essay

Guidelines: Essay

BUSMGT 711: MANAGING PEOPLE AND ORGANISATIONS

2021, Quarter 2, Cohort 15

Due date: Week 8

Submission Instructions: Submission in Canvas through Turnitin.

Contributes: 25% of your final grade

Length: 1,500 words (excluding references)

Meets learning outcomes: LO1 – Analyse individual and team behaviours from one or more theoretical perspectives

LO 2 – Apply multiple perspectives when analysing management problems

LO 5 – Apply professional written and oral communication skills

Meets Graduate Attributes: 1. Disciplinary knowledge and practice

2. Critical thinking

4b. Communication (Written)

Assessment overview:

The primary goal of this course is to develop your understanding of managing people and organisations. You have now had an opportunity to play a management role in a publicly listed bicycle business in a competitive consumer market. This essay is focussed on your understanding of managing and leading, coupled with related empirical-based insights that combine to give you enduring insights into effective management that will serve you in the future.

Essay Background:

The ever-present challenge of managing organisational culture is currently being compounded by the increase in hybrid working. With the move in many organisations towards a combined face-to-face and remote workforce (Holzwarth, 2021), managers will increasingly face challenges around organisational socialisation, the emergence of ‘in and out’ groups or sub-cultures, and the disenfranchising of remote workers.

Hozwarth, A. (2021) Remote work is (mostly) here to stay. Forbes.com. https://www.forbes.com/sites/alineholzwarth/2021/02/16/remote-work-is-mostly-here-to-stay.htm

Essay task (cover all 3 parts):

Discuss the role of organisational culture in the contemporary (post-Covid) workplace.

Identify and analyse two or three key challenges managers will face as their organisations move towards hybrid workforces.

Provide suggestions for what steps managers could take to create a positive and inclusive culture that supports this hybrid approach.

The best work submitted will be thoughtful and well-reasoned, supported with sound research and presented in a coherent academic writing style, as described below:

General Guidance on Writing Academic Essays

An essay is a traditional form of (usually) academic writing, which presents information in the form of a coherent argument, story, or stance on a topic. Essays are distinguished from other business and professional writing by requiring prose (thoughts written in sentences, linked together by linking words in a fluid and full style) with no bullet points.

Structure

· Your essay should begin with a short introductory paragraph, which

· establishes the context or background, and its importance

· clearly indicates the problem

· defines any topics or key terms

· states the purpose of the essay and

· provides an overview of the structure of the essay

· Each paragraph in the body of the essay should:

· include a clear topic sentence

· make a point with an example and clear evidence from credible sources

· relate clearly to the main purpose of the essay

· include a summary sentence and possibly a link to the next paragraph

· The essay should conclude with:

· A brief summary of the main points

· A re-statement of the thesis outlined in the introduction

· No new information

Supporting Your Story or Stance

· You should aim to include no less than 10 references, at least half of which should be peer reviewed scholarly academic articles and/or practitioner publications (including but not limited to the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review and Sloan Management Review, Organizational Dynamics, Academy of Management Perspectives). Others may include news stories, web links, etc.

· Please remember it is the effective utilisation of good quality relevant research that is important, and not the absolute quantity of citations. Focus your research on the key issues and avoid irrelevant or peripheral material.

Style Guide

Make sure you include a title page with the following details:

· Your name

· Your student ID number

Font: Times New Roman, 12 point

Spacing: Single

Referencing and citation style: APA 7th Edition.

Reminder: In the BCT weekly seminars you will learn how to write an essay, how to use library databases and how to cite your sources correctly. You are also strongly advised to submit a draft of your essay, up to 48 hours before the due date, to the BCT Canvas page, for feedback on your essay.

Other helpful resources:

The tab in Canvas for the Library called ‘Library and Research Support’ links to various tools that you will find useful in supporting your referencing.

	Excellent	Very Good	Satisfactory	Unsatisfactory	Mark
Application to Course Concepts (Applying ideas to examples) /4	Excellent use of and engagement with the relevant theoretical concepts Excellent application of theoretical course concepts to the content.	Good use of and engagement with the relevant theoretical concepts Thoughtful integration of course theory to the content.	Limited use of and engagement with the relevant theoretical concepts to the content.	Very limited or no application of course concepts to content.
Discovery & Analysis & Application of Related Research (Conceptual understanding / Applying ideas to examples / Critical thinking) /14	Evidence of a particularly rigorous exploration and analysis of a range of excellent research clearly related to the topic Excellent interpretation and application of the empirical research Excellent and insightful critical thought applied to the essay question	Evidence of a rigorous exploration and analysis of a range of sound research related to the topic Good interpretation and application of the empirical research Developing critical thought applied to the essay question	Shows only limited systematic exploration and analysis of literature related to the essay question. Limited application of the empirical research to support your work Limited application of critical insights related to the question	Limited or no evidence of systematic research on literature related to the essay question. Very limited or no evident application of empirical research supporting your work. An absence of critical insights related to the question
Written expression: (Grammar, Coherent and compelling prose) /4	Thoughtful ‘story line’ that is compelling and tightly crafted. Excellent attention to detail in terms of: · Spelling · Grammar · Sentence structure The essay fully complies with the structure and format requirements	Work is coherent and easy to follow. Good attention to detail in terms of: · Spelling · Grammar · Sentence structure The essay fundamentally complies with the structure and format requirements	Many aspects of the essay are fragmented and hard to follow. Adequate attention to detail in terms of: · Spelling · Grammar · Sentence structure Many aspects of the essay do not meet the structure and format requirements	The essay does not meet the structure and format requirements of an academic essay. Writing is not at post-graduate level. An absence of attention to detail in terms of: · Spelling · Grammar · Sentence structure
Referencing and sources /3	Excellent referencing in terms of: · Format and completeness of the reference list · Format of in-text referencing · Relevant citations support all arguments	Good referencing in terms of: · Format and completeness of the reference list · Format of in-text referencing · Relevant citations support most arguments	Adequate referencing in terms of: · Format and completeness of the reference list · Format of in-text referencing · Superficial support of most arguments	Inadequate referencing in terms of: · Incorrect format and an incomplete reference list · Incorrect format of in-text referencing · Incomplete support of many arguments