OBHR Courses

University Core Courses

COR1301 Leadership and Team Building

The overall objective of this module is to build and develop students’ competency in leadership and teamwork skills. The course employs both a theoretical and an experiential learning approach. Students will gain knowledge and skills about leadership development and team-building skills based on theories, principles, concepts, application, exercises/class activities, self-assessments/instruments, and experiential learning.

COR3304 Ethics and Corporate Responsibility
In this day and age, it is no longer sufficient for managers and leaders in organizations to be simply transactional or simply transformational. They also need to be fair, just, ethical, moral and responsible. This course is designed to explore, inform, and stimulate thinking on issues related to behavioural ethics and responsibility as encountered in the corporate world. To create this intellectual exchange, this course will focus on how individual and organizational behaviour is shaped by context as well as by biases, why these factors make it difficult for managers to be responsible leaders, and what can be done about the influence of these factors. 

It is important to emphasize that the goal of this course is not the ethical or moral transformation of students but to develop a set of tools and frameworks (where possible) that allow us to manage effectively in a world increasingly characterized by stakeholders with competing needs and responsibilities.

COR-OBHR1309 Negotiating in Management and Business
[This course can be taken to fulfill the University Core requirement or as an OBHR elective]

The ability to negotiate and manage conflicts effectively in modern organizations is critical to managerial success and organizational effectiveness. Skilled managers in the art and science of business negotiation and conflict management create significant value for their organizations when they deal with internal or external stakeholders. They, for example, secure cost effective and reliable flow of supplies; get better deals from powerful sole-source suppliers; enhance the financial value of mergers and acquisitions; settle potentially damaging disputes with labor union leaders or government officials; and resolve internal conflict constructively. The primary focus of this interactive course is on building effective negotiation and conflict management skills.

COR-OBHR1310 Working and Managing in a Digital World
[This course can be taken to fulfill the University Core requirement or as an OBHR elective]

This course examines organizational behavior in the context of technological innovation and digital transformation. Students develop an understanding of the profound impact technological changes have on people and how they accomplish personal, group, and organizational objectives. Topics include managing digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, leading change and innovation, the future of work, among others.

Business Core Course

OBHR101 Management of People at Work
This course focuses on managing people in the workplace. Students learn theoretical and conceptual foundations for understanding people, groups, and organizations, and practical tools for accomplishing personal, group, and organizational objectives. Topics include work motivation, decision making, organizational culture, organizational change and stress management, power and politics, personality and individual differences, and work values, attitudes, and emotions, among others.

OBHR Core Course

OBHR201 Human Capital Management
The course enables you to discover the challenging and competitive world of Human Capital Management. This learning experience will provide you with a broad understanding of basic Human Resource knowledge, skills and practices. Students will learn the concepts, processes and issues involved in implementation and decision making in the topical areas such as Talent Acquisition (planning, job analysis, recruitment and selection) Rewards (compensation, benefits, performance appraisal) and Development (training and development, career planning).

OBHR Electives Courses

COR-OBHR1309 Negotiating in Management and Business
[This course can be taken to fulfill the University Core requirement or as an OBHR elective]

The ability to negotiate and manage conflicts effectively in modern organizations is critical to managerial success and organizational effectiveness. Skilled managers in the art and science of business negotiation and conflict management create significant value for their organizations when they deal with internal or external stakeholders. They, for example, secure cost effective and reliable flow of supplies; get better deals from powerful sole-source suppliers; enhance the financial value of mergers and acquisitions; settle potentially damaging disputes with labor union leaders or government officials; and resolve internal conflict constructively. The primary focus of this interactive course is on building effective negotiation and conflict management skills.

COR-OBHR1310 Working and Managing in a Digital World
[This course can be taken to fulfill the University Core requirement or as an OBHR elective]

This course examines organizational behavior in the context of technological innovation and digital transformation. Students develop an understanding of the profound impact technological changes have on people and how they accomplish personal, group, and organizational objectives. Topics include managing digital transformation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, leading change and innovation, the future of work, among others.

OBHR202 Compensation 
This course examines the current research, beliefs, and principles on management of performance and workforce remuneration.  Aside from providing a core base of knowledge, the course will also provide an opportunity for the student to learn effective performance management skills – skills students can use in their future as part of their own career development or to develop others. The Performance Management portion of the course includes goal setting/communicating performance expectations, delivering performance feedback, and career development. The Compensation portion of the course includes methods for determining pay grades/scales, incentive based pay approaches, and international compensation.

