Understanding human resource management in a global context is critical for business managers as globalisation provides increasing opportunities for companies to grow and be competitive in more diverse and international contexts. This module provides you with an overview of the field and a new set of contemporary principles, theories and concepts for managing employees within the context of the growing internationalisation of a business.

This module focuses on the implications of the rise of multinational corporations and foreign direct investment for international human resource management and the challenges of managing a diverse workforce across national borders. This module will help you critically examine the impacts of institutional environments, international labour regulations and global business ethics on the choice and effectiveness of HR practices.

The course also helps you learn and adopt a comparative discussion of convergence and divergence of human resource practices across national contexts. You will learn to understand the fundamental HR functions and the responsibilities of HR professionals across national borders to help businesses achieve employee and firm outcomes. Finally, you will reflect on and gain an in-depth knowledge of the challenges and opportunities that companies face in managing people and workplaces at the global level.

Key themes: HR practices of multinational corporations and subsidiaries, institutional environments, cross-culture, comparative human resource management, HR functions.

Topics may include:
• specific international HR functions (such as recruitment and selection, training and development, expatriation and repatriation, pay/rewards systems, performance management, career development)
• high performance HRM systems
• 'home-country' and ‘host-country’ effects shaping multinational and subsidiary employment practices across borders
• convergence and divergence of HR practices
• international assignments as an HR tool
• equity and diversity dimensions of MNC HRM practices
• the role of culture and business ethics in global HR management
• corporate social responsibility issues in global HR practices
• global talent management
• implications of outsourcing and offshoring for HR practices in a global context

The module aims to develop your theoretical and practical knowledge and understanding of cross-cultural behaviour at work. Cross-cultural organisational behaviour refers to organisational behaviour in different cultural contexts. You will learn a wide range of research-based theories and practice related to cross-cultural organisational behaviour. These include topics such as, cross cultural psychology theories (e.g. Hofstede, Childs, Trompenaars, etc); organisational environments and complexities in international business environments; expatriation and repatriation; employee motivation and managerial environment; global leadership and cultural competence; managing change, communication and negotiations across cultures; managing multicultural and bi-cultural individuals; cross cultural teams and knowledge exchange in in person, hybrid and dispersed settings; diversity and inclusion in global MNCs, etc. Given the challenges associated with cross-cultural work we will also discuss the role of IT in facilitating cross-cultural understanding but also issues around health and well-being.

You will learn to interpret the four key sources of information for decision makers which are identified by CIPD: scientific literature, organisational data, expertise and judgement of practitioners, managers, consultants and business leaders, and stakeholders. Drawing on the growing interest in and expectations of the role that analytics can play in improving Human Resource (HR) Management in global organisations you will understand how the growth in Big Data, the challenges in managing this, and the principles of quantitative analysis can be applied to HR management to increase knowledge and operational practice by demonstrating impact and enhancing strategic decision making. You will also gain the skills needed to work with statistics and Big Data to use evidence to solve problems in an organisational context. These may include (but will not be restricted to) looking at stakeholder engagement, data management and visualisation methods, and working with metrics and statistical modelling.

You will learn about the growing interest in and expectations of the role that comparative employment relations (in countries such as UK, Germany, France, Italy, USA, Japan, China and Australia), as well as UK employment law can play in Human Resource (HR) Management in organisations. You will also consider the continued significance of the European Union and how much Brexit has changed that. You will understand employment relations in developing countries, about the importance of employment relations movements in developing countries, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and alternative forms of workers organising together (– as many multinational corporations now operate in developing countries). You will understand how the principles of comparative employment relations can be applied to HR Management to increase knowledge and enhance strategic decision making in areas such as workforce planning, performance management, and retention.

You will learn about the contemporary and timely issues associated with human resource management and about managing human resources in a global context. You will learn the concepts, principles, theories, and techniques and how to apply and evaluate the principles and theories to authentic cases and scenarios in contemporary organisations. Complementary to this is insight into global contemporary issues in human resource management and a well-rounded and specialised ability to identify and integrate these issues in contemporary organisations in the global context.
Topics may include:
• Managing an international workforce,
• Managing racism and discrimination in global context,
• Agile workforce, flexibility, and change,
• Future of work,
• Digital transformation,
• Knowledge sharing and transfer in multinational corporations and cross border alliances
• People and skills required in global context,
• Social trends and sustainable strategic goals,
• Engaging people

In this module you will learn about a comprehensive range of research methods and data analysis techniques. This will equip you with the knowledge and practical skills necessary for you to conduct HR research at Masters’ level and prepare you to complete a Master’s HRM Dissertation, HRM Consultancy Project or HRM Enquiry. By the end of the module, you will know how to apply both quantitative and qualitative data collection and data analysis techniques. In quantitative techniques you will learn about sampling, questionnaire design, statistical inference, and hypothesis testing while qualitative techniques covered will include methods such as interviewing and focus groups. Analysis methods such as content analysis and thematic analysis will also be covered. In addition, you will gain some understanding of research philosophy (positivism and interpretivism) and research ethics, and you will be able to write a research proposal to bring these ideas together. This module will provide clear, critical, and analysis of quantitative and qualitative data.

