, in chapter 1 the exercise reads: "In a group of two to three people, research possible career paths in HRM and prepare a PowerPoint presentation to discuss your findings." In an online course (likely to use an online textbook), student teams are likely to use other, newer presentation technology and formats.

The language used throughout the book is professional and accessible, but sometimes the author assumes that little to no explanation is necessary for examples or key points. For example, I watched the Wendy’s 1989 training video (Chapter 8), but whatever the author implied was excellent about this training video was not obvious to me. The author states, “This excellent training video was used at Wendy’s to teach employees how to grill the perfect burger. Although the video is over twenty years old, the concepts used in it are still true today.” What concepts? Why is this video excellent?

The author writes, "this book is equally important to someone who wants to be an HR manager and to someone who will manage a business," but for the most part this book assumes that the reader is a student looking to begin a career as an HR manager. All of the information and cases put the reader in the role of an HR manager or consultant. For example, in chapter 1, "You have just been hired to work in the human resource department of a small company. You heard about the job through a conference you attended, put on by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)." Why would anyone not already pursuing a career in HRM attend a SHRM conference?

For someone going into HR, some of the scenarios make it seem deceptively easy to change an organization's culture or people's attitudes towards, say, training or performance. In several places, key information is presented more like "do's and don'ts" advice than evidence-based guidelines.

The overall format of the book is very consistent, with key concepts presented at the beginning and summary definitions and exercises presented at the end of each chapter. Some of these exercises and cases seem quite good and interesting.

This is a difficult criterion to evaluate because certain concepts and practices in HRM would be difficult to move around in a 100% modular fashion in a course. For example, job analysis and specification needs to come before recruitment, which logically precedes information on selection, training, and performance appraisal. Overall, this textbook does a fairly good job addressing so many different but related concepts and practices in separate chapters, and as such could probably be reorganized to some extent.

One thing that could be improved, however, is the fact that in the first five chapters, the author often mentions that other topics will be covered later in the book. For example, several legal concepts are embedded in the material for different chapters, but sometimes this information seems "too little, too late" in that students may not have the opportunity to develop an overall understanding of the U.S. legal framework for employment. By the time they get to international HRM in Chapter 14, it may not be obvious why the managers in the case about operating in Peru were unable to anticipate cultural and legal differences.

The opening case for chapter 4, similar to the one used in the other chapters, seems to refer to a 50-employee company. Is the author recommending a job analysis for 50 employees? Wouldn’t employees in a smaller firm have more overlap between jobs? What about person-job fit or person-organization fit?

Most of the opening chapter cases put the reader in the role of an HR manager in a small firm, but chapter 7 abruptly tells the reader to change roles to an “HR consultant.”

The overall organization and flow of the chapters is clear.

The interface is ok. There aren't many images or figures. The figures are fairly small on the screen, and it would be good to have a "click to enlarge" link associated with some of them.

Most of the video links return the message, "“Flash-embedded videos are no longer supported…but you can watch on YouTube.” The video on "Stereotypes and the Effect on Privilege" in chapter 3 is no longer available on YouTube.

Grammatical Errors rating: 3

The use of second person and especially second person commands adds a “preachy” tone. For example, “Make sure that job announcements aren’t posted only for your Facebook friends to see; post them in a variety of places to gain the largest and most diverse response.”

Although the sentences are grammatically correct, it is not appropriate to change person and verb tense and voice so frequentialy within paragraphs. For example, “Once you have developed your recruitment plan, recruited people, and now have plenty of people to choose from, you can begin the selection process. The selection process refers to the steps involved in choosing people who have the right qualifications to fill a current or future job opening. Usually, managers and supervisors will be ultimately responsible for the hiring of individuals…”

I did not find this text to be insensitive or offensive. In chapter 3, the author perhaps approaches inclusiveness to a fault. multiculturalism is not defined, but focuses on inclusiveness, understanding, and respect, “looks at” unequal power and privilege, i.e., whether “advantages are based on a system in which one race, gender, and sexual orientation is predominant in setting societal rules and norms.” Although the author claims that “the idea of power and privilege is not about “white male bashing” but understanding our own stereotypes and systems of advantage so we can be more inclusive with our coworkers, employees, and managers.” Yet, in a U.S. business school classroom context, it is difficult to imagine that a white, heterosexual, male student won’t view this as some sort of intervention. At the end of the chapter, the focus on inclusiveness and respect seems to fade into the background: “Multiculturalism is a term that is similar to diversity, but it focuses on development of a greater understanding of how power in society can be unequal due to race, gender, sexual orientation, power, and privilege.” In the chapter on selection, a few of the example interview questions are confusing and may suggest an implicit bias. For example, “You can’t ask direct questions about marital status or ages of children. An alternative may be to ask, ‘Do you have any restrictions on your ability to travel, since this job requires 50 percent travel?’” This example made me pause, as it seems to imply that readers assume that a job candidate's willingness to travel is somehow connected to their marital status or family situation. Why is a question about travel an alternative to a question about marital/family status?

I appreciate and admire the effort that went into preparing this text, as I believe it is a tremendous endeavor in a rapidly changing field that functions in so many different ways in different types of organizations.

The exercises and case examples are a strength and they reflect the author's commitment to students application of course concepts and their development of critical thinking skills.

Reviewed by Valerie Wallingford, Professor, Bemidji State University on 4/11/17

The majority of the HRM topics included in most HRM textbooks. That being said there area few areas that were left out or could be elaborated upon: Equal Employment Opportunity should have an entire chapter devoted to it. Workforce, jobs, and job analysis should have an entire chapter devoted to it. Training & development were combined in one chapter and possibly should have a chapter devoted to each topic. Compensation & benefits were combined in one chapter and possibly should have a chapter devoted to each topic. There should be a chapter devoted to employee rights and responsibilities. A new release is probably due to discuss changes in healthcare, etc.

Content was accurately represented (just needs to be updated with most recent laws and regulations), error-free, and unbiased with good examples and links that support the content.

The most recent reference source noted was 2012 which is already 5 years old. A newer release would be good to make sure that recent changes in laws and regulations are covered such as with healthcare requirements.

The text was written so that students would easily be able to read and comprehend the material.

All chapters utilized consistent terminology, style and structure which makes it easy to follow.

It is consistent in that chapter concepts are introduced and further expanded upon, therefore, I see no disruption to the reader so yes the book's content has modularity.

I think the organization is for the most part good. However, equal employment opportunity should be covered early on and as I mentioned in #1 there are chapters that combine two important topics that should be in separate chapters, etc.

Some videos required additional login information that I was not able to view. For the most part the book's interface was good.

There were no grammatical errors that I found.

The content was written with no biases, it utilized good examples that were inclusive. I did not perceive anything to be insensitive or offensive.

I teach a senior undergraduate level HRM course and this course needs to cover the latest in rules and regulations which this text does not in some case. Therefore, I would not adopt this text for my course but it may be appropriate for lower level HRM courses.

