MSc Human Resource Studies - LM560

1.	Objectives 

	This is an action-based and resolutely modern programme aimed at providing participants with the key skills essential for professionalism in the management and development of human resources, both in the specialist subject areas of people management and HRD but also in the wider business and strategic context within which HR strategies and systems must operate. At the end of the programme, participants will have demonstrated the ability to:

(a)	articulate skillfully the main features of modern policy and practice in the field of people management in organisations of both the public and private sector;

(b)	demonstrate the strategic integration of HRM issues with key business decisions and communicate an understanding of how the effective and strategic management of employees is key to organisational effectiveness and performance; and

(c)	act as change agents in their organisations, leading, driving and facilitating Change through a Human Resource approach.

2.	General Entry Requirements

	Successful completion of an undergraduate degree with

•	at least a Second Class or 50%, whichever is applicable or
•	a GPA not less than 2.5 out of 4 or equivalent, from a recognised higher education institution. 

OR  alternative qualifications acceptable to the University of Mauritius. 

3.	Programme Requirements

Either

At least a Second Class degree in Management from a recognised University, GPA not less than 2.50, or an alternative qualification acceptable to the University of Mauritius. 

Or

Other acceptable qualifications with at least three years’ experience at managerial level (Applicants will have to provide written evidence of experience at Managerial Level).

4.	Special Cases

The following may be deemed to have satisfied the general and programme requirements for admission:

(i)	Applicants who do not satisfy any of the requirements as per Regulations 2 and 3 above but who submit satisfactory evidence of having passed examinations, which are deemed by the Senate to be equivalent to any of those listed.

(ii)	Applicants who do not satisfy any of the requirements as per Regulations 2 and 3 above but who in the opinion of Senate submit satisfactory evidence of the capacity and attainments requisite to enable them to pursue the programme proposed.

(iii)	Applicants who hold a full practising professional qualification obtained by examination.
 
5.	Programme Duration

	The duration of the Graduate Programme should normally not exceed 4 years (8 semesters).

						Normal		Maximum
	Master’s (P/T):				2 years		 4 years
	Postgraduate Diploma (P/T):		2 years		 4 years

6.	Credit System
	
15 Hours of Lectures and/or Tutorials = 1 Credit
Every 90-hour module = 6 Credits
	Dissertation = 6 Credits

7.	Minimum Credits Required

For the award of the MSc degree, the student must obtain at least 36 credits.  This should include all the core and elective modules and 6 credits from the Dissertation.

	Master’s Degree:		36 credits
	Postgraduate Diploma:		30 credits (without dissertation)

8.	Assessment

Each module will carry 100 marks and will be assessed as follows (unless otherwise specified):

Each module of 90 hours’ duration carries equal weighting [i.e. of 6 credits]. Dissertation will carry a weight of 6 credits and students may be given an oral examination thereon. The dissertation topic must reflect the programme of study being attempted.

Assessment will be based on a written examination of 3-hour duration and on continuous assessment carrying a range of 30% to 40% of total marks. 

For a student to pass a module an overall total of 40% for combined continuous assessment and written examination components would be required without minimum threshold within the individual continuous assessment and written examination.

9.	Learning Support Workshops

Learning Support Workshops are intended to enhance the learning experience of students generally, and to specifically impart certain key skills and knowledge. No credit is awarded for such workshops, but they must be completed successfully for the award of the degree.

The workshop MGT 6108Y (Research Methods) is compulsory.

At least one other workshop must also be taken in Year 2.

10.	Diversity in Learning Experiences

The learning approach of this programme is in line with the international trend in postgraduate Management education of empowering learners to take charge of their own learning, establish learning ‘contracts’ with lecturers, and of employing an Action Learning, experiential approach to the delivery of modules. As far as possible, guest speakers, local and overseas practitioner and academic inputs will be organised. Where resources permit, the University may offer other learning experiences such as outdoor management development, and local or overseas field trips.

11.	Residential Seminar

During Year 2 of the programme, a Residential Seminar will be organised by the Faculty.  Students should compulsorily attend and actively participate in the Residential Seminar whenever organised and:

i.	Students will be required to submit a report of not less than 1200 words to their Programme Coordinator after attendance and participation;
ii.	Seminar attendance and the report shall be assessed by the Programme Coordinator 
iii.	Attendance at all sessions of the Seminar is compulsory and failure to do so would entail non-award of the MSc degree and
iv.	Grade ‘S’ assigned upon satisfactory performance as well as attendance at all sessions of the Seminar, in order to be eligible for award of the degree

12.	Submission Deadline for Dissertation 

First Draft: End of July in the Final Year.
Final Copy: Last working day of August in the Final Year.