The Masters’ HRM Enquiry module is a student-led individual project that enables you to undertake a significant piece of assessed work commensurate with a capstone module and is offered as an alternative to the Masters’ Dissertation and Masters’ Consultancy Project in the MSc in Global HRM programme.

The module aims to provide you with an opportunity to demonstrate an authentic engagement with managers and/or professionals in the HRM discipline, and to integrate the knowledge you have developed during your programme to explore the theory in practice. The learning on this module is experiential and problem based, where the focus is upon you discovering, probing and questioning key practice-based issues. Through the module you will be offered the opportunity to develop and enhance key transferable employability skills, including time management, project management, communication (written, aural and verbal), negotiation, persuasion and influence, discovery, initiative, problem-solving and analysis.

The module has five thematic areas; explore, review, engage, reflect and connect. These form the key elements of the assessed submission which is a single 15,000 word report.

Part A (35%, 5,000-5,500 words)

Explore: Interviewing a manager and/or professional in your discipline. In this interview you will either explore a key issue which you feel the discipline is facing or, alternatively, explore with the manager or professional the key issues that they feel they are facing in practice. It is expected that you will apply non-verbatim documented conversation and provide evidence of the key ideas emerging within the submitted enquiry report (e.g., within the appendices).

Review: Critically examining the academic and practitioner literature to support the exploration, displaying an ability to critically assess and appraise the knowledge of your discipline related to a specific key issue arising from your exploration.

Part B (65%, 9,500-10,000 words)

Engage: Displaying an authentic engagement with the discipline problem/issue identified in Part A, by collecting/generating and analysing further live data (beyond the initial interview) regarding the discipline problem/issue. This live data may be primary data (e.g., further interviews with, or questionnaire to, managers and/or professionals in practice) or secondary data (e.g., industry data). Application of appropriate, ethically-considered, research methods and appropriate qualitative or quantitative data analysis.

Reflect and Connect: Demonstrating an ability to critically evaluate and reflect on the issues arising from the HRM Enquiry.

Demonstrating how you have connected and fed-back to the participants of the Enquiry (usually the manager and/or participants) your key findings to provide clear prioritised, well-justified, practical and actionable recommendations for change/enhancement/improvement to existing practice to show how the recommendations would potentially affect workplace professional decision making.

The dissertation module aims to enable you to develop intellectual and practical skills for undertaking an individual student-led, ethical investigation into a HR focussed business problem or issue. Using appropriate research methodologies and data collection methods, you will critically synthesise a body of Human Resource Management knowledge, relevant to the programme, with an organisational issue that you have identified. You will then provide recommendations for improvement change based on your analysis. By the end of the module, you will have written a 15000 word Masters dissertation. The areas included are:

• Justification for the choice of topic
• Appropriate understanding, awareness and critical analysis of existing and up to date literature evidenced by a comprehensive and well-referenced literature review with an extensive reference list
• Selection, justification and application of an appropriately rigorous methodology - including limitations of the approach selected
• Clear statement of the findings of the research
• Critical analysis of the findings
• Explicit links between the analysis and the conclusions supported by critical argument
• Evidence of original work or thought for example in the form or context of the data collected, analytical process or application of findings

On this consultancy based module you will enhance your individual HRM effectiveness and employability skills by locating your learning and development in an organisational context. In doing so, you will promote personal and group development, HRM awareness, and a range of inter-personal, intellectual and practical skills and knowledge centred on and demonstrated through a group negotiated real-time work-based project.

The content of the management report will be unique. The nature and scope of the area of your investigation will be defined and agreed in collaboration with the organisation and the University supervisor. The syllabus will include:

• Conducting HRM research in organisations.
• Identifying researchable questions.
• Consultancy and project management skills.
• Research methods and doing a literature review
• Presentation, communication and report writing skills.
• Analysing findings.
• Writing recommendations and action plans.
• Reflecting on work based experiential learning.

In undertaking this project based module, you will critically reflect and evaluate upon HRM practices and their relation with academic theory, and in doing so, provide practical and actionable recommendations through an investigative management report.