OBHR203 Talent Acquisition and Assessment
This course focuses on the attraction, recruitment, and selection of employees into organizations.  This course is designed to provide students with a broad overview of the field of personnel selection by exposing them to a variety of theories, concepts, findings, and unresolved issues within this area.  An organizing theme, which cuts across the diverse topic areas covered in this course, is the commitment to empirical methods that currently characterize the fields of human resource management and organizational behavior.  Students will learn current scientific theories of management as well as “best management practices” as identified and demonstrated by leading organizations.  Students will learn how to develop and administer effective staffing procedures to achieve sustained competitive advantage for organizations.

OBHR204 Training & Development
This course introduces students to the theories, application and skills development aspects of Training and Development. Students will learn how to assess, design, develop, implement and evaluate a training program. In this regard, basic concepts of training, including total needs assessment, trainees’ learning motivations, learning and transfer theories as well as evaluation methods will be covered. The course also aims to give an understanding of how Training and Development is integrated into the overall organizational strategy. From an application point of view, students will get to design, develop and evaluate their own training programs. Finally, they will develop training skills through conducting a training session.

OBHR211 Governing, Managing & Protecting Knowledge in Organisations
The creation and management of knowledge and intellectual capital, knowledge-based work, knowledge workers etc. have become key preconditions for sustained corporate, regional or societal competitiveness in an era of rapid globalisation. Besides exploring the on-going shift towards a knowledge society/economy, the theoretical and empirical origins, definitions and domains of knowledge management (KM), its use and practical implications in terms of human resource management etc., the course will try to provide answers to the following core question: Which forms of creating and utilizing knowledge can enable both individuals and organisations to transform learning and innovative capabilities into key competencies? The course focuses on both the theoretical and applied literature on knowledge-based society/economy, knowledge work(ers) and knowledge management. Several case studies will be analysed aimed at illustrating the challenges managers experienced who tried to find answers to the issue raised above as well as to outline the benefits and consequences of ‘good’ KM.

OBHR212 Cross-Cultural Management & the Management of Diversity
With an increasingly globalized economy, managing employees of different cultural background becomes an imperative in organizations. This module takes the approach of understanding how culture differs and impacts on our interactions at the workplace. The course is broadly structured to enable an understanding of (a) cultures, (b) within culture differences, (c) between culture differences with an emphasis on how these similarities and differences impact workplace interactions. Case studies, role plays and self assessments will be used to provide students with both an academic and practical foundation in this area.

OBHR215 Organisational Change & Design
This course looks at how different organizational design choices facilitate or impede the achievement of organizational goals in the midst of ongoing market competition. It also highlights the need to initiate and manage ongoing and proactive organizational change programs to transform or sustain the organization. This module is valuable for students interested in pursuing a career in Human Resource Development or Organizational Development as it enables them to learn how to design an effective organization structure and culture as well as carry out planned organizational changes.

OBHR220 Working and Leading in High-Performance Teams
In modern organizations, most work is accomplished in teams. Importantly, teams are not only the work horses of organizations, but they are increasingly used to tackle the most important and strategic issues facing organizations.  Teams are charged with making important decisions, developing innovations, and solving complex problems. Thus, being able to develop and maintain high-performance teams is a crucial success factor for organizations. For individuals, their value to an organization depends to a large extend on how well they function as members and leaders of teams. Importantly team leadership is increasingly expected from all members of a team, rather than being tied to a specific official role; and team roles are becoming more and more fluid and situational. Moreover, organizations employ various types of teams, such as virtual teams, calling for increasing sophistication from their employees. The purpose of this course is to expose students to these issues and to make them familiar both with research and theory on teams as well as to increase their competency to work and lead in teams. Topics include team performance, team development, team innovation, team decision making, conflict in teams, and types of teams.

