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Human Resource Management

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Prepare for career and HR success with the text that has set the standard for excellence in human resource management. HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, 15th Edition, offers the most current look at HRM and its impact on the success of organizations today. A leading resource in preparing for professional HR certification, this edition ensures you address all major topics for the various professional examinations given by the Society for Human Resource Management and the Human Resource Certification Institute. The latest HR research and an effective blend of solid theory and contemporary practice highlight emerging trends driving change in HRM today, including technology, globalization, competencies and HR metrics. The book's accompanying MindTap digital learning platform is a highly personalized, online learning platform of authoritative Cengage Learning content, assignments, and services offering you a tailored presentation of course curriculum created by your instructor. MindTap guides you through the course curriculum via an innovative Learning Path Navigator where you complete reading assignments, annotate your readings, complete homework, and engage with quizzes and assessments.

672 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

33 people are currently reading
865 people want to read

About the author

Robert L. Mathis

38 books2 followers

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5 stars
119 (32%)
4 stars
88 (24%)
3 stars
104 (28%)
2 stars
32 (8%)
1 star
21 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
Profile Image for Brent.
374 reviews189 followers
December 10, 2013
Covers 634 pages without saying anything useful. A profoundly bad textbook full of buzzwords and hype but lacking concrete examples or an intelligent style.

Here are some highlights:

"...in some countries, potential recruits like to work for European and U.S. firms, so recruiters emphasize the "Western" image. But in other countries, cultural employer operational differences change how recruiting is done." (page 183)

Cultural employer operational differences? What does that even mean? How does it change? It's like this textbook is trying to impress students instead of teach them. And it is annoying.

Here's another quote:

"..companies have found that the lack of a career development plan leaves them vulnerable to turnover, and hiring from outside can have drawbacks. When a company attempts to manage careers internally..." (page 293).

What drawbacks? I don't know, it never said.

Here's another gem:

"Some organizations have linked Lean Six Sigma programs together with gainsharing to emphasize the attainment of results. For example, in a global pharmaceutical plant, this kind of program was seen as contributing to improved productivity and lower direct labor costs." (page 407)

Really? Just a few questions? What results were attained? What pharmaceutical plant attained them? How did they do it? And how much did it contribute to results? Oh and by the way, what is Lean Six Sigma? I don't remember covering it in this book, but then again I might have fallen asleep, so who knows.

I was forced by my college to spend $292 on this book and all I got out of it was a migraine. And a bit of a resentment against Human Resources.

These authors should be ashamed to take my money (essentially at gunpoint.) They probably have my money in a Cayman Island bank account, mingling with drug money, blood money, and other illicit gains.

Did I mention that I didn't care for this book?

6 reviews2 followers
June 22, 2008
It's a great book and it gives you a general idea about human resources with some exact details on certain subjects. I read the previous edition though. The paper quality and pictures are enjoyable, I guess that's what you've got for the price this high.
Profile Image for Mary.
21 reviews
April 10, 2009
I am loving this class I'm taking. The instructor is very good and has scheduled us in groups to make an employee handbook for a few small businesses around Boise.
4 reviews7 followers
Read
May 8, 2011
this is also helpful in HR ....CHECK OUT
979 reviews75 followers
June 3, 2017
Most definitely, this is introduction to HR Administration textbook but the internet resources and suggested reading lists at the end of each chapter are super helpful, especially for those people without a HR background.
Profile Image for Yari.
367 reviews11 followers
December 29, 2021
I read this for an HR course at Liberty University; I decided to keep because of all the good resources it provides.
Profile Image for Ashley.
1,359 reviews20 followers
April 10, 2016
There is little less than a month left before this semester is over but last month I read ahead and finished the textbook, leaving me nothing to do for Human Resource Management except some discussion questions and a couple of tests. This was not a favorite course of mine this school year but it wasn't very difficult. I found most of the reading to be boring but keeping in line with a few of my previous classes. HR isn't a field that I am interested in but I will admit that I understand a few things about how HR works a lot better after reading this. We skipped a few chapters but I did skim through them on my own to get a better overall feel for the text, mainly for this review.
The text is pretty well written and for the most part, linear. It covered some things in-depth and then barely touched on a few things that I would have preferred to know more about but overall, it is a decent text, especially for an online class that has no interaction with the instructor.
Profile Image for Ally.Always.Reads.
761 reviews136 followers
Read
April 19, 2017
No rating. I don't really think textbooks should get a rating. It's really about how professors teach the information and how students read and learn.

I had to read this for my Advanced HRM course. This is the second HRM course that you have to take to get your Bachelor's in HR. Both of these classes (and textbooks) give a very broad overview of HR. You don't get to really get into every little thing that HR does. (It also didn't help that I took the fast track for both courses. So the total time spent in both classes added up to 10 weeks. And we only met one day a week for an hour and a half.)
If you're looking to get a little information about everything in HR then this is the book to get. But if you have specifics that you really need to go through then try looking for a text on that specific subject.

*I have an updated/more recent edition of this textbook.*
Profile Image for Katie.
74 reviews1 follower
June 24, 2014
This slim book provides a very broad overview of HR Management basics. This would be a book that someone in a business program could read to get a general understanding of what it is that HR does. It is not a book that someone studying for a PHR would read to prep for certification. While useful as a broad overview, the book lacks detail, and it also lacks the human touch or humanity that one can find in HR professionals and HR practices. It's very compliance oriented with little direction around how to actually deal with people or create people-centered work environments.
Profile Image for J. Ewbank.
Author 4 books37 followers
March 25, 2010
This book is one of the sold editions in Human Resource Management. Have used it as a text in the past and found that it covered all of the areas that needed to be covered.

The book is readable for the college student and full of information that is required for those going into HRM.

Solid book.

J. Robert Ewbank, author "John Wesley, Natural Man, and the 'Isms'"
Profile Image for Haytham Badawey.
115 reviews32 followers
June 17, 2013
This book contains extensive thorough explanation in every aspect of human resources managment. Even though it goes through boring details, I like how this book covers the subject, and once you read it, you don't need to read any further books on the field. It's good as a reference too.
Profile Image for Jenn Lambert.
198 reviews1 follower
January 9, 2015
required reading for a class. When is required reading any fun. My biggest revelation was the fact that I got a better revelation of why things are done they way they are done, and some things at my facility could be done better. So in that respect it was helpful.
Profile Image for Rodrigo.
620 reviews20 followers
January 31, 2015
Bons parâmetros. É aplicado ao mercado norte-americano, mas dá pra tirar boas ideias e referências para o Brasil.
Profile Image for Marissa.
515 reviews13 followers
November 29, 2015
Feels kind of out-dated and doesn't seem to cover anything that isn't already common sense/common knowledge.
Profile Image for Susan.
39 reviews
April 1, 2017
Course book for Human Resources Management 353 course at WIU
Profile Image for Heatherly Luciano.
191 reviews16 followers
May 10, 2017
Great for basic HR Management classes, maybe not as much for graduate classes (which is what I was reading it for).
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews

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