ECON 7240 - Human Resources Economics PG

North Terrace Campus - Semester 1 - 2020

This course applies economic analysis to crucial aspects of the employment relationship within firms and corporations. Topics may include the selection and recruitment of managers and employees, job design, employee training, motivating and providing incentives to managers and employees, designing compensation schemes, managing turnover, solving retention problems. The course provides theoretical background using the analytical tools of economics and presents empirical evidence from research in the field.

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Course Details

Course Code	ECON 7240
Course	Human Resources Economics PG
Coordinating Unit	Economics
Term	Semester 1
Level	Postgraduate Coursework
Location/s	North Terrace Campus
Units	3
Contact	Up to 3 hours per week
Available for Study Abroad and Exchange	Y
Incompatible	ECON 3528
Assumed Knowledge	ECON 1012 or equivalent

Course Staff

Course Coordinator: Professor Giulio Zanella

Course Timetable

The full timetable of all activities for this course can be accessed from Course Planner.

Course Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

Apply economic analysis to the management of human resources;
Identify the considerations relevant to designing recruitment and retention strategies;
Compare the effectiveness of different incentives and compensation schemes to increase productivity;
Apply the principles relevant to designing contracts to align managers’ incentives to the goals of the organisation;
Engage in team work to autonomously build a case study in the management of human resources, and to present and discuss it in front of a challenging audience.

University Graduate Attributes

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop the Graduate Attribute(s) specified below:

University Graduate Attribute	Course Learning Outcome(s)
Deep discipline knowledge informed and infused by cutting edge research, scaffolded throughout their program of studies acquired from personal interaction with research active educators, from year 1 accredited or validated against national or international standards (for relevant programs)	1-5
Critical thinking and problem solving steeped in research methods and rigor based on empirical evidence and the scientific approach to knowledge development demonstrated through appropriate and relevant assessment	1-5
Teamwork and communication skills developed from, with, and via the SGDE honed through assessment and practice throughout the program of studies encouraged and valued in all aspects of learning	1-5
Career and leadership readiness technology savvy professional and, where relevant, fully accredited forward thinking and well informed tested and validated by work based experiences	1-5
Intercultural and ethical competency adept at operating in other cultures comfortable with different nationalities and social contexts able to determine and contribute to desirable social outcomes demonstrated by study abroad or with an understanding of indigenous knowledges	1-5
Self-awareness and emotional intelligence a capacity for self-reflection and a willingness to engage in self-appraisal open to objective and constructive feedback from supervisors and peers able to negotiate difficult social situations, defuse conflict and engage positively in purposeful debate	1-5

Learning Resources

Required Resources

Textbook:
Personnel Economics in Practice, 3rd Edition, by Edward P. Lazear and Mike Gibbs - ISBN 978-1-118-20672-0

Learning & Teaching Modes

The course uses traditional lectures, but with substantive active participation. In particular, students will engage in group work and class presentation and discussion of case studies.

Workload

The information below is provided as a guide to assist students in engaging appropriately with the course requirements.

Students are expected to attend lectures and to spend, on average, 5 hours a week reading, studying, and preparing class projects.

Learning Activities Summary

Schedule
Week	Topic	Lecture
1	Sorting and investing in employees	Setting hiring standards
2	Sorting and investing in employees	Recruiting employees
3	Sorting and investing in employees	Investing in employees’ skills: human capital and on-the-job training
4	Sorting and investing in employees	Managing turnover
5	Organisational and job design	Organisational structure and its relation to managing human resources
6	Organisational and job design	Job design: skills, tasks, and decisions
7	Paying for performance	Performance evaluation
8	Paying for performance	Rewarding performance: the bright and dark sides of incentives
9	Paying for performance	Career-based incentives
10	Projects	Students’ presentations of case studies (group activity)
11	Projects	Students’ presentations of case studies (group activity)
12	Projects	Students’ presentations of case studies (group activity)

The University's policy on Assessment for Coursework Programs is based on the following four principles:

Assessment must encourage and reinforce learning.
Assessment must enable robust and fair judgements about student performance.
Assessment practices must be fair and equitable to students and give them the opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned.
Assessment must maintain academic standards.

