Posted: December 29th, 2014

Managing People in Organisations FT MA HRM/MA International HRM Managing People in Organisations – Module Outline

Managing People in Organisations

FT MA HRM/MA International HRM

Managing People in Organisations – Module Outline

1    Introduction

In this module, we explore some of the tricky challenges, tensions and issues which arise when organisations – whether in the market, public or third sectors – try to

optimise employees’ contribution to organisational performance. We review historical and contemporary frameworks for understanding work-relevant differences between

individuals, the interaction of leaders and led, and key aspects of organisations’ internal environment. We also discuss the relationship of employee attitudes,

affiliations and behaviour at the level of individuals and groups to the design of work and organisations in the context of wider power relations

2    Learning Outcomes

Students who complete this module successfully will be able to (- the references to components in parentheses are to the two components of assessment):

•    Draw on theory and research to describe and critically evaluate the use of HRM practices individually and in combination to enhance organisational performance

and employee well-being (Component A)

•    Review theories of motivation, commitment and engagement at work in light of their implications for organisational performance and employee well-being

(Component B)

•    Review leading theories of ability and personality, and discuss critically the relationship of ability and personality to work performance and different

aspects of well-being (Component B)

•    Draw on a theoretical debates concerning the nature of culture to evaluate critically the notion that culture could/should  be  managed and controlled

(Component B)

•    Demonstrate critical insight into processes of change in organisations and the role of organisational leadership (variously understood) in beign able to

facilitate change (Component A)

•     Discuss critically sources of conflict and power within organisation, and issues involved in the distribution and ethical use of power (Component B)

•    Evaluate the dynamics of behaviour within groups and teams and their implications for individual, group/team and organisational performance (Component B)

In addition, the educational experience may explore, develop, and practise but not formally assess the following:

•    Independent learning, group work and skills associated with discussion and debate

•    Personal organisation and study skills

3    Teaching and Learning Methods

Sessions are designed to provide a range of learning experiences and will be active and participative in nature.  Group and individual activities will be interspersed

with more formal inputs to introduce relevant concepts and theoretical perspectives.  Participative activities will include case studies, role plays, problem solving

activities, video materials and group discussion.  You will be encouraged to critically relate the knowledge and skills gained through the programme to your own

experience (ie previous work experience, education, and other activities).

4    Session Outlines

Session 1: The High Performance Workplace
What is the ‘high performance workplace,’ and what accounts for its current popularity?  This session analyses different perspectives on these questions, and explores

the origins of the high performance concept (including so-called ‘high performance work systems’) in organizational practice, research and ideology.   What effects do

high performance work practices have on individual and organizational performance? How do these effects compare with their impact on employee well-being? We also

explore the implications of the HPWP for the competencies and contribution of HR professionals.

Essential reading
Combs J, Liu Y, Hall A & Ketchen, D (2006)  How much do high-performance work practices matter? A meta-analysis of their effects on organizational performance.

Personnel Psychology, 59, 501-528. [Don’t let yourself get bogged down by the methodological – especially the statistical – details of this article, unless you find

them intriguing or you’re into masochism in a big way. Try to get the broad picture.]

Additional reading
Appelbaum E, Bailey T, Berg P and Kalleberg A (2000)    Manufacturing Advantage:  Why high-performance systems pay off.  Ithaca, NY: ILR Press
Conway E & Monks K (2009)    Unravelling the complexities of high commitment: an employee level analysis. Human Resource Management Journal, 19(2), pp. 140-158.
Department of Trade & Industry (2003)    High Performance Workplaces: Informing and consulting employees.
Godard J (2004)    A critical assessment of the high-performance paradigm. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 42(2), pp. 349-378.
Greenwood, Michelle. “Ethical analyses of HRM: A review and research agenda.” Journal of Business Ethics (2012): pp 1-12.
Guest, D. (2011).  Human resource management and performance: Still searching for some answers. Human Resource Management Journal, 21, pp. 3-13.
Guest D, Conway N & Dewe P (2004)   Using sequential tree analysis to search for ‘bundles’ of HR practices.  Human Resource Management Journal, 14 (1), pp. 79-96
Bowen, D. and Ostroff, C. (2004). ‘Understanding HRM – firm performance linkages: the role of the ‘strength’ of the HRM system’. Academy of Management Review, 29 (2),

pp. 203–221.
Boxall P & Macky K (2009)    Research and theory on high-performance work systems: Progressing the high-involvement stream. Human Resource Management Journal, 19

