Section 1: Common Programme related details
All undergraduate students enrolled in the BSc Honours in Human Resource Management Degree Programme, are required to follow a common curriculum in management in the first year of study. This is intended to provide the core business knowledge by teaching basic concepts in all functional areas in business.The structure of the common programme is as follows:
Structure of the Common Programme
The structure for years II to IV of B.Sc. Human Resource Management (Special) Degree Programme is as follows:
Structure of the B.Sc. HRM (Special) Degree programme
First Year
HRM 1370: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
An obvious interdependence exists between our society and organizations that produce goods and services in order to fulfil our needs. e standards of living and even survival of people in society depend on the goods and services of the organization. us, any society/nation wants organiza tions that need people to achieve organiza tional objectives. Human Resource Man agement (HRM) is managing these people in organizations. e main objective of this course is to provide a systematic and ratio nal understanding of HRM, both concep tual understanding and job-oriented practi cal understanding. It focuses on a systemat ic and scientific approach to the analysis and handling of issues/problems in HRM with special reference to the Sri Lankan context. e main areas covered are: intro duction to HRM, organization of the HR department, job design, job analysis, human resource planning, recruitment, selection, hiring and induction, perfor mance evaluation, pay management, train ing and development, employee move ments, management of discipline, safety, health and welfare administration, griev ances handling and management of labour relations.
Second Year
HRM 2370: HUMAN RESOURCING
Employment planning and staffing are two major fields of HRM which deal with employee resourcing which is critical as the success and progress of success of organizations heavily depend on the quality of people they plan, recruit, select, hire, and induct. is specialised course has been designed to provide a specialised learning with regard to Employee Resourcing. At the end of successful completion of this course, students will be able to acquire a sound theoretical comprehension of concepts, principles, processes, and theories with regard to employee resourcing, develop an application-oriented understanding in order to apply concepts, principles, processes and theories of employee resourcing into practice, develop potential towards formulating appropriate policies, procedures and systems with regard to employee resourcing, build potential towards attract ing and selecting the most appropriate applicants for the right jobs when entering the world of work and, believe and appreciate that sound specialised understanding of employee resourcing is critical for achieving organizational success and progress of success. The course content includes Introduction to Employee Resourcing, Job Design, Job Analysis, Human Resource Planning, Recruitment, Selection, Hiring, Induction and, Critical Incidents, Cases, Skill Builders, Role Plays and Student Journal of Application Learning.
HRM 2371: PERFORMANCE EVALUATION AND MANAGEMENT
The main objective of this specialized course is to provide a systematic and rational understanding of performance evaluation of human resources at work, both conceptual understanding and job-oriented practical understanding. It focuses on systematic approach to the analysis and handling of problems in performance evaluation with special reference to the Sri Lankan context. Having completed this course, participants will have a firm foundation upon which to further study performance evaluation, and evaluate job performance of human resources in an organization in an efficient and effective way. Course contents are HRM and PE context; definition, nature and significance of PE; purposes of PE; process of PE; PE policies; PE criteria and standards; PE methods; PE forms and procedures; training of evaluators; PE discussion/feedback; review and renewal; some issues of PE such as maintaining documentation, minimizing evaluator errors, group evaluation, top management support, strategic issues; expatriate PE; development of dynamic PE system; performance management and Sri Lankan practices.
HRM 2372: PERSONAL QUALITY DEVELOPMENT
Our current society is a society in which frauds, corruptions, evil conflicts, assassinations, assaults, retaliations and even wars are present and unfortunately, the situation has been increasing. It is more likely that future society will be distressing and full of problems including serious damages to human well-being and development. In order to avoid or at least minimize this plight every society does need, inter alia, managerial professionals who are appropriate. There is a highly felt need in every society to develop a professional who will become a good citizen of the country as well as a person of good personal character. The objectives of this course are to: demonstrate a theoretical understanding of three major components of personal quality (PQ), i.e. personal character (PC), personal management (PM), and personal key success factors (PKSFs); build a strong ability about how to create and enhance excellence in morality, and managing self; and to believe firmly, feel positively and intend to deal with various aspects of personal quality positively. The content includes introduction to PQ, the concept of three Ps, the concept of three Vs, PC versus personality, virtues, vices, seven aspects of PM, balancing life, managing time, managing career at individual level, managing eustress and distress, PKSFs, and analysis of different PQ aspects through selected moves.
