MSc Human Resource Management degree

This module will develop your capacity to critically evaluate theory and evidence around people management issues. It will explore the major aims and practices of people and human resource management (HRM) and covers major debates on leadership, flexibility, change management and ethics in people management.

Topics studied may include:

• the role and purpose of the human resource (HR) function
• recruitment and selection
• pay and reward
• performance management
• training and learning at work
• leadership and HR effectiveness
• change management
• flexibility, downsising and redundancy
• ethics and HRM.

Through problem based learning, this module will develop a range of skills that are pivotal to effective management practice, including thinking and decision-making skills, interpreting financial information, team-working and interpersonal skills associated with personal effectiveness. Developing a capacity for reflective learning is central to this module.

Topics covered may include:

• leadership and human resource management (HRM) professional behaviour
• working in teams
• project management
• working with financial information
• interviewing
• difficult conversations, conflict and assertiveness
• training and learning interventions
• negotiation
• presentation skills
• decision making.

This module will give you a critical appreciation of different theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence on the nature of the employment relationship. At the same time, it will also give you an insight and understanding into collective and individual approaches to the management of the employment relationship. It will examine the role of legislation and regulation in the management of the employment relationship and consider the ethical issues involved.

Topics covered may include:

• perspectives on the employment relationship:
  • the system of employment relations
  • the contexts of employment relations: economy, society, institutions and technology
• the actors in employment relations: trade unions and employers
• The processes of employment relations:
  • collective bargaining
  • organisational level policies and processes of employment relations
  • the ethics of employment relations
  • employment relations and performance
  • employment relations and employee well-being.

This module will develop your awareness of the essential theories of leadership, including a critical understanding of the quality of research and its implications for leadership development and workplace practices. It will also explore the key features of the performance management process, focusing on the application of psychological principles to the measurement, discussion and evaluation of work performance.

Topics studied may include:

• trait and style theories of leadership
• contingency theories of leadership
• transformational and charismatic leadership
• leadership across cultures
• the nature of work performance
• measuring work performance
• interventions to enhance work performance
• employee coaching and mentoring
• the impact of leadership behaviours on work performance
• high performance work practices.

This module will introduce a range of theories and concepts that describe how the work setting activates and influences a number of important psychological processes. It will examine the interactions between the wider environments within which organisations function and key issues within work psychology.

Topics studied may include:

• organisational design and structure
• the interactions between political, technological, economics and social factors and organisational functioning
• approaches to the design, delivery and evaluation of organisational change and development
• leading and managing change
• the impact of change on employees
• risk management processes
• safety at work
• job design and re-design
• the application of principles of environmental and human factors psychology.

This module will develop a strategic perspective on human resource management (HRM) practice, developing your understanding of how market environment, technology and other environmental forces shape the practice of HRM.

Topics covered may include:

• organisations, human resources (HR) and the environment (PESTLE analysis)
• strategic HR: best fit or best practice?
• strategic HR: the resource based view
• HR and change management: theories and principles
• human resource information systems and HR analytics
• HR outsourcing and procurement
• HR in the multinational corporation
• equality and diversity management.

This module will give you the knowledge and skills to undertake a significant piece of individual research. It will cover different research philosophies and theories of knowledge, how to think about and develop research questions, and key quantitative and qualitative methods. You will be provided with the relevant theoretical and practical research method knowledge required to design, plan and execute research of a standard required by a dissertation, allowing you to critically review research by others on issues of relevance in people management.

Topics studied may include:

• what is research: examples of management research
• the philosophy of research
• selecting a topic and setting objectives
• conducting literature reviews
• validity and reliability
• quantitative research
• sampling, questionnaire design and methods of analysis
• qualitative research: interview design, focus groups, and qualitative data analysis
• case studies
• secondary data
• ethics.

This module will give you an understanding of the principles and operation of UK employment law, with a focus on the practical application of the law in a human resource (HR) management context.

Topics studied may include:

• sources of law
• the employment contract
• discrimination law
• health and safety law
• working time regulation
• parental rights
• unfair dismissal
• redundancy
• unions and their members
• union liabilities
• consultation
• practical workplace legal skills
• the employment tribunal system.

This module will examine a range of individual, group and organisational-level theories of learning, development and knowledge management. It will develop your awareness of the application of theories across from the assessment of needs to the evaluation of interventions.

Topics studied may include:

• the application of sociological and psychological theories and processes to learning, training and development within organisations
• training needs analysis: the identification of competencies and the importance of trainability
• the content of the training cycle and its practical application
• individual and cultural differences and their impact on learning and training processes and outcomes
• training evaluation and transfer
• coaching and mentoring
• knowledge management, innovation and creativity in organisational contexts
• team training and organisational learning.

This module will introduce and evaluate a variety of theoretical and practical approaches to understanding the forms that careers take and the career choices that people make. It will examine career management interventions from multiple stakeholder perspectives and apply career theory and research to the careers of a range of people in a range of contexts.

Topics studied may include:

• careers in the contexts of different demographic groups
• changing workforces
• changing organisations
• occupational choice
• different forms of careers
• determining career success
• lifelong career development
• career management
• interventions in the career process
• ethical issues in career management.

This module will see you plan and conduct an original piece of systematic research to add to the investigation and solution of a defined issue in the area of people management. You will review how research and theory from the academic field of human resource management (HRM) and cognate social sciences can be applied to the investigation and solution of a defined people management issue, using knowledge gained from other modules in your master's programme. Your findings will then be used to produce a report that seeks to persuade businesses or business partners to change or adopt a particular policy or practice.