Posted: February 3rd, 2015

The Big Idea

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

 

UNDERGRADUATE DEGREES

 

Critical Management Perspectives – Individual Paper Learning outcomes and pass attainment level expect: Module Learning Outcomes Demonstrate critical understanding of management theory and practice. Critically analyse and evaluate management and organisation theory and appraise its application to a range of contemporary contexts. Demonstrate the ability to identify and evaluate key assumptions in management ideology. Research, plan, and deliver an effective presentation. You will be assessed according to the following criteria: Evidence of an effective introduction (i.e. focus, scope and purpose) Evidence of research and reading to select appropriate theories, concepts and frameworks (with appropriate referencing of sources – Harvard format) Ability to use theoretical perspectives to establish and critically evaluate the focus An effective closing section that pulls together key arguments within the paper Effective communication, presentation and use of structure   The following are indicative of the threshold pass requirements for the assignment. The paper introduces the focus, scope and purpose in line with learning outcomes1, 2 and 3 and the module’s indicative themes Evidence of research to identify and introduce appropriate academic literature (with references cited) Some use of theory to support discussion in line with the focus Demonstrates some understanding of management theory and practice The conclusion identifies some key arguments presented in the paper The communication enables some understanding of ideas and discussion   The stronger papers will clearly build on these threshold requirements to demonstrate increasing levels of originality, depth of research, criticality in terms of analysis and evaluation, and quality of writing and structure. Discussion relating to the levels of assessment will be an integral part of class sessions and seminars.

 

Individual Written Assignment and Presentation

 

The assignment: The Big Idea

 

The nature of today’s business environment means that contemporary organisations are faced with uncertainty, ambiguity and complexity.

In order to be successful organisations need to find ways to work with and indeed exploit these conditions.

 

This requires individuals to become more enterprising, resourceful, innovative and creative, and demands more critical or ’outside of the box’ thinking.

Indeed, Brookfield (1987, in Thomas 2003, p6) has stated that critical thinking can be seen as “the central element in improving organizational performance” and should be applied to all facets of organisations including: strategic planning, effective decision making, creative problem solving, situational leadership, entrepreneurial risk-taking and team-building.

 

For example current conditions raise a wide range of questions for organisations including:

• How to get more from fewer resources?
• How to balance customer satisfaction with resource efficiency?
• How to inspire employee engagement, innovation and high performance in times of high uncertainty?
• How to balance the necessity of increasing performance and competitive advantage against the growing call for more ethical practices?

• How do we maintain control without stifling innovation?

 

This assignment requires you to address an issue, such as one of those presented above, and by utilising a range of contrasting paradigms or lenses critically challenge current thinking and approaches to organising and the nature of organisations and propose an alternative response to the issue in question. This will become the basis of your BIG IDEA.

 

This is your opportunity to ‘think outside of the box’ whilst also acknowledging the constraints of ‘the organisational box’.

 

In response to the brief above there are two elements of assessment for the module;

 

1. A 3000 word individual written paper (50% of the module assessment).

To be assessed at the end of Term 1.

 

 

2. A 20 minute Individual presentation plus questions from the observing group (50% of the module assessment).

 

• The student should review and self-evaluate the discussion within the paper to refine the Big Idea
• Create an effective, engaging and professional 20 minute presentation designed to ‘sell’ your Big Idea to a senior management group/owners/board of directors
• Deliver the presentation and respond to questions from an observing group

 

The presentation will be prepared during Term 2, drawing on discussion and interaction within an Action Learning Set, and delivered during the assessment weeks, subject to the exam timetable.

A presentation schedule will be discussed and confirmed.

 

Please see the following diagram for further clarification of the assessment. This will be discussed in more detail within the class sessions and seminars;

 

Presenting your BIG IDEA

There are two methods of delivering the results of your research:

 

Developing the assignment

This assignment must be seen as a distinct piece assessment, and should not be based on any assignments currently or previously submitted for assessment.

Your paper should have an introduction which clearly sets out your focus i.e. what viewpoints are you putting forward in response to the questions raised by the assignment brief.

The stronger papers will identify and demonstrate an understanding of theoretical perspectives drawn from a range of academic literature

The literature you introduce into your paper will depend on your focus, however you should consider researching from the following indicative resources:

• Module reading list
• Electronic resources available through Kenrick Library e.g. ABI, Emerald, MyiLibrary http://library.bcu.ac.uk/
• Google Scholar
• There is a wealth of information available via the internet – however, in the spirit of the module you should consider – how do you use this material in a critical manner.

The stronger papers will use the literature and examples thoughtfully to work through a series of coherent phases of analysis and evaluation discussion, from which reasoned conclusions are subsequently drawn.

 

Formative assessment

The assignment requirements and assessment guidelines will be introduced and discussed within class sessions, and posted on Moodle. These should be used to help prepare and plan the paper/presentation, and to assist in the self-evaluation of your paper/presentation prior to submission.

There will be opportunities within class sessions to share ideas and learning, and to discuss issues being faced with the development of drafts and the final assignment.

As with all of your assignments you should seek to make effective use of all available resources to help develop the paper. These resources include those available via Moodle, including resources and tutor support from the Centre for Academic Success – see link – http://library.bcu.ac.uk/learner/

Please note this is an individual piece of assessment and you should ensure you have read and understood the University’s guidance on avoiding issues of alleged plagiarism and collusion. Advice is introduced within the Regulations pages – uk/student-info/academic-regs“>http://www.bcu.ac.uk/student-info/academic-regs) – and on the Centre for Academic Success Moodle page. If you have any additional questions on these issues it is essential to discuss them with a Module tutor. We reserve the right to put any assignments through our plagiarism software to detect inappropriate use of secondary sources, including books, other sources, Journals and internet sources. Where appropriate we may use a viva (‘an oral examination’) as part of the assessment process to help clarify and establish student understanding, and to examine the research undertaken for the assignment.

Developing the 20 minute individual presentation

 

The presentation will require you to draw on the discussion and evaluation within the paper to plan, prepare and deliver a 20 minute oral presentation, and to respond effectively to questions from the observing ALS.

 

• Presentations should aim to present convincing arguments in order to “sell” the relevance/significance for management/organisations of the proposition/BIG IDEA developed within the paper. (Consider your audience to be a senior management group).
• Consider – how do you develop an oral presentation that is professional, interesting, engaging, and thought provoking?
• Remember the presentation has a different function to the paper. Your paper sets out in some detail the academic theory and discussion which underpins your BIG IDEA. Your presentation should draw from this but needs to translate this academic argument into a proposition which has significant meaning and value for practitioners and organisations.

 

The assessment guidelines for the presentations will be negotiated and agreed by the ALS groups, and corporate group, and should be used to shape the individual presentations, and to assist with self-evaluation of drafts.

 

Method of submission

The primary method of submitting both the paper and the presentation slides will be electronic. Comprehensive instructions will be explained in class sessions.

 

Your assignment must include a cover sheet which indicates the Module Title, Tutor name, the hand in date, your student number and importantly the word count for your paper, (excluding the list of references and any appendices).