HRM 2270: SELF AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
This course is a non-traditional course, which aims at developing self so as to produce successful professionals. An active role is played by the student who will have to formulate several plans about his/her personal and professional life. Aspects of self and professional development of an undergraduate which will be covered during the course include several skills: understanding about life, death and life after death, comprehensive self-evaluation, developing a personal life plan, developing a professional life plan, self-mastering, getting ready for the first job, preparing for professional advancement, and facing worries of life, seven habits for success, personal branding and self-marketing.
Third Year
HRM 3370: HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
This core course aims to provide students with a conceptual and practical understanding of the development of human resources at work. Further, it focuses on the systematic and scientific approach to the analysis and handling of issues/problems in HRD with special reference to the Sri Lankan context. The course intends to cover the topics related to the design, development, implementation and evaluation of various HRD interventions including training, development, career management, and talent management etc. The course also highlights the nature of HRD in the global context and the skills students need to develop to work in the HRD profession.
HRM 3371: EMPLOYEE SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT
The success and progress of any organization largely depends on the quality of the human resources it has and managing soundly the safety and health of employees which ensure the constant availability of high-quality human resources. This is a specialised course that provides theoretical knowledge and practical aspects of employee safety, health and well-being in an organizational context and the main objective of the course are to provide a deep conceptual understanding as well as a practical understanding with regard to employee health and safety management. This course covers important aspects such as occupational health and safety practices in organizations, Factories Ordinance, Laws relating to Health and Safety, Industrial hazards and risks, occupational accidents, occupational diseases, occupational stress, temperature, food safety, alcoholism, poisoning, an effective safety and health programme, first aid, safe disposal of waste, safety audit, statistical analysis, assessment of the effectiveness of health and safety management and safety awards in Sri Lanka.
HRM 3372: WORK PSYCHOLOGY AND COUNSELLING
Industrial/Work Psychology (WS) is one of the major applied specialties in psychology worldwide. As WS is concerned with the workplace, its findings and principles are relevant to every employee in an organiza tion. This is a specialised course that provides a sense of the science of mental life in work organizations. The contents of this course include the origin of the concept of work and work organizations, the nature of human nature, origins of work psychology, the psychological contract of work, personality factors at work, perceiving people in work organizations, attitudes and job satisfaction, learning in work organizations, techniques of job designing and redesigning, managing selection and assessment, the unconscious at work, ergonomics and equipment designing, managing discipline, managing minority groups and equal job opportunities, work and mental health, and managing occupational stress. The counselling part of this course emphasizes the importance of having a basic knowledge of counselling skills for an HR manager. Counselling skills are essential for the success of an HR manager as they are to be the employee champions at the workplace. Hence this course content includes the history of counselling, differences between conversation and counselling, common principles of counselling, counselling theories, the eight-stage model, skills development model in counselling, career counselling, and common issues and problems in counselling.
HRM 3270: SUSTAINABLE HRM
Goals of the organization will have to be expanded to address current challenges which are being faced by HR Managers in contemporary organizations which are increasingly expected to serve not only owners and other direct stakeholders (customers, employees, and suppliers) but also society and environment. In the modern world, every organization and every manager must be concerned with making significant and positive contributions to the environmental, social, and economic performance of the organization. Sustainability is the most important issue that professionals have to deal with now and will have to deal with in the future too. The objective of this course is to provide both conceptual understanding and application-oriented understanding of Sustainable HRM based on a model. It delivers a systematic approach to the analysis and handling of major issues in Sustainable HRM. The content includes sustainability and HRM, green HRM, organizational ethics and HRM, QWL through HRM, happiness and HRM, employee retention, absenteeism and presenteeism, and customer satisfaction and HRM.
HRM 3373: HRM : BUDDHIST APPROACHES (ELECTIVE)
This is a newly introduced subject for the management field, specially Human Resource Management field aiming to discuss how the Buddhist philosophy, idealism, concepts and practices lead to manage human resources effectively and efficiently. The main objective of this course is to upgrade the student conceptual and practical ability of Buddhist philosophy, idealism, concepts and practices and use that knowledge in the Human Resource Management field.
HRM 3374: PUBLIC SECTOR HRM (ELECTIVE)
This course is a basic introduction to public sector HRM for undergraduate students those who wish to start their career attached to the government sector. is course is designed to help students understand the ways in which public sector organizations utilize HRM and consequent impact on their productivity with special reference to Sri Lanka. In addition to that, students will also learn basic concepts including major theories of public sector management, the policy process, and the relationships among politics, regulatory bodies and employee management at public sector organizations. This course is designed as a hybrid course that will involve lectures, student presentations, group discussion, reflective exercises and case studies based on real working life of government officers.
