Human Resource Management

Students are provided with a foundation for academic and professional success specific to Walden University and to the requirements for successful participation in the Doctor of Business Administration degree program. The topics covered in this course include change management, crisis management, innovation, and disruptive technology. Students engage in discussion and analyze scholarly literature related to these topics, their personal and professional experiences, and areas of academic interest from a practitioner approach and from a social-change-agent viewpoint. The focus of the course assignments is on the practical application of writing and critical-thinking skills and the promotion of professional business practice and academic excellence. Through their assignments, students emphasize their personal and professional development, including the completion of a personal SWOT analysis and professional development plan.

Students in this DBA strategy course concentrate on the creation and implementation of business strategies that maximize competitive advantage in the marketplace. Students develop an understanding of why and how individuals and business organizations work together creating sustainable businesses in the global marketplace. They apply models for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of business organizations and identify opportunities and threats resulting from forces shaping the marketplace. Students focus on practical business applications of writing, critical thinking, and classroom engagement in a combination of essay discussions, research assignments, and writing papers to analyze, develop, and defend ideas for strategic and innovative business solutions for sustainability.

The role of the human resources (HR) department as a strategic partner entails new and different functions that enable organizations to function as high-performing and cost-cognizant entities. To recognize the best way for organizations to grow in capability and capacity, students in this course detail the potential for involvement of HR in evaluating buy-build alternatives and B2B partnerships. They explore a range of alternatives, including service agreements, contract negotiations, and management of fully outsourced services. Graduates of this course will be able to analyze the impact of such decisions on the quality of the deliverables and the risk impact on both the HR department and the organization.

In order to succeed in competitive environments, organizations must begin succession planning at the beginning of every initial interface—when an employee is added to the talent pool, when a leader is added to the knowledge capital, when the organization reviews its successes and its challenges, and when corporations plan "to plan." The only sure way to do this well is to know where the gaps are in present-day resources and cast them repeatedly against future and emerging needs and trends facing the organization, then craft the strategies that will map the path for getting there. In this course, students are drawn into defining organizational capability using career mapping, opportunistic development, and technology to fulfill future strategic human and knowledge capital essential in optimizing organizational success.

Graduates of this new human resources (HR) strategic partner course will be able to integrate several key HR concepts with organization-wide strategic planning to develop an evidence-based annual HR department/division operating plan critical to the for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. New HR professionals must be able to direct individual and organizational performance to deliver on value proposition, build sustainability, and impact positive social change.