Human Resource Management

The human factor plays a crucial factor in each of the three basic elements of this multi-disciplinary study. An organization is empty without the human factor, governance basically defines rules and regulations of human working relationships, and every manager knows the real challenge of management is in managing people and not in managing figures. Some of the students might be working at a period in their future career in a Human Resources job. The course starts with basic skills these students will need in every possible job they will later fulfill, negotiation skills and conflict management skills. Whether they will work as a consultant, a policy advisor, or as a manager, when working with people they will need these skills to reach their goals. Apart from these skills, students will learn about the different roles of Human Resources professionals within organizations, about the latest developments in the field of Human Resources Management and the use and misuse of basic Human Resources instruments like job descriptions, job evaluations, compensation plans, etc. All of these will be discussed from the theoretical point of view but will also be placed in the specific small island context of Aruba.

In the first part of this module, we will focus on negotiation and conflict management theory and skills. We start with theory on negotiation skills. We base the module on two approaches: the almost world standard Harvard Negotiation Model and Mastenbroek’s theory on negotiation relations and skills within organizations. In the second part of the module, we will focus on the theory of Human Resources Management. The theory of D. Ulrich will be used to understand the distinct roles of Human Resources Professionals within organizations and the way these roles can conflict with each other. This model will be used to gain insight into the role Human Resources Professionals play in organizations in Aruba and what is expected from them by different stakeholders in these organizations.