Syllabus

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The objective of the course is to familiarize student with economic analysis of central topics in human resource management. The student will learn to use tools and concepts of economics to analyze human resource management decision problems.

Credits: 6

Schedule: 19.04.2022 - 02.06.2022

Teacher in charge (valid for whole curriculum period):

Teacher in charge (applies in this implementation): Antti Kauhanen

Contact information for the course (applies in this implementation):

CEFR level (valid for whole curriculum period):

Language of instruction and studies (applies in this implementation):

Teaching language: English. Languages of study attainment: English

CONTENT, ASSESSMENT AND WORKLOAD

Content

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  The course introduces economic approach to human resource management. Topics of the course include: recruitment, personnel development, job design, career development, performance measurement, and performance-related pay. The topics are studied with simple models. Analysis of real-world applications and decision problems are emphasized.

• applies in this implementation

  
  

Assessment Methods and Criteria

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  1. Lectures 24h. The lectures involve discussions of real-world problems. The problems are handed out in advance and the students will present their analysis and discuss the problems in class. There will be 5 topics, of which 4 have to be passed in order to pass the course.
  2. Written assignment (50% of the final marking)
  3. Final exam (50% of the final marking)

• applies in this implementation

  The lectures are an important part of the course and you will participate in discussions and solve problems during the lectures. You won’t be able to just sit in the class; I expect you to participate actively. The lectures will mostly cover i) material from the textbook that I find challenging, unclear or very important, ii) additional models, examples and applications that deepen what you have learned from reading the textbook.

  You will have to prepare for the lectures by reading the relevant chapter from the textbook and some additional readings (see the outline below). This is important because otherwise you will not be able to solve the problems or participate in the discussions. So do get a copy of the textbook.

  
  

Workload

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Workload:
  Participation in lectures 24h
  Preparing for the lecture sessions 24h
  Writing the essay 60h
  Preparing for the exam 50h
  Exam 3h

DETAILS

Study Material

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Lazear Edward P. and Gibbs Michael  Personnel Economics in Practice (2014), 3rd ed., mandatory

  Availability

  Other readings assigned during the course.

• applies in this implementation

  The course textbook is Lazear, E.P. & Gibbs, M. (2014): "Personnel Economics in Practice", 3rd Ed, Wiley. The 2^nd edition is also fine, but the first edition titled “Personnel Economics for Managers” is not suitable for this course. It is a completely different book.

  I expect you to have the textbook (see more below on the lectures). You can for example buy the e-version of the textbook for about 37€ from here.

  
  

Substitutes for Courses

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Substitutes for Courses

Prerequisites

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Prerequisites

SDG: Sustainable Development Goals

8 Decent Work and Economic Growth

FURTHER INFORMATION

Further Information

• valid for whole curriculum period:

  Teaching Period:

  (2020, 2021) - No teaching

  2021-2022 Spring V

  
  

  Course Homepage: https://mycourses.aalto.fi/course/search.php?search=31C00800

  Registration for Courses: In the academic year 2021-2022, registration for courses will take place on Sisu (sisu.aalto.fi) instead of WebOodi.

Details on the schedule

• applies in this implementation

  NB! Changes are possible, they are announced on the MyCourse page.

  •       Tue 19.4. Introduction to the course & Recruitment (Chap. 2)

  •       Thu 21.4 Recruitment (Chap. 2)

  •       Tue 26.4. Problem set 1 (recruitment); Investing in Skills (Chap. 3)

  •       Thu 28.5. Investing in Skills (Chap. 3)

  •       Tue 3.5. Problem set 2 (recruitment); Centralization v Decentralization (Chap. 5)

  •       Thu 5.5. Performance Evaluation (Chap. 9)

  •       Tue 10.5. Problem set 3 (Incentive pay); Performance Evaluation (Chap. 9)

  •       Thu 12.5. Performance Evaluation (Chap. 9)

  •       Tue 17.5. Problem set 4 (Incentive pay); Tying Pay to Performance (Chap. 10)

  •       Thu 19.5. Job Design (Chap. 8)

  •       Tue 24.5. Problem set 5 (Incentive pay); Promotion-Based Incentives (Chap. 11)

  •       Wed 25.5. Evaluation of decisions

  
  

Description