(1), pp. 3-23.
Huselid MA, Jackson SE & Schuler RS (1997).    Technical and strategic human resource effectiveness as determinants of firm performance, Academy of Management

Journal, 40(1), pp. 171 – 188.
Khilji, S. and Wang, X. (2006). ‘ “Intended” and “implemented” HRM: The missing linchpin in
strategic human resource management research’. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 17( 7), pp. 1171–1189.
Nishii, L., Lepak, D. and Schneider, B. (2008). ‘Employee attributions of the ‘why’ of HR practices:
their effects on employee attitudes and behaviours, and customer satisfaction’. Personnel Psychology, 61(3), pp. 503–545.
Sung J & Ashton D (2004)   High Performance Work Practices: Linking strategy and skills to performance outcomes. DTI/CIPD.

Session 2: Ability, Personality and Performance – Part 1
This session looks at different theories of ability and aptitude, as well as approaches to understanding, describing and measuring personality.  How stable are

abilities and personality traits over time, and what is their relationship with performance at work and success in career? How can the five-factor model of personality

help us to understand work performance?

Required Reading in Course Materials — MUST BE READ BEFORE CLASS:
Hogan R & Warrenfeltz R (2003)  Educating the modern manager. Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2(1), pp. 74-84

Reading
Arnold J & Randall R et al. (2010)  Work psychology: Understanding human behavior in the workplace. Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall.
Barrick, M. R., & Mount, M. K. (1991). The Big-Five personality dimensions and job performance: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 44, pp. 1-26.
Caspi A, Roberts BW, & Shiner RL (2005)  Personality development: Stability and change. Annual Review of Psychology, 56, pp. 453-484.
Friedman HS, Kern ML & Reynolds CA. (2010)  Personality and health, subjective well-being, and longevity. Journal of Personality, 78(1), pp. 179-215.
Furnham, A. (2005, 2nd ed.). The psychology of behavior at work: The individual in the organization. Hove: Psychology Press.
Furnham A. (2008) Personality and intelligence at work: Exploring and explaining individual differences at work. Routledge.
Heller D, Ferris DL, Brown D, & Watson D (2009) The influence of work personality on job satisfaction: Incremental validity and mediation effects. Journal of

Personality, 77(4), pp. 1051-1084
McAdams DP (1995)  What do we know when we know a person?  Journal of Personality, 63 (3), pp. 365-36
McAdams DP (2010)  The Person: A new introduction to personality psychology.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
Toplis J, Dulewicz V and Fletcher C (2004) Psychological Testing: A Manager’s Guide (4th Ed).  London; CIPD

Session 5 Personality and Performance (Part 2)
This session looks at ‘second-order’ personality constructs which are theoretically related to work performance: self-monitoring personality, proactive personality,

and core self-evaluations. We also consider ways of understanding personality other than through traits: people’s characteristic adaptations to life (including their

goals and values) and their narrative identity.

Reading
Bateman, TS & Crant, JM (1993)  The proactive component of organizational behavior: A measure and correlates. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 14, pp.103-118
Day DV & Schleicher DJ. (2006)  Self-monitoring at work: A motive-based perspective. Journal of Personality, 74(3), pp. 685-713
Day DV, Schleicher DJ, Unkless AL & Hiller NJ. (2002)  Self-monitoring personality at work: A meta-analytic investigation of construct validity. Journal of Applied

Psychology, 87(2), pp. 390-410.
Furnham, A. (2005, 2nd ed.). The psychology of behavior at work: The individual in the organization. Hove: Psychology Press.
Gangestad, SW & Snyder, M. (1985)    ‘To carve nature at its joints’: On the existence of discrete classes in personality. Psychological Review, 92, pp. 317-349
Judge, TA, Erez A, Bono, JE, & Thoresen CJ. (2003)    The Core Self-Evaluations Scale: Development of a measure. Personnel Psychology, 56, pp. 303-331.
Lennox, RD, & Wolfe, RN. (1984)    Revision of the self-monitoring scale. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 46(6), pp. 1349-1364 .
Rosenberg, M (1965).    Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
Seibert SE, Kraimer ML & Crant JM. (2001)   What do proactive people do? A longitudinal model linking proactive personality and career success. Personnel Psychology,

54, pp. 845-874.