Reviewed by Kathy Milhauser, Professor, Concordia University Portland on 12/5/16

The text covers most of the necessary material to support an introductory course in Human Resource Management for undergraduate business students. One topic that I don’t always see emphasized in textbooks that was included here was Retention of employees (Chapter 7) and Communication (Chapter 9) which I believe could be left out, since this is covered in lower division courses on organizational behavior and communication. The only thing I didn’t see that is included in the text I am currently using was a chapter on Job Design.

I didn’t see any accuracy issues, other than issues with the use of data and sources that are a few years old that may no longer be accurate. Details in the Relevance section.

I didn’t find all of the videos to be as helpful as I would have liked, and didn’t feel that they were tied in very well with the key points in the text (i.e. Dilbert Video in Chapter 1). Text uses data from 2010 census that should be updated (Figure 1.6). Generational differences article was from 2005.

The book was primarily written to the potential HR Manager. I prefer a perspective that speaks to any potential/future manager in a way that holds each accountable for managing human resources, not looking to a formal HR Manager to do so. Sections on how to develop an HRM Plan, for example, would not be relevant to managers of other functions, even though the tasks in the HRM Plan might represent valuable work for any manager to perform.

I really like some of the examples and explanations of concepts. Section 3.2 does an especially good job of defining and illustrating issues of privilege that can be encountered in the workplace. Chapter 4 on Recruitment is also very clearly laid out and would be simple for students to follow. Good integration of motivational theories to help students think about various compensation plans in Chapter 5.

I found the style and structure of the text to be consistent.

The text could easily be aligned to a 10 week term or 15 week semester course, as the chapters can be assigned singly or in pairs to students and support classroom activities and projects. Chapters could also be assigned and used out of order.

I thought the flow of the text was fine. I can see following the flow of the chapters in a course, or changing the order of some of the chapters, and don’t see any issues with this in the design of the text.

Getting back to the text after watching a video required using the back button – it would be easy for students to be distracted by the additional videos offered, and not go back to their reading. There were also some links that required a user. i.d. and password that I wasn’t able to access (api.wistia.com . . .). There were also YouTube videos linked to the text that are no longer available (i.e. Chapter 3). Video in Chapter 4 on Top Interview Questions wanted viewer to click on Subscribe.

I saw only a few very minor grammatical errors that would not be distracting to students.

There was a very good chapter on Diversity and Multiculturalism (Chapter 3) and another on International HRM (Chapter 14) that were very good and added to the global relevance and cultural issues in organizations.

I think this is a great book, and could be an asset to a course in Human Resource Management for undergrad students. It is well written and provides clear, easily usable activities, exercises, and cases. My only issues are that there are some issues with some of the videos and quite a few of the resources need to be updated to ensure relevance.

Reviewed by Tom Zeni, Assistant Professor, West Virginia University on 12/5/16

The book includes all of the major HR functional areas and topics included in most HRM textbooks. To their credit, the author choose to include several additional sections (such as communication, management & leadership styles, and multiculturalism) that are not found in traditional HRM texts. There have been several key legislative changes which have impacted the field of HRM since the text's last update. Discussions surrounding the Affordable Care Act and recent changes to the FLSA should be added to subsequent releases. I was not able to locate an index or glossary per se, however, a list of references is provided at the end of each major topic.

I did not observe any inaccuracies in reading the text and the language used is objective and neutral.

The book is definitely arranged to make future updates relatively simple. In my earlier comments, I suggested several potential updates which could be (along with all others) seamlessly integrated into the existing work.

The author does an excellent job of keeping the text readable, particularly when addressing topics that can sometimes get bogged down in legalese and other jargon (we love or acronyms). The author introduces the language of HR in a way an everyday reader can interpret.

The text follows a general format throughout making it easy to navigate on all platforms.

In its current form, the text is reasonable modular. Chapters are broken into topics and these are referenced in the Table of Contents making navigation straightforward. Within each topic are various subtopics. These are arranged and blocked in manageable sizes for the reader. As a recommendation for improvement, the author may wish to consider revisiting the topics/subtopics. In many cases throughout the text, the number of subtopics under and topic heading are fairly large. It would benefit the reader to either have more topics with fewer subtopics, or to have subtopics referenced in the Table of Contents for easy navigation.

The topics are presented in a fairly standard fashion that mimics the flow of human capital through an organization. Many HR areas overlap, and I commend the author on the introduction of topics when necessary to fully explain a concept, while indicating the topic will be discussed in further detail later (see, for example, the treatment of EEOC concerns in Chapter 3 on Diversity & Multiculturalism and how it is revisited again in Chapters 4 and 5). This is a glaring omission in many other works, and it serves to make the concepts feel isolated and distinct when they are very much interrelated. Bravo!

I did not observe any issues with the interface or distortion. I will note that at least one video link I attempted to follow required login credentials and I was therefore not able to view it (see Chapter 2.2 "How Would You Handle This?).

I did not notice any grammatical errors in the book.

The text includes a chapter on the front end devoted to Diversity and Multiculturalism. I see this as an improvement over many texts that do not have a devoted chapter on the subject, or that "tuck it away" towards the end. Cultural sensitivity is an important issue in HR and General Management, and introducing the topic up front allows the reader to consider cultural issues throughout the remainder of the text. The author does a noticeably good job of selecting images and stories the reflect cultural diversity as well.

One of the more comprehensive (yet readable) HR textbooks I have encountered. Each chapter opens with a short vignette that puts the reader into a lifelike and highly probable scenario, engaging their interest in what's to come. This is a refreshing change over the traditional chapter opening highlighting a corporate operating lesson. Beyond the text, the book is embedded with external resources that are both interesting and relevant, improving the reader's overall experience. Each section is organized by learning objectives, chapters close with summaries and exercises... this book delivers everything a traditional textbook has to offer and then some!

Reviewed by Valerie Barnett, Instructor, Kansas State University on 8/21/16

The textbook covers some topics in depth, but leaves key elements out of other topic areas. For example, the section related to workforce planning in chapter 2 does not completely cover supply and demand and does not discuss actions that can be taken to respond to anticipated surpluses and shortages. Background and reference checks were not covered in the chapter on selection. Employment laws were covered briefly in chapter 3 and interspersed throughout the text. It felt like a piecemeal approach.

The textbook included complete chapters on employee communication, retention and motivation, and safety and health. These are topics I normally reference, but do not cover in depth in my course.

I did not find any inaccuracies. However, I found that in some places the author used different terminology than what is normally used by human resource management professionals.

The textbook was originally published around 2011 and key cases and laws are not included in the text. Many of the YouTube videos are available, but are dated.

The book provides good examples and cases to explore the concepts and terminology.

Modularity rating: 2

The book incorporates the practice of introducing a topic and then indicating that the topic will be explored further in later sections and chapters of the textbook. This practice would make it hard to assign chapters out of order.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 2

The chapters are not organized in the order I normally teach the topics and topics are covered in more than one chapter. Compensation and benefits are discussed in the same chapter. Typically I use texts that include separate chapters for pay structure, incentive pay and benefits and I cover the topics in more depth.

The interface is fairly clean. Several of the videos required an access authentication code. However, most of the links to videos worked.

I did not find any problems with the grammar in the textbook.

I did not notice any insensitive or offensive examples or references in the text.