OBHR224 Human Capital Strategy
This course introduces you to the importance of developing human resources strategies, processes and practices that support the unique, longer-term goals of the organisation.  The program overviews the different operating models that organisations can apply to deliver value and the HR practices that enable this. In addition during the program we explore the changing business landscape and the emerging HR challenges that businesses and HR practitioners must address.  Topics include: Business strategy and HR strategy; aligning the HR operating model; the role of HR as a strategic business partner; building fit for purpose organisations; the changing HR landscape in China, India and Southeast Asia, emerging HR challenges – global organisations, diverse workforces, fast-growing organisations.

OBHR225 Technology Solutions for Human Resources
The use of technology to facilitate and enhance Human Resource Development and Management is becoming commonplace. This course puts an emphasis on how technology can be used strategically to benefit HRM/HRD in the work place. Using a multi-disciplinary approach, this course covers how technology is used in each step of the HR Life Cycle from recruitment to performance management to resignation and retirement. When deployed strategically to enhance the HRM/HRD function, technology solutions and off-the-shelf software can bring immense value to the company, government organization and NGO. It helps the organization increase productivity, reduces costs, and improves employee morale and job satisfaction. In addition to covering the use of technology to support the HRM/HRD function, this course also aims to cover the deployment of technology for best-practice HR, covering in-sourcing and outsourcing of HR functions. Examples from actual HRM/HRD case studies will be covered to provide a practice-oriented approach to students.

OBHR228 The Psychology of Managerial Decision Making
The quality of decision making determines whether a company rides the waves of success or falters. Good decision making is an art and a skill that helps managers to choose and implement the right actions to achieve organizational goals in the face of uncertainty. Good decision making considers not only economic perspectives, but a broad spectrum of objectives to ensure decisions make ethical and business sense. This course focuses on familiarizing you with the foundations of descriptive and prescriptive (and less so, normative) aspects of decision making in individual, group, and organizational settings. Topics include information processing, heuristics and biases, decision frames, managerial risk perceptions, affective influences on decision making, intuition and expertise, ethical decision making, and group decision making.

OBHR232 Legal Environment and Employment Relations
This course is designed to give students a broad understanding of the employment-related legal environment that companies operate under in Singapore. The focus will be on current applicable employment-related laws as well as employment relations with regards to employer, employee, union and government, especially with regards to the tripartite arrangement in Singapore.  There will be a segment on union relations and movement in Singapore. There will also be a detailed examination of different employment relations and related contracts.   

Readings from related journals and professional articles will be provided to enhance the depth of the subject matter. The students will be expected to individually reflect and pen down their personal thoughts on matters discussed. Experiential-based learning activities may also be introduced to allow students to exercise their ability to size challenges and choose a course of action based on the deemed environmental circumstances.

OBHR233 Employer Branding for HR
The way in which generational cohorts behave at the work place and perceive engagement may differ in many aspects. Millennials are best positioned to provide insights into how millennial employees are recruited and how they should be engaged in the work place.  In the context of a human resources related issue proposed by a client organization (e.g., Millennial talent management and engagement, Employer branding and recruitment), participants from Singapore and Indonesia are to collaborate with each other to present proposals to the client organisation.

OBHR234 Power and Politics in Organisations
Power, status, and influence are topics that make many people a little uncomfortable. However, power is a fundamental reality in much (maybe all) of organizational and social life. Power and influence are key mechanisms by which things get done.

This course is designed so that you will learn concepts useful for understanding power and influence, and ways of analyzing power dynamics in organizations. Even more importantly, the course encourages you to think about and develop your own personal path to power (which can include, of course, a path away from power), as well as to develop your skills in exercising power and influence—to make you more comfortable with “managing with power.” The course will also introduce difficult ethical questions associated with the use of power and influence, and challenge you to define for yourself what constitutes the ethical exercise of power and influence in your life.

The materials and ideas that form the basis for much of the course have been selected because they challenge many aspects of conventional wisdom or the taken-for-granted assumptions that many people hold about the sources of success and influence. The ideas and concepts are, however, well grounded in empirical literature in the behavioral and social sciences. If some of the readings or discussions disagree with your ideas or cause you to feel uncomfortable, that discomfort is part and parcel of the learning process.

OBHR235 Human Resources Consulting
The aim of this course is to help students learn about the world of HR consulting with an opportunity to develop skills that can be applied to HR consulting projects. To do this, students will learn the whole consulting process. These include consulting methodologies, building and managing client relationships, assessing consulting outcomes and more. The context of the consulting process will be done with reference to the different HR domains and functions. This will help students to have a comprehensive understanding of the people (HR) challenges that organisations face and for which HR consulting may help resolve. As all consulting projects involve change of some form, the key principles of change management will also be explored.  

