module specification

The module will enable students to undertake continuing professional development (CPD) and to apply a personal skills audit. It will introduce them to professional competency frameworks, including the CIPD’s professional (HR) map. The module will explore organisational context, cultural and institutional aspects and themes such as stakeholder theory. We consider the HR function, its relationship to organisational performance. We examine the HR professional’s potential for contribution to change management, drawing conclusions and scoping options for change. We look at the increasing significance of personal and professional ethics. The module will enable the development of skills related to interpersonal and group behaviours and to project management. Finally the module equips students with the skills to select appropriate research methods, conduct research design and to analyse and interpret data.

Delivery of the module is based on a mix of lectures, seminars, workshops and peer-developed workgroups, supported by Weblearn materials and directed learning activities. Students will be issued with a module handbook, and guidance on readings, most of which will be available through the Learning Centre and as e-resources, others through Weblearn.  All participants will be required to read relevant materials in advance of seminar sessions in order that these can be student-led.

1. By the end of the module, students will be able to analyse an HR issue in a work context familiar to them; model and construct a research design investigation of that issue; and compose two reflective audits, one related to the student’s CPD, and another based specifically on the student’s learning from the module.

The assessment addresses the learning outcome through a single portfolio in three sections, based on the consideration of an HR issue, ideally in the student’s organisation. The focus of the strategy is to develop reflection on professional skills as applied to a project, and also through consideration of the student’s broader effectiveness against a framework of continuing professional development.

There is no single text which covers the breadth of topics covered in this module but a core text for each of the three main aspects has been identified below

Personal and professional development

Core text:
Pedler M, Burgoyne J, Boydell T (2007) A manager’s guide to self-development 5th ed, Maidenhead, McGraw Hill

Other recommended reading:
Bradbury H, Frost N, Kilminster S, Zukas M (2010) Beyond Reflective Practice: New approaches to lifelong learning, Abingdon, Routledge
Megginson D, Whittaker V (2007) Continuing professional development 2nd ed, London, CIPD
Winstanley D (2005) Personal effectiveness, London, CIPD

Human Resource Management

Core text:
Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2017) Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice. London: Kogan Page

Other recommended reading:
Beardwell J, Claydon T (2010) Human resource management: a contemporary approach 6th ed, Harlow, Pearson Education
Bratton J, Gold J (2012) Human resource management: theory and practice 5th ed, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan
CIPD (2007) The changing HR function: survey report, London, CIPD
CIPD (2008) CIPD code of professional conduct and disciplinary procedures, London, CIPD
CIPD (2010) Next generation HR, London CIPD
CIPD profession map: http://www.cipd.co.uk/cipd-hr-profession/profession-map/cipd-profession-map-used-you.aspx accessed 7/05/15
Goos M, Manning A (2007) Lousy and lovely jobs: the rising polarization of work in Britain, The Review of Economics and Statistics, vol 89, 1 pp118-33
Purcell J, Kinnie K, Hutchinson S, Rayton B, Swart J (2003) Understanding the people and performance link, London, CIPD
Redman T, Wilkinson A (2008) Contemporary human resource management: text and cases 3rd ed, Harlow, Financial Times Prentice Hall
Jyothi P, Venkatesh D (2006) Human resource management, New Delhi, OUP
Torrington D, Hall L, Taylor S, Atkinson C (2014) Human resource management 9th ed, Harlow, Pearson

Research

Core text:
Anderson V (2013) Research methods in human resource management 3rd ed, London CIPD

Other recommended reading:
Bee F, Bee R (2005) Managing information and statistics 2nd ed, London CIPD
Bryman A, Bell E (2011) Business research methods 3rd ed, Oxford, OUP
Cameron, E & Green, M (2004) Making Sense of Change Management - A Complete Guide to the Models, Tools & Techniques of Organisational Change, Kogan Page, London
Saunders M, Lewis P, Thornhill A (2012) Research methods for business students 6th ed, Harlow, Pearson

Journals

Academy of Management Journal
British Journal of Management
Harvard Business Review
Human Relations
Human Resource Management
Human Resource Management Journal
Journal of Management Studies
Personnel
Personnel Review

In addition, the CIPD’s magazine, People Management, is a useful starting point.