Human Resource Management - BA (Hons)

This module is intended to provide students with a broad understanding of what is meant by employee engagement, including how it can be linked to and yet be distinguished from other related concepts like employee involvement and employee participation.

This module will provide a gentle introduction to the world of accounting and finance for business managers of the future and is designed for those new to accounting or those studying on non-accounting related degree programmes.

In this module contemporary issues such as pensions, strikes and discrimination, will be explored relative to business and human resource management. These may include internal disputes, change, current EU legislation, and evolving best practice. All of these areas are examined within a political, legal and economic framework. The contents of the module will provide you with an opportunity to engage and consider contemporary issues in human resource management from both UK and international perspectives and how these are addressed through strategy formulation and implementation.

This module introduces you to the role of the manager starting from its history and characteristics. You will critically analyse the latest thinking from leading researchers about the cost to organisations of managers who stifle creativity and kill new ideas, and the problems created by outdated approaches to management. Today’s professional managers need to be able to research, analyse, think critically, reflect on learning, build networks, and present information.

They are independent learners, exercise personal responsibility but also work well with others. They negotiate and collaborate and build teams around them, inspiring others by being effective role models. You’ll explore and practise the skills, attributes and attitude the effective professional manager needs.

Every day, billions of people spend their money on products and services without necessarily considering why they decided to buy those particular offerings. Each of these products and services have been carefully developed to fulfil the needs of a particular target audience of which each of us may be a part.

This is a core module that introduces the novice learner to the basic concepts of organisational life. It focuses on four main topics, namely individuals, groups, structures, and processes. In essence, it helps the students get an understanding of the workplace and the ways in which employees behave within an organisation. In doing so, the module draws not only on the most prevalent theoretical perspectives, but also on concrete practical examples and case studies from the UK, mainland Europe, and the globe and from organisations in public, private or not-for-profit sectors.

This is a highly interactive type of module that supports students in making an effective and smooth transition to Higher Education while also engaging them in a variety of group discussions, presentations and activities that develop their employability skills.

This module will enable students to build a strong understanding of the legal issues that impact on the “people” aspects of the business. Both UK and European employment legislation will be explored and enable students to gain an insight into the practical steps employers need to consider, when applying the law. Students will be exposed to both academic knowledge and good practice, shaping their understanding and knowledge further. Applying a practice based approach to the teaching of this module gives students an opportunity to develop important skills that are transferable into the workplace.

This module looks at the important contribution that an efficient and effective human resource management capability can add to an organisation. The purpose of this module is to introduce students to human resources (HR) activity and to the role of the HR function in organisations in general terms. It focuses on the aims and objectives of HR departments in contemporary organisations and particularly on the ways that these are evolving. Different ways of delivering HR objectives and emerging developments in the management of the employment relationship are explored, as well as the methods that can be used to demonstrate that the function adds value for organisations.

In line with the Faculty’s practice-based approach to teaching and learning this module adopts a ‘real world’ approach to exploring the nature of contemporary organisations and begins to prepare students for the reality of managing/consulting within them. This is necessary because the management of organisations is often presented as a rational process based primarily on the logical implementation of activities such as Planning, Leading, Organising, and Controlling. However, the real world in which managers, consultants and organisations operate tends to be far more irrational and complex.

This module gives opportunities to develop your depth of understanding of issues in relation to the development of management competencies to prepare for the workplace, for placement activities and for modern working life. You will have the opportunity to identify, evaluate and record competencies using online platforms.

The module introduces you to a range of strategic applied management tools and techniques with which to analyse and thus understand business situations with national and international relevance. In addition an understanding of competitive behaviour will be informed by a variety of views concerning the sources of competitive advantage.

These include the implications of developments in the macro environment, industry structure, the organization’s strategic position in an industry, the acquisition and development of resources and capabilities, and the challenge of industry evolution to sustaining competitive advantage.

The practical elements within the Module meet the key expectations of employers and Professional bodies such as the Chartered Management Institute/Institute of Consulting. In line with these requirements you’ll be developing a range of key transferable skills applicable to management / consultancy roles, including, working effectively with ambiguity and complexity, creative and analytical thinking, problem solving, reflective practice, and collaborative working to meet team goals.

In this module you will explore the role of entrepreneurship and small business management with the view of growth. You will investigate and explore how organisations firstly form, then how they begin to evolve. Students will examine how the organisations, their customers and key stakeholders may change as organisations grow to become long term sustainable businesses. Relevant content relating to new venture creation and small business growth theories will be delivered. The weekly workshops will utilise a flipped learning approach with content directly related to the completion of the summative assessment being presented on Moodle prior to the sessions for in-depth discussion and application during the workshop sessions.

This module takes as its starting point the assumption that management of organisations, large and small, is now usually done across national boundaries, this is due to competitive forces as well as technological and political changes. These dynamic shifts have led to the need for managers to have more than a passing appreciation of the cultures that various stakeholders come from. The stakeholders include customers, employees and suppliers as well as governments and competitors and it is the relationship between these and the manager which this module seeks to explore.

This module, where a programme of study enables it, is open to BLSS students, who choose to undertake an international Study Abroad or Erasmus+ study outgoing mobility placement within their second year of study. The aim of this module is to enable individuals to explore their mobility experience through a cross-cultural lens that focusses on the key themes of their discipline in an international context, cross-cultural awareness, social construction, and the self. Informed by activities that draw on research enquiry, creativity, culture, employability, reflection and professional development.

This module takes a practitioner based, blended learning approach towards embedding key Management and Leadership principles in the global context as well as Intercultural competency and a range of transferable employability skills. Consequently, it provides a progressive conduit for students to gain a broad understanding of global issues affecting managers today’s as well as preparing the students to be global managers of the future.

The module enables the student to develop an informed understanding of the existing and emerging HRD models and processes. It is designed to encourage students to compare, contrast and evaluate developments in both theory and practice that influence the design, delivery and management of HRD. It also covers what is required to support the learning of individuals, groups and organisations to drive sustained business performance.

This module provides an opportunity for you to articulate your potential as an aspiring manager and develop a critical appreciation of the complexities of being an executive manager, for example distinguishing between personal intervention and empowerment, and delegation. Using this insight you will create a multimedia presentation to demonstrate the competencies required of executive managers in the workplace, for example strategic decision making, leadership, effective performance management and managing the corporate reputation.

This module covers two major and linked areas of global human resource management policy and practice, namely employee relations and employee reward. The aim of this module is to develop the student's knowledge, understanding and professional competence in the field of employee relations and reward management. An understanding of the relationship between management and employees whether unionised or not– which is central to an effective workplace. The aim is to highlight the importance of the legal framework in managing both employment relations and reward, to examine the strategic choices which employers confront and to examine recent moves from collective to more individualistic relationships.

The aim of this module is to provide a framework for you to undertake a substantial piece of disciplinary-relevant research. It is founded upon Birmingham City Business School’s teaching and learning philosophy which integrates theory and practice.