This book does not fit my needs. According to the preface, "competing books are focused on the academic part of HRM, which is necessary in a university or college setting. However, the goal with this book is not only to provide the necessary academic background information but also to present the material with a practitioner’s focus on both large and small businesses." I needed the book to go into more depth in some areas and include less information on other topics.

The organization of the topics and the flow of the textbook also does not work with the way I teach my class.

However, I will use this textbook as a source for my teaching. The text includes excellent cases, discussion questions, tables, videos, etc. that I can use to enhance the class.

Reviewed by Marilyn Byrd, Assistant Professor, University of Oklahoma on 1/12/15

The author covered the most commonly discussed topics that are found in HRM textbooks. Setting this textbook apart from others was the inclusion of a standalone chapter on communication. This is sensible since communication is critical to managing people. The inclusion of a section on workplace bullying and workplace violence is also timely and not commonly provided in detail to which the author presented. Also I was pleased to see a discussion on career development and succession planning these items are often missing from HRM textbooks.

The author included discussion of SIGs, professional organizations, and conferences as a useful way for professionals to enhance their professional expertise and as a source for jobs. This is another discussion that is timely and well needed.

Based on the other HRM textbooks I have used, the author gives an accurate presentation of HRM. By using examples like the Fortune 500 Focus and links to resources that support the discussion, the author gives credibility to the content.

It can be taken into consideration that the time lapse between writing the content and the actual publication there may be more updated information available. I did not necessarily discover that in this text, although I did note the latest reference sources were 2012.

Clear and reader friendly.

The textbook was consistent in layout and presentation of content across all 14 chapters.

The author sectioned each chapter and assigned learning objectives for each section. This is a technique I have not encountered widely and sets this textbook apart from others. It also makes it easier to assign readings to students.Assigning learning objectives for each section allows students to self-check before moving on to the next section.

Organization and structure of the textbook was clear and easy to follow. In some places, the author highlighted or numbered items and this makes it easier for points to "jump out." It is often a challenge to encourage students to read--this technique may be more motivating.

Visually, the book was appealing and I did not note issues that would confuse the reader. The one thing I noted was the need to have spacing between paragraphs. There was not a distinguishable separation in most cases.

I encountered no grammatical errors.

Chapter 3 was devoted to topics of diversity and culture. This textbook presented a realistic discussion of diversity that is not encountered in most of the HRM textbooks I have used. The discussion of power and privilege was most needed. Most HRM textbooks omit this discussion. Instead other textbooks will present diversity from the perspective of "diversity is appreciated" but lack a discussion of cultural sensitivity. I also appreciate how the chapter addressed diversity training with an emphasis on power and privilege---this is an approach lacking (in general).

This book delivered what the author promised---a textbook that is practitioner focused. Human resource management is a course that needs a "how to" approach as well as a conceptual approach so that students can see how to perform tasks. I have used and read several HRM textbooks--this one is the most useful I have found. For example, the author described for students how to design training programs and how to make relevant. The author gave examples of types of issues that might be causing performance issues--this is particularly useful for students who have not been in management positions. These types of examples places the content into context. The author described how to design a performance appraisal system and how to write job descriptions. The author described practical examples of theory--for example instead of stating what a Theory X manager might do, the author gave an example. The "how to" approach and designing the textbook for the HRM practitioner is what makes this HRM textbook unique. The cases, scenarios, team activities, and video examples are what students need to make the concepts come to life.

Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources
Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans
Chapter 3: Diversity and Multiculturalism
Chapter 4: Recruitment
Chapter 5: Selection
Chapter 6: Compensation and Benefits
Chapter 7: Retention and Motivation
Chapter 8: Training and Development
Chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication
Chapter 10: Managing Employee Performance
Chapter 11: Employee Assessment
Chapter 12: Working with Labor Unions
Chapter 13: Safety and Health at Work
Chapter 14: International HRM

Ancillary Material

About the book.

Human Resource Management teaches HRM strategies and theories that any manager—not just those in HR—needs to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people.

Most students will be managing people at some point in their careers and not necessarily in a human resource management capacity. As businesses cut back, they may outsource HR duties to outside vendors. Or, in smaller businesses, the HR department is sometimes small or non-existent, and managers from other departments have to perform their own HRM. Therefore, teaching HRM from the perspective of a general manager, in addition to an HR manager, provides more relevance to students' careers and will give them a competitive advantage in the workplace.

This text also provides practical applications of theory relevant to today's workplace. You won't find discussions about “posting vacancies on a job board” or “sending memos.” In the real world, HRM leverages technology in every aspect of the job—from online training modules to technology for better managing flex-time workers and telecommuters.

Consider how most companies have gone “paperless” with pay stubs by using software. While such technology has made HRM easier, it has also created a new set of challenges. For example, how does a manager actually implement a new pay system? Therefore, it's important for students to understand what kinds of platforms exist in today's workplace to enhance their effectiveness as future managers.

The conversational style of Human Resource Management engages students, while the academic rigor of its content provides them with the tools that any manager needs—whether they work in HR or a different department. PLUS it offers an array of supplements that gives them practice creating real HR documents and role-playing real HR scenarios. Add value to your students' education, enhance the relevance of your curriculum, and make your students more employable by adopting this book for your HRM class. Read it now online today!

Contribute to this Page

11.1 An Introduction to Human Resource Management

What has been the evolution of human resource management (HRM) over the years, and what is the current value it provides to an organization?

Human resource management over the years has served many purposes within an organization. From its earliest inception as a primarily compliance-type function, it has further expanded and evolved into its current state as a key driver of human capital development. In the book HR From the Outside In (Ulrich, Younger, Brockbank, Younger, 2012), the authors describe the evolution of HR work in “waves”. 1 Wave 1 focused on the administrative work of HR personnel, such as the terms and conditions of work, delivery of HR services, and regulatory compliance. This administrative side still exists in HR today, but it is often accomplished differently via technology and outsourcing solutions. The quality of HR services and HR’s credibility came from the ability to run administrative processes and solve administrative issues effectively. Wave 2 focused on the design of innovative HR practice areas such as compensation, learning, communication, and sourcing. The HR professionals in these practice areas began to interact and share with each other to build a consistent approach to human resource management. The HR credibility in Wave 2 came from the delivery of best-practice HR solutions.

Wave 3 HR, over the last 15–20 years or so, has focused on the integration of HR strategy with the overall business strategy. Human resources appropriately began to look at the business strategy to determine what HR priorities to work on and how to best use resources. HR began to be a true partner to the business, and the credibility of HR was dependent upon HR having a seat at the table when the business was having strategic discussions. In Wave 4, HR continues to be a partner to the business, but has also become a competitive practice for responding to external business conditions. HR looks outside their organizations to customers, investors, and communities to define success—in the form of customer share, investor confidence, and community reputation. HR’s credibility is thus defined in terms of its ability to support and drive these external metrics. Although each “wave” of HR’s evolution is important and must be managed effectively, it is the “outside in” perspective that allows the human resource management function to shine via the external reputation and successes of the organization.

Catching the Entrepreneurial Spirit

Human resources outsourcing—entrepreneurial ventures.

