Tutor lead learning support by recommended texts and articles. Student-centred learning will include case studies supported by background reading. Small group activity through which to practise application and develop wider discussion of issues and draw on student experience. Independent consolidation of understanding. Students will be expected to obtain supplementary information from a range of paper and electronic sources and key readings will be provided. Students will be given guidance on exam preparation and practice under examination conditions.
Residential visit to EU institutions to contextualise the European influence.

This module may be offered in block delivery, with concentrated learning sessions facilitated by an appropriate tutor. The use of action learning sets will be a major tool in enhancing the experience. Outside of this, time material will be available on the VLE (Blackboard) to support these contact sessions and to encourage deeper learning. Where appropriate, workplace mentors will support and encourage their learners with access to relevant company information and people.

1. Employer and employee expectations; Unitarism, pluralism and radical theories; Legal, economic and psychological contract perspectives; Power, authority and managerial legitimacy; Voluntarism; Regulation; Beneficial constraints; Justice and fairness; Structural contradictions and structured antagonism; Cooperation and compliance; Indeterminacy; The contested nature of work; Good employment relations.
2. The impact of organisational and external factors, including workforce diversity, ownership, size, technology, fragmented organisational hierarchies, globalisation and international and political developments; Labour and product markets; Liberal-market economic influences; Coordinated market influences; The European Union.
3. Management and managerial functions of corporate governance; Management styles and ideologies; Union and non-union management strategies; Employer groups and associations (at national and European levels); Trade unions and other collective employee associations (at national and European levels); Models of union growth and decline; Strategies for union organising and union servicing; Impact of the parties on employment relations climates.
4. Natural justice; Differences between discipline and grievance; The contents of discipline and grievance policies; Factors that influence effective discipline and grievance handling; Legal aspects of discipline and grievance to mitigate organisational risk; Dismissal and redundancy policies; Legal aspects of dismissal and redundancy to mitigate organisational risk; Collective redundancy consultation.
5. Employee voice, including communication, involvement and participation (formal and informal) and Collective bargaining; Negotiation and persuasion skills; Pay determination; Incentive, individual and collective pay systems; Employee engagement (informal and formal.
6. Interconnections between employment relations processes; Impact of employment relations processes on organisational climate, performance and employee engagement; Implementation plans for the effective integration of employment relations processes to improve organisational effectiveness.

Journals
British Journal of Industrial Relations
Employee Relations
Industrial Relations Journal
European Journal of Industrial Relations
Work, Employment and Society
International Journal of Human Resource Management

Useful websites
http://www.bis.gov.uk/whatwedo/employment/index.html http://www.tuc.org.uk http://www.cbi.org.uk http://www.equalities.gov.uk http://www.equalityhumanrights.com http://www.eurofound.europa.eu
http://acas.org.uk
http://etuc.org
http://berr.gov.uk

Two hour unseen examination with a choice of questions from across the ER spectrum. 70% (LO1, 3, 5 and 6)
A 1500 word Assignment (30%) (LO 2,& 4)

Ackers, P., and Wilkinson, A. (2003) (Eds), Underestimating Work and Employment, Oxford University Press.
Bamber G., Lansbury R., and Wailes, N. (Eds) (2004). International and Comparative Industrial Relations, 4th ed, Allen and Unwin: London.
Dundon, T., and Rollinson, D. (2004), Employment Relations in Non-Union Firms, Routledge: London.
Edwards, P. (2003) (Ed.) Industrial Relations: Theory and Practice, 2nd ed. Blackwell: Oxford.
Gennard, J., and Judge, G. (2005) Employee Relations, 4th ed. CIPD Publishing: London.