Individual essay discussing the role that human resources and business leaders can play in initiating organisational change. On successful completion of this assessment

The assessment will be launched in the classroom in week 3 of the module, followed up by an in-class assessment activity during week 3 seminars. Additionally, an assessment workshop will be timetabled in the week commencing 25th May. This is more final queries and formatting only, please do not leave your assignment until this date!

Description of the assessment
Individual essay discussing the role that human resources and business leaders can play in initiating organisational change.
On successful completion of this assessment, student will meet the following learning outcomes:
1.
Evaluate transformational business and leadership strategies and their impact on organisational change.
2.
Analyse how the management of human resources can transform the business.
Relationship to Programme Assessment Strategy
This module explores the management and leadership theories relevant to the whole service sector and is one of the foundations of operations management theory that will underpin the learning at level 5 and 6. The module also introduces many academic models around change management which is also a key consideration in the service sector as the external environment is dynamic and somewhat unpredictable by nature.Assessment Content
Individual essay (1500 words) discussing the role that human resources and business leaders can play in initiating organisational change
This assignment has been set to enable you to meet the above module learning outcomes, and so it must be clear in you work how these outcomes are addressed. The great thing about undertaking an essay is that you are free to be as creative and innovative as you wish in choosing an aspect of the module that you find interesting and discuss its impact on organisational change and transformation in the visitor economy.
So, what is an essay? Well, a definition of an essay is vague and is often mixed up with a report, however there are some distinct differences:
•
Essays are independent pieces of work and serve as a way to assess a student’s understanding of specific ideas and concepts related to a chosen theme (in this case, organisational transformation). Essays demonstrate a student’s ability to explain and argue specific points to answer a chosen question.
•
A report is in most cases collating, analysing, and reporting on specific findings that have happened in a physical sense, such as events that have occurred in an organisation (for examples a case study review or a research investigation).
So, in the context of this assignment, you will produce an essay that explains and argues how business can initiate organisational change using aspects of leadership, human resource management, or indeed any of the themes covered as part of the module, using evidence from the academic literature to support your argument. It is important that you offer a balanced argument that is well informed, reflective of the research undertaken in the area, and offers competing perspectives.
The themes and concepts (all relevant models) you choose to unpick as part of this assignment is entirely up to you; this is the best thing about an essay! So, if you are interested in sustainable development, for example, then you may wish to focus your essay on how CSR can be used as a tool to engage stakeholders in change. Remember, 1500 words is not so much, so you will need to be strategic in terms of how many themes related to organisational transformation you decide to unpick. Too
many and you will struggle to demonstrate the level of criticality necessary to reach the very highest grades at this level.
Some themes to may wish to use as a basis for you essay:
•
Corporate Social Responsibility
•
The role of leadership in transforming organisations
•
How to engage stakeholder in change
•
Managing the ‘difficult’ employees
•
Coaching and mentoring
•
How incentives can motivate employees
•
Ethical change management
•
Making change stick – how not to slip back into old habits
•
Developing a change management plan
•
Many, many more!
We will be launching the assessment in week 3 where you will have the opportunity to ask questions, but in the meantime, take an opportunity to review the assessment rubric and make a plan of how you wish to approach this assignment. A good start would be to do some research on:
•
How to structure an essay
•
How to build an argument in an academic piece of work
•
What aspects of organisational change interest me the most?
•
What is critical analysis?
•
How do I support an argument with evidence from the literature?
Good luck and we look forward to hearing about all the interesting things you have learnt as part of the module!