Human resources is a key function within any company, but not all companies are able to afford or justify full-time HR staff. Over the last decade, HR outsourcing has become a good business decision for many small companies whose current staff doesn’t have the bandwidth or expertise to take on the risks of employee relations issues, benefits and payroll, or HR compliance responsibilities. This has led many HR practitioners to try out their entrepreneurial skills in the areas of HR outsourcing and “fractional HR.”

Human resources outsourcing is very commonly used by smaller companies (and often large companies too) to cover such tasks as benefits and payroll management. This is an area that has been outsourced to third parties for many years. More recent is the trend to have “fractional HR” resources to help with the daily/weekly/monthly HR compliance, employee relations, and talent management issues that companies need to address. Fractional HR is a growing industry, and it has become the service offering of many entrepreneurial HR ventures. Fractional HR is essentially as it sounds—it is the offering of HR services to a company on a part-time or intermittent basis when the company may not be able to justify the cost of a full-time HR resource. An HR professional can be available onsite for a specified number of hours or days weekly or monthly, depending on the company’s needs and budget. The HR professional handles everything from HR compliance issues and training to employee issues support. Also, for companies that are keen on development of employees, the HR resource can drive the talent management processes—such as performance management, succession planning, training, and development—for companies who require more than just basic HR compliance services.

How does a business leader decide whether HR outsourcing is needed? There are generally two factors that drive a leader to consider fractional HR or HR outsourcing—time and risk. If a leader is spending too much time on HR issues and employee relations, he may decide that it is a smart tradeoff to outsource these tasks to a professional. In addition, the risk inherent in some HR issues can be very great, so the threat of having a lawsuit or feeling that the company is exposed can lead the company to seek help from a fractional HR professional.

HR entrepreneurs have taken full advantage of this important trend, which many say will likely continue as small companies grow and large companies decide to off-load HR work to third parties. Some HR companies offer fractional HR as part of their stated HR services, in addition to payroll and benefits support, compensation, and other HR programmatic support. Having a fractional HR resource in place will often illuminate the need for other HR services and program builds, which are generally supported by those same companies. Whether you are an individual HR practitioner or have a small company of HR practitioners and consultants, fractional HR and HR outsourcing can be a very viable and financially rewarding business model. It can also be very personally rewarding, as the HR professional enables smaller companies to grow and thrive, knowing that its HR compliance and processes are covered.

What do you believe is contributing to the growth of the fractional HR and HR outsourcing trend? Do you expect this trend to continue?
At what point should a company consider bringing on a full-time HR resource instead of using a fractional HR resource? What questions should the company ask itself?

Human resource management provides value to an organization, to a large extent, via its management of the overall employee life cycle that employees follow—from hiring and onboarding, to performance management and talent development, all the way through to transitions such as job change and promotion, to retirement and exit. Human capital is a key competitive advantage to companies, and those who utilize their human resource partners effectively to drive their human capital strategy will reap the benefits.

Human resource management includes the leadership and facilitation of the following key life cycle process areas:

Human resources compliance
Employee selection, hiring, and onboarding
Performance management
Compensation rewards and benefits
Talent development and succession planning

Human resources is responsible for driving the strategy and policies in these areas to be in accordance with and in support of the overall business strategy. Each of these areas provides a key benefit to the organization and impacts the organization’s value proposition to its employees.

Concept Check

How has the function of human resource management evolved over the years?
In what way do you usually interact with human resources?

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/principles-management/pages/1-introduction

Authors: David S. Bright, Anastasia H. Cortes
Publisher/website: OpenStax
Book title: Principles of Management
Publication date: Mar 20, 2019
Location: Houston, Texas
Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-management/pages/1-introduction
Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/principles-management/pages/11-1-an-introduction-to-human-resource-management

© Jan 9, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

Browse Course Material

Course info, instructors.

Prof. Diane Burton
Prof. Paul Osterman

Departments

Sloan School of Management

As Taught In

Industrial Relations and Human Resource Management

Learning Resource Types

Strategic hr management, assignments, course schedule.

Session 1: The Strategic Importance of HR Case: Southwest Airlines: Using Human Resources for Competitive Advantage (A), Stanford Case #HR-1.

Reading: Pfeffer, Jeffrey. The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998, chapters 1 and 2.

Assignment Questions

What is Southwest’s competitive strategy? What are the sources of its success? How does it make money?
What are the foundations of Southwest’s competitive advantage?
How are these sources of competitive advantage produced and sustained by what the organization does and how it does it?
To what extent are Southwest’s sources of advantage difficult to imitate and likely to persist over time?
To what extent is Southwest’s success based on Herb Kelleher?
How serious is the competitive threat? To what extent can United and/or Continental duplicate Southwest’s business model? Why or why not?

Session 2: Strategic Execution and Economic Value: Internal and External Alignment Case: Portman Hotel, HBS 9-489-104.

What is Portman’s strategy for competing successfully in its chosen market?
What behaviors, skills, and attitudes will it need from its people, particularly the personal valets, to execute its strategy?
How do Portman’s human resource management practices (recruitment, selection, compensation, training, career development, performance appraisal, staffing and organizational design, management and supervision) help or hinder the development of the skills and behaviors listed in Question 2.
Is Portman having problems? What are the symptoms? What are the causes of the problems Portman is experiencing?
What should Portman do?
How much should Portman be willing to invest to address its difficulties? Or alternatively, what is the successful implementation of Portman’s strategy worth? Some operating figures are given in the case. FYI: the capital costs of the hotel work out to $310,000 per room.

Session 3: Work Systems Cases: New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc (NUMMI), Stanford Case #HR-11.

Optional Reading: Rubinstein, Saul R., and Thomas A. Kochan. Learning from Saturn: Possibilities for Corporate Governance and Employee Relations . Ithaca, NY: Cornell University/ILR Press, 2001.

What is motivating the workers at NUMMI?
What are the design elements of the Toyota team-based manufacturing system?
Why has General Motors had so much trouble learning from NUMMI and Saturn?
Jamie Hresko is now running one of GM’s largest assembly plants. What advice would you give him for how he might introduce some of the NUMMI methods to this facility?

Session 4: The Role of the HR Function

Reading: Ulrich, Dave. Human Resource Champions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and Delivering Results . Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1998, pp. 23-31 and 231-254.

Session 5: Self-Managed Teams Case: Slade Plating Department, HBS #9-496-018

Reading: Wageman, Ruth. “Critical Success Factors for Creating Superb Self-Managing Teams.” Organizational Dynamics . Summer 1997, pp. 49-61.

How would you describe the culture of the Sarto group? Be specific. How has it evolved? What impact has it had on the effectiveness of the group?
What are the determinants of social status and influence within the plating department? The Sarto group? The Clark group?
What do you learn by analyzing the data provided in the exhibits? How does this influence your interpretations of what is going on?
Why did management previously ignored the illegal “punch-out” system?
What actions would you take if you were Porter? What are the risks associated with these actions?

Important supplemental information: The 1996 starting salary in the Plating Department was $8.00; Tony Sarto’s hourly wage was $12.00. The average wage for semi-skilled workers in the U.S. was $12.00. Firms similar to Slade in the Michigan area, such as suppliers to the auto industry, paid an average hourly wage of $14.70. United Auto Workers working at the ‘Big Three (General Motors, Chrysler and Ford), had starting salaries around $13.00 an hour and earned on average $19.00 an hour. The minimum wage in 1996 was $4.25, raised to $4.75 on October 1, 1996.

