human resources case study topics

5 Ideas for Human Resources Case Studies

• Published May 31, 2018
• Last Updated April 8, 2022

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Ideas for Case Studies in the Human Resource Field

• Work-Life Balance in Large Organizations
• Exploring Socio-Economic Diversity
• Student Collective Bargaining Act
• Integrated Exercises for Designing a Pay Structure
• Conflict and Team Dynamics

Human Resource Management is a huge field that impacts several different areas of business and even other personal aspects of employees. Professionals and managers within the field must tackle issues with compensation, benefits, employee & labor relations, employment law, training, employee development, workforce planning, and in today’s modern climate, strategy.

Since the field is all-encompassing, it’s never been more crucial for future human resource managers to study for a graduate degree. Part of the curriculum requirement in most respected HRM programs will be to complete a case study. Students are expected to take an in-depth look at a subject of study and analyze the data gathered to support their thesis. Coming up with Human Resources case studies can be challenging.

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1 – Work-Life Balance in Large Organizations

The American culture is centered around hard work. While this is a positive motivation in some cultures, the lack of work-life balance can be frowned upon in others. The focus of the Work-Life Balance in Large Organizations case study is to analyze how the changing demographics in the country, along with challenges that recruiters have finding candidates, have created a greater need for larger companies to offer more flexible arrangements as a benefit.

2 – Exploring Socio-Economic Diversity

Strategic planning in HR is important when it comes to the labor force. This case study involves exploring how socioeconomic status affects employee turnover, scheduling, employee morale, customer complaints, and interdepartmental communications. The goal of this Human Resource case study is to see how to create synergy in a company made up of wealthy, middle-class and poverty-level employees.

3 – Student Collective Bargaining Act

Labor laws and constant updates in protections for employees and college students can affect the operations of the HR department as a whole. The purpose of this case study is for students to review the regulation set forth under the National Labor Relations Act to explore the labor relations process. Students will form their own union, negotiate contracts, administer contracts, and protect rights of the students in their union over the course of the study.

4 – Integrated Exercises for Designing a Pay Structure

Pay structure is extremely important to employees. In fact, it’s one of the top priorities on every worker’s list. This is why HRM students who want to work in management can benefit from completing a case student on designing a pay structure that is fair, easy to comprehend, motivating, and competitive. Research of compensation in the area and pay systems used in the field will be necessary to complete the study.

5 – Conflict and Team Dynamics

Conflict is present in every organization as employees with different personalities are all expected to interact with one another. A team’s performance can dramatically suffer when conflict is present. It’s important for HR managers to understand what factors contribute to conflict. This case study looks at how location, mergers, cultural values, personal beliefs, and intrapersonal needs can all affect perspectives and interactions.

There are plenty of great ideas for case studies available through the Society for Human Resource Management. These ideas all pertain to a different area of HRM in which students may want to specialize. Review the Human Resources case studies above and decide which one sounds most interesting.

Related Resource:   What is Workforce Diversity?

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