715N1 – Change and Leadership
Mode: Report
Word Count: 1500
Your report will involve a critical explanation of different ‘leadership styles and approaches’ that explain how change can be managed in an organisation. The discussion should mention, but not be limited to, the following points:
1. An organisation from the private, public or voluntary sector, explaining reasons how and why the organisation has changed.
2. The role of leadership within the organisation (e.g. choose one or two styles and approaches of leadership), and;
3. Who/what was affected by change and how this was managed.
Students should identify relevant theories of leadership and discuss their strengths and weaknesses relating to organisational change. Specific attention should be given to the role and style of leadership required for the success of organisational change. For example, was leadership effective? If so, how and why?
The suggested reading for the module can act as a starting point for the report, but you are required to conduct additional research using ‘a wide range of sources’. Please carefully review the Library’s business and management resources for journal articles, databases and other published information.
724N1 – Business and Project Management
Essay (3000 words)
Select a real life project that has failed and analyse why the project failed by applying the key knowledge areas, project management process groups and project management concepts.
Project selection: the project must be an existing, real-life project. This project can be a small, medium or large-scale project that has already been completed or the project can currently be in the process of implementation.
Key knowledge areas: at the minimum, you must include project scope, time, cost and quality. Project Management process groups: you should discuss the aspects of the process group of
relevant to your project: initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing.
I. Essay Guidance
Essay Title
Introduction (no executive summary required)
Summarise the social problem discussed in your essay and clearly indicate the issues and arguments you will discuss in your essay (this section acts like a table of contents)
Body paragraphs
4. Include a more detailed explanation of the project
5. All paragraphs need to support the essay topic- avoid diverging from the essay topic
6. Essay should be more analytical then descriptive
7. Discuss problematic aspects in the project management process and key knowledge
areas
8. Provide realistic, clear and detailed recommendations
Conclusion
Summarise the essay contents
Highlight and connect the key points
There should not be any new content in the conclusions
References & style
The report must have proper references using the Harvard referencing style Write in 3rd person using formal language
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Essay guideline:
The project selected for the essay should be one that has encountered a number of problems. The project should be sufficiently discussed in the essay as it provides the context for the rest of the essay discussion.
The essay should include a minimum of the key knowledge areas: include project scope, time, cost and quality. Better essays will consider stakeholders, communication, risk or other knowledge areas
Project Management process groups should be discussed. The phases discussed should include the phases that have not been carried out sufficiently or is currently carried out insufficiently (initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling and closing). Generally the phases that are overlooked are planning. Better essays will discuss the life cycle of the project.
See PMBOK key knowledge areas and project management process groups in the table below.
Other project management concepts includes theories and concepts discussed in the lectures including, strategy, project management maturity process, project selection, project close, project quality, leadership etc. The discussion of project management concepts will depend on the project selected. Better essays will discuss the importance of aligning the project to the company strategy.
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838N1 – Managing Innovation
Essay (2000 words)
Answer TWO questions. Each carries equal marks (50 marks per question). Maximum 2,000 words, 1,000 words each question.
1. Discuss the relative importance of product/service attributes and organisational factors in successful new product and service development. Provide details of three product factors, and two organizational factors (10 marks per factor).
it is possible to identify some consensus of what the best criteria for success: Product:
9. • Product advantage – product superiority in the eyes of the customer, real differential advantage, high performance-to-cost ratio, delivering unique benefits to users – appears to be the primary factor separating winners and losers. Customer perception is the key.
10. • Market knowledge – the homework is vital: better predevelopment preparation including initial screening, preliminary market assessment, preliminary technical appraisal, detailed market studies and business/financial analysis. Customer and user needs assessment and understanding is critical. Competitive analysis is also an important part of the market analysis.
11. • Clear product definition – this includes defining target markets, clear concept definition and benefits to be delivered, clear positioning strategy, a list of product requirements, features and attributes or use of a priority criteria list agreed before development begins.
12. • Risk assessment – market-based, technological, manufacturing and design sources of risk to the development project must be assessed, and plans made to address them. Risk assessments must be built into the business and feasibility studies so they are appropriately addressed with respect to the market and the firms’ capabilities.
Organizational:
• Project organization – the use of cross-functional, multidisciplinary teams carrying responsibility for the project from beginning to end.
• Project resources – sufficient financial and material resources and human skills must be available; the firm must possess the management and technological skills to design and develop the new product.
• Proficiency of execution – stage-gate process, quality of technological and production activities, and all pre-commercialization business analyses and test marketing; detailed market studies underpin new product success.
• Top management support – from concept through to launch. Management must be able to create an atmosphere of trust, coordination and control; key individuals or champions often play a critical role during the innovation process.
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2. Discuss the difference between Delphi and Scenario methods, and identify in which circumstances you might use each (25 marks per method).
The opinion of outside experts, or Delphi method, is useful where there is a great deal of uncertainty or for long time horizons. Delphi is used where a consensus of expert opinion is required on the timing, probability and identification of future technological goals or consumer needs and the factors likely to affect their achievement. It is best used in making long-term forecasts and revealing how new technologies and other factors could trigger discontinuities in technological trajectories. The choice of experts and the identification of their level and area of expertise are important; the structuring of the questions is even more important. The relevant experts may include suppliers, dealers, customers, consultants and academics. Experts in non-technological fields can be included to ensure that trends in economic, social and environmental fields are not overlooked.
