This introductory human resource management (HRM) textbook provides students with an overview of the major domains of human resource management (the “how-to”) with a focus on the practical application of the most recent HRM research and best practices. Students will learn to understand, anticipate, and respond to how power, profit, and intersectionality shape the practice of HRM. Moving beyond the typical procedure-oriented textbook, Barnetson and Foster provide thought-provoking political analysis to better prepare students for the real-world practice of human resource management.

Bob Barnetson is a professor of labour relations at Athabasca University. He is the author of The Political Economy of Workplace Injury in Canada (2010) and co-editor of Farm Workers in Western Canada: Injustice and Activism (2016). His research focuses on the political economy of workplace injuries, with particular attention to child, migrant, and farm workers. Bob previously worked for a trade union, the Alberta Workers’ Compensation Board, the Alberta Labour Relations Board ,and Alberta Employment and Immigration.

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Jason Foster is a professor of human resources and labour relations at the University of Athabasca. He also serves as the director for the Parkland Institute, a research consortium of academics and advocates for a stronger public sector run out of the University of Alberta. Jason worked in the non-profit sector for years, as well as with the labour movement as the director of policy analysis at the Alberta Federation of Labour. With a wide public profile, Jason is actively engaged in the discourse around the state of work and welfare in Canada. He also serves as the president of the Canadian Industrial Relations Association. He works and lives in Edmonton, Alberta.

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