Session 6: Participation and Involvement Film: Breakdown at Eastern Airlines

Reading: Pfeffer, Jeffrey. “Can You Manage With Unions.” Chap. 8 in The Human Equation: Building Profits by Putting People First . 2000, pp. 225-251.

Session 7: Training and Development Case: ServiceMaster Industries, Inc., HBS #9-388-064.

What role have ServiceMaster’s values and goals played in the firm’s success?
Why haven’t other companies successfully copied the ServiceMaster approach?
How important are training and development in the ServiceMaster system? How does ServiceMaster socialize its employees? How does training and development affect the organization’s continued growth?
Why has ServiceMaster been willing to spend the resources it has on training and development for a set of jobs that many might see as comparatively low-skilled and for positions that typically experience high turnover?
There have been proposals (particularly by former U.S. Secretary of Labor, Robert Reich) that the U.S. follow the lead of some other countries (e.g., France, Singapore) and mandate a certain level of training–for instance, as a percentage of the firm’s payroll. What do you think of this policy? Why and when might organizations spend less than a socially optimal amount on training? What else might be done if one believes that too little training and skill development are occurring in the economy?

Session 8: Culture Case: Morgan Stanley: Becoming a One-Firm Firm, HBS #9-400-043.

Reading: Kaplan, R. S., and D. P. Norton. “Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy.” California Management Review 39, no.1 (Fall 1996).

What do you think of Mack’s strategy for increased integration? Is this compelling to you? Why or why not?
Given his strategy, what do you think of his emphasis on revamping the performance management system? What are the pros and cons of implementing a new system of the type being discussed?
If Mack is to be successful at changing the strategy and culture at Morgan Stanley, what other actions would you recommend he take? What other HR levers should he be thinking about using?
Given your answer to question #3, what recommendations do you have for how he should proceed? How should he implement these changes?

Session 9: Performance Appraisal Case: The Firmwide 360 Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan Stanley, HBS #9-498053 and Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (A), HBS #9-498-054.

What is your assessment of Parson’s performance? Should he be promoted?
Using the data in the case, please complete the Evaluation and Development Summary presented in Exhibit 3 of the Rob Parson (A) case.
If you were Paul Nasr, how would you plan to conduct the performance appraisal conversation? What would your goals be? What issues would you raise and why, and how would you raise them?
If you were Rob Parson, how would you conduct yourself in the performance evaluation meeting? What are your goals? Be prepared to role-play the appraisal conversation in class as either Nasr or Parson.

Cases to be distributed in class: Rob Parson at Morgan Stanley (B), HBS #9-498-055, (C), HBS #9-498-056, and (D), HBS #9-498-058.

Session 10: Diversity Case: The Case of the Part-time Partner.

Reading: Thomas, David A., and Robin J. Ely. “Making Differences Matter: A New Paradigm for Managing Diversity.” Harvard Business Review (September-October 1996): 80-90.

Would you vote to make Julie a partner? Why or why not?
What are the pros and cons from the firm’s viewpoint and from the society’s viewpoint of this decision?
What is your assessment of how the firm handled the situation?
How might they have proceeded differently?

Session 11: Information Sharing Case: Jack Stack (A) and (B), HBS #9-993-009 and #9-993-010.

Reading: Case, John. “Opening the Books.” Harvard Business Review (March-April 1997): 118-127. (Reprint 97201)

What does it take to succeed in the engine remanufacturing business? What are the critical skills and organizational competencies?
What is it like to work in such a plant?
What are the major risks of a leveraged buy-out such as this?
What do you think of Stack’s ideas about management?
What are the key elements of the program Stack put in place?
Can this approach be used elsewhere? Under which circumstances would it be more (less) appropriate? How could it be implemented?

Session 12: Benefits Case: The SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry, Stanford Case #HR-6.

Reading: Pfeffer, Jeffrey. “Six Dangerous Myths About Pay.” Harvard Business Review (May-June 1998): 109-119.

What are the complementary elements of the SAS HR system that make the compensation system effective?
Why has SAS been able to get away with a compensation system that seems to violate industry conventions?
Could the SAS approach work in other high technology organizations?
What would happen if VDS tried to emulate the SAS approach? Why?

Session 13: Compensation Systems Case: Visionary Design Systems, HBS #9-495-011.

What is the basic philosophy and values of VDS?
How would you characterize the VDS compensation (base, bonus, and stock) system? On what principles is it based?
Why has VDS had problems with its Product Data Management effort? To what extent do you see incentive issues as important? What other issues are important?
What should VDS do about the Product Data Management (PDM) problems?
Would you make any changes to VDS’ compensation systems? What? Why?

Session 14: Pay for Performance Case: Performance Pay at Safelite Autoglass (A) HBS #9-800-291.

What are the pros and cons of switching from wage rates to piece rate pay?
Is Safelite a good candidate for switching from wage rates to piece rates?
Should there be a guaranteed wage? If so, how should it be set?
What are the likely consequences of a switch from wage to piece rates for turnover, recruitment, productivity, and product quality?

Session 15: Non-Profit Management Case: The John Snow Institute.

How successful is JSI?
How effective is their current human resource management system?
What should Joel Lamstein do?

Session 16: Managing Service Workers Case: Harrah’s Entertainment, Inc.: Rewarding Our People HBS #9-403-008.

What were the challenges facing Gary Loveman when he took charge?
What were the key changes he undertook?
What were the consequences for employees?

Session 17: Alignment and Motivation Case: Nordstrom Department Store. Center for Human Resources, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Reading: Simons, Robert. “Control in an Age of Empowerment.” Harvard Business Review . Reprint #95211.

How effective is Nordstom’s human resource management system? In what ways does it contribute to the firm’s success?
Do you have any concerns about the practices described in the case?
Would you change management systems at Nordstrom? Why? Which systems?

Session 18: Review & Wrap-up

Assignment Question

Reflecting on the companies we have studied in this course, as well as your own work experience, what lessons do you draw about the respective roles that general managers and the HR function in organizations should play in the management of human resources?

Summary of Class Sessions and Assignment Due Dates ( PDF )

You are leaving MIT OpenCourseWare

Faculty Resources

Assignments.

The Human Resources Management course includes a series of openly licensed written assignments and discussions aligned to specific learning outcomes and chapters. If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), all of the assignments and discussions (listed in the table, below,) will automatically be loaded into your LMS assignment and discussion-board tools. They can be used as is, modified, combined with your own assignments, or removed altogether.

The assignments in this course align with the following scenario:

You are a college senior who has been selected to participate in a hybrid internship/onboarding program with an elite HR research and advisory firm. Your training consists of a combination of formal education—specifically, enrollment in this Human Resource Management course—and a rotation in support of the principals of the firm. In your rotations, you will synthesize what you’ve learned in the relevant modules to address firm or client issues, conducting additional research as necessary and developing draft deliverables as instructed by the principal consultant. The quality of your deliverables – that is, your ability to convert learning into practical insight – will largely determine whether, at the end of the internship period, you are offered a position with the firm or simply thanked for your participation.

