1. Coherently analyse the relationship between structure, culture, people and organisational performance

Assignment Title: Assessment 1 – Structure and Culture

Learning Outcomes tested (from module syllabus)

1. Coherently analyse the relationship between structure, culture, people and organisational performance;

2. identify the essential nature of managerial work (in terms of both functions and processes), communicate the role of leadership, and furthermore, explain the variables that determine effective management and leadership

3. Evaluate the behavioural approach to management, through understanding the factors that affect differences in individual behaviour.

Assessment Criteria To achieve each outcome a student must demonstrate the ability to:

1. Identify an organisation.

2. Write a carefully planned and structured 2000 word management report that analyses the relationships between organisational culture, people and organisational performance.

Task

Write a 2000 word essay that describes the structure and culture of an organisation you have studied this semester. Analyse how these factors contribute to the organisations performance. Your essay should refer to relevant theories and models of organisational design and culture.

NOTE: The guidance offered below is linked to the five common assessment criteria overleaf.

1. Research-informed Literature Your work must be informed and supported by scholarly material that is relevant to and focused on the task(s) set. You should provide evidence that you have accessed a wide range of sources, which may be academic, governmental and industrial; these sources may include academic journal articles, textbooks, current news articles, organisational documents, and websites. You should consider the credibility of your sources; academic journals are normally highly credible sources while websites require careful consideration/selection and should be used sparingly. Any sources you use should be current and up-to-date, mostly published within the last five years or so, though seminal/important works in the field may be older. You must provide evidence of your research/own reading throughout your work, using in-text citations in the main body of your work and a reference list that is alphabetical at the end of your work. Please use the Harvard referencing system.

2. Knowledge and Understanding of Subject Your work must demonstrate the growing extent of your knowledge and understanding of concepts and underlying principles associated with the subject area. Knowledge relates to the facts, information and skills you have acquired through your learning. You demonstrate your understanding by interpreting the meaning of the facts and information (knowledge). This means that you need to select and include in your work the concepts, techniques, models, theories, etc. appropriate to the task(s) set. You should be able to explain the theories, concepts, etc. meaningfully to show your understanding. Your mark/grade will also depend upon the extent to which you demonstrate your knowledge and understanding; ideally each should be complete and detailed, with comprehensive coverage.

3. Analysis Your work must contain evidence of logical, analytical thinking, evaluation and synthesis. For example, to examine and break information down into parts, make inferences, compile, compare and contrast information. This means not just describing what! But also justifying: Why? How? When? Who? Where? At all times, you must provide justification for your arguments and judgements. Evidence that you have reflected upon the ideas of others within the subject area is crucial to you providing a reasoned and informed debate within your work. Furthermore, you should provide evidence that you are able to make sound judgements and convincing arguments using data and concepts. Sound, valid conclusions are necessary and must be derived from the content of your work. There should be no new information presented within your conclusion. Where relevant, alternative solutions and recommendations may be proposed.

4. Practical Application and Deployment You should be able to demonstrate how the subject-related concepts and ideas relate to real world situations or a particular context. How do they work in practice? You will deploy models, methods, techniques, and/or theories, in that context, to assess current situations, perhaps to formulate plans or solutions to solve problems, some of which may be innovative and creative. This is likely to involve, for instance, the use of real world examples and cases, the application of a model within an organisation and/or benchmarking one organisation against others based on stated criteria. You should show awareness of the limitations of concepts and theories when applied in particular contexts.

5. Skills for Professional Practice Your work must provide evidence of the attributes expected in professional practice. This includes demonstrating your individual initiative and/or collaborative working. You must communicate effectively in a suitable format, which includes written and oral presentation. Work should be coherent and well structured in presentation and organisation. Specific to this assignment: Business report format with a clear title, any illustrations, images (captioned, numbered) in an appendix. Essential Resources:

• Resources listed on in the module descriptor and course handbook, including textbooks / references

• Moodle

• The student handbook

The assignment should also be:

1. Written in suitable Academic English using an appropriate business style and tone.

2. Focussed on the tasks set in the assignment only.

3. Identifiable by name or Student ID number on a cover sheet and including references/bibliography, using UWTSD Harvard referencing style throughout.

4. Researched using reliable and relevant sources of information. Care should be taken with the organisational and academic research e.g. organisational literature, academic books, and peer reviewed journals.