International and Comparative Human Resource Management

Learning Outcomes

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• operate effectively in terms of international/cross cultural awareness;
• undertake searches for both qualitative and quantitative information using a range of information sources.
• manage ambiguities arising in international contexts, for example in people management, effectively;
• pursue individual work-related goals effectively;

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• the constraints and opportunities offered by differing national infrastructures of employment relations.
• differing HRM practices across countries, in terms e.g. of reward, work organization, training, flexibility and work-life balance;
• the differing potential roles of HR departments in different countries and in international organizations e.g. in pursuing notions of ‘best practice’ which might be applied internationally;
• the role and effects on organisations of social regulation by social actors, i.e. nation states, employment and labour law, unions, employers’ associations and international bodies such as the EU and the ILO;
• aspects of national cultures and their implications for organisations;

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• identify how employment law and joint regulation shape strategic HR choices in different countries;
• deal with matters of HRM practice, around e.g. reward, work organisation, training and development and work-life balance in an international context;
• manage HR departments with different nationally or internationally textured identities.
• manage or professionally influence HRM practices with knowledge of notions of ‘best practice’ and their limits;
• assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of HR support resources and mechanisms in subsidiary/associated companies and gain acceptance for making appropriate constructive adjustments;
• operate with appropriate sensitivity and responsiveness in cross-cultural situations; assert viewpoints in a culturally sensitive way, avoiding offence or misunderstanding, and exercising influence and persuasion in situations where communications are difficult;
• consider the impact of cross cultural issues for communicating and operating across national boundaries;

• International HRM: the state of the employment relationship
• Comparative HRM: convergence and divergence
• Comparative HRM: communication
• Comparative HRM: joint regulation
• Comparative HRM: training and development
• Comparative HRM: work organization and teamwork
• Comparative HRM: reward, pay systems and benefits
• Comparative HRM: from flexibility to work-life balance and sustainability
• Comparative HRM: national HR management
• International HRM: MNC choice and national infrastructures of HRM
• International HRM: the role of the international HR function
• International HRM: promoting best practice from corporate HQ

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include:

• Lectures, case studies, directed reading, small and large group discussion

Learning activities include:

• An individual assignment
• Case study problem solving
• Directed Reading

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Brewster, Chris, Liz Houldsworth, Paul Sparrow and Guy Vernon (2016). International Human Resource Management. London: CIPD (11 copies available in the university library at HF 5549 BRE).

Edwards, Tony and Chris Rees (eds.) (2010). International Human Resource Management. Pearson.

Harzing, A. & Ruysseveldt, J.V. (2011). International Human Resource Management. Sage.

Formative

This is how we’ll give you feedback as you are learning. It is not a formal test or exam.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External