You can view them below or throughout the course.

Assignment	Module Alignment
	and
	and



	and
	, , and
	and

Rubric for Assignments

There is also a sample rubric to assist you in grading. Instructors may modify these guidelines or use their own.

Criteria	Inadequate (40%)	Minimal (60%)	Adequate (80%)	Exemplary (100%)	Total Points
Organization and format	Writing lacks logical organization. It may show some coherence but ideas lack unity. Serious errors and generally is an unorganized format and information.	Writing is coherent and logically organized, using a format suitable for the material presented. Some points may be contextually misplaced and/or stray from the topic. Transitions may be evident but not used throughout the essay. Organization and format used may detract from understanding the material presented.	Writing is coherent and logically organized, using a format suitable for the material presented. Transitions between ideas and paragraphs create coherence. Overall unity of ideas is supported by the format and organization of the material presented.	Writing shows high degree of attention to details and presentation of points. Format used enhances understanding of material presented. Unity clearly leads the reader to the writer’s conclusion and the format and information could be used independently.
Content	Some but not all required questions are addressed. Content and/or terminology is not properly used or referenced. Little or no original thought is present in the writing. Concepts presented are merely restated from the source, or ideas presented do not follow the logic and reasoning presented throughout the writing.	All required questions are addressed but may not be addressed with thoughtful consideration and/or may not reflect proper use of content terminology or additional original thought. Additional concepts may not be present and/or may not be properly cited sources.	All required questions are addressed with thoughtful consideration reflecting both proper use of content terminology and additional original thought. Some additional concepts may be presented from other properly cited sources, or originated by the author following logic and reasoning they’ve clearly presented throughout the writing.	All required questions are addressed with thoughtful in-depth consideration reflecting both proper use of content terminology and additional original thought. Additional concepts are clearly presented from properly cited sources, or originated by the author following logic and reasoning they’ve clearly presented throughout the writing.
Development—Critical Thinking	Shows some thinking and reasoning but most ideas are underdeveloped, unoriginal, and/or do not address the questions asked. Conclusions drawn may be unsupported, illogical or merely the author’s opinion with no supporting evidence presented.	Content indicates thinking and reasoning applied with original thought on a few ideas, but may repeat information provided and/ or does not address all of the questions asked. The author presents no original ideas, or ideas do not follow clear logic and reasoning. The evidence presented may not support conclusions drawn.	Content indicates original thinking, cohesive conclusions, and developed ideas with sufficient and firm evidence. Clearly addresses all of the questions or requirements asked. The evidence presented supports conclusions drawn.	Content indicates synthesis of ideas, in-depth analysis and evidence beyond the questions or requirements asked. Original thought supports the topic, and is clearly a well-constructed response to the questions asked. The evidence presented makes a compelling case for any conclusions drawn.
Grammar, Mechanics, Style	Writing contains many spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, making it difficult for the reader to follow ideas clearly. There may be sentence fragments and run-ons. The style of writing, tone, and use of rhetorical devices disrupts the content. Additional information may be presented but in an unsuitable style, detracting from its understanding.	Some spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors are present, interrupting the reader from following the ideas presented clearly. There may be sentence fragments and run-ons. The style of writing, tone, and use of rhetorical devices may detract from the content. Additional information may be presented, but in a style of writing that does not support understanding of the content.	Writing is free of most spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors, allowing the reader to follow ideas clearly. There are no sentence fragments and run-ons. The style of writing, tone, and use of rhetorical devices enhance the content. Additional information is presented in a cohesive style that supports understanding of the content.	Writing is free of all spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors and written in a style that enhances the reader’s ability to follow ideas clearly. There are no sentence fragments and run-ons. The style of writing, tone, and use of rhetorical devices enhance the content. Additional information is presented to encourage and enhance understanding of the content.
				Total:	50 pts

Discussions

The following discussion assignments will also be preloaded (into the discussion-board tool) in your learning management system if you import the course. They can be used as is, modified, or removed. You can view them below or throughout the course.

Discussion	Module Alignment
	Module 1: The Role of Human Resources
	Module 2: Human Resource Strategy and Planning
	Module 3: People Analytics and Human Capital Trends
	Module 4: Diversity in the Workplace
	Module 5: Workforce Planning
	Module 6: Recruitment and Selection
	Module 7: Onboarding, Training, and Developing Employees
	Module 8: Compensation and Benefits
	Module 9: Performance Management and Appraisal
	Module 10: Building Positive Employee Relations
	Module 11: Employee Termination
	Module 12: Employee Rights and Responsibilities
	Module 13: Union–Management Relations
	Module 14: Safety, Health, and Risk Management
	Module 15: Corporate Social Responsibility
	Module 16: Global Human Resources
	Module 17: Human Resources in Small and Entrepreneurial Businesses

Rubric for Discussion Posts

Answer keys for the discussion posts are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ensuring they are shared only with authorized and institution-affiliated faculty and staff.

Discussion Grading Rubric
Criteria	Not Evident	Developing	Exemplary	Points
Submit your initial response	No post made	Post is either late or off-topic	Post is made on time and is focused on the prompt	10 pts
Respond to at least two peers’ presentations	No response to peers	Responded to only one peer	Responded to two peers	5 pts

Assignments. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
Pencil Cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution

What is Human Resource Management (HRM)?

October 2021
Conference: HRM

Discover the world's research

25+ million members
160+ million publication pages
2.3+ billion citations
Recruit researchers
Join for free
Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

Academia.edu no longer supports Internet Explorer.

To browse Academia.edu and the wider internet faster and more securely, please take a few seconds to upgrade your browser .

Enter the email address you signed up with and we'll email you a reset link.

We're Hiring!
Help Center

Assignment on Human Resource Management INTRODUCTION

Related Papers

International Journal of Applied Engineering and Management Letters (IJAEML)

Srinivas Publication

Management as argued by Gullick and Urwick, involves the act of "planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting”. However, in order to achieve the above functions, the human is needed because management cannot practically carry out its self without people that can make it happen. That is to say, the human is needed to carry out and apply the act of planning, organizing, staffing, directing, coordinating, reporting and budgeting that is required to achieve the set goal of the organization. Nevertheless, people are important in every business organization as they are the major tools used by the organization in coordinating other activities of the organization towards actualizing the national goal. The department set aside to also manage these people and their activities in every organization is refers to as the human resources management department, and it is also seen as a branch of management that is seen as the most important branch of an organization. It is in view of the above that this paper examined the importance, functions and challenges of the human resources manager or department as a branch of management and a department of an organization. This paper adopted the human relation theory and the Maslow hierarchy of needs, as the paper emphasized greatly that workers welfare is very germane, and seen as the best method to motivate workers and increase productivity, while data are retrieved from textbooks, journals articles, and internet materials as they are used in the justification of the position of this paper. The paper finally proffers workable solutions to the challenges of conflicts in an organization. This paper also emphasizes on the fact that the certification method of selecting applicants for an interview is not the best, as many applicants with higher grade certificates are found not being able to defend those certificates during the interview.

