research essay

BANGOR UNIVERSITY

AND

MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE OF SINGAPORE

Course : Master of Business Administration in Banking and Finance (MBFD51710A, MBFD51811A)

Master of Business Administration in International Marketing (MIMD51710A, MIMD51811A)

Module Code and Title : ASB4431 Organisations and People

Module Tutor : Mr Darwin Joseph

Assessment : Individual Assignment: Reflective Essay

Date / Due Date : 11 April 2018

Duration / Word Length : 3000 words

Weighting within Module : 60% (100 marks)

The individual written assignment will take the form of individual reflection upon two aspects of your personal experience of Organisations and People: (1) team working and (2) technology at work.

Throughout the module, and from your previous educational and work experiences, you will have been exposed to these two important aspects of Organisations and People. Think about how theories of team working and technology at work relate to you: What is your team working and technology experience during your previous studies/work? Why group assignments are encouraged in Universities/colleges? How you are going to work effectively in your group assignments/projects? What role technology played in your learning? These are all potential areas for you to reflect on. You are required to write a reflective essay that:

(a) makes use of relevant theories to provide a detailed analysis of these two aspects of your experience of team working and technology at work, and

(b) considers the implications of your analysis for the effective management (team working and technology) of people within organisations.

In practice, this means answering four simple questions (these may even be the headings you use in your individual assignment!):

1. What happened to me eg during an undergraduate degree, training session, or during group work? Why was I motivated (or not)? What/How did I learn? Give brief details of how technology helped you during your team working.

2. What worked well/not so well? Why might this have happened? What would I do differently next time?

3. What theories/concepts of team working and technology can explain what happened?

4. What could managers (and/or Human Resource professionals and management educators) do to ensure things (continue to) work well in future and/or prevent such problems?

For example, your reflective essay may address one/some of the following:

1. Reasons for choosing a group project/assignment.

2. Different approaches to team working and using technology at work

3. Applying technology for effective team working.

4. Conflict within your group (at university or work) and how technology have helped in resolving group conflicts.

5. Individual differences and how it has affected your team working.

6. Flexible work arrangements (with the use of technology)

You need not be constrained by this list and should focus on any areas of team working and technology that you are interested in. However, this must be clearly related to this module and supported by relevant theories of team working and technology at work.

A high quality reflective essay will involve:

· Meeting the terms of reference (objectives a and b)

· Excellent presentation and layout (style and structure)

· The ability to undertake constructive/honest self-reflection (openness, clarity and realism of reflective critique)

· The ability to analyse and provide explanations, linking to relevant literature

· An overall grasp and understanding of team working and technology at work.

Assignment guidelines:

· This essay should be word-processed

· Its length should be around 3000 words (10% allowance, and excluding references and appendices)

· It should be presented in essay format – please see guidelines

· It must include correct and appropriate referencing – including Tables and Figures

· It must be submitted both electronically (through Blackboard) and a paper copy handed into the Student Care Administration office by due date mentioned in your time table.

· Requests for extensions will ONLY be granted due to SERIOUS personal mitigating circumstances, supported by appropriate evidence (eg medical certificate)

Marking Scheme for individual assignment (assessment criteria)

A ‘first class’ performance will include … A ‘failed’ performance will include…

	A 70+	B 60s	C 50s	D/E/F
REFLECTIVE ESSAY
Clear objectives for the essay					No objectives or agenda stated
Appropriate structure and focus					Messy, fragmented structure, lacks focus
Addresses all aspects of assignment brief					Fails to address all aspects of assignment
Excellent presentation, free from errors					Poor presentation, spelling/typing mistakes
Correct referencing throughout					Inadequate/incorrect referencing in text and list of references
Appropriate review of relevant literature					Superficial, descriptive & limited literature review
Presents ‘new’ material					Merely re-presents lecture notes
Excellent personal content eg thoughtful, critical, well researched, & referenced					Poor personal content eg no critical reflection, research, inadequate /incorrect referencing,
Demonstrates clear grasp of personal action relevant to team working and technology at work					Demonstrates little understanding of team working and technology at work
Uses real examples from experience, to relate theory to practice					Makes no attempt to use any examples or draw on personal experience