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Surrey Business School (PG) Assessment Cover Sheet – Please complete the boxes below Student URN > 6346672 Date Due Monday 24th November 2014 16. 00 Student Name > Gulara Gafarova Actual word count Max 1 ,OOO Programme > International Business Management List of references will not be included in the word count. The use of appendices is not permitted in assignments and students should be aware that work submitted as an appendix will not be read and will not count towards the final mark of the assignment.
Module: Management of Human Resources – Assignment 1 (40%) Assignment Brief: For this assignment you are required to write a 1,000-word essay on ONE of the fol lowing topics: What is the connection between the concept of the psychological contract and the theories of employee motivation, and how valid are these models in the 21st century workplace? ‘Sound recruitment and selection systems are more important than sound reward systems’. Discuss.
The Learning Organisation is more Of an aspiration than a reality. Discuss. If people like change in general, why is there so much resistance to organisational change? There is rarely agreement on the attributes of the ‘ideal manager’. How might the HR function help to ensure that competent managers are in place? FORMATTING GUIDE Essay style – no headings or sub-headings. Use Harvard referencing conventions – see guide in SurreyLearn. Do not use a table of contents.
Conclusions should be clear – this section should commence with, “In conclusion N. B. please provide applied examples to illustrate your answer. MARKING GUIDE Markers should mark using the basis of assessment on p. 2 and the grading guide on p. 3. A mark should be given for each section and the total mark should be a sum of the section marks. General comments should be written in the section provided. Feedback comments should be legible.
Basis of Assessment Markers are required to put comments in all the sections wtg % Presentation and Style Markers comment/s Inappropriate structure, unclear, referencing minimal or inaccurate: Appropriate Structure, clear articulation, referencing acceptable: Appropriate structure, clear articulation, correctly/fully referenced: 00 to 04 05 to 07 08 to 10 110 Evidence of reading/research and use of resources Marker’s comment’s Reference to set texts only: opular journal articles: Incorporates specialist texts/books: Reading extends beyond and above high quality journal articles: Includes OO to 05 06to 10 11 to 15 16 to 20 120 Analysis of the topic Wholly descriptive: descriptive but containing limited critical evaluation: equal amounts of description and critical evaluation: discussion with necessary description: 00 to 10 11 to 20 21 to 30 31 t040 use of applied example Mainly Roughly Critically evaluative No example or only marginally appropriate for the assignment: Some example’s but these are poorly related to theory:
Example/s are highly appropriate and relevant and fully analysed: 05 to 09 10to 15 115 Conclusions Little reference to body of assignment: Reference to main themes in text: Clear drawing together of theory and applied examples: Total score ” subject to moderation & BoE confirmation General Comments: Marking guide Grading guide – as used by the marker’s of this assignment Markers should not shy away from giving very low marks for work of a poor standard; to give a higher, undeserved mark will amount to misleading the student regarding the amount of work required to pass the re-sit assignment. Similarly, 70 per cent should not be regarded as the ceiling, if a piece of work is outstanding and deserves a mark in the 80-90 per cent range or above that mark should be awarded. When assessing the work, markers should be mindful of the scope and depth of discussion that can reasonably be expected from a student in an assignment of 1,000 words. The following guidance is intended to assist the marker in assessing and grading the students’ work overall.
Markers should remember that marks should be awarded in each area of assessment, as set out in the Basis of Assessment, and the overall mark should be the sum of the component marks. Fail (0-49%) It is anticipated that any essay which does not actually answer the question will not achieve a ‘pass’ mark. Pass (50-59%) A ‘pass’ answer will describe key concepts, but not in any great depth, and will probably not have a very robust conclusion. It will demonstrate that the writer has a basic knowledge and understanding of the subject matter, but this will not be very developed and/or will not be very well presented in the context of the basis of assessment. It is unlikely to use a large number of reference sources.
Merit (60-69%) A ‘merit’ answer will go beyond this, with some critical discussion of the concepts and their applications, some relevant examples, and at least 10 different reference sources of good quality. Distinction (70+%) A ‘distinction’ answer will go even further. It will be extremely well focused and well-presented, containing relevant material which is described and discussed in a truly critically evaluative manner, leading to robust and highly relevant conclusions which flow logically from the preceding material. There will be at least 20 different reference sources, rawn from good quality sources/publications. PLEASE START/PASTE YOUR ASSIGNMENT ON THE NEXT f people like change in general, why is there to much resistance to organizational change?