International Journal of Research in Commerce and Management

gopali dayal

David Lamond

Abdur Rahman

IJRASET Publication

Roopali Bajaj & Shalini Sinha

TJPRC Publication

Some HRM determinants, which if improved can build good employee relations in an organization and thus status of Employee Relationship can be improved in the organization. By quantifying HRM determinants and equating it to satisfaction of employees, the study has discovered and established that status of ERM in the state PSUs is not very good and measures of HR practices are not being implemented as they should be.

Journal of Advanced Management Science

Thelma D . Palaoag

Md. Ali Ahsan, PhD

Pulapa Subbarao

Human resource management (HRM) models are developed around the influence of organizational environmental factors on organizational strategies and thereby on HRM strategies and HRM practices. Some of these models viewed human resources (HR) from economic point of view as human capital and some other theories viewed HR from social and psychological perspectives as human beings rather than viewing HR in multiple perspectives including economic, social, psychological and spiritual. Consequently HRM models are classified either as hard models or soft models. But HR are multi-dimensional, living and dynamic resources capturing the characteristics from economic, social, ethical, psychological, spiritual perspectives. In view of the multi-dimensional, living and dynamic nature of HR, they influence organizational environment, strategies and HRM strategies like the organizational environment, strategies and HRM strategies influence HR. The adjustment process and degree depends on several factors like relative power of variables, and external interventions like conciliation and regulation by various institutions wherever present. In this process of mutual influence of four major variables viz., organizational environment, organizational strategies, HRM strategies and HR, they adjust to each other’s requirements and produces an outcome. This outcome forms the human resources management systems and practices of the organization concerned. This paper suggests that human resource management systems and practices are the result of mutual influence and adjustments of organizational environment, organizational strategies, HRM strategies and human resources. Thus this paper made an attempt to suggest a new model of HRM i.e., Mutual Influence and Adjustment Model of HRM. Key words: Organizational Environment, Organizational Strategies, HRM Strategy, Human Resources, HRM Model, Hard Model, Soft Model. Acronyms Used: HR=Human Resources, HRM=Human Resource Management. Introduction There are basically three classes of human resource management (HRM) models viz., hard models, soft models and contingency models. Hard model is also known as tight/ strict model. Hard models are based on mechanistic approach to human resources where employees are just like nuts and bolts in a machine and they adapt themselves in accordance organizational strategic requirements. Soft models suggest adapting employee freedom and autonomy in order to derive maximum employee contribution to organizational success. Contingency models on the other hand suggest situational/ contextual approach.

Journal of World Science

Lia Marthalia

Introduction: Human resources have an essential role in realizing development. Human quality is a top priority in a company. So the need for human resource management in managing human resources in the company. Thus, this study aims to understand the importance of human resource management in a company. Methods: The method used is library research based on a qualitative approach. This literature study is to obtain data researchers collect, analyze, and organize, sources derived from articles, books, reports, and other research on human resource management. Results: The results obtained in this study are the importance of human resource management because it benefits the company, including 1) companies can utilize existing human resources competently, 2) productivity of existing employees is increasing, and 3) determination of employee needs/ labor. 4) handling of employment information, and 5) research. Conclusion: Human resource management is essential because it benefits the compa...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

Human Resource Management

Earn your degree in human resources and be prepared to drive positive change within organizations. The University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire’s human resource management program gives you skills, experiences, and knowledge necessary to recruit and identify top talent, develop, and train employees, foster healthy work environments, and to work with management in order to make the organization a positive place to work.

Become a Strategic Partner of Any Business

Equip yourself with the knowledge and expertise necessary for a career in HR with a human resource management bachelor's degree or certificate.

Through unique projects, work-study assignments, competitions, internships and study abroad, you’ll gain real-world experience, make connections and learn best practices in the world of business and management. You’ll also feel supported. Our expert faculty care about you and your future, and they work hard to create a supportive community where you’ll feel motivated to do your best.

Program curriculum is intentionally designed for you to be able to immediately enter the HR field upon graduation. Human Resource Management majors will leave UW-Eau Claire having passed the Society for Human Resource Management Certified Professional (SHRM-CP) exam. This certification proves your knowledge of — and competency within — HR practices and demonstrates your ability to do your job well. This external validation of your knowledge, skills, and competencies provides you with a competitive advantage when you enter in the job market.

Combine these achievements with your strengthened communication, teamwork, interviewing, time management and problem-solving skills, and your resume is sure to stand out in today’s competitive job market.

Program Details

Accreditation information.

Our business programs are among the best. We are accredited by AACSB International, a mark of excellence achieved by less than 5% of all business schools worldwide.

UW-Eau Claire houses one of the largest SHRM chapters in the area. This club meets regularly for learning, networking and volunteering opportunities. Explore the ingredients for a strong resume, identify what skills employers are looking for and learn how to create a positive brand for yourself.

COB team for HR management at a competition 2022

Demonstrate your expertise at the Wisconsin SHRM Student Conference and HR Games Competition, events HR students regularly participate in and win awards at. These competitions are excellent ways to meet other HR professionals and sharpen your presentation, negotiation, demonstration, and problem-solving skills.

UWEC students are highly encouraged to participate in internships — some of which even count for credit. Through internships, human resources students have assisted in things like conducting interviews and reference checks for prospective employees; creating salary surveys; and developing HR policy manuals, salary structure and employee training programs.

guests seated at a table presenting in COB classroom

In order to graduate, HR majors are required to pass the SHRM-CP exam. This ensures you are ready to hit the ground running and immediately excel in your chosen career.

Blugold Stories

Being a member of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) has opened up doors to so many opportunities for me. I’ve been able to develop my leadership skills and participate in high-impact conferences, mentor programs, networking events and volunteer opportunities. My involvement in SHRM helped me get both my internship and my job after college.

A group student discussing in a Leadership seminar series.

Just the facts

100% Employed or Continuing Education Every 2022-2023 graduate from this major is currently employed or continuing their education.

5 Majors, 3 Minors, 4 Certificates The Management and Leadership Department offers some of the most sought-after courses and majors at UWEC.

Explore A New Campus Participate in the National Student Exchange Program and choose from 180 schools, including universities in Canada, Guam, and the Virgin Islands.

Where can the human resource management program lead me after graduation?

Your human resources degree from UW-Eau Claire will inspire you to make organizations better. You will be ready to help companies find top talent and assist in creating a healthy work environment for their employees. Because many organizations need HR professionals, graduates find employment in a variety of industries and fields. Explore careers in staffing (recruitment and selection), training and development, labor relations, compensation and benefits, employee relations, and many more.

Example Careers

Human resource coordinator
Human resources assistant
Training and development coordinator
Payroll specialist
Human resources generalist
Employee relations specialist
Benefits specialist

Recent Graduates

Corporate Recruiter U.S. Bank Minnesota

Senior Human Resources Assistant Amazon Minnesota

Operations Specialist Gander Mountain Wisconsin

Global HR Manager R.J. Reynolds North Carolina

Recruiting Coordinator Anheuser-Busch Texas

The human resource management program prepares you for success through a curriculum that includes a strong liberal education core and major-specific coursework in management, HR and business. A required student professional development program will also cover topics in career planning, professional image, interviewing, etiquette, and networking.

