45301 - Organisational Strategies

Academic Year 2024/2025

  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Politics Administration and Organization (cod. 9085)

Learning outcomes

This course focuses on the strategic role of human resources for organizations and the interaction between organizational strategies and human resource strategies. Human resource management will be studied not only in terms of organizational efficiency and competitiveness but also for its contribution to a more sustainable organization (and, more broadly, a more sustainable labor market). The course will cover the main theories in the field of strategic human resources and will use case studies to understand their practical application. By the end of the course, the student will have developed an in-depth knowledge and a critical understanding of the factors that influence human resource management strategies; they will be able to critically evaluate concepts, theories, and practices in strategic human resource management; and they will be capable of solving human resource problems by applying relevant theories to the analysis and resolution of practical dilemmas within organizations.

Course contents

The course will cover the following topics:


- Strategic Human Resource Management (SHRM) and alignment with organizational strategy
- Fundamentals of SHRM: Employee engagement, compensation, human capital management, HR in mergers and acquisitions
- Implications of different human resource management strategies for the organization, the worker, and society
- New challenges and trends in human resource management (e.g., AI and new technologies; The Great Resignation)

Readings/Bibliography

Gold, Michael, and Chris Smith. Where’s the ‘Human’ in Human Resource Management?: Managing Work in the 21st Century. Policy Press, 2022

The course does not exclusively follow the textbook. Please check Virtuale.

Teaching methods

Interactive lectures; flipped classroom; class debates and group discussions; case studies.

Assessment methods

Groupwork and written exam

Teaching tools

PP slides; newspaper articles; short clips; case studies; simulations

Office hours

See the website of Chiara Benassi