Master's programs

Prof. dr. Jaap Paauwe
Chairman of the department of Human Resource Studies

"The Master’s degree program strikes an ideal balance between the theoretical and practical aspects of HRM"

People spend a large part of their time working in exchange for things such as money, personal development, fun or contact with their colleagues. As an HR officer, your job is to direct that symbiotic relationship and in doing so, you will be confronted with principles and moral values and it is this which sometimes raises some interesting dilemmas. For example, the answer to the question: ‘What is fair in a given situation?’ is becoming increasingly dependent upon concepts such as added value, the fact that employees are required to make their own contributions to the results achieved by the company as a whole.

HR is always made-to-measure and HR professionals are required to have an intrinsic awareness of the factors that characterise a company and make it what it is. For example, compare a capital-intensive company such as Shell with a company such as IKEA. The identities of each of these companies are completely different, with the result that copying best practices alone will not achieve the desired outcome. Each practice will need to be handled in a very specific way.

Nowadays, organizations are becoming increasingly aware of the role that human factors play in corporate success. HR professionals must therefore respond to this by providing up-to-date tools based upon the latest research and it is Human Resource Studies that provides them with the training they need.

Dr. Marinus Verhagen
Program Director of MSc Human Resource Studies

"In successful organizations employees are usually taken seriously. These organizations already know that their employees can make a difference: good and motivated employees contribute to better organizational performances. It will not surprise you that this is one of the central themes in our Master’s program Human Resource Studies. This Master’s program looks at the relationship between employee behavior and organizational performance, providing you with insights into work & organizational psychology, sociology, economics and business studies."

• 23 years old
• Study program: MSc Organization Studies
• Year of graduation: 2010
• Nationality: Indonesian