COURSE SYLLABUS

MHR 6690-HUMAN RESOURCE POLICY & STRATEGY

Professor Larry Siebers

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This is the "capstone" course in Human Resource Management. It is designed to provide a strategic framework for integrating and applying the concepts learned in the specialized classes.

COURSE OBJECTIVES

A. To create a learning environment wherein everyone in the class can learn from each other and test each other's thinking.

B. To apply critical thinking skills to a variety of advanced HR issues.

C. To run a Human Resource Department so as to meet the most critical needs of the organization while operating within a predetermined budget.

STUDY MATERIALS

READING PACKET: Cases and articles included with this syllabus

HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SIMULATION: by Jerald Smith and

Peggy Golden

OFFICE INFORMATION

Office: Room 408, Business School

Office Phone: 435-797-2301

Office Fax: 435-797-1091

E-mail: lsiebers@b202.usu.edu

Office Hours: 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM Monday through Wednesday

INSTUCTOR

Larry Siebers, Ph.D. is Executive-in-Residence with Utah State University. Previous experience includes positions as Sr. Vice president, Human Resources for Southeast Bank; Vice President, Personnel for Eastern Airlines; Vice President, Personnel & Organization for International Harvester Co.; and Staff psychologist for United Airlines. He holds a Ph.D. in Industrial Psychology from Illinois Institute of Technology and MS and BS degrees in Psychology from the University of Utah.

COURSE FORMAT

The course will focus primarily upon the application of knowledge acquired in the various HR specialty courses plus an expansion of this knowledge. The course will be comprised of three elements. These elements will be 1) lectures to give a strategic perspective on HR issues, 2) the analysis of what companies have done in meeting HR needs, and 3) the hands on experience of running an HR department through a computer simulation.

CASES

There are ten cases included in this syllabus. They are primarily Harvard Business School cases. You will find that these cases are longer and more complex than those you have previously experienced are. It is important that you carefully read and prepare these cases so you can actively participate in the case discussion. The cases take more than one reading. You should highlight key issues and facts, make marginal or separate notes, and formulate your own conclusions. Some cases may require the solving of a problem or problems. Other cases simply describe what is going on in a company at a particular time. In these cases, you want to determine the appropriateness of the company's actions and how what you have learned applies to these actions.

You should select five of these ten cases for a more formal analysis. Prepare a typed executive summary (about 2 pages) for each of the five selected cases. Submit the executive summary via FAX or e-mail to my office on the Monday proceeding the Wednesday upon which we will discuss the case. Those who submit an executive summary for a particular case will be expected to take the lead in the discussion of this case. The executive summary will be graded as I) incomplete, S) satisfactory, or E) excellent. The sum of the grades, on a 6 point scale, received on the five summaries will determine your grade for case preparation.

COMPUTER SIMULATION

Computer simulation teams will be formed consisting of from 2 to 4 people. The objective of this simulation is to give you experience in managing a human resource department. You will have to make quarterly decisions about actions you should take and programs that you should initiate while operating within you budget and dealing with various labor market constraints. You will be required to submit the following (each should be typed):

1. Year 1 and Year 2 Business Plans-see guidelines on page 5 of this syllabus

2. Year 1 Management Audit - see page 8 of this syllabus

3. Final report and presentation - see instructions below

Each team at the conclusion of the simulation will make a presentation. This presentation should be no longer than 10 minutes in length. It should be done in a Power-point format. The written report and presentation should address three questions which are 1) what did we do (mission, values, strategy and goals), 2) what did we achieve (% improvement for each goal area from year 1 starting value), and 3) what did we learn. For the presentation use appropriate charts and/or graphs to present and support your findings.

GRADES

Grading Categories	Percent of Grade
HR simulation (Group grade)
1. Year 1 HR Plan	5
2. Year 1 Management Audit	5
3. Year 2 Hr Plan	10
4. Final Report	20
Case analysis (Individual grade)	30
Final exam (Individual grade)	30
Total	100

CLASS SCHEDULE

Class	Subject	Preparation
1 1/13	§ Introduction § Description of the simulation § Lecture: The next agenda for competitiveness and the changing nature of human resources
2 1/20	§ Formation of simulation of teams § Team quiz-HR simulation § Simulation practice decision	Read: Chapter 1 Human Resources Management Simulation
3 1/27	§ Lecture: Becoming a strategic partner § Discussion: Creating a Human Resources Business plan § Exercise: Prepare simulation HR business plan (mission, values, strategy and goals)	Read: Creating a HR Business Plan Read: Values Make the Company
4 2/3	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 1 and incident A § Discussion: Incident A § Case Discussion: People Express	Read & Prepare: People Express Read: Just Another Day in HR
5 2/10	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 2 and incident F § Discussion: Incident F § Case Discussion: Apple Computer - The HR Function	Read & Prepare: Apple Computer - The HR Function Read: A Day in the Life of John Harvey - Positioning HR for the Fast Track

