BX3053 - Personnel Economics

Human resources are often the key to organisational success and managers must make frequent HR decisions such as: which types of workers to hire; how to motivate staff through payment systems and benefits; how to evaluate and monitor staff; and what to do with staff during an economic downturn. This subject uses economics to consider those and other questions relevant to an organisation's personnel. Whilst the primary objective of the course is to provide students with a set of analytical tools with which to judge the likely effects, and side effects, of different HR practices, it also provides students with insights into a broad range of issues facing employers and employees alike. It will therefore appeal to many different people - those interested in HR, those interested in Economics and/or those who are simply curious about the way in which economic factors influence employee/employer relations (be it from the employees' or the employers' perspective).

Learning Outcomes

• demonstrate an increased understanding of a range of different economic models that explain employee and employer behaviours;
• use those models to analyse HR decisions;
• make predictions about the possible impact of those decisions on employees and employers.

Graduate Qualities

• The ability to adapt knowledge to new situations;
• The ability to define and to solve problems in at least one discipline area;
• The ability to think critically, to analyse and evaluate claims, evidence and arguments, and to reason and deploy evidence clearly and logically;
• The ability to deploy critically evaluated information to practical ends;
• The ability to evaluate that information;
• The ability to select and organise information and to communicate it accurately, cogently, coherently, creatively and ethically;
• The acquisition of coherent and disciplined sets of skills, knowledge, values and professional ethics from at least one discipline area;
• The ability to generate, calculate, interpret and communicate numerical information in ways appropriate to a given discipline or discourse;
• The ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;
• The ability to work individually and independently;
• The ability to select and use appropriate tools and technologies.

Note: Minor variations might occur due to the continuous Subject quality improvement process, and in case of minor variation(s) in assessment details, the Subject Outline represents the latest official information.