Systems of Parameters and the Cohen-Macaulay Property

Let $R$ be a commutative, Noetherian, local ring and $M$ an $R$-module. Consider the module of homomorphisms $\operatorname{Hom}_R(R/\mathfrak{a},M/\mathfrak{b} M)$ where $\mathfrak{b}\subseteq\mathfrak{a}$ are parameter ideals of $M$. When $M=R$ and $R$ is Cohen-Macaulay, Rees showed that this module of homomorphisms is always isomorphic to $R/\mathfrak{a}$, and in particular, a free module over $R/\mathfrak{a}$ of rank one. In this work, we study the structure of such modules of homomorphisms for general $M$.