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.

This course provides student with a basic knowledge of the main HR processes (recruitment, development, compensation, talent management), which affect people management in an organization operating in the tourism industry. Specifically, we illustrate how HR strategy and operational activity are connected to overall organizational business goals, and how employees contribute to overall goals through their abilities, motivation and opportunities.

By the end of the course the students will be able to:

• evaluate the alignment between business and HR strategy
• analyze the major HR practices within an organization
• understand the relationship between line management and HR professional roles in people management and talent development
• identify the explicit or implicit people strategy adopted by an organization

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.