Introduction
Please note that this is a preliminary course description. The final version will be published in June 2026.
Employees are generally considered “the organization’s most valuable resource” and are key to organizations’ customer service, productivity, and profitability. Accordingly, organizations spend considerable efforts on Human Resource Management (HRM) – management decisions concerned with policies and practices that together shape the employment relationship and are aimed at achieving individual, organizational, and societal goals.
HRM has for many years been recognized as a central function in the organization. However, as the nature and context of work change, so too does the role of HR professionals. Many authors in the field discern a shift in HRM from an administrative expert role towards an increasingly strategic, transformational, and sustainability-oriented function that needs high-quality relationships with employees, middle or line managers, and top management.
Strategic HRM is definitely concerned with productivity and profitability and has a shareholder focus. Increasingly, however, a “balanced” or “mutual gains” perspective increasingly emphasizes employee interests and their well-being, as well as other stakeholders. Accordingly, Strategic HRM takes into account both employers’ and employees’ interests and society at large to achieve longer-term competitiveness and sustainability.
The purpose of the course is to familiarize students with the most central and contemporary areas of HRM systems and practices, assist them in cultivating a more critical and balanced approach towards HRM, and help them develop their competency to meet the expectations of being an HR manager in increasingly dynamic, digital, and international workplaces.