Session 6: Motivation and Performance (1)
This session examines a number of key theories relating to content (the what) of motivation. These include growth motivation and its relevance to job design,

intrinsic/ extrinsic motivation and their relevance to reward strategies, and McClelland’s and his associates’ research concerning the achievement, power, affiliation

and intimacy motives and their relevance to managerial performance.

Reading
Arnold J & Randall R et al. (2010)  Work psychology: Understanding human behavior in the workplace. Harlow: FT/Prentice Hall.
Deci EL & Ryan RM. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11, pp. 227-268.
Fried Y, and Ferris G R, (1987). The validity of the Job Characteristics Model: A review and meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, Vol 40, pp. 287-322.
Furnham A. (2008) Personality and intelligence at work : exploring and explaining individual differences at work. Routledge.
Kasser, T., & Ryan, R. M. (1993). A dark side of the American dream: Correlates of financial success as a central life aspiration. Journal of Personality and Social

Psychology, 65, pp. 410-422.
McAdams DP (2010)   The Person: A new introduction to personality psychology.  Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley.
McClelland DC (1987)    Human Motivation.  Cambs: Cambridge University Press.
Ryan RM & Deci EL. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, pp.

68-78.

Session 9 Motivation & Performance (2)
In this session our attention shifts from content to ‘process’ theories of motivation ie theories which explore how individuals and teams respond consciously to

incentives, and the conditions under which they are most likely to do so. These theories include expectancy theory, organizational justice theories, and goal-setting

in theory and practice.

Preparatory reading — MUST BE READ BEFORE CLASS
Dowling. B., & Richardson. R. (1997)  Evaluating performance-related pay for managers in the National Health Service. International Journal of Human Resource

Management, 8(3), pp. 348-366.

Reading
Arnold, J., and Randall, R. (2010; 5th ed.) Work Psychology: Understanding human behavior in the workplace. Harlow: Pearson Education.  Chapter 8.
Fortin M (2008).  Perspectives on organizational justice: Concept clarification, social context integration, time and links with morality. International Journal of

Management Reviews, 10, pp. 93-126.The psychology of behavior at work: The individual in the organization. Hove: Psychology Press. Chapter 6.
Griffith, R.W., & Gaertner, S. (2001)  A Role for Equity Theory in the Turnover Process: An Empirical Test.  Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 31(5), pp. 1017-

1037.
Latham, G (2007)  Work motivation. Sage.
Locke EA & Latham GP (2002).  Building a practically useful theory of goal setting and task motivation: a 35-year odyssey. American Psychologist, 57, pp. 705-717
Marsden, R. & Belfield, R. (2006).  Pay for Performance Where Output is Hard to Measure: The Case of Performance Pay for School Teachers. Centre for Economic

Performance Discussion Paper No 747. http://cep.lse.ac.uk/pubs/download/dp0747.pdf.
Van Eerde W & Thierry H (1996)  Vroom’s expectancy models and work-related criteria: A meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, pp. 575-86.

Session 12   How do we change as we age?

As awareness of ageing workforces across the world has grown, so researchers have turned their attention to the challenge of understanding systematic ways in which

older people may differ from younger. What happens to mental ability as we get older? How does personality change? How are work attitudes different in later life from

earlier life? As recently as ten years ago, little was known. In this session we look at the picture emerging from theory and research during the past decade.