Scenarios are internally consistent descriptions of alternative possible futures, based upon different assumptions and interpretations of the driving forces of change. Inputs include quantitative data and analysis, and qualitative assumptions and assessments, such as societal, technological, economic, environmental and political drivers. Scenario development is not strictly-speaking prediction, as it assumes that the future is uncertain and that the path of current developments can range from the conventional to the revolutionary. It is particularly good at incorporating potential critical events which might result in divergent paths or branches being pursued.
3. Explain five factors that influence the adoption and diffusion of innovations (10 marks per factor).
Numerous variables have been identified as affecting the diffusion and adoption of innovations, but these can be grouped into:
• characteristics of the innovation itself, including:
• relative advantage,
• compatibility,
• complexity,
• observability
• trialability.
• Individual characteristics include age, education, social status and attitude to risk.
• Environmental and institutional characteristics include economic factors such as the
market environment and sociological factors like communications networks.
However, whilst there is a general agreement regarding the relevant variables, there is very little consensus on the relative importance of the different variables, and in some cases disagreements over the direction of relationships.
4. What are the differences between organizational climate and culture, and discuss five climate factors that influence innovation? (10 marks per factor).
Characteristics of an innovative climate:
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• Challenge& involvement
• Freedom& autonomy
• Trust& openness
• Idea time & support
• Playfulness& humour
• Conflict& debate
• Risk-taking
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960N1 – Advanced Project Management
Essay (3000 words)
The aim of your essay is to provide a critical analysis of the Management of Projects concept. The emergence of this important concept is to be discussed. A description of level 1 – technical core, level 2 – strategic envelope, and level 3 – instrumental context should be undertaken. Additionally, key methods and relevant topic areas are identified and outlined for each level. Finally, the organisational and wider environmental context, and its effects, on the management of projects requires discussion. The assignment has three distinctive sections (see Appendix A – Assignment Structure). Furthermore, students are expected to employ harvard style referencing. Reading around the topic areas is also encouraged for it demonstates scholarly initiative.
Other information
• Word count 3000 ( ±10%) words Appendix A – Assignment Structure
1.0 The Emergence of Management of Projects (20% marks) 2.0 Management of Projects
2.1 Level 1 – Technical Core (20% marks)
2.2 Level 2 – Strategic Envelope (20% marks) 2.3 Level 3 – Institutional Context (20% marks)
3.0 Organisational and Wider Environmental Context (20% marks)
939N1 – Governing and Using Technology for Development
Report (3000 words)
Details on time and place of essay submission are the Sussex Direct site of the module.
This report should draw on both the governance AND the use parts of the module by selecting at least one concept each from the two parts. For example, these concepts could be ‘hybrid forums’ and ‘de-scription’. The two concepts should then be applied to analyse a range of documentation on the governance and use of a specific controversial technology in one or more countries of the global south. In addition to newspaper/magazine articles, the documentation to be collected may include government reports, documentary films and publications by civil society organizations (including any user associations), firms and scientists. The choice of the controversial technology to be analysed is up to the student. It can be anything from biofuels to genetically modified food to climate geo-engineering to military drones.
Citing all the empirical documentation used, alongside any existing studies on the issue/topic that are reviewed, the essay should be structured into the following sections: a) briefly introduce the topic (technology) in question, explaining why it is interesting to study, and review any relevant literature on the topic; b) succinctly describe the meanings of the two concepts that you have chosen to use; c) present your analyses of the documentation you have collected on the topic/issue, by interpreting the documentation through the lens of your chosen concepts (more on this below); d) provide some conclusions and derive some policy implications stemming out of your analysis.
To conduct effective analyses using your chosen concepts, you will have to connect the two concepts separately to the empirical texts (the documentation you have collected on your topic/issue), while (at the same time) connecting different parts of this documentation with each other. The aim of this connection-building exercise is to locate and trace different parts (of the texts) that, individually or in combination with each other, speak to and resonate with the meaning of one of your chosen concepts. This resonance between a concept and the empirical material may either be located (concentrated) in a single passage/section of the text and/or it may have to be traced by compiling and connecting multiple phrases scattered across the texts. This will require a careful reading of the empirical material with the chosen concepts at the top of your mind, taking note of any relevant instances for later compilation and use. Also note that the resonances and alignments you establish between a concept and the empirical material can be more or less close.
What is an excellent resit report?
To attain a 75-79%, an essay will have provided in-depth analyses of a substantial set of documents on the governance and use of a controversial technology, using the two selected concepts. Each concept should be applied to the relevant empirical texts separately, while bringing the two conceptual analyses succinctly in conversation with each other. Such analyses should be original in the sense that the same topic or issue (or at least the same set of documentation) should not have been already analysed using the same concepts in an existing study. Additionally, the student should have done a succinct literature review on the topic in question and situated her/his analysis in the literature. Finally, the student should have consulted new references on (applications of) her/his chosen concepts (beyond the few studies on those concepts introduced in the module).
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