13. 	Specific Regulations

If CPA < 40%, the student will have to repeat the entire academic year, and retake modules as and when next offered. However, s/he will not be required, if s/he wishes, to retake modules for which Grade C or above has been obtained.
		
14.	Termination of Registration

The registration of a student will be terminated if her/his CPA remains below 40% at the end of an academic year and s/he has already repeated one year of study, unless decided otherwise by Senate.

15.	List of Modules

CORE MODULES
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
L+P	Credits	
MGT 6105Y	Organisations: Structure, People, Processes	3+0	6	
MGT 6106Y	Strategic Human Resource Management	3+0	6	
MGT 6107Y	Human Resource Development (HRD) and Organisation Development 	3+0	6	
MGT 6206Y	Knowledge Management and e-HR	3+0	6	
MGT 6207Y	Employment Relations and Employment Laws	3+0	6	
MGT 6000Y	Dissertation 	-	6	
 MGT 6001               Residential Seminar                                                                  -                  -  
 
ELECTIVE MODULE 
	
ECON 5214	Competitive Strategy and the Wealth of Nations 	3	3	

Learning Support Workshops 
	
MGT 6108Y	Research Methods (compulsory)			
MGT 6212Y	Managing Rewards and Performance			
MGT 6214Y	Understanding Quality 			
MGT 6215Y	Public Sector HRM			
MGT 6216Y	International and Cross-Cultural Management			

16.	Programme Plan

YEAR 1
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
L+P	Credits	
CORE
				
MGT 6105Y	Organisations: Structure, People, Processes	3+0	6	
MGT 6106Y	Strategic Human Resource Management	3+0	6	
MGT 6107Y	Human Resource Development (HRD) and Organisation Development (OD)	3+0	6	

LEARNING SUPPORT WORKSHOP (30 hrs) 
			
MGT 6108Y	Research Methods (COMPULSORY)	-	-	
				
YEAR 2
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
L+P	Credits	
CORE
				
MGT 6206Y	Knowledge Management and e-HR	3+0	6	
MGT 6207Y	Employment Relations and Employment Laws	3+0	6	
MGT 6000Y	Dissertation 	-	6	
MGT 6100	Residential Seminar	-	-	
ELECTIVE				
ECON 5214	Competitive Strategy and the Wealth of Nations 	3	3	

Plus CHOOSE at least one of the following workshops (15 hours each)
			
MGT 6212Y	Managing Rewards and Performance 			
MGT 6214Y	Understanding Quality			
MGT 6215Y	Public Sector HRM			
MGT 6216Y	International and Cross-Cultural Management			

In Year 1:

The Learning Support Workshop MGT 6108Y is non-examinable and no credits are awarded. It is intended to enable students to develop appropriate skills for the preparation of the dissertation, and to enhance their research skills generally.
	
In Year 2:

Students must choose at least one other Workshop, following their academic and/or professional interests. The list of Workshops in Year 2 is non-exhaustive. The Department of Management will run Learning Support Workshops on demand, provided that the critical mass in student number is reached, and that resources are available at the time.

17.	Outline Syllabus

mgt 6000Y - DISSERTATION
drawing upon relevant concepts and skills introduced during the programme, the work involved is an independent in-depth research project of approximately 10,000 -14, 000 words on an HR-related topic. 

ECON 5214 – COMPETITIVE STRATEGY AND THE WEALTH OF NATIONS
Competition and Strategy: Core Concepts, Strategic Motives, Declining Industries and the Role of Strategy.  Locations and Competitiveness: Comparative Advantage of Nations, Clusters and New Agendas for Institutions and Governments, Global Organisations and Global Strategies.  Public Issues and Reforms: Urban and Environmental Concerns, Effective Health Care Systems and Public Private Partnerships.  Case Studies.

MGT 6100 - RESIDENTIAL SEMINAR
Students will be required to submit a report of not less than 1200 words to their programme coordinator after attendance and participation. Seminar attendance and the report shall be assessed by the Programme Coordinator. Grade ‘S’ will be assigned upon satisfactory performance to be eligible for the award of the degree. 

