Course Title: Employment Relations

Part A: Course Overview

Course Title: Employment Relations

Credit Points: 12


Course Code

Campus

Career

School

Learning Mode

Teaching Period(s)

BUSM4094

City Campus

Undergraduate

650T TAFE Business

Face-to-Face

 Sem 1 2012,
Sem 2 2011,
Sem 2 2013,
Sem 2 2014

Course Coordinator: Theresa Lyford

Course Coordinator Phone: +61 3 9925 5444

Course Coordinator Email:theresa.lyford@rmit.edu.au

Course Coordinator Location: 108.14.21


Pre-requisite Courses and Assumed Knowledge and Capabilities

None


Course Description

In this course you will be provided with an introduction to the nature of employment relations through an examination of how governments, unions, employees, employers and employer groups have sought to shape the employment relationship, and the historical development of labour relations institutions. It will introduce you to the nature of national industrial relations systems and to the principles of human resource management used at the organisational level.

If you are undertaking this course in Melbourne from semester 2, 2012 onward your class will be held in a device-equipped teaching space. Each student group will have access to a laptop. It is however recommended that you have access to a mobile computing device to allow greater flexibility in terms of where you can work on campus both in and outside class times.


Objectives/Learning Outcomes/Capability Development

The course will contribute to development of your ability to:

  • contribute to decisions within diverse political, economic, environmental and social contexts;
  • communicate ideas, intentions and outcomes clearly to a variety of audiences.


At the conclusion of this course you will be able to demonstrate an understanding of :

  • Key theories and approaches used to explain employment relations , industrial relations and human resource management;
  • The main issues in the development of systems of employment relations at national and corporate level;
  • The main institutional arrangements which have shaped employment relations and the way those institutions have changed;
  • The way in which employee interests may be represented by trade unions, or by non-union arrangements; &
  • Explain the main objectives of strategic human resource management at the level of the employing organization;
  • Explain the choices available to managers in selected areas of human resource management.


Overview of Learning Activities

A variety of activities, both individual and group, will be used to help you reach the learning outcomes.

Specific activities include lecture sessions and may include participation in group activities. Teaching staff will facilitate discussions in either face-to-face contexts or other delivery modes.

A crucial aspect of the learning activities is your ability to use the set text and recommended readings as a basis for developing your command of the course material. You will also be expected to use the Library and other resources such as the Web to access relevant information.





 


Overview of Learning Resources

The resources for the course comprise written overviews of topic areas, text books, relevant journals – hard copy and electronic.

The course is supported online using Blackboard through the myRMIT. The Blackboard gives access to lecture notes, additional references, web links and other relevant resources. Blackboard can be found at http://www.rmit.edu.au/myrmit.


Overview of Assessment

The assessment in this course will require you to understand relevant literature in the subject area and demonstrate an ability to relate research findings to everyday issues.

Assessment tasks may include:

  • Individually assessed work such as essay or case studies
  • Group exercises or cases where appropriate
  • An examination