HRM 3375: REWARDS MANAGEMENT
The objective of this course is to provide a systematic and rational approach to the analysis, synthesis and handling of issues in rewards management in organizations according to the theories of rewards management with special reference to Sri Lanka. It focuses on main aspects such as wages and salaries management, incentives management, welfare/benefits management and total rewards strategies. Its central question is how policies, procedures, rules, systems and guidelines of rewards can be developed to ensure pay equity & fairness, legal compliance, employee attraction, employee retention, citizenship behaviour, employee involvement, and employee cost control and finally, to motivate employees intrinsically towards innovation and organizational goals attainment.
HRM 3376: HUMAN RESOURCE INFORMATION SYSTEMS
The effective management of human resources in a firm to gain competitive advantage in the marketplace required timely and accurate information on current employees and potential employees in the labour market. With the evolution of computer technology, meeting this information requirement has been greatly enhanced through the creation of HRIS. The course intends to provide information on analysing, implementation and maintenance of HRIS and how HRIS can be used in traditional HRM programmes such as selecting and training employees, to make these programmes effective and efficient and how HRIS can provide timely and accurate employee information to assist decision-makers at both the strategic and operational levels in an organization. Additionally, how big data analytics, mobility, Data science of HRIS, robotics and artificial intelligence are being used in HRIS will be covered. Further, on post-pandemic new normality, the role of HRIS further evolved. How to work on new normality, disconnected workstyle, and role of HRIS in new normality are discussed.
HRM 3170: INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Managing people at work needs to be done in compliance with all the relevant labour laws imposed by the government to better the employment relationship at work. This is a specialised course, which provides conceptual and practical aspects of employee relations with special reference to Sri Lankan business organizations, and human resource management policies and practices. The objective of this course is to impart to the student a right understanding of the industrial context of a manager with respect to personnel and HR management. Major topics covered in this course include historical evolution of employee relations, theories of employee relations, trade unions and employee relations, collective bargaining, negotiation and consultation, role of the human resource manager in employee relations employee turnover and absenteeism, participative management, sexual harassment in workplace, workplace surveillance, and industrial disputes.
HRM 3377: HIGH PERFORMANCE WORK SYSTEMS (ELECTIVE)
The objectives of this course are to develop insight into the HRM-firm performance debate, acquire knowledge of the theories and elements of high performance work systems (HPWS) and develop skills to critically reflect on the literature and research on HPWS. The much-debated relationship between HRM-firm performance has moved beyond universal best practices, and in recent years, academics tend to analyse the chain of links inside the ‘black box’ of HRM. However, this ‘black box’ issue is not decided and it is unclear how HRM contributes to firm performance. The main questions for both academics and practitioners are: which work systems perform in which contexts and why? How do managers envisage HRM? How do they interpret and enact? How does it affect the psychological and social climate inside the organization and for whom is it performed? is course focuses on the effects that high perfor mance work principles, policies and practices have on various HR outcomes and on organizational performance. We consider the important construct of fit (internal & external) and try to conceptualise this and make it operational for research as well as practice.
HRM 3378: INNOVATION AND CHANGE FOR HRM (ELECTIVE)
This course is designed with the aim of introducing the undergraduates to a different way of thinking about the HRM practices and procedures. The innovations and change in a generic sense will be introduced at first to the students and they will be encouraged to apply those themes and principles to the field of HRM. A further aim of this course is to equip students with the ability to question and critically evaluate the status quo, and learn to use various lateral thinking tools and techniques which will assist them in preparing for success in their chosen career.
HRM 3379: HUMAN RESOURCE ANALYTICS (ELECTIVE)
Human Resource (HR) Analytics is an emerging and increasingly critical sub-discipline of Human Resource Management (HRM) that enables the HR Manager to fulfill the promise of becoming a true strategic partner. It provides statistically valid information and evidences that can be used in the process of making right HR decisions in order to meet the strategic needs of the organization to a greater extent. This is a trending course that aims at providing the students with the capability of HR researching and making HR decisions based on statistical evidences. The content of this course includes the topics i.e. Introduction to HR Analytics, Evolution of HR Analytics, HR Analytics Process, HR Analytics and HRM Functions, HR Analytics Tools and Techniques, HR Metrics, Models for HR Analytics, Challenges for HR Analytics, Competencies Needed to Perform HR Analytics and, Case Studies, Critical Incidents, and Skill-Builders on HR Analytics.
