MM297: Managing Work and People: Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources Management

Module code: MM297

Module provider: Leadership, Organisations and Behaviour; Henley Business School

Credits: 20

Level: Level 2 (Intermediate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Rita Fontinha, email: r.fontinha@henley.ac.uk

Module co-convenor: Dr Sahar Omary, email: s.a.omary@henley.ac.uk

Additional teaching staff 1: Dr Sio-Hong Tih, email: siohong.tih@henley.edu.my

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: na

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 18 June 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module lead at the University of Reading Malaysia is Sio-Hong Tih.

This module aims to examine the main concepts, principles and practices concerning the management of work and people in organisations. The module is intended to be both intellectually stimulating and practically relevant.

This module will explore two related bodies of knowledge concerning human resources management and organisational behaviour.

First, students will examine the range of practices used by organisations to strategically manage work and people, with a focus on human resources management.

After understanding the more observable practical elements of managing people in organisations, students will explore in greater depth the theoretical contributions from mainstream and critical approaches to organisational behaviour and management studies.

Students are expected to develop an understanding of organisational behaviour and analysis through their existing knowledge of organisations as well as social and human sciences such as management, psychology, and sociology.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Apply concepts, frameworks, key principles and practices in employee the management of work, human resources, organisations, and organisational behaviour.
2. Evaluate the relevance of organisational practices in particular strategic contexts.
3. Develop research and analysis skills concerning theory and its application to real life cases.
4. Effectively communicate research, analysis and the application and understanding of relevant theory.

Module content

• The link between Human Resource Management Practices and Individual Performance
• Flexible working practices
• Strategic staffing and development
• Performance management and reward system design
• Motivational theories
• Organisational culture
• Management and leadership
• Power and Politic

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

This module uses a combination of lectures and seminars, with a strong emphasis placed on student participation, activities, and discussions in the classroom.

Lectures are designed to provide a strong theoretical grounding and students are encouraged to participate in discussions. Lectures will also feature small group activities and case studies where companies’ practices will be presented and discussed to provide an opportunity to learn from real examples.

In tutorials, students will work in small groups through activities designed to increase their understanding of the core topics, including using creative problem-solving techniques. The seminars will be composed by analyses of case studies, which will simulate the case studies to be analysed in the summative assessments. Students will receive formative feedback during the seminars, which will help them prepare for the summative assessment pieces. The first summative assessment will also provide useful to feedforward into summative assessments two and three.

This module may be taught in a different Semester if you are studying at our campus in Malaysia.

For students studying at our campus in Malaysia: This module may be taught in a different semester and the breakdown of study hours may differ to those set out in the Study Hours table (please refer to the Module Handbook for the correct breakdown). In addition, you will be required to complete an additional 40 hours of study, taking the total number of study hours to 240 for this module. This is to comply with the Malaysian Quality Agency (MQA).

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students must achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Feedback will be provided on informal group work in seminars. Students as a group will be required to present their discussion outcomes in tutorials and feedback will be given to improve the performance of coursework. Summative feedback will also have a formative element, which will feedforward from the first assignment into assignments two and three.

Extra feedback can be provided in short clarification sessions to be scheduled with the teaching team.

Reassessment

Additional costs