MGT 6105Y - Organisations: Structure, People, Processes
The Business Environment; Introduction to Organisation and Management; Evolution of Management; Management Concepts, Roles and Functions; Organisation Structure and Design; Fundamental of: Marketing, Production and Operations Management, and Financial Management. Understanding Financial Statements; Corporate Governance. 
Organisational Behaviour (History and Perspectives), The Psychological Contract, Personality, Intelligence, Attitude, Perception and Communication, Learning, Motivation, Teams, Empowerment and Self-Management, Leadership and Management Style, Power, Politics and Conflict, Ethics and Governance, Culture, Diversity.

MGT 6106Y - STRATEGIC HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
HRM in the Context of Organisations and their Environments, Personnel Management and Human Resource Management, Concepts and models of Strategy, the Strategic Management process, Definitions of SHRM, Theoretical models, Competitive advantage through people, the Resource-based view of the firm, Measuring HRM.
Making optimum use of the human resource: Human Resource Planning; Recruitment and Selection; Strategic training and development, motivating and rewarding employees; managing performance; employee participation, the HR scorecard; International HRM.

MGT 6107Y - Human Resource Development and Organisation Development
HRM/HRD nexus, HRD model and HRD lattice; SHRD; Learning Organisation; Learning to learn; Managing Training and Development; Workplace Learning; Performance Management; Managing Careers; Competence based development; Management Development, Leadership development and Succession planning; HRD and Change; Actors in HRD; Mauritian HRD framework and Comparative National HRD frameworks. Case study and seminars. Organisational Change and Transformation; History and Models of OD; Diagnosing problems, implementing interventions: developing teams, managing Conflict, managing Change, managing Culture, Individual-level interventions, System-wide interventions. 

MGT 6108Y - RESEARCH METHODS 
Introduction to the Research Process; Scientific Thinking; Design of a research study, measurement and sampling issues; Quantitative and qualitative data sources; Writing the research proposal. Collection of data; Analysing and presenting qualitative and quantitative data.
Introduction to SPSS; Questionnaire Design Issues; Importing Data from Spreadsheets, Coding and Labelling Data; Descriptive Statistics; Transform Data; Evaluation of Normality of Distribution; Estimating Reliability of Responses; Statistical Tests; Basic Regression Techniques. 

MGT 6206Y - Knowledge management and e-HR
Knowledge management and intellectual capital, Business strategy and KM strategy, KM infrastructure, People – HRM and KM link, building absorptive capacity, Processes – GODD and knowledge transfer, Enabling technology, Sharing culture, Knowledge intensive firms and HR, Implementing web based KM, Case study and seminars.
e-HR and the eWorkplace, HRM policy goals, Evolution of HRM and IT, IT enabled HR, New HR paradigm – IT effects on HR, Virtual Organisation and remote management, HR shared services - HR Call Centre Management and ESS/MSS, Web-based HR (Recruitment and Selection, HRD, Employee Relations, International setting, etc.), HR outsourcing, Criticisms of Computer mediated workplace, Case study and Seminars.
 
MGT 6207Y - EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS AND Employment Laws
Handling People Individually - Grievances, Discipline, Redundancy, Handling People Collectively - Union Recognition, Role and Effect of Trade Unions, Negotiating, the Future of Unions, International Employment Relations.
The Nature of the Contract of Employment. Sources of Labour Law and Bodies Competent to Deal with Labour Disputes. Terms and Conditions of Employment. Obligations of Employer & Worker. Worker's Compensation; Health & Safety Legislation. Prerogatives of Management; Termination of the Employment Relationship. Overview of Labour Relations Law.

MGT 6212Y - MANAGING REWARDS AND PERFORMANCE 
Performance Appraisal: Reward Strategies; Pay Structures; Paying for Individual performance; Competency Frameworks; Skill and Competence; Team and Organisational Performance; Benefits, Pensions and Allowances.

MGT 6214Y - UNDERSTANDING QUALITY
An Introduction to Different Quality Approaches; Concepts, Principles and Techniques of TQM; quality systems; Business Excellence Model; Problem Solving technique. 

MGT 6215Y - PUBLIC SECTOR HRM
Contemporary Issues in HRM Pertaining to the Public Sector, New Public Management, Trends and Perspectives in Public Sector Reform, Issues in Public Policy.

MGT 6216Y - INTERNATIONAL AND CROSS-CULTURAL MANAGEMENT
International HRM; Comparing Cultures; International Staffing Policies: Planning, Training, Motivation, Leadership, Teamwork, Career Development; Multinational Operations, Joint Ventures and Negotiations; Managing Cultural Diversity, Organisational Culture and National Culture.

March 2010