People are one of the main assets of any organization, which makes it increasingly necessary to professionalize those responsible for human resources. A few decades ago, human resources management was limited to personnel administration (payroll and benefits management, contracts and labor regulations). Its contribution to achieving the strategic objectives of organizations was not questionable; it simply did not exist. Today, it is essential to have qualified personnel. As can be seen from a study carried out by the Community of Madrid in 2007, the postgraduate subject most in demand by companies is human resources (for more than 44% of companies); far ahead of others such as MBAs (7.5%).
Although the target students are different, an additional indication of the interest of the proposed degree is provided by the confirmed experience of teaching this Master by many universities and other institutions for more than a decade with a varied offer of places that are in demand year after year.
Professionals who graduate from such degrees have good job offers, and receive a large number of applications, not only in Spain, but also from Latin America and Europe, with different qualifications and professional profiles.
The most cutting-edge research in human resources management has empirically demonstrated that through efficient management, strategic human resources management becomes a competitive advantage, which has had an immediate effect on the interest in producing quality research on the role of human resources in the field of business management. Below are two essential indicators of the evolution that the academic and rigorous study of human resources has experienced: the number of researchers in the field and the quality of their academic production.
Firstly, to know the number of researchers who officially form part of this area, it is necessary to take as a reference the data published by the Academy of Management, which is the most important association of business administration and management researchers at an international level.
According to this, the section of researchers included in the field of human resources management is made up of 3,565 researchers and occupies fourth place in the ranking by number of associated researchers3. A second indicator of the academic relevance of an area is the publications. Academic production in the field of human resources is one of the most fruitful in the area of organization. Various publications dealing with human resources are included in the prestigious Journal of Citations Report (JCR). Along with general journals that publish articles not only on human resources management such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of International Business Review, Organization Science or the Journal of Management, there are a significant number of specific publications on human resources. On the other hand, the Google Scholar search engine returns the following number of citations to articles, working papers and academic presentations for the most common terms such as “Human Resources” (1,130,000 citations), “Human Resource Management” (292,000 citations) and “Recursos Humanos” (281,000 citations).
Ultimately, the fundamental objective of the Master in Human Resources Management is to train new generations of analysts and professionals through technical and management specialization in the areas related to human capital management in its multiple facets, namely: (1) people management in both public and private organizations; (2) the design, implementation and evaluation of people management practices; (3) the analysis of human capital management policies; (4) the formulation and implementation of industrial or labor relations management initiatives.
Many of the world's leading universities offer postgraduate courses (master's or doctoral degrees) specific to human resources. Although there is no specific ranking of the courses offered in human resources, the following stand out among the master's programmes (or other similar courses) in Strategic Human Resources Management that can be cited as international equivalents due to the proven quality of the universities that offer them. All of them have been taken as references when comparing this proposal.
In the United States, the Society for Human Resource Management alone has officially certified more than 40 Masters of Science in human resources (see Table 5). Among the most prestigious programs, the Master of Science in Strategic Human Resource Management, offered by Rutgers University, is considered the most reputable in the United States; Cornell University's ILR Human Resource Management, which offers postgraduate studies primarily focused on strategic human resource management; and finally, the Master of Human Resources and Industrial Relations, offered by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
At European level, there is a considerable variety of master's degrees in human resources management with an emphasis on the strategic aspects of people management. Among them, the most notable for their specialization in strategic human resources management are the programs offered by the London School of Economics, Cranfield University, London South Bank University, and King's College in the United Kingdom, or those offered by the University of Tilburg and Bocconi University in Milan.
Finally, it should be noted that in the national context there are a variety of postgraduate studies (both master's and doctoral) on human resources management. As it is a sector with great potential, there is a varied educational offer in this regard; however, not all of them have the necessary academic relevance and prestige. Specifically, there are fewer that focus on the management and strategic direction of human resources. Rather, a considerable number of official programs taught in Spain are promoted exclusively by psychology departments and, therefore, give less importance to management and direction aspects, unlike the one proposed here, which, as indicated above, is built in parallel with another of the aforementioned profile.
The Master's Degree in Human Resources aims to train excellent professionals who are capable of successfully facing the challenges that people management represents today through the development of skills and abilities necessary to assume the functions and responsibilities required by today's complex business organizations.
To this end, the Master's degree enhances the ability to plan and develop effective human resource management strategies in line with the organization's general objectives that can anticipate future movements.
The Master in Human Resources Management must be designed to achieve the following objectives:
The Master's Degree aims to improve the competitiveness of its potential students through the necessary content for comprehensive training in the area of human resources. A person specialized in this area must have knowledge and be fluent in the terminology of the main departments with which, jointly, the management work of the organization will be carried out. The Master's Program delves into the field of human resources from the economic-financial, legal, marketing, innovation, etc. language.