Evidence-based Human Resources Management
MGT 4153


Instructor

Craig J. Russell, Ph.D.
Professor of Business Administration 

 


7C Adams Hall
821-4155
cruss@ou.edu
http://www.ou.edu/russell

 

Office hours

By appointment


Class room and time

 

2040 Price Hall, 4:30 - 5:45 PM Monday & Wednesday

January 20th to May 6th, 2016

 

Texts/materials

Hammonds, K.H. (2005). Why we hate HR. Fast Company. 97, 40-47.

Russell, C.J. (2016).  Evidence-based Human Resources Management. (2nd edition) San Diego, CA: Cognella/University Readers.


To purchase the Russell text, please follow Steps 1-3 below:

Step 1: Log on to https://students.universityreaders.com/store/


Step 2: Create an account or log in if you have an existing account to purchase.

Step 3: Easy-to-follow instructions will guide you through the rest of the ordering process.

Johnson Granite Quarry Inc. assignment

Johnson Granite Quarry Inc. (Excel '07 file)


Learning Objectives

The purpose of this course is to survey current topics in human resource management practices and systems.  Arguably, the topic most HR porfessionals have deficient training in involves assessing the financial and/or operational impact of HR practices (or what is often called utility analysis).  This topic is germaine to ALL HR policy and practice areas and is generally in short supply among HR professionals.  Current incarnations of this issue fall under labels such as "business metrics," "analytics," "big data," and in professional sports, "money ball."  Very few HR professionals can provide a defensible answer to the C suite executive who asks "we spent $250k on HR training systems last year - when do we get the $250k back and what is our return on this investment?"  This question can and should routinely be asked of all HR policies or practices if the firm hopes to optimize use of scarce labor resources. 

Students will get hands-on experience actually assessing the impact of alternate pay systems on voluntary turnover in the Johnson Company case study.  Dr. Russell wrote the text "Evidence-based Human Resources Management" explicitly for use in the course (all royalties generated by sales to OU students are donated to the general OU scholarship fund).  The textbook is available to students from University Readers (Cognella) on line at https://students.universityreaders.com/store/.  Our launch into this topic comes in reading the provocative article titled "Why we hate HR."

Student Participation

Students are required to attend class and participate in discussion, exercises, and lectures. Attendance will not be taken - students are expected to attend and performance on the test will severely suffer for those who do not.

Grades:

Grades will be based on student performance on three examinations AND a partner-project (i.e., groups project consisting of two group members).   Students are required to bring Blue Books, Scantrons, and writing instruments to the exams.  



Date Topic Reading(s)
Week 1
 Rationale behind need to evaluate HR contributions to business outcomes, or, "Why we hate HR" and the burning need for love. Hammond & Russell, Chapter 1

Evidence-based management: helping managers make better decisions
Prof. Denise M. Rousseau – Carnegie Mellon University, USA
Week 2
 Revisiting some basic tools used to evaluate effects of HR policies and practices.
 Russell, Chapter 2
Week 3
 Evaluating the effect of HR policies, practices, and interventions on voluntary employee turnover.

 Russell, Chapter 4
Week 4
 Utility: Taylor-Russell
 Russell, Chapter 3
Week 5
 Utility: Brogdon-Cronbach-Gleser (BCG)
 Russell, Chapter 3
Week 6
 Project work
 Russell, Chapter 4
Week 7
 Evaluating evidence bearing on the effects of recruting policies, practices, and interventions.
 Russell, Chapter 5

Exam I
Draft Johnson Project Due
Week 8 Evaluating evidence bearing on effect of HR policies, practices, and interventions on EEO and Equal Pay Act compliance
 Russell, Chapter 6
Week 9
 Evaluating evidence bearing on the efffects of personnel selection system policies, practices, and interventions.
 Russell, Chapter 7
Week 10
 SPRING BREAK
(week of March 12th - 20th)
Weeks 11-12
 Evaluating evidence bearing on the efffects of performance assessment policies, practices, and interventions.
Russell, Chapter 8*
Weeks 13-14 Evaluating evidence bearing on the efffects of training and development policies, practices, and interventions.
Russell, Chapter 9*
Weeks 15-16 Evaluating evidence bearing on the efffects of job analysis on HR policies, practices, and interventions - the impact of early judgment calls on downstream outcomes.

Russell, Chapter 10*

Final Johnson Project Due by 5:00pm Friday, May 6

Final Exam, Wednesday, May 11th, 10:30 am.
* Dr. Russell will distribute pdf file drafts of chapters 8-10 latter in the semester (they were not completed in time for the 2nd edition).

Adjustments for Pregnancy/Childbirth Related Issues

Should you need modifications or adjustments to your course requirements because of documented pregnancy-related or childbirth-related issues, please contact me as soon as possible to discuss. Generally, modifications will be made where medically necessary and similar in scope to accommodations based on temporary disability. Please see www.ou.edu/content/eoo/pregnancyfaqs.html for commonly asked questions.

Disability

Any student in this course who has a disability that may prevent the full demonstration of his or her abilities should contact me personally as soon as possible so we can discuss accommodations necessary to ensure full participation and facilitate your educational opportunities.

© 2016, Craig J. Russell

Craig J. Russell, Ph.D.
Professor
Michael Price College of Business
University of Oklahoma
Norman, OK 73019-0450
(405) 325-2458
(405) 821-4155 (cell)
cruss@ou.edu