Business Studies and Human Resource Management

Course description

Do you see yourself working in a business environment? This degree will provide you with a strong knowledge base, skills and competencies to form a foundation from which managerial expertise can develop throughout your working life. The University of Stirling Management School has been awarded a Bronze Charter by the Small Business Charter in recognition of its active participation in supporting local economies through its work with start- ups and small businesses. Stirling Management School is committed to a research-led approach in all of its activities with all of our outputs being rated at an international level, and an impressive proportion deemed to be world leading. The Business Studies degree is highly rated. Our teaching staff are active in various areas of current management research. Research, therefore, informs their teaching, making it relevant to current debates within business. Human Resource Management (HRM) deals with the management of an organisation’s workforce. Organisational success depends upon developing appropriate methods of: recruitment and selection; motivation; reward; training and development; grievance and discipline; performance management and career progression. Did you know? • Human Resource Management lecturing staff are regularly nominated by students for the Students’ Union’s RATE awards for excellence in teaching. Staff come from various academic and employment backgrounds, bringing a rich variety of perspectives to their teaching. • Staff research interests include: employee ownership, employers use of social networking sites in the workplace and employability and skills. They research in cutting edge industries such as banking and software.
Their research is published in leading journals and contributes to prestigious edited books and textbooks. HRM also attempts to increase the organisation’s ability to adapt within its environment through broadening the skills of the workforce. As such, HR specialists also need to have a good understanding of the labour market and their organisation’s wider social, economic and political environments. The course has a focus that goes beyond traditional businesses to include the public and non-profit sectors, community and employee-owned organisations. The degree provides students with the essential critical thinking and analytical skills needed to manage and thrive in today’s organisations. Students are encouraged to examine organisational policies as well as claims made about employment and the labour market more widely. As such HR ‘best practice’ is questioned throughout the degree. There are a number of HRM modules that cover specialised elements of the management of people and the employment relationship. These modules consider both the employee and management viewpoint and also consider the wider social, political and economic environment of work and employment.

Subjects

• Business studies
• Human resource management