General information

Our mission

The Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior (HRM & OB) aims to deliver high-quality research and teaching focused on building, motivating, and managing a workforce that helps organizations succeed in both local and global contexts.

Our research program

Our research is part of a program built around six core themes: (1) effective teamwork, (2) diversity and corporate conduct, (3) organizational innovation, (3) employee well-being, (4) labor economics, and (5) leadership. For example, we study:

· How teams are formed, function, and cope with change

· Individual differences in employees’  performance and long-term career trajectories

· What (organizational) factors influence ethical behavior at work

· People’s development of new business ideas and their ability to implement them

· The impact of labor market patterns on HR practices

· How people manage their work-life balance

· How leaders can best manage each of the above issues

We conduct this research in a wide range of sectors—including manufacturing, healthcare, education, consultancy and finance—and use a mix of methods, including field and lab experiments, longitudinal studies, archival data, case research, and simulations. We publish our work in leading management journals (e.g., the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management, Organization Science) and top psychological journals (e.g., Journal of Applied Psychology, Psychological Science, Psychological Bulletin).

Our Education

Our teaching approach is both research-driven and practically oriented. We bring our research into the classroom through our MSc Human Resource Management, available in both a full-time and a part-time variant. The full-time variant is ideal for recent graduates or those looking to immerse themselves in their studies, offering an accelerated path to a career in HR. The part-time variant is specifically designed for working professionals and students seeking a more flexible study schedule, allowing them to balance their studies with professional or personal commitments. In both variants, students learn to analyze and solve real-world challenges in managing people and work through courses such as Strategic HRM, HR Analytics, Dutch and International Labor Law, Leadership, Advanced Organizational Behavior, and more. All our courses are designed according to the collaborative mastery principle: aiming to equip students with the skills to function independently from AI, as well as to work effectively with AI.  Moreover, in both variants, students bridge theory and practice through our award-winning Student Employability Project, as well as extensive business cases, simulations, and guest lectures from leading HR practitioners. Our graduates are highly employable, building careers across sectors in various HR, management, and consultancy roles. What is also unique to our program is that we take into account both prior education and the knowledge and competencies obtained from professional working experience when determining admissibility, ensuring that your academic background and real-world expertise are valued as part of your academic journey. 

Our academic climate

We are committed to fostering a collaborative and supportive academic environment. Our department represents many different nationalities and values an international outlook. We promote scholarly teamwork while also providing space for individual growth. In our teaching, we aim to create a learning environment where students engage with current research insights and develop their research skills. This helps prepare them for leadership roles in HRM and OB, both in practice and academia.