Assessment Summary

Assessment Task	Task Type	Length	Weighting	Learning Outcome
Class participation	Individual; Summative (with formative aspects)	N/A	10%	1-5
Group projects (case study analysis and presentation)	Collaborative; Summative (with formative aspects)	20 minutes	30%	1-5
Final Exam	Individual; Summative	2 hours	60%	1-5
Total			100%

Due to the current COVID-19 situation modified arrangements have been made to assessments to facilitate remote learning and teaching. Assessment details provided here reflect recent updates.

To support the changes to teaching, the following revisions to assessment have been made:-

Assignments (problem sets to be solved on MyUni as quizzes, posted at the end of week 4 and at the end of week 8; these are due 1 week after I post them): 10%

Case study analysis (written report): 30%

Final Exam (written report on a human resources paper to be assigned, to be completed by 15 June): 60%
More details on the exams will follow. Note that these will NOT be invigilated exams requiring personal attendance.

Assessment Detail

Class participation
Active class participation will be assessed by having students answer questions in class via the MyUni quiz application, in real time.

Group projects (case study analysis and presentation)
Group projects consist in engaging in joint research (with classmates) to choose an area of application of the theoretical notions studied in class, building a case study in that area, and preparing a Power Point presentation to present it in class and to discuss it with the instructor and the other groups.

Final Exam
The final exam will consist of True/False questions (with required explanation of why a certain proposition is true or false) as well as open questions to check students’ understanding of class material.

An overall mark of 50% is needed to gain a pass.

Submission

No information currently available.

Course Grading

Grades for your performance in this course will be awarded in accordance with the following scheme:

M10 (Coursework Mark Scheme)
Grade	Mark	Description
FNS		Fail No Submission
F	1-49	Fail
P	50-64	Pass
C	65-74	Credit
D	75-84	Distinction
HD	85-100	High Distinction
CN		Continuing
NFE		No Formal Examination
RP		Result Pending

Further details of the grades/results can be obtained from Examinations.

Grade Descriptors are available which provide a general guide to the standard of work that is expected at each grade level. More information at Assessment for Coursework Programs.

Final results for this course will be made available through Access Adelaide.

Student Feedback

The University places a high priority on approaches to learning and teaching that enhance the student experience. Feedback is sought from students in a variety of ways including on-going engagement with staff, the use of online discussion boards and the use of Student Experience of Learning and Teaching (SELT) surveys as well as GOS surveys and Program reviews.

SELTs are an important source of information to inform individual teaching practice, decisions about teaching duties, and course and program curriculum design. They enable the University to assess how effectively its learning environments and teaching practices facilitate student engagement and learning outcomes. Under the current SELT Policy (http://www.adelaide.edu.au/policies/101/) course SELTs are mandated and must be conducted at the conclusion of each term/semester/trimester for every course offering. Feedback on issues raised through course SELT surveys is made available to enrolled students through various resources (e.g. MyUni). In addition aggregated course SELT data is available.
Student Support
Policies & Guidelines
This section contains links to relevant assessment-related policies and guidelines - all university policies.
Fraud Awareness

Students are reminded that in order to maintain the academic integrity of all programs and courses, the university has a zero-tolerance approach to students offering money or significant value goods or services to any staff member who is involved in their teaching or assessment. Students offering lecturers or tutors or professional staff anything more than a small token of appreciation is totally unacceptable, in any circumstances. Staff members are obliged to report all such incidents to their supervisor/manager, who will refer them for action under the university's student’s disciplinary procedures.

The University of Adelaide is committed to regular reviews of the courses and programs it offers to students. The University of Adelaide therefore reserves the right to discontinue or vary programs and courses without notice. Please read the important information contained in the disclaimer.

Authorised by:	Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President (Academic)
Maintained by:	Course Outlines Administrator