OBHR299 Special Topics in Organisational Behaviour
These courses will be offered, usually on an ad hoc basis, to cover topics not already included in our ongoing courses. For example, a course may be offered to address a particular contemporary business issue; or a visiting faculty member may offer a course in his/her specific area of expertise.

The course focuses on the role of emotions and affect in the workplace. Students learn theoretical, conceptual, and empirical foundations for understanding the antecedents and consequences of emotion and moods in work settings; and practical tools for managing emotion to meet personal, workgroup, and organizational objectives. Topics include emotion and moods at intrapersonal and inter-personal levels of analysis, emotional intelligence, emotion in groups and at the organizational level, and the role of emotion in leadership and organizational behavior.

OBHR300 Human Resource Analytics
The future of the HR profession lies in analytics. No professional entering the field can expect to succeed in his or her career without a solid understanding and hands-on practice of analytical tools to help in making people deci-sions. 

To implement their business strategies effectively, leaders must deal with people issues in a way that allows them to gain competitive advantage through people. The organizations that will win the “war for talent” will be those which are better at identifying and keeping key talent, motivating high performance, developing and promoting staff and predicting future people needs accurately. HR professionals need analytics to address these challenges. For exam-ple, linking pay-for-performance has been a dogma of management, but recent research shows that most incentive plans do not produce the desired behavior, and that pay, in fact, has little correlation to business results. 

To succeed in the business world, it is imperative that HR provide data-driven answers and insights on how to implement and execute strategy through the people in the organization. The course provides students with practi-cal, hands-on approaches to connect HR policies and practices to business performance. You will review key statis-tics and finance concepts, such as ROI and people productivity; become familiar with available tools such as Workday and Tableau to complement Excel and others; discuss data collection, clean-up and warehousing; prac-tice building descriptive and predictive models; and get hands-on experience in applications for workforce planning, recruitment, compensation, training, career planning and turnover. At the end of the semester, you will be able to put HR analytics skills and tools to good use.

OBHR301  Group Dynamics in Organisations
Organizations are increasingly relying on teams to generate solutions required for sustained business success. However, it can be extremely challenging for leaders to manage teams effectively in today’s diverse, digital and dynamic times. This course examines the design, management, and leadership of teams in organizational settings and focuses on more than just formal team leadership as all team members can play leadership roles in teams. This is an advanced course which builds on and extends foundational knowledge learnt in OBHR101 with a specific focus on group dynamics. It provides detailed knowledge of how group and intergroup dynamics affect both individual functioning but also organisation-level outcomes. The emphasis is understanding the interpersonal processes and structural characteristics that influence the effectiveness of teams, the dynamics of intra-team relationships, and sharing of knowledge and information in teams. This course is designed to provide you with perspectives and skills that will help you to develop and manage high impact teams. Topics include understanding the foundations of high performing teams, decision-making in teams, managing team conflict; team creativity and innovation; leading diverse and virtual teams, among others.

OBHR302   The Science and Practice of Mindfulness at Work 
Our world is characterized by the related phenomena of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) and overload (of attention, information, stimulation, and work). This affects our attention, emotions, cognitions, well-being, functioning, and performance. It challenges our ability to flourish, to both feel well and do well. In this course, we explore the science and practice of mindfulness as a way of flourishing at work and in life. Mindfulness-based practices are rooted in Eastern contemplative traditions but have been adapted to a secular, modern context. A large amount of research has accumulated showing that such mindfulness-based practices confer numerous benefits both for well-being and functioning, including at the workplace. 

“Mindfulness at work” has two meanings in this course: First, we will focus on mindfulness in the context of work and organizations. Second, we will incorporate mindfulness practices such as mindfulness meditations into the course itself. Thus, in this course, we will examine both the science as well as the practice of mindfulness. For the science aspect, we will read and discuss scientific research studies on mindfulness. For the practice aspect, we will engage in regular practice based on established and carefully designed secular mindfulness trainings. The practice aspect is integral to this course and students will be required to commit about 20-45 minutes daily to these practices. Evidence suggests that the practices can make you feel and function better and are a good investment of your time.