Dr Virginia Doellgast

This course is available on the BSc in Management. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

None for students on the BSc Management degree. Students on other degrees and General Course students require permission of the instructor. Background in human resource management, employment relations, or sociology of work is recommended (e.g. ID100, ID205, SO212).

This course examines the human resource management (HRM) strategies of global corporations, with the aim of understanding both the causes of different strategic choices and the consequences of these strategies for diverse stakeholders. In course modules, we will evaluate the strategic choices facing global corporations, including the choice between adopting highly centralized or predominantly decentralized HR policies; HR considerations in the outsourcing and offshoring of work; and the role of HRM in managing international mergers and acquisitions. A central area of concern will be to analyze how institutional and cultural factors affect HRM policies and outcomes across the ‘global supply chains’ of MNCs.

15 hours of lectures and 15 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of lectures in the ST.

Students will be expected to produce 1 presentation and 1 exercise in the LT.

Edwards, T. and C. Rees. (2011)  International Human Resource Management: Globalization, National Systems, and Multinational Companies (2nd Edition).  Essex: Pearson Education, Ltd.

Harzing, A-W. and Ruysseveldt, J. V. (2011) International Human Resource Management, Third Edition.  London: Sage Publications.

Catteneo, O., G. Gereffi, and C. Staritz (2010) Global Value Chains in a Postcrisis World. The World Bank Press.

Edwards, T. and S. Kuruvilla (2005) International HRM: national business systems, organizational politics and the international division of labour in MNCs, International Journal of Human Resource Management. 16(1): 1-21.

Gospel, H. and Sako M. (2010) The Re-bundling of Corporate Functions: The Evolution of Shared Services and Outsourcing in Human Resource Management, Industrial & Corporate Change. 19(5): 1367-1396.

Exam (80%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.
Essay (20%, 2000 words).