Example human resource management dissertation topic 13:

A discussion as to the extent to which there is a positive trade-off between the treatment of stakeholders in an equitable and fair manner and the achievement of higher rates of individual performance: An NGO and theory based approach

Clarkson (1995, 107), notes that within organisation there is a ‘system of primary stakeholder groups, a complex set of relationships between and among interest groups with different rights, objectives, expectations and responsibilities’. Using this observation as a literary starting point, this dissertation evaluates the extent to which the meeting of stakeholder expectations and their reward through monetary and non-monetary gain results in a win-win situation in which the firm profits as a consequence of increased participation rates. Though this is a predominantly theoretical dissertation, references are made to a series of NGO organisations.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• Clarkson, M. (1995) ‘A stakeholder framework for analyzing and evaluatingcorporate social performance’. Academy of Management Review, Vol. 20 (1), pp. 92-117.
• Cohen, W. and Prusak, L. (2001) In good company: How social capital makes organizations work. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
• Collins, D. (1997) ‘The ethical superiority and inevitability of participatorymanagement as an organizational system’, Organization Science, Vol. 8, pp. 489-507.