Organizational change is a process in which an entity alters its working form, strategy methods or technological system that inevitably drives to resistance of employees and it is naturally anticipated (Coghlan, 1993; Steinburg, 1992; Zaltman and Duncan, 1977). The general aim of organizational change is an adaption to the environment (Barr, Stimpert and Huff, 1992; Child and smith, 1987; Leana and Barry, 2000) or a evelopment of the present performance and quality (Boeker, 1 997; Keck and Tushman, 1993). Resistance happens because the change demands going from the known to the unknown (Coghlan, 1993; Steinburg, 1992; Myers and Robbins, 1991) or when the variation is incomprehensible.
Secondly, self- interest of employees has a huge and immediate impact on resistance. Furthermore, new technology, overloaded tasks related to this and various ways of its usage can lead to the counteraction of employees. One of the most common reasons for resistance is fear of the unknown-perception of ncertainty and lack of knowledge about the change. In many cases there is not a disagreement with the consequences Of the new process. In fact, the real issue that people are concerned about is a fear of unknown future. It is suggested to be just a perception of the change that people receive and hold. To quote Mark Twain, “It’s not the progress mind, it’s the change I don’t like”.
They oppose the new processes because they do not believe and feel that the change will solve the dilemmas, which they are undergoing. People are willing to take active steps toward the unknown if they genuinely believe and erhaps more importantly, feel that the risk of maintaining their position is more dangerous than moving forward in a new route. People may have an emotional resistance to change because they seek to avoid uncertainty and it applies to the case when they do not understand the advantages and benefits Of the change. Gersick (1991) says that the fear of uncertainty encourages employees not to want to change. That is to say, people believe that what they are unaware about can pose a threat to their wellbeing.
Additionally, resistance can also stem from the self-love of a person and a threat to status quo. This is a fear that people seldom confess. Individuals naturally rush to defend the status quo if they feel that their condition is threatened. Perennially, people quest a comfortable level and stimulation and try to maintain that state (Nadler, 1 981; Zaltman and Duncan, 1977). For example, some people think that they won’t be able to make the conversion very well and doubt their capabilities. Su bsequently their Status within an organization seems to be affected negatively and their role is expected to be diminished. People who feel they will lose at the end of the change are more likely to give heir full support to rejection.
It is also supported by Kurt Lewin’s “force-field analysis” (Thomas, 1 985) which comprises restraining and driving forces to change , however restraining forces of this analysis goes deeper in investigating how a threat to an employee’s status quo can make them resist change. It is a behaviour aligning with protection of an individual against real and imagined change. ( Zander, 1950) Ego and pride proper impede the ability to adapt to change, because individuals are distinguished in terms of the ability to adapt to organizational change (Darling, 1993). At long last, one whose action and behaviour fit their self-importance, instead of the organization’s interests, is considered to reject change.
The next other significant and crucial factor that can cause resistance is new technology that brings overloaded tasks and new facilities. New technologies often find ideal and easiest solutions to inexplicable problems, however this may also bring a stern risk. For instance, in 1999 there was a huge issue at the passport agency in the LIK when there was a backlog of 565,000 uncompleted passport applications. The reason was attributed to the new computerized system that Was actually considered to make work easier and faster, however vice versa was the case (Hussey, 2000). Many of the employees at that time opposed this technology because they did not understand this new system and so they could not acclimatize to the new change.
It is perceived that new technology will add loads of unwanted and different work that will contribute to increased responsibility. Individuals find the change initiative as an extra work and a tension. The concept of Change resistance theory claims that people esist change because it does not satisfy their expectation to adapt new technology (Matrasova Khalil, 2013). There is bound to be resistance whenever change requires us to do things differently. Because employees are used to doing things in past and familiar way, it is well known and predictable. Suspicions about unfamiliar task disquiet people about how they will get from the old to the new, particularly if it requires risking failure.