Human Resources Management (Tourism)

Human capital and social capital are the most important assets of an organization operating in the tourism industry. Human capital refers to the knowledge and abilities of individual workers, while social capital refers to the know-how embedded in the culture and processes used collectively within the organization. From a strategic point of view, human and social capital are key distinctive resources that are difficult to imitate and can therefore confer a lasting competitive advantage to the organization.

While the human resources (HR) function of an organization is often marginalized as a mere administrative function, it can play a key strategic role as a consultant and major policy maker to help build and preserve human and social capital. Even when the size of the organization might not allow to establish a specialized function, human capital decisions remain relevant.

The topics for the different sessions will be the following:

1. Comprehending organizations: strategy, organization structure, processes, and roles
2. How to analyze organizations?
3. Organizational roles in the Tourism Industry: examples from different organizations
4. Sourcing employees
5. Developing employees
6. Rewarding employees
7. Performance evaluation

Human resources management is a key functional area which supports the inflow and contribution of people (to be considered as human resources, i.e. a target for investment). Within a Master in International Tourism it is important to understand the contribution of this area to strategy and performance, and to possess a general knowledge of the most important Human resources practices (i.e. recruitment, learning and development, performance management, compensation and benefits, etc.) within the specific domain. Since Tourism is a very heterogeneous meta-industry, this will require using examples from different specific areas (i.e. hospitality, cruise lines, airlines, tour operators, DMO, etc.).

• Gender equality
• Decent work and economic growth
• Reduced inequalities

In presence

This course is experiential, and seeks to engage you actively in the learning process through structured and unstructured exercises, case analyses, and teamwork.

Class participation is key to the successful learning exchange, so I welcome your contribution. You can also prepare short 5 minutes presentations to show and discuss that will improve your participation score.

Because much of the learning and work towards the achievement of course objectives will occur in the classroom, you are expected to 1) attend class regularly, 2) be fully prepared for class and 3) contribute to the team and class discussions. 

Grading shall be based on: 

• 30% students’ attendance and performance in class (i.e. in-class activities, participation, active questioning, active answering, etc.)
• 70% final written exam.