THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2022/2023

Timetable information in the Course Catalogue may be subject to change.

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Managing Employment Relations (CMSE11169)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits15 ECTS Credits7.5
SummaryThis core course explores the management of employment relations with the focus on developing an informed and critical understanding of how it is done and why. Students will be able to appreciate that HRM activity does not occur in a social, legal or institutional vacuum, but is often shaped and constrained by the global and/or national economic and labour market contexts, key institutions, and the interests, and interaction, of a range of labour market actors.
Course description Aims, Nature, Context

The course offers a critical and detailed exploration of the roles and interaction of key actors/stakeholders in systems of employment relations in developed economies (with a more in-depth analysis of the British context) i.e. unions, management, the state and various global actors - including contemporary developments affecting their current policy postures and priorities. Against this stakeholder backdrop the course aims to develop an informed understanding of the chief organisational processes that require management in any system of employment relations (including employee voice and participation mechanisms; collective bargaining and pay determination; anti-discrimination laws and the management of diversity; and the handling of dismissal, discipline and grievances).

Students will gain:

1. knowledge and understanding of the chief characteristics and institutions of employment relations' systems in developed nations;
2. the ability to critically discuss current managerial and public policy approaches towards key employment matters;
3. an understanding of the prescription and practice of how labour is organized, utilised, motivated, rewarded and disciplined.
4. insight into the practical and conceptual significance of change processes currently affecting the conduct of employment relations in the UK and overseas;
5. familiarity with the national and international contexts within which employment relations take place, including national and European regulatory frameworks, corporate governance structures and cultural issues.
6. the ability to discern and comment critically upon the chief economic and ideological premises driving government and managerial approaches to employment relations;


On completion of the course students should:
1. have secured an understanding of employment relations' processes that support organisational performance, including the design and implementation of policies and practices in a range of employment areas such as pay determination and collective bargaining, diversity management, and employee engagement, involvement and participation;
2. appreciate the importance of employment relations' procedures that help contain and resolve conflicts, and have a firm understanding of how to design and implement procedures in the areas of discipline, grievance and dismissal;
3. have the ability to locate appropriate academic and practitioner resources on employment relations topics;
4. have improved their analytical, writing and presentation skills according to accepted disciplinary conventions.

Student Learning Experience:
Tutorial/seminar hours represent the minimum total live hours - online or in-person - a student can expect to receive on this course. These hours may be delivered in tutorial/seminar, lecture, workshop or other interactive whole class or small group format. These live hours may be supplemented by pre-recorded lecture material for students to engage with asynchronously.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary.
Course Delivery Information
Not being delivered
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. knowledge and understanding of the chief stakeholder and issues of employment relations.
  2. an understanding of how power is exercised, resisted and negotiated in the employment relation.
  3. the ability to critically discuss current managerial and policy approaches towards key employment matters.
  4. insight into ethical and social considerations of employment relations issues and processes significance of change processes currently affecting the conduct of employment relations in the UK (and overseas).
  5. exercise autonomy and initiative in collaborative contexts, thereby learning the skills necessary to act as a responsible stakeholder and participant in the context of work and life.
Reading List
Resource list: https://eu01.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/leganto/readinglist/lists/26181360440002466
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills On completion of the course students should be able to:
1. competently communicate and exchange ideas in both large and small group settings;
2. critically evaluate evidence and present a balanced argument using a range of data sources;
3. plan, organise and prioritise work effectively;
4. display in written and presented work developing abilities to digest, synthesise and critically evaluate contrasting perspectives from the literature in reaching sustainable/practical conclusions.
KeywordsHRM-MER
Contacts
Course organiserDr Bing Wu Berberich
Tel:
Email: v1bberbe@exseed.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Lauren Millson
Tel: (0131 6)51 3013
Email: Lauren.Millson@ed.ac.uk
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