Here are a few courses in Human Resource Management at UW-Eau Claire.

Advanced Human Resource Management

Provides students the opportunity to study in-depth human resource topics of the nature of work, recruitment, selection, training and development, compensation, benefits, labor relations, and health and safety.

Training, Developing, and Engaging Employees

Training, developing, and engaging employees is highly important to organizations as human resources can provide them a true competitive advantage. This course will cover current training, development, and employee engagement topics using an integrated approach which implements needs assessment, ties with the organizationâs strategy, and continually evaluates learning outcomes, and adjusts for effectiveness. Students will participate in activities, cover different methods and techniques, complete case studies, explore the impact of technology on training, and put together employee training and development programs.

Examines policies and practices relating to recruitment, selection, training and development, performance appraisal, reward systems, and employee relations. Strategic human resource planning, equal employment opportunity laws, and international human resource management issues are also addressed.

Get More Info

Related Programs

Thinking about studying human resource management? You might also be interested in exploring these related programs.

Students look at laptops during a business class.

What's Next?

student walking with athletics flag at a track meet

University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire

105 Garfield Avenue P.O. Box 4004 Eau Claire, WI 54702-4004

715-836-4636

IMAGES

Human resource management- Module I (BCOM)
Download A Textbook Of Human Resource Management PDF Online. By R S
Human Resource Management Assignment PDF
(PDF) Human Resource Management Journal: A look to the past, present
(PDF) Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management

COMMENTS

(PDF) Human Resource Management Assignment
Under this area of human resource management, the focus is placed on the attraction of employees, skills development, rewards and retention, processes Cornelius Willem van der Westhuizen Unit A/615/2727 - Human Resource Management 3 fwhich are critical to the growth of individual employees and the workers (Hou et al. 2017).
Human Resource Management
Download this book. Human Resource Management teaches HRM strategies and theories that any manager—not just those in HR—needs to know about recruiting, selecting, training, and compensating people. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected]. Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial ShareAlike.
PDF Introduction to Human Resource Management Spring 2022
Spring 2022 37:533:301:04, index 18105. :30 PM to 4:30 PM (ET) or by appointment through ZOOMThis course will introduce and overvie. the major topics in Human Resource Management (HRM). HRM is a fundamental component of the competitiveness, effectiveness, and sustainability of any organization, as it influences who is hired, how they are ...
(PDF) MBA ASSIGNMENT Human Resource Management
The role of trust towards achieving service delivery should be addressed. 2. Management should accept a service orientation for an employee in order to meet their professional standard. 3. Human resource management should be made an element of learning at all levels.
(PDF) Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice
PDF | On Jul 3, 2012, Omotayo Adewale Osibanjo and others published Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
Beginning Management of Human Resources
Chapter 1: The Role of Human Resources. Chapter 2: Developing and Implementing Strategic HRM Plans. Chapter 3: Diversity and Multiculturalism. Chapter 4: Recruitment. Chapter 5: Selection. Chapter 6: Compensation and Benefits. Chapter 7: Retention and Motivation. Chapter 8: Training and Development. Chapter 9: Successful Employee Communication.
11.1 An Introduction to Human Resource Management
Human resource management provides value to an organization, to a large extent, via its management of the overall employee life cycle that employees follow—from hiring and onboarding, to performance management and talent development, all the way through to transitions such as job change and promotion, to retirement and exit. Human capital is a key competitive advantage to companies, and ...
PDF Introducing human resource management
The human resource manager is the sole person who should be involved in all people management activities. Both the human resource manager and line manager are likely to be involved in differing ways in managing people. The line manager always acts alone in all organisations in dealing with people management activities.
PDF THE PRACTICE OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human resource management is a strategic, integrated and coherent approach to the employment, development and well-being of the people working in organisations (Armstrong, 2016:7) Human resource management is the process through which management builds the workforce and tries to create the human performances that the organisation needs. ...
PDF Human Resource Management: A manual for employer and business
the performance management process and how to provide appraisal and feedback to staff.The tool also offers guidance for informing the development and enhancement of human resource policies in an EBMO and for provi. ing technical support to member companies where an EBMO provides this type of service.The primary audience for this too.
Assignments
Center for Human Resources, Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Reading: Simons, Robert. "Control in an Age of Empowerment." Harvard Business Review. Reprint #95211. Assignment Questions. How effective is Nordstom's human resource management system? In what ways does it contribute to the firm's success?
PDF Principles of HR Management Syllabus
UCDE PROGRAM ADVISOR. Crystal Babowal [email protected] 530-757-8629. Visit our website for detailed description and quarterly schedule. 1333 Research Park Drive, Davis, CA 95618 (800) 752-0881 [email protected]. cpe.ucdavis.edu.
Assignments
Module Alignment. Assignment: Becoming a Changemaker. Module 1: The Role of Human Resources and Module 2: Human Resources Strategy and Planning. Assignment: Develop a Diversity Allies Program. Module 3: People Analytics & Human Capital Trends and Module 4: Promoting a Diverse Workforce. Assignment: Job Description Research and Development.
(PDF) What is Human Resource Management (HRM)?
Abstract. Human Resource Management focuses on principles, methods, and technologies that are used to improve the productivity of an organization. HR specialists achieve this through strategies ...
Assignment on Human Resource Management INTRODUCTION
View PDF. Assignment on Human Resource Management INTRODUCTION Human resources are the most significant assets of any business organization in terms of skills and abilities. They are the individual, personnel or workforce who are responsible for managing the whole task of an organization successfully. Their task includes selecting, recruiting ...
PDF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
1.1 Personnel Management and Human Resource Management Personnel Management is the traditional approach for managing people which is narrowly focused on personnel administration, employee welfare and labor relations. Human Resource Management is the modern approach to management of people which covers a broad area in the
FULL SET OF Assignment- Human Resource Management
A critical review of literature in the period of 2000-2014. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 28(1), 196-233. Kaufman, B. (2015). Evolution of strategic HRM as seen through two founding books: A 30th anniversary perspective on development of the field. Human Resource Management, 54(3), 389-407.
PDF A Human Resources Degree That Sets the Stage for a Successful Career
Finish your Human Resource Management degree faster by transferring credits. $1,257 per course Cost of a typical 3-credit course. Classes start every 8 weeks. Bachelor of Science in Human Resource Management A Human Resources Degree That Sets the Stage for a Successful Career
Human Resource Management
Become a Strategic Partner of Any BusinessEquip yourself with the knowledge and expertise necessary for a career in HR with a human resource management bachelor's degree or certificate.Through unique projects, work-study assignments, competitions, internships and study abroad, you'll gain real-world experience, make connections and learn best practices in the world of business and management ...
PDF HR Management Report FY2024 Update
HR Management Report FY2024 Update August 7, 2024 HR Analytics & Systems . State Human Resources. Changes for better outcomes. OFM 8/08/2024 2. Why changes? Survey was long. ... State Human Resources. [email protected] Send your request to: [email protected]. WASHINGTON STATE Office of Financial Management . OFM!!- OFM!!- OFM!!-