HC1031 MPO – Trimester 3 2017
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Assignment 2 Requirements
Assessment Criteria
Suggested word limit: 500 words (per individual element) 1000 words (group element) (±10%)
Component Weighting: 35%
Due Date: Week 10 Friday 11:55pm
Submission format: Soft copy of a Word.docx to be uploaded on Blackboard through ‘Assignments and due dates’ menu
Important Please note:
1. Any assignments where plagiarism or collusion is detected will
be awarded a mark of zero. You will need to contact your tutor if
you wish to discuss this.
2. Failure to upload the correct document to the assessment link
will result in late penalties being applied to documents which are
later submitted for marking of that assignment.
3. SafeAssign takes at least 24 hours to return a report. If you wish
to check your assignment prior to submission, please allow
plenty of time to use the self-check before the final submission
deadline arrives; SafeAssign not returning a self-check report
WILL NOT be considered a valid reason for an extension.
Assessment Overview
This assignment will allow you to apply the concepts and skills covered in this subject. Its purpose is to draw on the concepts and models used in this course to:
a) analyse a particular situation and the management process involved in it
b) reflect on management theories to determine if and how they are still relevant to organisations today.
Upon the completion of the task, you are to provide a formal report documenting your individual reflection and group investigation and analysis.
HC1031 MPO – Trimester 3 2017
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Assessment Tasks
Requirement:
This will consist of two parts: an individual reflection and a group analysis. Both parts will provide students with an opportunity to reflect on individual and organisational problems and challenges and retrospectively apply concepts and frameworks covered within the subject. The group report will comprise an individual element worth 15% to be completed by each member of the group, and a group element worth 20% which will be produced by the group as a whole. Both parts of the assignment will be submitted on Blackboard as a group assignment in report format.
Part A: Individual Reflective Learning (15%)
This should be no more than 500 words
Choose a specific incident from your life where you have used the four primary management functions of Planning, Organising, Leadership and Controlling.
Analyse the incident and describe the main areas where you used each of these 4 management functions. Reflect on how effective your management of this task/incident was and which areas you would change if you had the opportunity to manage the same thing again and why.
You should draw on concepts covered in the course and use the following headings to present your review:
Selected Incident: Provide a very brief description of a specific incident that you have managed using the 4 primary POLC functions. Outline the problem clearly so that you set the scene for your reader and provide a basis for your analysis, but don’t go into excessive detail. It is important to have a clearly focused starting point for any analytical piece of work.
Analysis: Break down the task and identify elements of it that fit into each of the management functions (POLC). Clearly explain what those elements are and why you believe they belong to a particular management function.
Critical Evaluation: Reflect on your analysis and determine whether your approach was effective. Identify possible alternative actions or strategies that you could have taken and why and whether or not you think they would have been more effective.
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PART B: Group element (20%)
This should be no more than 1000 words (±10%)
Choose 2 of the management theories covered in lecture 2 “Evolution of Management Thinking”. Briefly describe the theory and identify its strengths and limitations.
1. For each of the theories you have selected, either
a) choose a well-known organisation for whom the theory is still
relevant and utilised to some extent today, providing evidence to
support your selection.
OR
b) choose a well-known organisation which contradicts the theory
and provide evidence to explain why you believe this to be the
case.
Recommended Structure
As a minimum, the report should contain the following:
1) A brief Executive Summary detailing the purpose of the report. 2) A section for each group member containing their individual
contribution with their name and student number, clearly identified next to the work they have written.
3) A section clearly identified as the group element 4) Bibliography. (a minimum of 8 references with links back to in-text
citations)
• Your report should contain a coherent argument presented within the length
limit
• Your evaluation should logically follow from your analysis
• Avoid long and detailed descriptions of the individual situations or
management theories, a short description with the necessary details is
sufficient so that you can spend most of your time on your analysis and the
recommendations.
Format
Ensure your report is presented in a professional format including headings, table of contents, page numbers and a front cover. You may wish to use a template to make this process easier.
Your report should be saved as a single DOC or DOCX Microsoft Word document file. Name and submit the document file as YourGroupID.DOCX.