Reading
Clark, M.G. & Arnold, J.M. (2008) The nature, prevalence and correlates of generativity among men in middle career. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 73, pp. 473-484.
Erikson, E. H. (1959).  Identity and the life cycle.  New York: Norton.
Howard, A., & Bray, D. W. (1988).  Managerial lives in transition: Advancing age and changing times.  New York: Guilford Press.
Kanfer, R., & Ackerman, P. L. (2004). Aging, adult development, and work motivation. Academy of Management Review, 29, 440-458. doi:10.5465/AMR.2004.13670969
Kooij, D., De Lange, A., Jansen, P, Kanfer, R., & Dikkers, J. (2011). Age and work-related motives: Results of a meta-analysis. Journal of Organizational Behavior 32,

pp. 197-225.
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2008). The relationship of age to ten dimensions of job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93(2), pp. 392-423.
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2009). Re-examining the relationship between age and voluntary turnover. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 74(3), pp. 283-294.
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2010). The relationship of age with job attitudes: A meta-analysis. Personnel Psychology, 63, pp. 667-718.
Ng, T. W. H., & Feldman, D. C. (2013). Employee age and health. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 83(3), pp. 336-345.
Roberts, B. W., Walton, K. E., & Viechtbauer, W. (2006). Patterns of mean-level change in personality traits across the life course: A meta-analysis of longitudinal

studies. Psychological Bulletin, 132(1), pp. 1-25.
Warr, P., Miles, A., & Platts, C. (2001). Age and personality in the British population between 16 and 64 years. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology,

74, pp. 165–199.

5    Assessment

The Managing People module is assessed in two parts:

A class test lasting 90 minutes.
Your task is to review theory and empirical research concerning a specific aspect of the content of the module, and to relate this review to your personal experience.

You may refer to one A4 side of notes (min font size 12pt Times New Roman) prepared in advance during the test.

A written assignment of 1500 words
Your task is to review theory and empirical research concerning a specific aspect of the content of the module other than the one you chose for the class test, and to

discuss the practical implications of your review for organisations in general, or a particular organisation where you have worked. Please do NOT relate this

discussion to your personal experience.

Assessment proposal        No later than three weeks in advance of each assessment deadline, you must complete an assessment proposal in the form shown at the end

of this booklet.  This proposal will form the basis of an individual discussion via email with one of the tutors, who will offer feedback on it. You should choose one

topic relating to Mike Clark’s and one to Paul Bennett’s sessions – it doesn’t matter which of the assessments (ie the test or the assignment) your proposal for each

tutor concerns. The proposal is designed to ensure that your approach to the class test and to the written assignment approach is appropriate.  You should indicate

clearly and precisely the topic area you are considering for each. Please send your proposal to the relevant tutor.

Both parts    Illustrate your answer with reference to the relevant literature.  We prefer depth of analysis to breadth, so it will be important to define your

precise topic carefully and suitably narrowly.  Your discussion of the literature should be comparative (ie how do different authors tackle the aspects of the topic

you have chosen to discuss? what may explain the differences between their approaches?) and critical (ie what are the strengths and weaknesses of a particular author’s

approach? in what circumstances might it best apply? how might theory/findings reflect the sample from which they are derived and the methods used by the

researcher/author? etc).  Your analysis of your personal experience, and of the implications for managing people in the workplace, in the light of theory should not

just be illustrative, but should also be exploratory and critical (ie to what extent does your experience support a particular theory? what gaps in theory might your

experience suggest? what aspects of your experience does theory appear to explain and what aspects leave unexplained?  how much practical use is a particular theory?

etc).

Although you must choose a single topic for each part, it is of course acceptable – and often desirable – for you to refer to other topics in passing as topics are

often intertwined.  However, it is important for you to have a clear understanding of what is ‘foreground’ for your project, and what background.

Assessment criteria

1    Demonstrate a well developed knowledge and critical understanding and evaluation of the theory and literature relating to your chosen theme.

2    Show how your learning may be usefully applied to the practice of managing others or yourself at work.

3    Provide a paper which is well structured, clear, concise and coherent as it develops the argument and arrives at conclusions.  Use good grammar,

spelling and properly referenced sources.

Managing people – Assessment Proposal Proforma
Please submit this proposal via email to the relevant tutor (ie the tutor who taught the relevant part of the module).

Name:

Email address:

Topic areas chosen:

Please describe briefly the topics you have chosen:

Class Test

Written Assignment

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