6 2/17	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 3 and incident B § Discussion: Incident B § Case Discussion: Why Doesn't this HR Department Get Any Respect § Lecture: Becoming an administrative expert	Read & Prepare: Why Doesn't this HR Department Get Any Respect Read: A Day in the Life of Jim Thomas - Moving HR from Control to service
7 2/24	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 4 and incident I § Discussion: Incident I § Exercise: Prepare year 1 audit and year 2 HR business plan	Read: A day in the Life of Linda Duffy - Putting Fun Into Work
8 3/3	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 5 and incident H § Discussion: Incident H § Demonstration: Performance Now § Lecture: Becoming an employee champion	Read: Nine common mistakes made when disciplining employees Read: Positive discipline-sending the right and wrong message
9 3/10	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 6 and incident G § Discussion: Incident G § Video: Dealing with Discipline § Case Discussions: I'm Innocent	Read & Prepare: I'm Innocent
3/17	§ Spring Break-no class
10 3/24	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 7 and incident L § Discussion: Incident L § Case Discussion: United Parcel Service § Case Discussion: The Unpopular Pay Plan	Read & Prepare: United Parcel Service Read & Prepare: The Case of the Unpopular Pay Plan
11 3/31	§ Exercise: Prepare decision 8 and incident M § Discussion: Incident M § Exercise: Prepare simulation final report	Read: A Day in the Life of Don Borwhat - Coaching Teams for High Involvement
12 4/7	§ Case Discussion: Are You Staying? § Lecture: Becoming a change agent § Case Discussion: GE Canada-Designing a New Organization	Read & Prepare: Are You Staying? Read & Prepare: GE Canada
13 4/14	§ Presentations: Team reports on simulation	Read: A Day in the Life of Terri Wolfe - Maintaining Corporate Culture
14 4/21	§ Case Discussion: Sears § Discussion: Managing in an Information Age And A Career-Resilient Workforce	Read & Prepare: Sears Read: Managing in an Information Age-Organizational Challenges and Opportunities Read: Toward a Career-Resilient Workforce
15 4/28	§ Final exam - submit take home exam no later than this date

Human Resource Plan

Year _____

HR Department Number _____ Location ________________

Team Members __________________________________________________________

Mission: (Purpose of the department)

Values: (Guiding HR principles relating to the Company's employee)

Strategy: (How are you going to approach the management of the department to achieve your goals)

Goals & Action Plans: (State what you plan to accomplish this year. The goals should be specific and measurable. Each goal should be accompanied by an action plan. In some instances you may think a particular action will serve more than one goal. If so repeat the action for each goal.)

Factor	Starting Value	Goal	Action Plans
Quantity	50
Productivity	200
Accident Rate	494
Turnover (%)	9.8
Morale	50
Grievances	31
Absenteeism	498
Minorities	51
Females	83

Human Resource Plan Evaluation

Department Number _____ Year ______ Location ______________

Team Members __________________________________________________________

Plan Evaluation Score ______/40 = _____%

0	2 3	4 5
General statement which could apply to a variety of departments and would really not direct behavior	Appropriate statement of purpose but it is not clearly written or focused so as to guide plans and actions	Clear, focused mission statement which sets forth the department's purpose and would guide plans and actions
0	2 3	4 5
Limited, incomplete or inconsistent listing and description of values which may not integrate with mission	Appropriate but very limited value statements. Needs more thought.	Thoughtful listing and description of appropriate values in keeping with mission statement
0	2 3	4 5
Limited and/or generic strategy statements which may conflict with mission and values	Appropriate but limited strategy statements. Needs to be more complete	Specific, coherent, and appropriate strategy for achieving the first year goals
0	2 3	4 5
Limited, non-specific goals which cannot be effectively carried out or measured within the parameters of the simulation	Appropriate goals but they do not meet the SMART criteria so their achievement cannot be measured	SMART goals which cover the key areas necessary to carry out the expressed strategy
0	4 5 6	7 8
No or inadequate action plans	Limited action plans which will only partially allow the achievement of goals	Realistic action plans which will lead to the accomplishment of the specific goals
2 4	6 8	10 12
Overall, the plan has logical inconsistencies and/or it is not measurable	Overall, a good plan but it lacks integration and/or measurability	Overall, clear, integrated, measurable HR plan

MANAGEMENT AUDIT

Department Number _____ Location _____________

Team Members ______________________________________________________________

1. What are the strengths of your HR program at this time?

2. What are the weaknesses of your HR program at this time?

3. What is your performance at this time (complete the following table)?

Factor	Starting Value	Goal	Actual (Average - 4 qtrs)	% Improvement
Quality
Productivity
Accident Rate
Turnover (%)
Morale
Grievances
Absenteeism
Minorities
Females

4. What kinds of actions worked for you and what didn't work as expected?

5. What do you need to focus upon in your year 2 business plan?

Presentation Evaluation

Department Number _____ Location _______________

Team Members _______________________________________________________________

Score ______/40 = ______%

Quality of Presentation Visuals

1 2 3	4 5 6	8 9 10
Needs improvement - visuals lack variety, interest, and/or meaningfulness	Good - acceptable as to being attractive, interesting, and meaningful visuals	Above average - Attractive, interesting, and meaningful visuals

Quality of Presentation

1 2 3	4 5 6	8 9 10
Needs improvement - not well prepared or ineffective in presenting the information	Good - prepared but failed to capture attention or work smoothly through the presentation	Above average - very well prepared, articulate, animated, and interesting

Content of the Presentation

10 11 12	14 15 16	18 19 20
Needs improvement - little insight to the managing of the department. Decisions seemed to have been by guesswork rather than analysis. Little improvement on the key factors.	Good - gave a clear picture of their two-year stewardship. Supportive but incomplete analysis. Some insight into managing the HR function. Good improvement on the key factors.	Above average - gave a clear picture of their two-year stewardship. Reflected careful and complete analysis. Considerable insight into managing the HR function. Significant and balanced improvement on the key factors.