HC1031 MPO – Trimester 3 2017
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Assessment Guidelines
The following criteria will be used to assess the quality of your report:
• Individual Element (15%) o Identification of appropriate management scenario (2 marks) o Identification of relevant areas of the scenario which related to
each of the management functions (8 marks) o Evaluation of process and limitations (5 marks)
• Group Element (20%) o Description of management theories and Identification of
benefits/limitations of theories (6 marks) o Identification of suitable organisations with respect to selected
management theories (2 marks) o Quality of evaluation of organisations adoption/contradiction of
chosen management theories. (6 marks) o Presentation (3 marks)
(Report structure, Layout, Grammar and spelling, Written style and expression)
o Referencing: (3 marks) (Bibliography and in-text citations)
Individual Element Fail 50-60 60-70 70-80 80+
Selection of appropriate
scenario
(2 marks)
Inappropriate choice of
scenario/ poorly described
Identified and described
suitable scenario with some
clarity
Identified and described
suitable scenario clearly
Identified and described
suitable scenario clearly with
some justification for
selection
Identified and described suitable
scenario clearly with clear justification
for selection
Application of POLC to
scenario
(8 marks)
Understanding and
application of theory to
scenario is unclear and
demonstrates a lack of
understanding of the
material.
Limited attempt at relating
theory to scenario
Shows awareness of theory with
reasonable attempt to apply it to
scenario, though, largely
descriptive
Good attempt at applying
theory to scenario
In-depth, insightful discussion of theory
and how it links to the scenario in
question.
Evaluation of Process &
Alternatives
(5 marks)
Poor attempt at reflection Limited attempt at reflection,
largely descriptive
Clear evaluation of process. Good evaluation of process
with alternatives suggested
Excellent evaluation of process with
alternatives suggested and critically
evaluated
Group Element Fail 50-60 60-70 70-80 80+
Identification and
Description of
Management Theories
and their
benefits/limitations (6 marks)
Poor choice of appropriate
management theories with
little or no attempt at
evaluating theory
Management theories chosen
but limited relevance or
explanation of
benefits/drawbacks, largely
descriptive
Good choice of management
theories with Reasonable
attempt at identifying
benefits/drawbacks with
reasons suggested
Good choice of management
theories with some attempt at
justifying selection and
identifying
benefits/drawbacks
Excellent choice of management
theories with sound justification of
selection and identification of
benefits/drawbacks
Identification of
Organisations
(2 marks)
Poorly presented, no
apparent structure and/or
confused writing style
Limited attempt at formatting,
Well structured, clear writing
style
Page numbering, front cover,
bibliography with some attempt
at formatting. Well structured,
focus explicit and clear, style
appropriate
Good attempt at report
formatting incorporating all
elements at credits level.
Clear focus, structure and
style used to emphasise
discussion
Excellent attempt at formatting report.
Focus clear and justified, structure and
style used to emphasise argument and
discussion
Quality of
Evaluation/Application of
management theory by
selected organisations
(6 marks)
No evidence of any
link between argument,
theory and/or
examples
Limited evidence of
link between
argument, theory and/or
examples
Some evidence of
link between
argument, theory and/or
examples within defined
context
Good evidence of
link between
argument, theory and/or
examples relevant to issue.
Issues have
been identified and
discussed
Excellent evidence of
link between
argument, theory and/or
examples within context.
Issues have been identified, discussed
and critically evaluated
Quantity and quality and
presentation of references
using Harvard Referencing
throughout
(3 marks)
Only 1 or 2 relevant
references given.
Referencing is unclear.
At least 3 relevant references.
Referencing mostly clear but
inconsistent.
At least 5 relevant references
given, mainly drawn from
provided sources e.g lectures.
Clear systematic referencing of
all sources..
At least 7 relevant references
including at least 5 from own
research including page no’s
for all articles
Bibliography includes at least 10
relevant references from good sources
i.e. journals rather than popular
computing press. Very clearly
presented.
Professional Report
Formatting, Structure and
approach
(3 marks)
Poorly presented, no
apparent structure and/or
confused writing style
Limited attempt at formatting,
Well structured, clear writing
style
Page numbering, front cover,
bibliography with some attempt
at formatting. Well structured,
focus explicit and clear, style
appropriate
Good attempt at report
formatting incorporating all
elements at credits level.
Clear focus, structure and
style used to emphasise
discussion
Excellent attempt at formatting report.
Focus clear and justified, structure and
style used to emphasise argument and
discussion
