Postgraduate Course: Multinational Enterprises & Comparative Employment Relations (CMSE11286)
Course Outline
| School | Business School |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Not available to visiting students |
| SCQF Credits | 15 |
ECTS Credits | 7.5 |
| Summary | This course aims to provide students with an integrated overview of the key conflict in HR and employment relations' that is, how the world of employment relations is becoming increasingly internationalised while differences in the employment systems of different countries continue to persist. |
| Course description |
Aims, Nature, Context
The course investigates several key and inter-related features of the changing global business environment and their impact upon HRM and employment relations. First, it explores the impact of globalization and different MNC variants (in terms of organizational structures and strategies) primarily from an institutional/business systems perspective. Second, students undertake a more in-depth, comparative analysis of 'national employment systems' - key areas of study include differences in production regimes, welfare provision, training and education systems, and the organisation of trade unions. Third, it explores how these diverse models interact with the variety of structures and strategies of multinational companies (MNCs), drawing on both international business and international HRM literature. Of prime interest is the interaction of home and host country effects in shaping HR practices of MNCs, as well as variation across industry sectors. And fourth, the course introduces students to debates concerning new forms of regulation (especially pan-national labour regulation) in the context of the recovery from a global recession and increasing penetration of foreign capital in countries around the world.
This course unit has the objectives of enabling students to understand and explain:
1. the implications of the growing internationalization of business and trade both for the human resource policies of companies and for the organisation of labour and employers;
2. the characteristic features of country systems of employment and industrial relations across a range of developed and less developed countries;
3. how country differences in employment systems shape and constrain human resource policies of multinational companies;
4. the various ways multinational companies manage labour to meet complex cross-national operations in the production and delivery of goods and services;
5. the challenges to labour posed by the increasing presence of multinational companies.
On completion of the course, students should:
1. be able to discern and comment critically upon the chief institutional and cultural premises driving managerial approaches to HR/employment relations in multinational firms;
2. demonstrate ability to understand and synthesise a wide range of complex issues in the field of international HRM and comparative employment relations;
3. display in written work developing abilities to digest, synthesise and critically evaluate contrasting perspectives from the literature in reaching sustainable/practical conclusions.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2015/16, Not available to visiting students (SS1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Semester 2 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
150
(
Lecture Hours 20,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 8,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Other Study Hours 117,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 3,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
0 )
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| Additional Information (Learning and Teaching) |
Preparation - 75hours, Research - 30hours, Writing up - 10 hours, Exam revision - 10hours
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
60 %,
Coursework
40 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Coursework - 40%
Written Exam - 60% |
| Feedback |
Detailed feedback on the assessed group presentations (approximately a week after the presentation date) as well as feedback on the individual assessment (within the prescribed university guidelines). |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | Multinational Enterprises & Comparative Employment Relations (CMSE11286) | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- identify and debate the employment and HR effects of globalization and subsequent changes in the international business environment;
- critically explore research questions around the changing nature of the multinational enterprise and the challenges faced by social partners within and outside these global organizations;
- demonstrate skills of comparative analysis of national employment/industrial relations systems.
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Reading List
Martinez-Lucio, M. (ed.) (2014), International HRM: An Employment Relations Perspective, London: Sage.
Harzing, A.-W. & Pinnington, A.H. (eds.) (2011), International Human Resource Management (3rd Edition), London: Sage.
OR
Harzing, A.-W. & Pinnington, A.H. (eds.) (2015), International Human Resource Management (4th Edition), London: Sage.
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
On completion of the course students should:
1. have secured an understanding of comparative employment relations' processes that impact MNCs- performance, including the design and implementation of policies and practices in a range of employment areas such as collective bargaining and pay negotiations, international HRD, and employee voice;
2. have critical awareness of the international transfer of HR policies and practices both effecting and affected by multinationals - considering both external/structural variables as well as internal/micro-political factors;
3. have the ability to locate appropriate academic and practitioner resources on comparative and international employment relations issues;
4. be able to competently communicate and exchange ideas in both large and small group settings;
5. be able to gather, analyse and use information in order to present a balanced argument;
6. be plan, organise and prioritise work effectively;
7. have improved their analytical, writing and presentation skills according to accepted disciplinary conventions.
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| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Sara Chaudhry
Tel: (0131 6)51 5672
Email: Sara.Chaudhry@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Peter Newcombe
Tel: (0131 6)51 3013
Email: Peter.Newcombe@ed.ac.uk |
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