This is a  first-year gateway course and is not available for second-year bidding.  Second-years must wait until the add/drop process beginsin January to add this course. 

COURSE NUMBER: MBA 251.1

COURSE TITLE: Human Resource Management

UNITS OF CREDIT: 3

INSTRUCTOR: Jonathan Leonard

E-MAIL ADDRESS: leonard@haas.berkeley.edu

MEETING DAYS/TIME: Tuesday and Thursday, 11:00AM – 12:30 PM

PREREQUISITES: 205

CLASS FORMAT: Case Discussion, Outside Speakers from Business, Law, and Consulting, Lectures,

REQUIRED READINGS: Course Reader, Cases, Text

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

Class Participation, Examination.

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

BA251 is a class about successful management.  Business leaders today understand that their success or failure depends critically on successfully managing   people.  Students in BA251 master the art of thinking systematically and strategically about achieving competitive advantage through the effective management of human resources.  BA 251 will analyze strategic human resource management decisions ranging from the make or buy decision, the design of organizations and contracts, selection, assimilation, and motivation, to the design and administration of incentive systems. We will also consider organizational barriers to change, as well as the limits to classical management techniques.   Challenges faced from changes in the regulatory, demographic, technical, market, and international environments provide the background against which successful managers must position their companies.  We will use readings, cases, and outside speakers to develop practical insights into managing for competitive advantage.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH:

Professor Jonathan Leonard is a labor economist and an expert on human resource management.  He has served as an advisor on labor issues to the Executive Office of the President, the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Departments of Labor and Education, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, the OECD, Employment and Immigration Canada, the Kansai Economic Association, the Swiss National Fund, Brasil's Department of Justice, the European Union's Employment Network, and to major U.S. unions and employers. He is a member of the OBIR faculty, and Chair of the Economic Analysis and Policy group at Haas, and has taught numerous times in the Haas Core. He served as Associate Dean at Haas during 2002.  Professor Leonard was honored to be selected by Haas students as the winner of the Cheit Teaching Award in 1998 for his teaching in the MBA program. In 2001, he was again selected as the winner of the Cheit Teaching award, this time for his for his teaching in the Evening MBA program.