Human resources/ 900 words

ASSESSMENT 1a (30%): Answer ALL three (3) questions Submission Deadline - Sunday 31/10/2021 23:59 CEST

MINI-CASE: LAW & ORDER INC.

Janine is one of six senior 'partners in a firm of employment law specialists. She is finding a number of

teamwork problems as the firm is expanding and taking on bigger workloads. She feels that something needs

to be done to help the firm improve, especially during the time of a virus pandemic when extra strains are

being put on the organisation. Law & Order Inc. have various teams in the business, all working

independently. Each consists of between eight and ten people, and all have individual targets to

achieve. Within these teams members appear to guard information and are very competitive which,

in a cut-throat environment can be an important quality to have.

As a result, teams do not tend to help each other when there are problems, and although there are

open-plan offices, there does not tend to be a lot of communication between teams or sometimes, within a

team as they focus on completing projects and assignments by their deadlines. Occasionally, some

individuals have taken on too much work or accepted client briefs that are far too demanding and beyond

their competence. As a result, this has lead to some dissatisfied clients and even complaints to the local law

society.

Of course, as an employment law specialist the lawyers are as good as what they know, but there is a real

reluctance to share information with others. The lawyers are 'technically' competent, having taken their

professional examinations, and developed specialist expertise in a variety of legal fields. However, their

interpersonal skills and self-confidence are underdeveloped when it comes to “thinking outside the box” and

identifying strategic options that could take the whole firm forward. The key challenges seem to be balancing

technical competence with the increasing need to invest in personal and “strategic thinking” skills, all within

a competitive and challenging environment.

Q1. Describe and analyse in detail responsibilities and tasks of individuals at senior partner level and lower

associate levels of the organisation that are likely to impact the team interactions at Law & Order Inc. Use

theories and concepts studied during the course to enhance your arguments.

Q2. Law & Order Inc. does not have a human resources department and the senior partners do not see a

need for a small firm of professionals to have one. Using the context of the case, analyse in detail what

might be the cause for poor teamwork. In your response Consider aspects of work design and job analysis.

Provide supporting justification, with specific, researched examples to illustrate your reasoning.

Q3. The senior partners of Law & Order Inc. are considering the creation of a human resources department

to help deal with planning arising from human resources issues during the pandemic. Discuss to what

extent you believe this is a good idea. In your response consider the planning processes and the current

workplace challenges using the case context, classroom concepts and supportive research.

COURSE CODE: BCO213 - COURSE NAME: HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT Task brief & rubrics

TASK:

• This an INDVIDUAL task

• Respond to ALL three questions in written form; i.e. diagrams, images, tables etc. should NOT be included in the text or word count

• Each response in each part carries EQUAL WEIGHT i.e. 10%

• The case-study is fictional

• Include reference sources using the HARVARD protocol

• Submission to Turnitin

Formalities:

• TOTAL Wordcount 3 questions 750 – 1000 words (approx. 250-333 words per question)

• Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are EXCLUDED from the total wordcount.

• Font: Arial 12 pts.

• Line-spacing 1.5 - 2.0

• Text alignment: Justified.

• The in-text citations, reference list and/or the bibliography must be in HARVARD’S style.

Submission Deadline:

ASSESSMENT 1: Submission Deadline - Sunday 31/10/2021 23:59 CEST; Weight: This task is 30% of your total grade for this subject.

Assessment 1 has the following learning outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Understand the Human Resources function inside the enterprise, describe and analyze responsibilities and tasks.

• Outcome 2: Interpret job analysis and apply job design.

• Outcome 3: Understand different stages of human resources planning.

Rubrics

Exceptional 90-100 Good 80-89 Fair 70-79 Marginal fail 60-69

Knowledge & Understanding

(20%)

Student demonstrates excellent understanding of key concepts and uses vocabulary in an entirely appropriate manner.

Student demonstrates good understanding of the task and mentions some relevant concepts and demonstrates use of the relevant vocabulary.

Student understands the task and provides minimum theory and/or some use of vocabulary.

Student understands the task and attempts to answer the question but does not mention key concepts or uses minimum amount of relevant vocabulary.

Application (30%) Student applies fully relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.

Student applies mostly relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class.

Student applies some relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstanding may be evident.

Student applies little relevant knowledge from the topics delivered in class. Misunderstands are evident.

Critical Thinking (30%)

Student critically assesses in excellent ways, drawing outstanding conclusions from relevant authors.

Student critically assesses in good ways, drawing conclusions from relevant authors and references.

Student provides some insights but stays on the surface of the topic. References may not be relevant.

Student makes little or non- critical thinking insights, does not quote appropriate authors, and does not provide valid sources.

Communication (20%)

Student communicates their ideas extremely clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck

Student communicates their ideas clearly and concisely, respecting word count, grammar and spellcheck

Student communicates their ideas with some clarity and concision. It may be slightly over or under the wordcount limit. Some misspelling errors may be evident.

Student communicates their ideas in a somewhat unclear and unconcise way. Does not reach or does exceed wordcount excessively and misspelling errors are evident.