Final Year
HRM 4370: INTERNATIONAL HRM
The globalisation of business is having a significant impact on HRM. It is more imperative than ever before for firms to be engaged in HRM on an international scale. is course is about the study of HRM from an international perspective. The main objective of the course is to provide a systematic and rational approach to the analysis and handling of issues/ problems in international HRM. This is a course for those who specialise in HRM, and hence leads towards the achievement of the purpose of educating participants to become specialists rather than generalists. The course aims to address the following; overview of IHRM; stages of internationalization and their impact on HRM; international HRM approaches; types of international assignments, as well as HRM practices with regards to expatriate management including staffing, performance management, training and development, reward management, international labour relations and repatriation management. Further issues of IHRM and some other dimensions of IHRM will be included.
HRM 4371: CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN HRM
This course deals with current issues in HRM rather than those that existed in the past. Issues are non-traditional compared with the traditional functional perspective. The main objective of this course is to enable the students to develop a systematic and rational approach to analyse contemporary issues of HRM. The main areas covered under this course are; Contemporary nature of world of work and their impact on HRM, changing nature of the psychological contract, Whistle Blowing at work, Surveillance at work, Diversity management, HR Analytics, Digital HR, Work-life Balance, Gender issues in HR, Bullying, harassment, and discrimination at work, HR outsourcing, knowledge creation and management. In addition, this course addresses timely topics related to the HR profession.
HRM 4270: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY FOR HRM
This course elucidates the nature and processes involved in research with special reference to management of people at work. The main objective of the course is to offer a systematic and rational approach to the preparation and conduct of research in the management of employees at B.Sc. level. Having completed this course, students will be able to develop a firm foundation upon which to further study research methods in HRM or a related area, and to conduct and complete a scientific or systematic study within a limited period of time. The main topics covered are introduction to research in HRM, research design, HRM research process, problem identification and formulation, literature review, development of a theoretical or conceptual framework, operationalisation, data collection methods, sampling design and data analysis. At the end of the course students are required to prepare a research proposal based on the knowledge gathered from the lecture series.
HRM 4670: INTERNSHIP IN HRM
Powerful learning takes place when the student is allowed to use theory within the context of the real world. Placing the student in a simulated organizational situation and submitting him/her in the place of the manager who is required to resolve the problem(s) in HRM is very important for effective learning. This course allows the student to go to an organization in the real world of work and acquire practical experience in various aspects of HRM. The students need to be supervised by the head of the HR department of the organization where the training is obtained. The students’ performance on this course will be assessed through evaluating training record book and oral test.
HRM 4372: ADVANCED HRM
The importance of HRM in relation to the overall effectiveness of an organization has increased considerably and over the last forty years or so, new techniques, activities, approaches to managing people have been developed as a result of the research and experiences in the field. The main objective of the course is to provide a systematic and rational approach to the analysis and handling of issues/problems in advanced HRM, and hence leads toward the achievement of the purpose of educating participants to become specialists rather than generalists. The course addresses two main areas of advanced HRM. First, management of HR strategically is examined. The main objective of this module is to provide a systematic and rational understanding of HRM from a strategic perspective. Secondly, the selected topics in HRM are discussed. The main objective of the module is to provide an in-depth knowledge as well as skills in some selected topics in HRM including advanced aspects of managing employee movements and business and personal negotiations.
HRM 4373: SRI LANKAN APPLICATIONS IN HRM AND INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
Placing the student in a simulated organizational situation and submitting him/her in the place of the manager or administrator who is required to resolve the problem(s) in HRM is very important for effective learning. Powerful learning takes place when the student is allowed to use theory within the context of the real world. Applications allow learners to utilise theory in practice. is course based on Sri Lankan applications in HRM and IR offers opportunities for students to gather learning experiences and improve analytical and operational problem solving skills. Rather than passive learning, active learning is promoted and the course is student-centered.
HRM 4671: INDEPENDENT RESEARCH STUDY
Students are required to write an independent research report, selecting a topic pertaining to Human Resource management. A separate research methodology course is conducted to enable students to understand the ways in which systematic research can be conducted to describe, explain and predict phenomena of interest pertaining to various aspects of managing human resource in an organizational context. The student may conduct a survey, an audit, an evaluative study, causal comparative study or any systematic study under this subject.