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Online MS Human Resource Management Curriculum

At Krannert, you will have numerous opportunities to enhance your leadership acumen. The Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management (MSHRM) curriculum features foundational courses in Strategy and Managing Behavior in Organizations, and core courses in Talent Acquisition and Talent Management, among others. You'll also have a rich menu of electives to choose from.

Online MSHRM Coursework

To earn a Master of Science degree in Human Resource Management (MSHRM), you must complete 30 hours of coursework in the following areas:

  • HR Strategy (2 credits)
    This is an introductory course on the topic of Strategic Human Resource Management. As such, our discussions will focus on HR from the C suite level. We will explore how human resource function can assist management in meeting its various goals and objectives. Finally, within this course there will be a strategic HR project included which will require you survey various theories and techniques used in human resource management within organizations that require HRM to function in a strategic manner. Emphasis is placed on HRM, Strategic HRM, Managing Human Resources Globally, and Strategically Managing Human Resource Functions.

  • Managing Behavior in Organizations (2 credits)
    Individual and group behavior are the central components of the study of behavior in organizations. Focus is on the managerial application of knowledge to issues such as motivation, group processes, leadership, organizational design structure, and others. The course employs cases, exercises, discussions, and lectures.
  • Talent Acquisition (2 credits)
    This course focuses on the effective management of the flow of talent into and through organizations. It covers workforce planning, recruiting and selection, career transitions, and other workforce movement. It is designed to teach students the skills to recruit and select the best talent to help drive organizational strategy. Students will also learn how to design a process and framework for final individual or group selection. Lastly, they will learn several strategies to successfully orient and onboard new employees.

  • Talent Management (2 credits)
    This course focuses on the employer-employee relationship and how managers work with employees to improve their performance. Attention is given to Talent, Talent Management, and Performance Management in work settings, with an emphasis, however, on contemporary approaches to managing the employer-employee relationship and the systems for managing talent.

  • Total Rewards (2 credits)
    This course will focus on the tangible and intangible aspects of compensation. Using the lens of a total reward philosophy, we will examine how an organization attracts, motivates, and retains employees, including scientists and engineers. While preparing students to build a fair and responsible compensation system, this course examines the underlying elements of alignment with an organization’s strategy and business model, internal and external competitiveness, and benefits. We will discuss relevant psychological and economic theories. We will also discuss how compensation impacts society, including topics most relevant student as well as living wage, essential workers, and executive compensation.

  • Leadership (2 credits)
    This course focuses on leadership in organizations and invites you on a journey of personal exploration, understanding and development. Leadership develops over time through repetition, feedback and self-reflection. The overall goal of this course is to provide information and tools that will guide you toward becoming a more effective leader by increasing your conceptual understanding of key leadership principles and strategies utilized within formal organizations, deepening your knowledge of important interpersonal relationship skills and abilities, and helping discover important insights into oneself and others as a leader (including strengths and weaknesses/opportunities for personal growth).

  • Negotiations in Organizations (2 credits)
    This course focuses on developing your negotiating skills and making you a more confident negotiator. By the conclusion of this course, you will have improved your ability to diagnose negotiation situations, strategize and plan upcoming negotiations, and engage in more fruitful negotiations, even in situations where you are dealing with difficult negotiation counterparts. Because negotiating agreements is as much art as science, learning in this course will take place mainly by doing experiential exercises and will draw on negotiations research to supplement this learning.
     
  • Change Management (2 credits)
    The purpose of this course is to provide you with essential tools and concepts you need to help create and sustain needed change in your personal and/or professional life, your work teams and your organizations. The course is taught in an executive-style format intended for working future managers. Emphasis is placed on knowledge application and experiential learning.

 

For free electives, students may choose elective courses to suit their individual interests. They may use as free electives any MGMT, ECON or OBHR courses or credits that they have NOT used for filling other requirements. Courses taken from HR/OB Selectives in excess of 6 hours will count as free electives.